The Passenger by Jacqueline Druga (ebook reader ink .TXT) 📕

He reached over and lifted the plate. “Now, have some watermelon because my wife will give me all kinds of grief if she finds out I didn’t feed you.”

Jonas smiled and grabbed a slice of watermelon. “Thank you. And … thank you for being there that night.”

“More than you realize, Chip, I’m glad I was there.”

Jonas brought the watermelon near his mouth. He could feel the juice run down his fingers. He was really glad he had talked to Old Joe. He felt better.

The conversation, the porch, Old Joe, Jonas was glad he happened to end up in Williams Peak. Eventually he would learn the reason, until then, Old Joe gave him not only that slice of watermelon and wisdom, but maybe the direction he needed to take.

SIXTEEN

Russ figured, ‘why not’, when Pastor Rick asked if he wanted to take the ride into Fremont with him. Pastor Rick knew how much Russ enjoyed going to Fremont. And since Russ’ wife never liked to take the short drive, Russ went there whenever he could. A lot of people from Williams Peak went there to get things they needed to avoid the bigger city.

It was Russ’ day off and Fremont had a lot of great things about it. They had that Super Walmart, and you could go to Fridays Restaurant for lunch. Russ loved Fridays. His go to eatery in Fremont used to be the Ponderosa Steak House. It was actually one of the last remaining Ponderosa’s in the country.

There was a good bit Russ could do to pass time while the Pastor did his hospital visits.

One place in particular was Guitar World. It sold everything and anything that had to do with music. Not that Russ knew how to play any instrument, but he enjoyed looking at the things. And on this day, he was more inspired to go. During the drive, his friend gushed about how good the contemporary service was going to be, especially after they obtained what they needed. Russ was inspired. Pastor Rick rambled on about the problems they faced, what the contemporary band needed, and what they’d eventually get once their budget allowed.

That’s when Russ had the idea he’d get a little gift for the church. His contribution. It wouldn’t be the first time Russ had got a gift for the church, nor would it be the last. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, but it was the first time he was flying blind on what to get.

The baby Jesus for the life size nativity scene was pretty specific, as were the advent calendars to give to each kid in Sunday school. For this, Russ was only armed with the information Pastor Rick had given him.

The guy in Guitar World looked like he was still in high school, but more than likely he wasn’t. Everyone looked young to Russ. He wanted to get one of the older, seasoned workers, but they were all busy.

The teen looking clerk was really attentive, nodding and putting on a face that said he was listening.

“I’m stuck,” Russ said. “I want to get something for the contemporary band, but I just don’t know what.”

“Okay, so you don’t play?”

“No.”

“You don’t even go to the church?”

Russ shook his head.

“But you want to help, and you know the drums are loud, there’s no keyboard playing.”

“They have someone to play, but only the organist Miss Milly.”

The young man cringed some. “Organ has its place, dude, not sure it works with contemporary worship.”

“Yes. That’s what I was told. Any suggestions?”

“Yeah, we’ll get you a keyboard and we can do a drum shield.”

“What is that?” Russ asked.

“Kind of like sound proofs the drums.”

“Perfect.”

“What kind of keyboard?” the clerk asked.

“Something inexpensive but not cheap.”

“All right let’s look at the boards.” He gave a wave of his hand for Russ to follow him.

Russ did, looking around as he walked. “You know I always wanted to play.”

“Never too late to learn. I can see you holding a sweet acoustic.”

Russ chuckled, then stopped when he saw it. It screamed at him, caught his eye, and not because it was something he wanted to buy. Something about it turned on his police instincts immediately.

“You like it?” the clerk asked. “We figured it was custom made.”

Russ stared at the electric guitar. The design across the front was cheese curls and eerily similar to his obnoxious travel mug.

Immediately his mind went back to a few days earlier when he watched Chip fixing the garden.

“Are you alright?” Russ had asked him when he noticed Chip went into this ‘deer in the headlights’ stare.

“Your coffee mug.”

“My daughter got this for me. Ugly, isn’t it?”

“It seems familiar. I don’t know why. The pattern. The cheese curl pattern is just …I’ve seen it. I know it.”

“Maybe you have one. Or a love of cheese curls.”

It was completely possible Chip had jumped to that sound board because he was a musician but didn’t remember.

Russ pointed to it. “Custom made meaning what?”

The clerk shook his head. “Someone had this made and picked this pattern.”

“So, this is used. How long have you had it?”

“Not even a week. Not sure the guy who brought it in was even a guitar player. Sold it really cheap to us.”

“Were you the one?” Russ asked. “Did you buy it from him?”

“No, our manager did.”

“Is he around?”

“No, he’s off today.”

Russ reached into his back pocket, removed his wallet and pulled out a business card. He handed it to the young clerk. “Could you give this to him and have him call me. I would like information about the guy who brought that in.”

The clerk read the card. “Whoa, chief of police in Williams Peak.”

“Yeah. We have an accident victim, amnesia. I think he may be a musician and something he said the other day about cheese curls looking familiar. I may be way off. Who knows?”

“I’ll give this to the manager.”

“I appreciate it. Now, let’s look at those keyboards.”

The young clerk led the way again. Not only did Russ look once more at the