Page 11 of Midnight

Nora.

They’d let time and distance change the paths they’d meant to take. Dad said she’d turned into a real beauty, but he didn’t see how she could have gotten any prettier. She’d always been a beauty to him, and he also read between the lines of his dad’s text. Crying shame.

“Yes, Dad, I screwed up on that front,” he muttered, and then the light turned green, and he drove through the intersection.

There was still time and distance between them, and right now, there was nothing he could do about it, and it was after 8:00 p.m. before he made it home. His feet were dragging as he walked into the house, hung up his Stetson, left his wallet and keys on a silver tray in the foyer, and then went to his bedroom, locked up his gun, and took off his boots.

He sat down on the side of the bed to order DoorDash, then changed into a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and a pair of thick fuzzy socks, and walked back into the living room, plopped down on the sofa, and turned on the TV.

He was tired. So damn tired, but the current investigation he’d been involved in was finally over, which meant a lull in stakeouts and hunting down witnesses who flew the coop before they were meant to testify at trials. By tomorrow, there would likely be a handful of new cases and more facts to confirm, and reluctant witnesses to find, but not tonight. The text from his dad had resurrected old memories, and not all of them were about Nora.

He leaned back and closed his eyes, but when he did, all he saw was the look on his mother’s face that last day when she took them to school. It was almost as if she was memorizing their faces.

A whole hour had passed, and he was almost asleep whenhis doorbell rang. “DoorDash,” he muttered, reminding himself that was still imminent, and got up. A few minutes later, he was downing a chopped brisket sandwich and a double order of onion rings and thinking about what was on the agenda tomorrow. But this was still today, and he was weary to the core.

First food.

Then a shower.

And finally, bed.

But alone. Always alone, except for tonight. Tonight, he took memories of Nora with him and woke up regretting that he’d let her slip through his fingers. At that moment, he rolled out of bed and called into work.

“What’s up on the agenda?” he asked his boss.

“Nothing. Our witness turned up in court, thank you very much for your efforts, and we just got some delays on the other cases… Why?”

“Then I’m requesting the next two days off for personal reasons,” Ash said.

“Done. Be safe. See you in three.”

Ash sighed. “Thank you.”

Then he made a call to the hangar where he kept his chopper.

“Rafael, this is Asher Kingston. I need you to fuel up my chopper and do a thorough flight check. I’m flying out this morning.”

“Will do, Mr. Kingston. It will be ready,” Rafael said.

After that, Asher filed a flight plan, packed an overnight bag, and went to shower and shave.

He ate toast standing up in his kitchen and took a to-go cup of coffee as he headed for the hangar, and called his dad as he drove.

When Jacob answered on the second ring, Asher could hear the surprise in his voice.

“Morning, son! What’s up?” Jacob said.

“Just calling to let you know I’m coming to Crossroads this morning in my chopper. Didn’t want you to freak out when I land in the open land behind the house.”

“That’s awesome! What’s going on?”

“Nora. I didn’t know she lost her mother. I didn’t know her dad even had Alzheimer’s. I didn’t know she was still single. The thought of all she’s gone through alone is hard to hear. I’m about to pay my respects. If she runs me out, I’ll be spending the night with you. If she doesn’t, I’ll be there, hoping to talk my way back into her life.”

“Finally,” Jacob said. “Safe travels. See you later.”

“Right, and thanks for the heads up,” Asher said, and disconnected.

* * *