Chapter 2
Roger woke up when Lara closed the bathroom door. He hoped that she wouldn't be long because his bladder was almost ready to burst. Within minutes he heard the toilet flush and she walked out of the bathroom. He made a dash for the bathroom wearing only his underwear, quickly grabbing his pants as he ran by the chair that he had dropped his pants on the night before.
He washed his face, shaved and brushed his teeth. He almost walked back into the other room when he remembered that he had a young girl there. He pulled on his pants and when he was decent, walked into the room where Lara was sitting on her bed. She was giggling.
"That was the fastest I've ever seen a man run."
"I'm going to finish dressing, then we'll go get some breakfast."
Lara looked away and he knew that she was worried about imposing on him. He finished dressing and took her stuff out to the pickup and stashed it under the bed cover.
"It's nice having someone to eat with," he said, trying to put her at ease.
It had snowed about eight inches overnight, but he saw that the road in front of the motel had been plowed and salted. The road was still snow-covered but it was passable. He was sure that the snow removal crews had been working on the interstate all night and the snow would not be much of a problem after he got on the interstate.
When they walked into the restaurant he saw that they were the only customers. There was a different waitress on than the one had that waited on them the night before. As he walked to a booth the waitress gave him a strange look and Lara got a shocked look on her face and looked down at the floor and hurried to the booth and sat with her back away from the counter where the waitress stood.
The waitress walked over to them and stood looking at Lara for a minute and then at Roger. Lara got a sheepish look on her face and looked like she would rather be in hell than in this restaurant right now.
"What the hell is going on here Lara?" the waitress snapped.
"Do you two know each other?"
"I sure as hell do. Who the hell are you and what are you doing with my cousin?"
Roger held up his hand, "How about bringing you and I a coffee and bring Lara a glass of milk. Sit down with us and listen to Lara's story. I'm glad we ran into you. I think you should hear why she's here with me."
She started to snap at him and he snapped at her, "Bring us the coffee and sit with us. I need your input on this."
The waitress went to get the coffee and milk, all the time watching Roger to make sure that he didn't bolt for the door. She set the milk in front of Lara and set the coffee in front of him hard, spilling a little into the saucer. She sat next to a sheepish Lara.
Roger started before either of them had a chance to talk, "Lara, I talked to your mother last night. I'm taking you home this morning. Now tell your cousin why you are running away from home and how you came to be with me."
Lara repeated what she had told him the night before about how she was terrified of Henry and how he was trying to fondle her when her mother wasn't home. She stopped talking and started to cry before she could tell her cousin about how she had met Roger.
"I was in a gas station filling up last night and she came up to the truck and asked for a ride to Syracuse. Two guys were about to pull her into their car and I had to get her out of there fast. I pulled in here and got her something to eat and we got a room for the night. Don't worry, there were two king-sized beds in the room. I didn't try anything. While she was taking a shower, I called her mother and let her know I had Lara and that I would be bringing her home today."
The waitress searched his face, trying to see if he was telling the truth. She looked at Lara and the girl nodded her head. The waitress looked across the room and let out a big sigh.
"That son-of-a-bitch Henry. I told Barbara that he was no good. I'm going to cut his balls off."
"I can't go home. Henry will kill me," Lara said through her tears.
"Believe me Lara. When I leave this town, Henry will no longer be a problem," he said.
An older couple came in and the waitress got up to take their order. She told them that she would be right back as soon as she got their order.
Lara's tears slowed down, she was more embarrassed that her cousin had stumbled onto her than she was worried about going home to her mother.
"What are you going to do about Henry? My mother needs him to take her to work, she can't afford a car."
"I'm going to have to play this scene out as we go. Apparently Mr. Henry is not well liked by your cousin either. What he's doing to you would earn him jail time if I turned him in. I don't think he'll make too much trouble. I don't think he'll put up too much of a fuss."
The waitress brought two breakfasts of pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. She refilled their coffees and sat next to Lara again.
"I told the cook to fix you the country special, is that Ok?"
He nodded and handed her his cell phone, "Why don't you call Lara's mother. I'm sure she's worried sick about her. I did talk to her last night, but I know how I would feel if some stranger had my daughter. Just don't say anything about Henry. I want it to be a surprise when I confront him with it."
The waitress took the phone and dialed a number. Someone answered the phone after the first ring.
"Barbara, this is Pooh. I'm sitting here with Lara. Yes, she's going to come home as soon as she eats. Is everything Ok there? Is Henry there?"
They talked for a while and Pooh tried to convince Lara's mother that her daughter was Ok and that Pooh would make sure she made it home all right. After they had told each other that they loved each other, she hung up.
"Barbara is going out of her mind. She wanted to get Lara last night, but Henry wouldn't drive her. She said for me to make sure that you are all right. You are all right aren't you?'
Roger laughed, "Don't you think that if I had evil intentions that I've had plenty of time to fulfill my desires before we walked into this restaurant?"
"Yeh, I guess so. What are you doing around here?"
Roger went over the story of how he had just sold his company and was just traveling the country. He told her that he didn't really have any intention of stopping at the motel that the snow and the fact that he knew he had to get Lara home made up his mind for him.
"It must be wonderful to be retired at your age."
"One of these days I'll find something else to do. Traveling will get old after a while. By the way, how did you get the nickname of Pooh?'
"When I was a kid, I made everybody read me the Winnie The Pooh books all of the time. I even had Winnie The Pooh stuffed animals all over the house. My name is Evangeline, I like Pooh better."
"Pooh's going to be an FBI agent," Lara said as she shoved a huge fork full of eggs into her mouth.
"I have one more semester before I get my accounting degree. I've had to put myself through college. That's why I'm a little older than most college students. I've talked with some FBI recruiters at college and they've shown some interest, maybe something will develop out of their interest. I'd like to get into the FBI. I've wanted to become an agent all of my life."
"That's a rough career. I look up to anyone that can handle it. You know you'll have to move around a lot. The hours are terrible and you're personal life belongs to the FBI."
She nodded her head in agreement. She got up when the older couple took their check up to the register. After they left she returned to his booth and sat down.
"How come Barbara stays with Henry if he's such a rat?'
"She broke her leg falling down the steps. She couldn't work for a while and she felt that she needed him to help with the bills. I never did like him. He and I have had several run ins and I don't go over there much because every time I do, we get into a fight."
"Do you know that Henry broke her leg shoving her down the steps?'
Pooh got a shocked look on her face and looked at Lara for conformation. Lara just nodded her head.
"That bastard! I would have made Barbara get rid of him long ago if I had known that. You said that you're going to make sure that he's no longer a problem. How are you going to do that?"
"As I said, I'll have to play it by ear. I'm as mad as you about what he was doing to Lara. He must not be much of a man if he has to go after young girls. I don't think he'll be too much of a problem."
He got up and Pooh slid out of the booth so Lara could go with him. They walked to the cash register.
"I wish I could go with you. I have to work a double today. One of the other girls got sick. Will you come back and tell me what happened? And tell Barbara that I'll stop over in the next day or two."
"I'll stop back. I think that I might stay at least another day or two. I want to make sure that Henry stays gone. I'll have to see if that room that I had last night is still available."
"I'll check on it for you," she said.
She dialed the phone that was on the counter. After talking a few minutes to someone she turned to him and told him that he could have the same room.
"They said they'll just add an extra day to your bill if that's all right with you."
He assured her that it was and led Lara out to the truck.