Chapter 6
As they walked out of the coffee shop Susan noticed that a breeze had thinned the thick clouds, the summer sun devouring the droplets as it reclaimed the sky. She inhaled deeply the ocean scent and picked the sound of waves sizzling into the sand from that of children laughing, people talking as they walked on the beach.
"Do you like art?" Brad asked as they walked, looking out across the beach at the fog bank retreating to the horizon.
"Yes." Susan responded.
"Well, there's an art show at San Lorenzo Park. Would you like to check it out?"
"Sure."She said cheerfully.
San Lorenzo Park was just a short distance. Everything in Santa Cruz county is just a short distance. Five minutes after getting into the Land Rover they were at the park.
San Lorenzo Park is a long expanse of lawn shaded by old oak trees. The Park carpets the east side of the San Lorenzo River. Even with the art show running down the center of the Park in two rows of white tents, there was still plenty of room around the show for the normal daily activities of people throwing frisbies, dogs chasing them, or sticks being thrown for them. Opposite to the river side of the Park, families spread blankets and placed plates of food from baskets on them under the shade of the trees. Even with the activity, the crowd was lite. Tomorrow would be Saturday, and the place will be packed over the weekend.
Brad and Susan slowly meandered down the center of the aisle, inspecting the handcrafted wares inside the tents. Susan lingered at the jewelery booths, Brad appeared to casually look around with his hands stuffed in his pockets as Susan made comments to him about the craftsmanship of the items she was looking at. Brad would look at what she was showing him and he would comment on it, then casually glance around again as if he was looking at the other displays, but he was looking at the people.
Across the aisle he noticed a man also looking around while his wife inspected some metal work. Their eyes met for a split second before the man continued to move his gaze down the row of tents. What Brad noticed was the man's eyes seem to catch on Brad's before he moved on, studying the tents beyond where Brad and Susan stood. Brad registered the man's face and body build, sharp features, short brown hair, almost military looking, athletic built, stood about the same height as Brad, 6' 2", about the same weight too, 210 pounds. The man's eyes were dark - intense, not the look you would expect from a person casually walking through an art show with his wife. Brad studied her for a moment also. She was bent over, her right side in Brad's view. She had long, black hair, which could easily be a wig. She wore jeans, sandles, and , like the man with her, a loose shirt, which could easily conceal a small caliber weapon.
As Brad continued to observe people, he kept the couple in his periphery vision, waiting for the woman to face him so he could register her face in his mind. Eventually she stood, turned and walked out of the tent. Brad glanced in her direction, her eyes meeting his. She immediately turned to the man next to her and started talking. As they walked down the aisle a couple of booths, they turned into another one, never looking back at Brad.
'It could be nothing.' Brad thought, but his training and experience told him that it was something. He was pretty sure the couple was a tail. It was subtlties in their movements, but mostly it was the look in their eyes. Their movements were of a couple having a casual day at the Park, but their eyes were those of a couple with a purpose. It was just a glance. Just a moment of thinking they had been made, their eyes showing the slightest appearance of surprise before cloaking over again into the seriousness of the job. Brad spotted it. They might have been pros, but so was he and they didn't know that.
As Brad and Susan resumed their tour, slowly walking down the aisle, she looked at Brad and smiled, then put a hand on his forearm and tucked her arm through his.
"This is really nice." she said.
"What's nice?"
"Well. Everything." She released her hand from his forearm and waved it to the sky. "The sun came out and it's a beautiful day. This Park is charming, the art show is fun, and I'm enjoying your company."
Brad realized he was enjoying his self too. He glanced up at the sky, not really noticing before, as Susan seemed brighter than the sun. He looked around the Park for the first time, rather than assessing the people, he looked at the Park and decided it was a beautiful setting, but mostly he was enjoying Susan. He was enjoying the clean scent that he smelled when he stood close to her. Her stride was carefree and she moved her body as if she liked being in it. Her almond shaped green eyes sparkled with life when she looked at him, and her infectious laughter came easy. He liked it when she removed her sandles and spun around on the grass with the straps dangling from her fingers. He liked the way she looked in cut off levi's, how the muscles moved on her legs when she walked Yes, Brad was having a good time. He was enjoying her completely.
Getting two iced tea's from a food vendor booth, they walked in between two of the artist tents and went to the side of the park away from the show and sat on the grass in the dappled shade of an oak tree. They sat in comfortable silence, leaning back on their elbows, watching people having a summer afternoon, feeling the cool of the river swimming through the air.
"I came here for a reason today." Susan said as she laid back on the grass, stretching her arms over her head. "Today is my 30th birthday. I was in my office first thing this morning and had a revelation, sort of a re-evaluation of what's important in life. I realized that someday, when I'm an old lady, wearing purple, as the poem goes, and look back on my life, what kind of memories would I have. What I saw was disappointing. I came here today searching for a life that I once had, that I seemed to have invisioned and also left here, in Santa Cruz." She fell silent, her eyes closed, she listened to the russle of the leaves in the breeze, the sound of birds in a musical conversation, children calling to each other and laughing in the distance.
"How's that working out for you?" She heard Brad ask.
She opened her eyes and leaned on one elbow. "I don't know yet. What I thought might happen and what's really happening are worlds apart, but, sometimes what you're looking for comes dressed much differently than you expect." She paused in thought. "I'm staying open to the movements of the day.
"My dad used to tell me to always keep an open mind and not pass judgments. He said when ever I pass judgment I'm not allowing myself the fullness of the situation. I'm not learning all that I can from the scenario."
"Your dad sounds like a level headed man." Brad said.
"Was a level head man. My mother and he died a few months ago. " she said with a tinge of sadness.
"I'm sorry, Susan. Sounds like an accident."
"Yes. Well, that was the conclusion reached by the authorities. A gas line broke in their house and exploded. They were asleep when it happened, or at least it appeared that way, but I've always had troubles believing that. Dad kept everything in top shape. He was almost obsessive about repairs, and was a very good handyman." She paused and then shrugged her shoulders. "But, as much as that just doesn't sound right to me, I have no choice but to accept it. There just doesn't seem to be another option to what happened."
A red flag rose in Brad's mind. There was another option, he considered, thinking back to the goon that had confronted Susan earlier in the day. People are looking for Jeff, and they believe him to be alive. What ever they want him for, or from him, seemed to be big. If his where abouts brought them to a dead end, determination may have taken them to other avenues of finding him - his family. If they couldn't get the information out of the parents, their death would be a loud message. They would assume that Jeff would read the message, know that the exploding house was not an accident. They would wait for him to appear, and they would do it by watching his sister, the only family that he had left. Brad had a feeling that Susan was in much greater danger than she realized.
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