CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE Hunter

A tap on my already open office door caused me to startle. After embarrassingly recovering from a near yelp, I saw Jay Hayes filling the frame of the door with his massive body. I was a big guy myself, but Jay was built like a bull. All chest muscles and huge arms trying to bust out of his uniform shirt. Surprisingly, I'd never seen him as a sexual being, even though he was quite striking to look at. Probably because I preferred my men slighter in build with less muscle.

"The doctor said yes, boss," he said, greeting me with his usual sunshiny face. "Jennie is beyond excited to match the pair of you up."

I wasn't going to lie. His news was music to my ears. I hadn't seen or spoken to Ben since the flat tire event. We'd shared a nice dinner of wings and a salad I managed to put together, as well as a nice evening of getting to know one another better. I found Ben to be a bit private about his backstory and hadn't pushed for information he wasn't willing to be forthright about.

"So, dinner is on?" I asked. "When?"

"Is Friday okay? Jennie wants this to happen right away," he stated.

"This Friday? Like in two days?" I confirmed.

He nodded enthusiastically. There was a question that had been gnawing on my brain since the entire topic of his wife setting up two men had occurred. I needed to be politically correct as his immediate supervisor, but I also wanted to know the answer.

"I mean this respectfully, Jay," I began. "And particularly so due to it being a question about religion."

"Go on, Boss. I'm cool with religious questions," he stated, sliding onto a chair across my desk.

"I guess I'm kinda confused about your wife setting up two known gay men on a date."

He laughed as well as blushed, leaning forward. "The Mormon thing?" he asked. I nodded my head and hoped to God I wasn't going in a direction that professionally I should avoid at the workplace.

"Yeah, that," I confirmed.

Jay crossed his arms while nodding in agreement. He looked exactly like I did. Like he questioned the same thing. "Jennie is in love with the idea of love," he began. " All love."

"Well, that sure seems like a nice way of thinking."

"She'd never say this to you, Boss, but Jennie was a mess when Mark died. She really liked him so much and thought the two of you were a match made in heaven," he said, realizing the whole heaven word and smiling sheepishly. "See? There's that heaven connection she believes in."

"Mark was popular for sure," I commented, feeling a familiar pang when others spoke about him like this. "Jennie and he were in the same class."

Jay leaned even closer. "She had a secret crush on him."

"No way!" I insisted. "Really?"

"She told me that Mark and she became close friends in high school after you graduated. He stuck up for her when other kids picked on her conservative style of dressing. Particularly because her parents forced her to wear dresses every day. Mark used his popularity to ease her struggle," he explained. "The two of them remained close until… well, you know. I did my best not to be jealous of ‘em."

I leaned back in my chair, remembering the incredible soul that Mark had been. Hearing others bring up memories of him had begun to make me feel good, rather than sad. Was time truly beginning to heal my destroyed heart?

"Well, buddy. Your choice of a wife was a terrific pick for you. Jennie is wonderful," I said, appreciating him sharing the kind story and hoping he'd leave after.

"One more thing I think you should know before you come over. You know, just in case it comes up and so you don't think she's lost a screw or two," he began, looking behind himself to see who might be nearby in the office.

I leaned forward. He looked a bit too serious for my taste. I hated when people told me weird shit about their spouses, girlfriends, or boyfriends. "Maybe you should stop right there, Jay," I encouraged.

"I can't," he insisted. "Jennie says that Mark came to her in a vision," he blurted out.

Okay. That wasn't exactly what I'd expected to hear. "A vision?"

He nodded profusely and checked behind himself again. "Another thing she shouldn't be embracing, to tell you the truth, boss. We're not supposed to pretend we get visions. That's up to the elders of the church."

"So you think she's pretending to see this… umm… vision? Of Mark? My dead husband?"

"I'm beginning to think she's not pretending," he admitted.

This time, after his statement, he stood and closed the door. "Maybe you should stop right there, Jay," I said, feeling slightly unnerved with the subject matter as well as the door being closed. I glanced through the glass wall and past him. Cass perked up as soon as my door closed.

"I can't," he said. "I think it might be important too." Jay sat back down and placed his hands calmly on my desk. I assumed he was waiting for me, wondering if I wanted further explanation.

I was unsure what I wanted. "Umm, okay," I began. "So… why exactly do you think that?"

"So get this," he said. "Unlike most folks, Jennie didn't see the doctor's picture in the paper those first two weeks. In fact, she hadn't been in to meet him either. You know, for the prenatal stuff she sees a doctor for." He took a deep breath. "I had an old newspaper in my SUV and was packing a bunch of trash out of it. The paper included. And I took the trash to the inside of our house."

"Yes," I said, motioning with my hand, encouraging him to get to the fucking point on his sort of creepy story. "The picture. The trash."

"Now remember, she'd never seen his picture before that day," he reminded me.

"Yes, yes. I got it."

"Well, Jennie took the paper out of my hand when she noticed his photo, opening the full-page cover with his picture. I swear to you, boss. She had to sit down," he declared. "Then she spread the paper on the table and got this strange… no… weird look on her face."

My deputy had me transfixed by this point. He could be spinning the biggest line of bullshit I'd ever heard, but damn , he could tell a story. I'd never noticed that about him before.

"Then she tapped the doctor's picture and said, ‘ Okay, I'll make sure he knows, Mark. '"

The news caught me off guard. I practically jumped out of my chair. With that, Jay stopped talking. We had a staring contest for nearly thirty seconds before I gave in and spoke.

"What the fuck does that even mean?"

He pointed at me. "Exactly!"

"Exactly what?" I asked. "Get to the goddamned point, Deputy!"

Jay got quiet, eerie looking really. "Apparently, Mark told her to set you up with the new doctor."

"Bullshit!" I huffed, picking up a ballpoint pen and clicking the tip nonstop. "No fucking way," I insisted. Click-click. Click. Clickety-click. "Uh-uh," I rasped.

"That's what I said, boss," he agreed. "I swear on my unborn baby that she said that, actually believes that. Ever since that night two weeks ago, she's been bugging me about the dinner invite. She insists she has to make this happen."

I had a half dozen retorts, but none seemed kind to say to him. Jay was delivering a message from his wife. The strangeness of it wasn't his fault. I knew Jennie. She had never displayed kookiness to me. In fact, she was soft-spoken, direct but respectful, and certainly shy. I couldn't imagine her having this conversation with her husband.

"She speaks to Mark regularly?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

Jay shook his head. "Nope, only that once. And she says they didn't actually speak to one another. She just received the message loud and clear."

"Oh, I see. Just that once," I muttered, wanting to scream in his face that his wife was a nutcase. But I couldn't do that. Jennie Hayes was probably the most normal, sedate, calm, late twenty-something I'd ever met.

"So," Jay began again. "The whole religious question about setting up a gay couple. Well, let's just say that Jennie is convinced she has to do as Mark said in her vision."

"Well, okay then," I responded, standing up in the hope he'd leave so I could freak out alone. "Friday? And at what time?"

"You don't believe me?" he asked.

"I believe you witnessed this, Jay. I'm not sure Jennie heard or saw what she thinks she did, but I'm willing to be open to the idea."

"Without thinking she's crazy?

I had two problems now. One . Jay had included me in a very unusual story about his wife. Two . He probably thought that I thought his wife was crazy. Make that three problems. I'd be seeing his wife in two days, wondering what the hell she thought she'd seen or heard.

"If Mark is communicating with anyone, I'm happy he chose Jennie," I said. "And tell your lovely wife that I look forward to seeing you both on Friday."

Jay stepped backward toward the closed door, reaching behind his back to open it and then backed out completely. I wasn't sure he believed me about my feelings concerning Jennie's vision. But I was absolutely positive I didn't believe anything I'd just heard.