Lake Chantrain

This is part of my series about Kelsey and Susan of 'Shotgun' and 'Susan's Sunrise'. This story is very long, emotional, and descriptive. It's also 'Hallmark Channel' sweet. I suggest the order being, Shotgun> Susan's Sunrise> Lake Chantrain> Susan's Renaissance > A Chance and a Change. This story is a time commitment. If you like my story Shotgun, which definitely runs Hallmark Channel sweet, I think you will like this one. If you did not like it, I suggest saving yourself the time.

I have broken this down into parts with titles to allow you to have an easy place to stop and pick up again from a distinct place in the story.

This is the first of three already written chapters released about a week apart if they are approved in the usual 2 to 3 days.

This story is the sequel to 'Shotgun'.

Flying J = Truckstop. A bit of a misnomer as they usually refer to themselves as travel centers and the front is usually dedicated to fueling automobiles and the side or rear is where trucks are handled. They often have a large convenience mart plus from one to five fast food places inside such as Subway, Wendy's, Cinnabon, Perkins Pancakes, Denny's, etc.

HIPAA = a set United States of laws and often a form that permits only certain designated people to receive medical information about another person.

'The girls' = boobies

Erection company =This means a crane company you pervs!

DSLR= Camera with changeable lenses.

The carpet matches the drapes. Pubic hair is the same color as head hair color. IE hair color probably not dyed.

My universe, my rules.

This story parallels Susan's Renaissance. There is overlap, but not every event in one is covered in the other story and some mentioned in detail in one are glossed over in the other.

Lake Chantrain

The sequel to Shotgun

Part 1.

Saturday, July 21, 2018

A Reunion.

I woke up with Kelsey spooned up against me, her arm over my side, a wonderful way to start the day every day. I still marveled that I was married and this wonderful woman who wanted to spend the rest of her life with me. Love. I was loved and this woman sought to be physically close to me, even when sleeping. She was my best friend, my lover and she craved physical contact with me.

She was mine... ALL mine, and gave herself willingly and completely every day and smiled at me while doing it. Her only unspoken request in return was to be loved back and it was the easiest of bargains to keep. Two months ago, I had no idea what husband-wife love could be. Hearing steady breathing next to me... Warm loving wonderful company that she is. She was part of me now, another thing I did not understand until it happened. Kelsey was the other half of me.

My parents have been married for almost thirty years and I was hoping my marriage was going to copy theirs. They were best friends and lovers and hated their time apart. I guess I was hoping to pattern from what my parents had done. Some men would call being around their wife most of the time hell. To me, the thought was heaven and yes, I know I am wired differently than most. Perhaps, it was because of my parents that I thought this way because they truly deeply enjoyed each other in and out of the bedroom.

Life was never better... then it wasn't.

My cell rang at a quarter until seven from a phone number in Princeton, West Virginia. There was a woman calling who asked, "Are you Andrew Abrams, the husband of Kelsey formerly Kelsey Malley daughter of Susan McCoy formerly Susan Malley?"

I answered, "Yes." There was enough concern in my voice that Kelsey roused quickly and was looking at me.

The woman said, "I am Deputy Ann Wells of the Mercer County Sheriff's Office. May I speak to your wife?"

The request really wasn't actually a request, but I had no desire to argue with law enforcement anyway so I handed Kelsey my phone. Kelsey answered hello then listened. Her face changed from neutral to concerned then she began to look stricken and then began to shake. She dropped the phone and then began to cry.

I took the phone up and said, "Something is clearly wrong and Kelsey is not doing well. What is going on?"

Ann said, "Her mother has been shot and beaten. Her husband and four relatives were killed."

I sat stunned while Kelsey was sobbing then asked, "You said her mother was shot and beaten? Where is she now?"

Deputy Wells said. "Yes, Princeton Charity Memorial in Princeton, West Virginia."

I asked, "How did you find us? I don't give out my cell number to many places."

Deputy Wells said matter of factly, "We have a search warrant for our murder and attempted murder investigation and Kelsey is a relative of one of the victims. Your name and address are on your marriage license application to her and through tax records, we know she is the natural daughter of Susan McCoy. I called Middletown, New York Police who ran your DMV records for us which had your phone number."

Wow. Funny how Earl had helped us even though that was probably the last thing on his mind. He had put my home address when he applied for my marriage license and forged my signature. No wonder Deputy Wells asked if I was a certain person in relation to Kelsey in relation to Susan. I wasn't offended and we needed to get moving.

I thanked Deputy Wells and said we would be in touch directly to answer any questions then ended the call. I hated to leave Kelsey alone but I had to make the next call without her knowledge. I called the hospital and finally got through to a doctor though it took several minutes. I identified myself as Kelsey's husband and asked, "Am I planning a funeral or a visit?"

The doctor said I was not a direct relative nor was I on the HIPAA form. I pushed and said, "My wife is a mess. She is the daughter of the patient and I need to prepare her."

The doctor sighed and only said, "Visit. 90% chance."

I thanked him and then assured the doctor that the conversation had never happened. He said thank you and I asked no more questions. I'm an internal project engineer and manager. I handle difficult problems that suddenly come up, and I do it well. I went into crisis mode, went into our bedroom, and using my project manager voice that I have used on building sites and said, "We need to go see your mom. Get dressed. Pack enough for a week. Move." I wasn't unkind, but I needed Kelsey to do as I asked and Kelsey was a shuddering mess.

Kelsey looked at me blankly with tears in her eyes, paused, then nodded.

I packed faster so went to my parents' house and told them I was leaving in ten minutes, giving a brief rundown. My mom and dad looked at each other and nodded and did not say a word. My parents are a superb example of a couple who work as a team. My mom said, "She is my daughter now. I will be on my way ten minutes behind you after you tell me where I am going."

I said, "Princeton Charity Memorial Hospital in Princeton, West Virginia."

The support from my family was overwhelming. They never failed me. I LOVE MY PARENTS.

My dad hugged me and I said I would be back in a week or less. I did a quick sweep through the house to make sure things were good, then led my wife to her Rav, opened the passenger door for her and she got in. I hugged her briefly, "I will get you to your mom as fast as I can." Then I squeezed the hug, "I love you."

I ushered her into the passenger seat, closed the door behind her then went to the driver's side, got in, and started her vehicle. We were on the road on I-84 twenty-five minutes after the call ended. Kelsey stiffened, clearly remembering something, and tearfully said, "SHIT!" then started to cry hard again.

I said, "I am sorry. We will be there as soon as I can get us there." My phone in navigation mode said eight hours fifty minutes. I was hoping to shave some of that off but New York State troopers camp on I-84 so I couldn't push it too hard.

She continued to cry then said, "I forgot my toiletries. I only packed clothes." She cried harder.

I knew her crying was actually about her mom and her feared lack of toiletries was just a trigger. Fortunately, because of my job and my talent for quickly putting plans together, I had seen the issue before we left. I said, "I have you covered. When I got my stuff out of the bathroom, I put yours in my case. Besides, Walmart exists in West Virginia."

She was still crying, but was more sniffling than anything. I offered my right hand to her on the console. She took it and squeezed it with surprising strength. She sniffled, "Thank you for... being you."

I smiled, supporting my wife was job one and I loved her.

We met up briefly with my mom roughly halfway there at a gas stop at a Flying J that had a Subway Sandwiches inside on I-81 at the north end of Virginia. My mom said she had emptied her vehicle in case we had to move people or items. After grabbing some sandwiches to go and fueling the car, we were off again. We arrived at Princeton Charity Memorial at a quarter until five that evening. I identified myself then my wife and they told me to go to the third floor ICU.

Five minutes later, my wife was next to her mother. Eeesh, Susan was unconscious and looked to be in pretty rough shape. There was a cast on her left ankle up to near her knee, bandages on her left arm and it looked like a lot more on her left shoulder. She also had a padded bandage on the left side of her face and three fingers on her left hand were splinted.

A doctor came in and looked at the three of us quizzically. I identified my wife as the daughter of the patient. He nodded and then brought over some forms that would designate Kelsey as the point of contact while her mother was unconscious.

Things had improved since that morning, Susan was a fighter and would be moved to the general ward the next morning. Her brain swelling had gone away and it looked like the injuries to her head were not permanent.

My mother and I left to leave Kelsey alone for a while to visit her mom even though she was not conscious. There was a small lobby near the nurses station where I hugged my mom and said, "Thanks. I will need a lot of help making arrangements."

My mom smiled and repeated, "She is my daughter too now."

I silently thanked God for this amazing woman and mother for whom family was her primary mission in life. Leah Abrams is an amazing woman and wonderful parent who never let me down. Her mission in life was simple: Love her family and she he succeeded in her mission completely.

They kicked Kelsey out at eight that evening as that was the end of visiting hours in the ICU. Her mom was still unconscious, but had a noticeably better pinkish warm skin color compared to five o'clock when we arrived. Another thing I noticed was that her breathing seemed more natural and less labored. We had a late dinner at Chick-Fil-A then got rooms at a nearby Holiday Inn Express. We turned in early and I spooned my naked wife against my bare body and held her tight. She sighed, pushed her body back closer into mine, snuggled, purred, and softly said, "I love you Andrew.", before sleep took her in exhaustion.

I love the fact that my wife finds my embrace to be her biggest source of comfort.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

I woke up with Kelsey still in my arms. Yeah, I love sex, but holding her bare body spooned tight is something equally special and this was not the time for sex. I tried moving a bit but she put her arms over mine to keep me from removing them.

She sighed softly, "Hold me a few more minutes. I feel so safe in your arms."

Yeah, I smiled. My wife was holding onto me and making it clear that she loved our embraces as much as I loved holding her. We had to get moving so we got up and hit a quick breakfast at a nearby Wendy's then headed to the hospital. We arrived at the beginning of visiting hours at eight in the morning. It was a good sign that Susan was in the general ward on the second floor now. It was even better when we got to Susan's room and she was awake... kind of.

I had my arm over Kelsey's shoulder as we walked into her mother's room and Kelsey softly said, "Mom?"

Her mom was half out of it when she looked at us then her eyes focused or tried to. It was a minute then her mouth dropped open in shock. Her mom started sobbing. Kelsey ran to her mom who could only half hug her with her good arm and hand. Her head bandage was gone, but I noticed the upper left side of her face was black and blue.

It took several minutes, then her mom looked at her and asked, "He brought you home?"

Kelsey nodded with a big smile, "Mom... I love him and he loves me. We are a true married couple in every sense."

Susan started sobbing again and I said, "We will leave you some private time with your mom."

Susan shook her head and shuddered out, "Please... (shudder) stay..."

She shuddered again then composed herself for a minute then said, "Thank you" to me.

I asked, "Why?"

Susan said, "I can see from the way you had your arm over her shoulder that you love her. I see the way you look at her. Thank you. I have succeeded in only one big thing, but my daughter has the good life I always dreamed of for her."

I smiled and said, "It was a strange start, but I love your daughter and am happy in ways I did not know existed until she came into my life."

Susan smiled.

A male deputy with a patch that said, 'Koslowski' walked in and shortly asked us to leave until he had completed some questioning.

We waited outside the room for fifteen minutes until the deputy left. We went back into the room. Susan sighed and said, "Everyone is dead except me. Earl, his cousins, Bobby Sue. Dead. Whoever they were, they burned everything too."

Susan sighed and silently digested the news she had been given, but did not cry. A minute later she brightened up when she looked at Kelsey, "Your hair is cut and styled. Your clothes are nice!"

Susan looked at me and said, "Thank you."

I said, "Thank my mom. Tuesday the day after we arrived, she bought Kelsey a wardrobe after cutting and styling her hair."

Kelsey said. "Mom owns a small salon."

Susan was confused for a second then asked Kelsey, "You call her mom?"

Kelsey pointed at my mom and said, "Meet my mother-in-law, Leah. I call her mom. She treats me as if I were her born child. Andrew's family is wonderful. His father is dad to me and treats me the same, like his own flesh and blood."

Susan looked at my mom and said, "Then thank you."

My mom smiled and said, "She is now my daughter too."

Susan broke and squeaked out, "Thank you", then started sobbing again.

Kelsey hugged or better described half hugged her mom. Tubes, sensors, and bandages covered her. Susan stopped sobbing as fast as she started then asked, "What is it like? Your life now? I can see he treats you well."

Kelsey gushed, "Mom. Life is everything I dreamed of. Andrew has a house and it's on a lake! He treats me wonderfully. I have food and clothes and... no Earl."

Susan took it all in. I thought she was going to start crying again, but she held it together, "And what do you do now?" Do you work?"

Kelsey said, "I have a job. I give tours of the place we live in. I work at the hotel there. I'm going to be an accountant in four years though."

Susan's eyes widened in shock, "College?"

Kelsey nodded, "COLLEGE! I'm an accounting major this fall."

Susan lost it again.

Two deputies came to her room then asked for us to leave again. One stayed inside with Susan and wanted to ask more questions. The other stayed with us and showed us her badge. Turns out, she was Deputy Ann Wells, the person who had called us the day before, "I would like to ask a few questions."

I nodded as did Kelsey.

She asked, "Do you know anything about any enemies of Earl McCoy?"

I answered, "No, but I knew Earl was in some kind of shady business, but he never confided in me."

She continued, "I know it is a formality, but where were you Friday around ten in the morning?"

I answered, "I was at work with fifty other people in Middletown, New York."

Ann looked at Kelsey, "And where were you?"

Kelsey blushed a bit and said, "I was giving a tour at Lake Chantrain Naturist Resort in Wallkill Township New York."

Ann asked, "If I need them, do you both have witnesses?"

I answered 'yes' and Kelsey said, "About a dozen."

Deputy Wells laughed a bit and said, "Being a tour guide at a nudist resort. That IS a new one."

Deputy Wells chuckled and said, "Sorry, but family is always asked their whereabouts in these things. We believe it was an organized hit."

I nodded and grimaced.

Deputy Wells asked, "You know his business?"

I shook my head and said, "Not directly, but he was not a nice man. He was into something shady, but I was not his buddy. A hit would not surprise me. He was always armed."

Kelsey asked, "What happened?"

Deputy Wells said that she could only give us the publicly available information but said the cousins were killed at the trailers and the trailers were burned after Earl had been killed at his station and that it was torched. A video feed from Earl's Station showed four men came into the station while Earl was alone and immediately shot him four times in the head, killing him. He had never even looked up when they entered and he was dead within fifteen seconds of them stopping their vehicle. It was an obvious hit.

A separate video feed pointing outside showed Susan arriving in a separate vehicle as the men left a few seconds after setting the station ablaze after they had killed Earl. They took nothing then simply poured gasoline onto the floor then lit it.. The video feed was automatically uploaded to a cloud space by Earl's security company and had been retrieved.

Susan had driven to the station and parked in a space at the side of the garage. She saw the men, started to turn and ran away when she saw them but she was shot twice in the upper left shoulder as she fell and hit her head against a car. They kicked her several times until they saw a deputy's car approaching on a patrol right after the fire was started. One had raised his gun to fire again but had panicked and left when they saw the approaching patrol car. They got in two separate SUVs. The deputy in the first arriving car decided to render aid to Susan and called for backup. The men left and went to the trailers where they apparently killed the cousins and torched all five trailers.

Two of the men were shot and killed when found in McDowell County to the west and two were still at large. They did not think Susan was a target but would patrol extra around the hospital for a few days to make sure.

Deputy Wells left then smiled and said, "Well, I have to get back to the station and make a report. Please report to me if you want to leave before a day or two. I may have follow-up questions."

Deputy Wells left then we went back into Susan's room. After composing herself, Susan looked at Kelsey and asked, "You really live in a house now?"

Kelsey smiled and nodded then pulled out her phone and pulled up some family pictures. Susan was in wonder at the fact her daughter had a nice phone. She asked, "You have a cell now?"

Kelsey realized her mother likely only knew what she knew at the end of May with no knowledge of the things that had happened since we left for New York. Kelsey nodded and said, "Mom. I want for nothing, My mother-in-law bought me this phone while Andrew was at work the first full day back. I have an SUV now, too!. Andrew bought me a Rav 4. It's a 2015 just like his Camry!"

Susan lost it again and sobbed, being almost shocked at how much better her daughter's life had turned.

Susan stroked Kelsey's face and said, "Your face is happier. You don't have the worries you did when you were at the trailers."

Susan's face changed and she suddenly had a huge smile as she leaned back with her black and blue face and smiled kind of laughing, "You made it! You actually escaped and you made it!!!"