Chapter 19 rewrite

The Internet café had closed by the time Edmond and Susan got back to Portland. They went to Susan's apartment, and used Susan's computer. Her roommate started to give Susan a hard time about it being awfully late to have a man in her room, but she saw the looks on their faces and realized that they were very serious about whatever it was they were doing, and that they were not in any mood for games. Then she realized that this must be the Edmond Randolph that Susan had mentioned earlier. "What's going on?" she asked. Susan replied, "We're afraid that Mark has kidnapped Lena." There was a pause, while the other young woman tried to decide if Susan was serious or not. "Surely he wouldn't do that." Edmond spoke up, "Let's hope not, but right now, both of them seem to be missing. Lena's vehicle is at her apartment building, Mark's is not at his." Susan made some quick introductions, "Edmond, this is Marguerite, Marguerite, this is Edmond." "Just call me Maggie. Marguerite is way too long, and it sounds way too formal." Edmond surveyed Maggie's long, curly black hair for a moment, and her expressive dark eyes. "Maggie it is, then. Nice to meet you." They shook hands. “Pardon me for not standing,” Edmond said.Edmond started checking more county records on line, getting farther and farther away from Portland. Finally, he found a listing for the Poppengales in Tillamook County. He copied down that address, and kept searching the Northwest corner of the state. He didn't find anything else that looked likely. He went to Mapquest and got directions. Susan looked over his shoulder. "That's a long drive," she sighed. Edmond nodded his head. "A little over an hour and a half. Not much longer than what we drove from here to the place near Mount Hood." Edmond craned his neck so that he could see her face. She was tired; he could see it. Still, he was anxious, and he believed she was, too. They had just spent three and a half hours on a red herring, and neither one of them wanted to do that again. That was why he had checked every county in this part of the state, but there was still no guarantee that Mark had even taken Lena to one of his parent's properties. "If you don't feel up to it..." his voice dropped off. He really didn't know what to do next if she didn't. He was not willing to wait until the morning to check this out. He would have to find some other way out to Tillamook Bay. Susan took a deep breath. She didn't want to let Lena down. "No, I'm okay. Let's do this." Maggie asked, "Do you want me to go with you?" Edmond was unsure. A part of him felt like more people would be better, but, at the same time, he wasn't sure what to expect at the bay, and he didn't want to endanger any more people than absolutely necessary. Susan bit her lip, and looked at Edmond. Edmond returned the look, but there was no answer in his eyes. Of course, more people meant that Susan’s car would be more crowded. Finally, Susan made a decision, "No, I think we'll be all right. If I'm not back by morning, though, you know where we went,” gesturing at the computer screen, still showing directions to a house near Tillamook Bay. A thought struck Edmond. "Do you have any kind of a weapon?" Susan shook her head, but Maggie said, "I carry mace in my purse." "Can we get that from you, just in case?" "Sure." Maggie got her purse, dug out the mace, and handed it over. “Be careful with that, though. It’s pretty strong stuff; don’t use it unless you really mean it.”
Edmond nodded, Susan thanked her, and they went out the door, hoping that this wasn’t another wild goose chase.