My LOVE is Forever (Book 4-1st Alternate Ending)

Part 38

At 11:45 a.m., I'm over four hours into my drive and coming into Rockford, Illinois. I decide to pull off the expressway for something to eat and to stretch my legs. I pull into a McDonald's restaurant, park, and struggle to walk normally by the time I cross the parking lot to enter the building. I manage to do so and order a grilled chicken salad and a bottled water, taking my meal to a quiet corner of the restaurant to eat. I'm starving and the salad is devoured quickly, the water soon disappears just as fast, but it leaves me only partially sated.

I leave the restaurant and head to a small independent grocery store where I wander the aisles looking for somewhat nutritious grab and go foods. I don't see much, so instead I raid the produce aisle. I grab a couple bananas, a prepackaged salad, some baby carrots, a small can of mixed nuts, a four pack of yogurt, a 12 pack of water and a bag of ice for my cooler. I get everything out to my car, get the cold things and a couple bottled waters into the cooler, then add the ice. A quick stop to fill up on gas and use the restroom again and I'm back on the expressway.

Once I've established myself in a group of drivers, I press and hold the home button on the phone, summoning Siri, "Call Angel."

"Calling Angel, mobile," Siri replies.

I hear the phone ring through my car speakers, "Hey, there you are. Where are you at?" I can almost hear the apprehension in her voice.

"Illinois. I just fed myself and got back on the road," I fill her in.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired, I don't think I'll be driving very late today," I confess.

"Good. Remember to call me when you stop for the night," she reminds me.

"I will," I promise her. We talk a bit longer, she's been getting my mail and tells me that Marcus had mowed my lawn this morning. "Make sure you thank him for me, I appreciate you guys, I really do. I wasn't planning on staying this long." She fills me in some on recent Derik-isms that helps me pass some of the tedious driving time. I think about telling her about the keys I found this morning, but decide I'd rather tell her about it in person, so I let it go. This does remind me that I have to call Tyka to see if she knows anything about them.

When I disconnect with Angel, I summon Siri again to call Tyka. Tyka answers just as quickly and her answer is almost verbatim of Angel's, "Hey, where are you?"

"Illinois," I huff, I'm beyond ready to be home.

"That's pretty good, isn't it?"

"It is, but the drive home always seems longer. I may make this a two night trip," I share my intentions.

"Actually, I think that's a great idea, it's been a busy week for you," her voice is sympathetic.

"I'll call you when I stop," I tell her. "Hey, Tyka?"

"Hmmmm?"

"I found two keys this morning in Prince's office, do you know anything about missing keys?"

"Missing? No. Actually, I don't believe they were missing if they were in his office. What kind of keys?"

"Well, one is for a safety deposit box, the other looks like a padlock key, it says 'Master' on it."

There's silence for a few seconds, "I just recently heard about a storage unit, maybe that's the padlock key. There was an email stating something along the lines of: 'only the key holder could terminate the lease once the unit was emptied'. I haven't heard anything about a safety deposit box."

"Crap," I mumble, "These keys were hidden, Tyka, hidden for me to find. 'Sugar' was written on the envelope the keys were in, but no other information."

"Sounds like Prince," she says thoughtfully, "I'll do some questioning to see what I can find out. I'm not privy to a lot of information, but this seems like something they'll share with me if I let them know you now have the keys in your possession."

"I'm sorry for all this extra work I'm putting on you, Tyka," I apologize.

"No worries. Prince asked me to keep an eye on you, I'm happy to help," she insists. We say our goodbyes and yawn, fighting to keep my eyes open. I decide that I'll be stopping for the night before I leave Illinois.

When I hit a larger town called Champaign, I start eyeing hotels and choose a place called Candlewood Suites and pull in to check the price. When the woman at the desk says $90 I contemplate leaving, but instead remember the cash I had tucked into my purse, I accept the room. Prince would want me to staying somewhere nice and safe, I think to myself as I pay her in cash.

As I register at the desk, some people pass through on their way to the pool, I watch them longingly. "How late is the pool open?" I ask the receptionist.

"Midnight," she smiles. I nod as she hands me the key card to my room, and I leave through the lobby. Instead of gathering my things and heading to the room, I hop back into my car and drive a couple miles to the nearest Walmart. I need a swimsuit, for some reason the prospect of swimming sounds too relaxing to pass up.

I return to the hotel with a swimsuit pretty quickly, I didn't care the style, and I won't really be wearing it often, my main concern was that it fit. It's a hideous, one-piece deal with a skirt to help disguise my growing belly, but I know I'll ever see anybody that I encounter here at the pool today ever again. I quickly call Angel and Tyka, giving them my location and room number, then strip out of my clothes and pull on the swimsuit. I let my hair loose from its ponytail, grab a towel and head for the pool. I'm relieved to find the pool area empty except for one woman lying on a chaise reading. I drop my towel and step in, lowering myself into the slightly chilly water, then I dive under, crossing half the length of the pool before surfacing for air.

Oh, this is heaven, I think, as I feel weightless in the water. The exercise releasing the stress of the last few days, weeks, and even months. I forget about everything except the calming sensation that the swimming provides until physical exhaustion takes over. Before I get too tired, I pull myself from the water and return to my room where I slip on a clean nightie and eat my second salad of the day, followed by a yogurt. With the television as company, I drift off into a deep sleep.