Ginny's Story A novel by Karen Lockhart Copyright© 2017 Karen Lockhart All Rights Reserved.

CHAPTER 30

“I knew that son-of-a-gun was still in the area,” Pete said. “What could be an easier disguise than shaving your head and mustache? You two said the driver looked a lot like Morales, well, I had our artist do a sketch of Vinny bald, also bald with no mustache, along with sketches of a couple of local cops. This was a test for bar owners, I never thought I'd being showing it to you.”

He turned to Wendy, “I could kiss you princess; you've never seen him before. I showed you the before and after sketches, but you identified him, first time, first look. Now I have a reason to have Lynn PD put out a BOLO
(Be On the LookOut) on him without raising the drug flag, and tipping off a bunch of bad guys.”

Pete did just that. After a big hug, he kissed Wendy on both cheeks! You guessed it, she turned crimson, as usual. Pete stood back and looked at her saying, “If Rudolph gets sick, I know where to send Santa.”

This broke up Ellen and I into a fit of giggles. “We said that to her just yesterday. I think she should have her name changed to Rudi.”

Now I had to run to the loo and pee, I was laughing so hard. Meanwhile, Wendy was getting really pissed at both Ellen and me.

She looked at Pete and begged him not to call her Rudi, saying, after all, he was a Commander in the State Police, and it was beneath him. This of course got him laughing too. Thankfully, the door-bell rang, breaking this up. It was a Lynn detective, arriving to take our statements.

Pete answered the door, surprising the detective, who certainly did not expect to see a State Captain in uniform answering the door.

The detective mumbled, “I'm here to take witness statements from the three ladies, but you're here, so I'll go.”

“Hold on, officer, I'm just a friend of Miss Hansen's. I was in the neighbor-hood and decided to swing by, figuring they were upset. However, Wendy here has described the driver and I think I know him. Would you mind if I put out a BOLO on him and his car?”

“Knock yourself out Captain, it'll save an hour's time and me some work. Now, if I could interview these ladies alone, it would be appreciated.”

Pete gave me a wink, and returned to his unmarked cruiser and pulled out onto Humphrey Street heading for Boston. I could see him talking on the radio as he left. Ellen asked the detective if he'd like coffee. He answered, “Black, please.”

While Ellen was pouring three coffees, the cop introduced himself as Detective Malloy and I pointed at Ellen and said she was the driver, I'm her cousin, Ginny Hanson, and this was Wendy the daughter of my college roommate from Iowa, here for the summer to go to the beach and see the ocean.

There were no new fields to plow, our statements were what we had given to the uniformed officers earlier. The only new thing was I thought Ellen and I recognized the driver as looking like the father of someone we rode horses with.

After thanking us, Detective Malloy said he'd stay in touch, and that it looked like a long hospital stay for the woman.

Wendy asked him when he spoke with her, to assure her that her dog was being well taken care of. He walked down the steps to his car and sped off towards Marblehead.

I was surprised how well Wendy dealt with the police, considering she lived on the streets for two years. Run-aways usually avoid the police like the plague.

Wendy immediately put on the local news, but I explained to her that on Sunday, there was no news until 6:30. She found the end of a Red Sox game and settled for that.

“Well, Wendy, did you think you'd be having dates with a hunky teen-aged boy, or be a witness to a hit and run when you made a nest under my office trailer?” Ellen asked.

“Except the woman was badly hurt, this hit and run is exciting.”

“How about dating Billy? Isn't that exciting?” I asked.

You guessed right, she flushed crimson again.

I started dinner, narrow egg noodles, grilled chicken strips, with Alfredo sauce, and a tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The boiling water added some warmth to a chilly day on the ocean.

After 45 minutes, I called them to the kitchen. There was ice water for Wendy and me, and Chianti for Ellen, to accompany our meal.

As we were putting the dishes into the dishwasher, and scrubbing the pasta kettle, the door bell rang. Ellen answered the door and opened it for Kevin and Billy. Kevin gave me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. What was surprising was how shy the kids acted with each other.

Finally, Wendy sat on the sofa, patting the cushion beside her for Billy. This evinced a grin from Kevin, who whispered in my ear that Wendy was all his nephew had talked about since waking up this morning.

Ellen was going to tease her again, but I waved her off. I gave Kevin a smooch and said it was only fair he dropped in as Ellen had her boyfriend here all afternoon.

Wendy's head snapped up, “You mean you and the state cop are dating? I though he was just being nice dropping in.”

Ellen smiled, “I thought he was being very nice.”

Kevin said he dropped by so Billy could see Wendy again, this got both the teenagers embarrassed. It became a contest on who turned the reddest. Wendy won, hands down.

“I've got six tickets for the Red Sox game on Tuesday night. What do you think, want to go Ellen? I've got a ticket for you and Pete too. These are great seats, front row on the Green Monster. We are bringing our gloves. This is where the home runs are hit. What do you think, is it a date?”

Ellen rushed for her cell phone, “Let me call Pete”. After a few minutes, she was all smiles, “He said, only if he can buy the beer. He'll meet us at the seats at 6:30.”

This got us talking about the Sox. I did notice, that the kids were now touching hips. Ah, young love. I hoped Billy didn't notice Wendy's little deformity. Well, between Kevin and I, we could smooth over any problems. I just hoped Wendy was very cautious; thankfully, she was wearing skinny jeans.

About 10 PM Kevin and Billy headed home. A farewell kiss with our men and I closed the front door. Wendy kept the kiss something less extreme, but I think there was some tongue. Listen to me, it's not like I kissed Kevin on the cheek!

We took turns in the bathroom, removing our make-up and changing for bed. Three women and one bathroom! Take a ticket, just like at the Deli in the supermarket. I was thinking about a mirror at the kitchen sink. It would work for brushing teeth and removing make-up. I decided to take Wendy to Wal-Mart the next day, betting I could find one there.

Monday dawned warm and sunny, finally! I thought late May was supposed to be nice and warm. I bet we'd go right into summer, with hot and humid weather and no true Spring.

Things were starting to take shape at work, the first two floors were up, and the masons were starting on the third. All the underground utilities were in and grading was to start the following week for the asphalt base course. Steve Brady came by at 9 o'clock, just in time for the arrival of the canteen truck.

Steve bought coffee and breakfast sandwiches for us, then started to talk with Wendy about her future. High school GED, and then college or Community 2 year college. As you can guess, at first she was overwhelmed but soon started to hold her own with Steve. The more she pushed back, the more Steve's eyes twinkled. Finally giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, he left.

“He certainly is a force of nature, isn't he Wendy? You impressed him today.”

I explained my brainstorm to Ellen, and said I was taking the kid with me to Wal-Mart, and did she need anything from there. We left, and in a few minutes we were parking near the nursery section.

“Wendy,” I asked. “Do you know how to drive?”

Her jaw dropped as she shook her head 'no'. “Would you like to learn how?”

She nodded vigorously.

“We'll talk about this at the office. Now, where are the mirrors?”

To be continued.