CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The wilderness preserve was a long drive north, and Roden's BMW began to run low on gas. Fortunately, the old gas station near the entrance to the preserve was still there, just as Roden had recalled from years ago. Good thing, he observed, otherwise he would have to turn around and attempt to make it to some other distant station. That would have cost him time . . . and peace. He knew Manda would be all over him for that little screw up, and he'd had enough of that already.
He was lucky that the dilapidated old place was open at nearly three in the morning. There were no other customers around. In fact, he hadn't passed anyone on the road in hours. The lack of traffic couldn't be good for business.
As he pulled up to the only pump the station had, Manda stirred from her uncomfortable sleeping position in the front passenger seat. Her bobble-head doze couldn't have been very restful, but she had exhausted herself with her emotional outbursts and could no longer stay awake. Martin stayed quiet in the back seat. Roden imagined that he had probably fallen asleep over the past few hours, as well. The doctor himself was alert. His worry kept him wide-awake.
He opened the car door, allowing a rush of frigid air into the car, and Manda moaned at the unpleasant chill. Rising from his seat, he stretched his limbs, and winced at the soreness in his muscles.
Just as he was about to shut the door, he heard Martin speak. "Let me out, too, please. I need to use the restroom." Roden pushed the driver's seat forward, and let the tiresome man out. This, Roden pondered, was why his father had always ended up exasperated by the end of their old family road trips. He'd have to apologize to the old man the next time they spoke.
Together the two men walked into the store. The old bearded man behind the counter looked surprised to see customers at this hour, but didn't say anything. His one exposed eye watched the two men as they approached the counter. Martin (obviously, discomforted at the sight of the eye patch) reluctantly asked the old man if he could use the restroom, and Roden asked if there was any coffee brewing.
The old man grunted as he pulled out the key with its extra large wooden key chain and handed it to Martin. He simply pointed the way to the restroom outside, using his thumb as a guide. Martin then made a quick exit. Apparently, he really had to go.
Then, the old man hobbled out from behind the counter and shuffled over to an industrial grade coffee pot. It was empty and the heating plate was cold, but the man flipped the switch and quietly filled the pot with water from the fountain.
Roden smiled. "Thank you."
The old man looked up and smiled back. "So what brings ya out here this time a' night?" Roden's appreciation for the coffee apparently loosened the old man up enough to reveal his curiosity.
Roden took a moment to decide on his story. "We're meeting a friend of ours. He's staying in one of the wilderness cabins."
The old man nodded, accepting this answer, so Roden decided to push for a little information. "You wouldn't happen to have seen him would you? He's in his late twenties, brown eyes, sort of messy brown hair – you know, that modern fashion the younger guys are wearing nowadays. May have been wearing a bomber jacket."
"Yes," replied the old man, "Oh, yes. I remember him. Not many customers this time a' the night. Fact, 'tween the lot of you, you're the most customers I ever see any night."
"Really?" Roden was amused at the thought, and had to inquire, "May I ask why you bother staying open all night then?"
"Sure," grinned the old man, "and I'll be happy ta tell ya. It's 'cuz I'm married." He laughed. It was a high-pitched hissing sort of a laugh, like he had just told the most hilarious joke of his entire life. Roden couldn't help but laugh a little in turn.
"The only way ta git away from the old lady. This here," he waved a hand around the store, "This is my alone time. Most a' the night I spend readin', or fixin' the old lady's appliances. Even surf the net." Roden glanced towards the checkout counter and caught sight of a laptop glowing in the corner.
"Been dabblin' in stocks. Very lucrative business. Done pretty well in it. Haven't told the wife 'bout it yet, though." He laughed again and made to poke Roden in the ribs with his elbows, but was polite enough not to make contact. "Truth is, I've been plannin' a getaway for a couple a' months now. Gonna surprise the old ball-n-chain with a trip to the Hawaiian Islands. Ha, ha. What a laugh I'll git outta her reaction ta that."
"No doubt, no doubt." Roden laughed with him. As entertaining as the old man was, Roden found that they were getting off track in regards to the information he needed. "Say, how long ago did you see my friend come through?"
The old man replaced his grin with a pondering look as he tried to recall. "Oh, 'bout two hours ago maybe. Said he'd been travelin' most a' the day an' was lookin' forward to settlin' in. Had a young lady with him. She sat out in the car, though. Only stayed long enough to fill up his tank an' buy some food an' batteries. Thought maybe he was on his honeymoon?" The old man pried again.
"Ah, no." Roden cut the curiosity short. "She's just a friend."
"Ah, I see. Well, I think he may have a crush on 'er, then. Kept lookin' out the door the whole time he was in here, like he couldn't git enough a' lookin' at her."
That thought didn't make Roden feel any easier about the situation. "Did he say which cabin he was going to be staying in?"
"Can't say as he did. Didn't he let you know? Bein' as you supposed ta meet 'im there an' all?"
"Ah, guess we forgot that part of the arrangement. You wouldn't happen to have a map of the different cabin locations?"
"Na, don't keep such maps here. Ya have ta go ta the Ranger's Station for that."
"Oh."
"Yup, but it doesn't open 'til 'bout eight in the mornin'."
"Eight in the morning?!" No! That would put them several more hours behind.
"That's right." The old man seemed content that he was able to help, not knowing that the new information made Roden physically sick all over again. "Ya know, though, I could draw ya up a quick map. I know where all the cabins are. Been roamin' the wilderness preserve for 'bout forty years now."
"Really?" This was too good to be true. Roden was actually getting one break tonight. "I would be very very grateful."
"Not a problem." The man beamed, "Not like I got anything else ta do 'round here right now." While the coffee brewed the old man skirted back to the counter. He pulled out a scratch pad and began a drawing of lines and boxes, showing Roden the directions as he went. A few minutes later, Roden was folding a detailed, if not well scaled, map and stuffing it in his pocket.
The path basically looped around the entire preserve. The only problem was which path he should take when he got to that initial fork in the road. He couldn't really remember which cabin he had dropped Max off at the first time he was there. It had been so long ago. He did remember making a right turn at the fork. Was it right?
After buying some packaged doughnuts and a bag of pretzel twists, not to mention several bottles of water, Roden headed out to the car while blowing on his steaming coffee. Manda was out of the car and standing by the pump. Roden cleared his throat as he came up behind her, trying to avoid startling her. He deposited his purchases in the car, and inserted the gas pump into his tank to fill it with the fuel he had just prepaid for.
"Sleep well?" He wasn't sure if he asked her out of concern or because he kind of enjoyed riling a bitter reaction out of her. If it was the later, then it wasn't a healthy interaction that he was aiming for, and he realized that he better start checking himself.