Chapter 18
Eagleton called his team together at 10:00 AM for an update.
“We have physically checked 100% of the check-ins using cash, nothing yet,” the lead investigator reported, “we are following the credit card leads now. There is no hit on either name, or the fake she used in Rochester. We are still working at it. We have about 50 more in the Twin Cities, and then we will expand out. There are currently 25 people running, we should have the Cities covered in an hour or so.”
“Sir, we just got a hit in Saint Louis. Mist’s name just took a credit hit trying to rent an apartment. We’re making calls now.”
“Deception,” said Eagleton, “he would not use his real name, but have someone check it out.”
The “Thornton’s” put on their masks and headed to the car. Jeremy needed to get to the next location so he could look at the other packets that John had left them. They had been so fearful of getting caught, and he so interested in the proof, that he had not taken time to see what was next. His plan was a 2 day trip to Branson Missouri on mostly state highways. No big city travel at this time. Later in the day he would make a reservation for a cabin, or something, in Branson.
The drive included lots of windshield time, and turned into a time of sharing and bonding, as the two of them started to care for each other.
Once at the hotel in Davenport Iowa Jeremy got to work. The packets included dossiers on each member of the 10 and 60. One packet showed a historical breakdown of the MMG. It listed who had been past members of the 10 and 60.
There was a packet of next steps, how could he have missed this? One of the items was to make first contact with MMG leadership. This would be done using a secret e-mail address that was only used by the MMG 10. The e-mail would be the first contact with the 10 by the team that Bettle had passed information to. That seemed like something to work on as they settled in tomorrow. They would be safe if they were not careless.
Jeremy went on-line and rented a resort house outside of Branson Missouri. He paid with the card John had given him, what a blessing to have the new identity to be able to hide. The next morning they left early, masks on, under the cover of darkness. Just in case, Jeremy thought, just in case.
The search team had finally made it to the motel outside of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Discussion and fake FBI badges got them a look at the night security camera. The man that checked in late last night tried hard to cover his face but it was definitely their guy. “We have them sir. They are traveling under last name Thornton. They used a credit card sir!”
The trip to Branson had been uneventful for Melanie and Jeremy. They stopped at a grocery and purchased a weeks-worth of food. The resort house was nicer than he had expected. Big kitchen, 3 bedrooms, and only had one neighbor. The balance of the surrounding area included woods and a lake.
Since the day Jeremy met Melanie she had been a pain in his side. She cleaned up around him as he cooked, getting in his way, nagged about everything, and was almost vicious to him when nervous or scared. So why was it he could not stop thinking about her? She was irritating, loud at times, and her anal retentive, obsessive compulsive actions drove him up a wall. If he were cooking she would come up behind him and sweep the floor if he dropped some crumb, or clean a counter while he was still using it. If his shoes were not properly put away, she would pick them up and put them where she thought they belonged, even at a motel!
“Hi,” she said as she came into the room.
“Hi,” he said with a surprised voice.
“I cleaned up in the bathroom, it should be usable now”, she said.
They had only been at the rented house outside of Branson Missouri for about an hour and he hadn’t even used the bathroom yet. “Thanks,” he said not looking up from the packets he was looking at.
“Do you like me?” she asked out of the blue, “I can’t figure out if you hate who I am, or if you understand me completely. Most people get so mad at me for my strangeness; you just seem to ignore my little habits.”
“Well,” he said, “I don’t hate you. At first your idiosyncrasies drove me crazy, but now I…”
She rushed him and kissed him, hard.
“Oh, my,” she said backing off, “I just kissed you.” Embarrassed, and more than a little nervous.
“Well,” Jeremy said,” that makes it my turn to kiss you, which will even things out.” He leaned in for a nice long kiss.
After a long kiss she looked at him with desire in her eyes and responded with a smile, “let’s try not to keep score.”
They kissed and embraced for a few minutes before the passion welled up inside her and she became nervous. There had been no one but her husband for years. The whole dating scene was not even on her radar after his death. She backed off for a second, and then rushed back in. He was such a good kisser, and she needed love so badly!
He couldn’t believe he was kissing her! This person that had been driving him crazy – really! Her lips were so soft, she felt so good in his arms, his whole body was excited and on alert. His chest felt like they were transferring electricity back and forth. The feeling was more spectacular than he could ever remember.
She was teetering between almost passing out from comfort and relief, and, at the same time her body was coming alive. She backed off and looked at him. She felt so connected, so appreciated, someone finally understood. She moved forward for another kiss. His hands started to wonder, and she decided hers should as well. Kissing took a back seat to touching and soon they were collectively looking for someplace to land.
As they lay down he whispered, “Open your eyes. I want to see you.”
There lovemaking was hurried, passionate, and intense. They were all over the place, rolling off the bed, against the wall. They wanted to try everything. She bit him very lightly and he responded by increasing his rhythm. She could feel the swelling of sexual tension rising in her body. For the first time in her life she was allowing herself to be loud. He heard her passion and it over took him, as they nearly released at the same time. Ten minutes was all it took, but what an animalist ten minutes it had been
As the passions subsided she blurted out, “I LOVE SEX!” Her body felt like a swollen river that was slowly releasing excess emotion. She could feel the liberation of her cells as tension, stress, and frustration slowly left, as an endorphin induced euphoria replaced it. Each cell smiling as it let go of all the bad stuff. Peacefulness, calm, safety. She started to sob from happiness.
“And so do I”, said Jeremy. “So do I.” His body seemed to release tension in a way that reminded him of what he thought it might feel like to die. Part of him transcended his body, hovering, and then rushing away. Giving him an overall feeling of peace. He was about ready to pass out when he heard her crying.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
“Never better,” she said, “never better.”
She rolled over to hide her tears and he slid in behind her. Being in his arms calmed her and a short time later they both fell asleep. She awoke to the aroma of food being cooked, wow, was she hungry! As she made her way to the kitchen she could smell pasta sauce, onion, and garlic. As she came around the corner she could not believe the mess he had made. It took every ounce of her being not to grab a rag.
“Wow, that smells wonderful,” she said. He jumped and tossed sauce against the wall.
“Holy cow!” He yelled from surprise. “Hi”.
He finished the pasta as she cleaned the wall, the counter, the cooking surface, and the floor. She would come back in after they ate, she thought, so she can get this really clean.
She was distracted as they ate; thinking about cleaning the kitchen again, but the pasta was great. Jeremy was a 5-Star cook in her mind. They ate by candlelight, soft, romantic. The after-sex meal turned to thoughts of the relationship.
“If things were different where would you want to go?” he asked.
“Well,” she answered, “I have never been to Hawaii or Cabo. They are b
oth high on my list. Europe would be ok but going overseas seems so dangerous anymore.”
They looked at each other and bust out laughing, considering the situation they were in.
“Yes,” he said with a cute, sarcastic smile, “Europe would be too dangerous for us.”
After the meal Jeremy checked out more of the packets and Melanie cleaned the kitchen. Jeremy remembered there was multiple action items that they needed to do but decided not to mention it tonight.
As they headed to bed each turned to their own room. She stopped with the anticipation that he would follow. He, of course, was just heading to bed.
“Did you want me to join you?” he asked in a way that sounded like he was hoping she would say no.
“Not if you don’t want to,” she answered.
“Sorry,” he said with a shrug. “Not quite ready for that.”
As she closed her door she felt hurt, almost used. Had this been a romp? She did not think so. Were they now a couple? She thought so. Shouldn’t they be together? As she started to get into bed there was a knock on the door.
“I made a mistake,” he said. “I wasn’t ready for the moment. Do you mind if I come in?”
“If you want to,” she said coldly, “not sure what has changed in the last few minutes.”
“Hey,” he said cutely, “I’m a guy; sometimes it takes me a time or two before I get it right.”
As he started to fall asleep he pushed some covers off of him, clearing his left foot and mumbled in her ear, “I think I have been waiting my whole life for you. You make my soul feel good.”
She fell asleep with a smile on her face and joy in her heart.
They awoke the next morning around noon. It was the first quality sleep for both of them since they had met. The sun was shining into the room. It was going to be a glorious day!