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“Wew. I didn't, ah, come
here for that.” I said as I fanned my face then fixed my clothes
and hair. “Are you actually going to take a shower sometime today?”
I headed back toward the stairs, he caught up in two steps; put his
hand on my hip and I just felt the warmth come over me.

He turned me at the bottom
stair and kissed me while his hand slid from my hips to my butt. I
could do this all day I thought. He pulled away and then kissed me
on the neck. “I gotta help my mom,” he said as he took two stairs
at a time to the first floor.

“What?” I replied following
him, thank goodness, His mom? Then I heard someone by the front
door, Storm and she had their hands full, I on the other hand never
heard them coming. He took the bags from his mom and I took the
bags from Storm, who gave me a piercing look. It took a couple of
trips to get everything in.

His mom came into the
kitchen and seemed frazzled, yet tired at the same time. “Hi” she
said to me “You must be Addie.”

“I am” I replied. “It's very
nice to meet you.” I said with a smile as we shook hands. I started
unpacking the bags and folded the empties and laid them on the
table. She looked up at me, took a deep breath and said “Thank you
for helping!”

“Jett, finally a girl who
has manners. Go get in the shower. Storm, go clean the family
room.” I interrupted “What would you like me to do.”

“Oh, nothing honey, you're
our guest.”

I replied “If a guest
doesn't hold their own then they aren't invited back as much,
besides I am a great sous chef.”

She pursed her lips
together, looking at me “Really? Since I'm running behind I'll take
you up on it.”

“Great what are we making?”
She rattled off the menu and I came back to her with “If we
par-bake the Italian sausage we won't have to grill it as long. If
you have a crock pot we can heat up the sauce in it and add the
sausage after it's cooked on the grill to give it more flavor and
that way you're done and no one has to cook while your company is
here. I'll cut up the veggies for the salad and the peppers and
onions to sauté. Then we can sauté veggies, cook pasta and cut
rolls 10 minutes before dinner. Or we can wrap the veggies in foil
and cook them on the grill.”

She looked at me, mouth
opened, not saying anything. I inquired “Too pushy?”

“No, no, very helpful as a
matter of fact.”

I continued “Actually, if
you point out where a broiler pan, crock pot, cutting board, and a
chopping knife are I can get everything started.....” I let that
sit for a second before continuing. “If you need to get ready or
something - - I got everything under control for now.” I looked in
the oven and then turned it to 350.

“Storm, I need the crock pot
from downstairs and my big metal pot.” His mom announced. He looked
up at me kind of grumpy like, I guess I just made work for him: I
followed him into the basement. Storm handed me the pot, by the
time we got upstairs Mrs. McGaven had everything out. She took a
deep breath and looked at me with dubious eyes. “Storm and Jett can
help you with anything else you need.”

“Awesome, my mom always says
the more cooks in the kitchen the faster things get
done.”

Storm replied “I thought too
many cooks in the kitchen spoils the pot.”

“I think I'm gonna like you
and your mom.” Mrs. McGaven replied.

Storm was still looking at
me funny, “What? I’m not a good cook, just very organized in the
kitchen, don't worry, we can't mess this up.”

“I wasn't worried about
that. What are you trying to do? Kiss my mom's ass to get on her
good side.”

“I can't even believe you
just said that, don't you always have to help out with dinner and
cleaning the house?” I asked.

“Ah no, my mom does that.”
Storm said.

“Well, that's just rude,
especially with the way you guys put away food. Rinse that pot and
fill it a little over 3/4's of the way and put it on the back
burner on medium.” He just looked at me. “D o I h a v e t o t a l k
s l o w e r?”

“Talk slower for whom?” Jett
said walking up to the kitchen.

“For Storm, he's mad I'm
helping out.” He came up behind me squeezed my
shoulders.

“What do you want me to
do?”

“I heard you've never helped
out in the kitchen before, at least that's what Storm tells
me.”

“Not so much, but I'll start
now.” Jett stated leaning on the counter. He had no socks on, jeans
and a t-shirt that looked like it had been washed a thousand times
but definitely looked good on him.Talking to both Storm and Jett I
said “Don't you find your parents give you more, let you do more
and give you less flak the more you help around the house?” They
both just looked at me with their mouths open, dumbfounded. It must
be a McGaven thing. “I'm just saying...”So I gave Jett instructions
on putting the sausage on the broiler pan; when he opened the pack
he pulled his face away from it and wrinkled his nose said that the
sausage was really strong. I smelled it and didn’t think so. Storm
did the water and then I had him setup the crock pot. By the time
their mom came back down we were all sitting at the table cutting
vegetables and breaking up lettuce.

She stood in the doorway “So
they are capable of working in the kitchen.” The timer went off and
Jett looked at me, “Start the grill and I'll set the timer for 15
more minutes.” He actually got up and did it.

“Wow, I'm impressed.” Mrs.
McGaven said.

“Oh thanks, I’m actually not
a good cook, but I can bake. Your oven is warmed up if you have
rolls or a cake or brownie mix we can pop it in after..... “I
looked up at her, “...if you want......”

“Feel free to keep it up.
It’ll be nice if I don't have to think.” I just smiled at her. “Box
cakes are easy...” she said grabbing a box from the
cabinet.

She sat down and took a deep
breath and ordered Storm to get a bowl for the peppers and
onions.

“If you have a big frying
pan we can just throw them in there and save a dish.”

“Storm, get our big frying
pan out instead.”

“So, I see you've done this
before.”

“Yeah lots. Usually on very
big scales, my mom and dad entertain a lot. We have a great
basement for it, plus, I don't think my mom knows how to cook a
small meal.”

Jett chimed in “She does
have a great basement, they also have a huge stocked bar.” We were
all done with chopping the salad by the time the timer went off. I
got up and took the sausage out. Jett volunteered to grill and,
being competitive, Storm said “What should I do next?”

I looked at Mrs. McGaven and
she shrugged her shoulders and said. “Your show.”

“We need a mixing bowl,
eggs, oil and a baking pan.”

Everything was moving and
going. “Oh honey, did you already put the water on?”

“Yes, we over filled the pan
and put it on medium so the water will be preheated and boil faster
when we're ready to start pulling everything together.”

“I don't know why I
asked.”

“Because I’m a teenager and
you should be checking up on me?” As I realized I was talking out
loud she gave a little laugh, “Right you are. What
next?”

“Music, bake the French
bread and set the table.”

We had a great time, I even
washed the dishes and Jett and Storm dried. “My boys have never
worked so hard in the kitchen before” Mrs. McGaven stated, “I'm
going to have to kick up their allowance if they keep this up. “ I
turned to the boys and raised my eyebrows in complete satisfaction
as in '
I told you
so
.'

After dinner, Jett got his
Uncle to come into the living room by himself. Since I didn't have
my paperwork, I had to go off memory but told him everything I
could remember, dates times and places. He asked us questions
jotted some stuff down and then we gave him Cale's name. He sat
back in his chair and put his hand through his hair. Jett was
silent, listening intently, like he was trying to remember
everything I told him verbatim.

Grey had a serious look on
his face “Cale Winters huh,” he said grimly and leaned forward
rubbing his face. “This guy Cale Winters, stay away from him,” he
said in his deep raspy voice. “He is slicker than you’d think. We
have checked on him and he's suspected in foul play....” I
interrupted “Like for Jewel Ann Richardson's murder?”

He just gave me a dead stare
which felt like forever, then he shook his head a bit and continued
like I hadn't interrupted him and glanced away “...his alibis...”
then said and cleared his throat making eye contact with me again “
....he always has one but they seem to be too convenient and he
always has the right answers. We haven't got him on anything yet
but I don't like or trust him and neither should either of
you.”

He finally looked away,
thank goodness, because I couldn't have held his gaze much longer.
I let out a breath. There was a bit of silence until Jett broke it.
“Should we file charges against him or some kind of
report?”

“Well if you saw his face
and could identify him then I would say yes. But from what you’ve
told me, and if it was Winters, then I doubt you saw his face
because he's too careful, every move he makes is calculated. I'll
record this and put it in my report in case anything comes of it
later. That way it will be official, but right now there’s nothing
else we can do without evidence.”

“So this guy can turn into a werewolf or a
bat, that's how he makes a quick get away at the first sign of
trouble,” I remarked. Jett laughed and got up to stretch and his
uncle looked up slowly at me, he looked mad, stared me down again
with his piercing eyes and mouthed to me 'What do you know?' I
raised an eyebrow at him and said quizzically “It's in a book I'm
reading.” I was so startled by his response that I lied.

He slapped his knees and
stood up, Jett and I stood up too. I shook his hand, he grabbed
mine firmly. “Nice to see you again, please keep me updated on
anything, no matter how inconsequential it may seem.” Grey said it
as though he was talking in code and I was to decipher the message.
I blurted out “Did you ever find Jewel Richardson's bracelet?” He
paused shaking his head saying “I don't remember any reports of a
bracelet.”

“It's in the field where she
was murdered; it's silver and shiny with a bunch of charms on it.”
I said in a very neutral voice. “Nooo…” he said suspiciously, “We
haven't found the location of the murder as of yet.”
He
didn't ask me how I knew that bit of information, but he knew where
it came from. Jett on the other hand didn't even question it which
I was glad for, because I shouldn’t’ have said that in front of
him.

Jett added “Were you able to
check Cale’s house?” His uncle looked at him shaking his head. “We
checked out his apartment and we didn't find a thing, it was
spotless, looked like no one lived there, as a matter of fact. We
don’t have a record of Cale living in a house, just an apartment,
what makes you think that?”

“I think Cale lives in a
house,” I announced. The fact that when I woke up on our so called
date and we were outside a house means nothing, anyone could have
owned it, maybe his friend lived there and he just visited. But for
some reason between my story and Topher’s and seeing him there
sick, it seemed as though he lived in that house.

“Don't look at me, I don't
know all the details, just that it's right off of 77 in Brecksville
and it's a white ranch with green trim. “
Jett looked at me
like I was crazy. Grey said “Don't ask.”
I took
the pad of paper from his hands “Do you know what a river birch
is?”

“Yes, but I'm surprised you
do.”

I drew the house and then
the backyard which looked like a wavy shaped oval or
“U.”

“This is a river birch with
four trunks.” I had drawn a stick tree and pointed to the right of
my oval, then pointed to the field. “This isn't a really big hill
but it slopes downward, and here is where, I believe, she was
killed and where the bracelet was dropped.” I marked it with an
'X'. “I've only seen Cale's house once, the other time I was half
asleep so it doesn’t count. Maybe it's Cale's very own back yard.”
I volunteered the information because if it was Cale, I wanted him
caught.

Jett looked at me in
astonishment or was he looking at me like I belonged in a Looney
bin, not sure which; I shrugged and handed Grey his pad of paper
and pen back. “He isn't registered to own anything in the area, but
I'll check into this.” Grey said. “I'll get in touch with you if I
need you for any reason, but by all means call me if anything else
happens and please keep me updated. Maybe we'll put a tail on one
of you to see if anything turns up.” Grey seemed like an alright
guy.

After Detective Grey left Jett turned to me
and asked, “How did you know some of the stuff you were sharing
with Grey? I mean was that what you and my uncle were talking about
before when he came to the school?” So I told him that Topher and I
put everything together from conversations we overheard from Cale.
Jett and I got in his car shortly after that, so he must have been
satisfied with my answer, in any case, I didn’t talk I just looked
straight forward. I couldn't shake the feeling his uncle knew a lot
more than he was telling us. Of course I didn't tell Jett about my
dreams, so he was being left in the dark twice, however, I did say
more than I should have. “Jett did you get the feeling your uncle
was holding back info?” He turned to me and shook his head “I felt
like you both were. Maybe there’s information he's not allowed to
give us, maybe they don't want anyone else knowing certain details
yet.” I gulped at his comment and there was a short pause, “I know
you’ll tell me more when you’re ready.” I smiled at him and shook
my head.