by Kim Pritekel
Without a word, LJ turned away and stormed to his truck. He gave her a final glance before he climbed in and drove away, leaving her gravel drive empty.
“Damn,” she whispered, hoping that of anyone, she’d have an ally in LJ.
Turning to the house, she exhaled in a whoosh. She was suddenly tired and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.
****
LJ slowed his truck as he pulled into the drive-thru of the burger joint. He was truly an asshole. Braking behind the car ahead of him, he ran a shaky hand through his hair. As right as his little sister was—as usual—he struggled dealing with her directness. He always had.
But still, he knew she meant well.
Pulling out his phone, he studied his apps. He remembered Kristie had been messing with his phone a few weeks ago and mentioned something called Snapchat. Glancing up, he moved up a bit as the car ahead of him did. When he looked back down at his phone, he remembered what his daughter had told him about it.
“Okay, I can do this,” he said, logging into the app. Again, he lifted his head to move the car mere inches and returned to the app. He typed out the message.
“Hey, sis. Sorry about earlier. Here’s my chef for the night.”
Nora chuckled as she got a round-robin shot of the fast food drive-thru line and menu. “Stupid son-of-a-bitch,” she said from her bed. “Could have had a home-cooked meal.”
“Love you, Nor. I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.”
Chapter Five
LJ maneuvered his truck into the parking lot of the apartment complex, which consisted of three three-story buildings with a walkway that ran along the dark brown-painted doors and stairs on either end to the lower or upper floors. He pulled the large truck into a parking space and cut the engine.
“Damn,” his passenger said. “Pretty run-down.”
LJ glanced over at his daughter and nodded as he returned his focus to the building before them: Shannon’s building. “Yeah. I guess let’s go have a look-see.”
LJ had gotten Penny Garcia’s number from Nora, and they’d scheduled a time for LJ and Kristie to pick up the spare key to Shannon’s apartment so they could check things out.
“Okay,” Kristie said, following her dad up the stairs to the third floor. “Apartment thirty-four.”
Glancing over at his daughter, her expression as concerned and uncertain as his, LJ raised his hand and knocked firmly on the door before them. A moment later, a Hispanic woman answered, her long, black hair tucked up into a messy bun. She looked from father to daughter with a question in her dark eyes.
“Yes?”
“Hello, Mrs. Garcia,” LJ said, extending his hand. “Larry Schaeffer and my daughter, Kristie. We spoke on the phone?”
“Oh, yes! Come in, please.”
LJ stood aside to let his daughter enter before him then stepped inside, closing the door to the small two bedroom. A cursory glance showed him a run-down unit, though it was obvious the tenant was doing her best as it was clean and fairly neat.
“You two can sit here,” Penny said, her Spanish accent thick. “Coffee?”
“No, thank you.” LJ gave her a polite smile, wanting to get into the apartment. He did have questions, though. “Do you mind if I ask a few things?”
“No,” Penny Garcia said, leaving the room briefly before reentering with a solitary key, which she held out to him.
He took it, enfolding the brass object in his hand, almost as though he were enfolding his youngest sibling’s hand within his own. “What happened?” he asked sagely, still looking down at the hand that held Shannon’s key.
“Well, Shannon told me she was going out and she’d be back. Promised she’d text me when she got back, so I knew the baby was safe. Anyways, I never heard nothing from her and fell asleep. Next day, I was out all day with my son, Ronnie, and his girlfriend and forgot about it. You know, Ronnie is a truck driver, so he’s all over the place, so when he’s in town, I grab him for some time.” She reached over and snatched a tissue from the box of Kleenex on the side table, lightly dabbing at her eyes. “I didn’t know,” she said quietly. “But, next morning, I heard the baby crying.”
LJ cleared his throat softly as he felt his own emotions rising, his concern for Shannon growing. “It’s okay,” he said, reaching over and patting Penny’s knee.
“I didn’t think nothing of it,” she continued. “You know little kids, they cry. But, when I kept hearing her, I knew something was wrong. I tried calling Shannon, but it went to her voicemail, so I was worried, you know? Bella really began to cry when I knocked on the door.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I came back here and got the key,” she said, indicating LJ’s closed hand. “I went back and Bella was all alone.” She began to full-out cry.
Kristie met her dad’s gaze before she moved over to sit next to the upset woman, a hand on her back. “It’s okay,” she said softly.
Penny met Kristie’s concerned gaze. “I didn’t know she was all alone, Miss Kristie.”
“I know.”
Penny took several deep breaths before wiping her eyes and face. “So,” she continued, “I brought her here and called Nora.”
LJ stroked his chin. The stubble told him he needed to shave. “Where was she going? Did she say?”
Penny Garcia looked away. “A date,” she said, though there wasn’t a lot of conviction behind her tone.
“A date?” LJ asked, confused. Then, his stomach dropped. “She’s not…”
“I won’t talk badly about Shannon when she’s not here to defend herself,” the neighbor said, looking down at her fidgeting hands in her lap, as though unable to meet LJ’s gaze.
****
LJ was so afraid to see what lay beyond the brown door, but he knew he had to. He felt better that his daughter was with him. Turning the key he’d inserted into the lock, he turned the knob and pushed. This time, however, not sure what they’d find, he entered first, holding up a hand behind him to halt Kristie. He took a step or two in, eyes everywhere. He listened and heard nothing but a ticking clock somewhere deeper inside the apartment.
Allowing Kristie to join him, LJ walked into the small living area, shocked at the mess he encountered. He knew his youngest sister wasn’t the greatest housekeeper on the planet, but this was even beyond her. Toys everywhere, as well as opened boxes of cereal and cookies. He figured that was from Bella, finding easy things to eat while alone. He also spotted several empty juice boxes littering the floor and couch.
“Damn,” Kristie said. “I’ve never seen Aunt Shannon’s place this gross before.”
“Well, I think a lot of this was Bella,” LJ said quietly. They both spoke in hushed tones, almost as though afraid to disturb something. “She was alone in here for at least a day and a half.”
They headed farther inside back to the hallway, which led to the bedrooms and one bathroom. Bella’s bedroom was like any five-year-old’s bedroom. Shannon’s bedroom, however, looked as if she’d left in a hurry. Her bed was made, but it was messy, as though Bella had been rolling around on it or something had been lying on the comforter. The bathroom was a disaster, makeup scattered all over the small vanity top.
“Looks like she was in a rush,” Kristie said, leaning in from the hallway.
LJ nodded. “Yeah.” He sighed and met her gaze. “Ready to go?”
“Yup.”
****
In the truck on the way back to Pueblo from Shannon’s apartment in Colorado Springs, LJ’s mind was filled with thoughts, worries, and consternation. He sensed his daughter’s gaze on him, which helped to break him out of his thoughts. He glanced over at her.
“What?”
“What did Mrs. Garcia mean by ‘date’?” she asked, the word in air quotes. “The look on your face told me it wasn’t exactly meeting the guy down the street for dinner.”
LJ let out a heavy sigh and reached up, readjusting the baseball cap he wore. He’d never spoken to Kristie about Shannon, who was only eleve
n years older than the high school senior. Very much a late-in-life baby for his parents.
“She’s had a rough go of it,” he began, sparing her a glance as he pulled up to a red traffic light. “Starting when she was around your age.”
****
Pueblo, Colorado – 2005
“Damn! Great game. Love me some Pats!” Larry, Sr. exclaimed, slapping his son so hard on the back LJ nearly took a header into the wall.
Annoyed and so ready to go home after a long day watching the Super Bowl with his father and his friends, LJ gave his dad a weak smile. “Yup. I was rooting for the Eagles, but yes, your Patriots did their thing.” He walked over to the chair where he’d left his jacket when he’d arrived earlier that evening. “Where’s Shannon?”
“Out with friends,” Larry, Sr. said, taking a swig from his fresh beer.
“Dad, it’s after eleven. Isn’t it a little late for her to still be out?” LJ said nothing else as his father waved off his concern. “Well, I gotta get. See you later, Pops.”
Stepping out into the brisk early February night, LJ headed for the minivan he and Adrienne had bought after the birth of their daughter, five years before. He dug his keys out of his jacket pocket when he noticed a sedan parked across the street with a man sitting behind the wheel. His head was resting back against the seat, and it looked as though he were in complete rapture.
“Jeez, dude,” LJ muttered to himself. “Couldn’t even wait until you got home, huh?” He chuckled and walked across the snow-covered lawn to his minivan when he saw that, not only did a woman sit up straight in the passenger seat, a tissue in hand as she wiped her mouth, but that woman was his fifteen-year-old sister Shannon. Stunned, he watched as the man handed her what looked to be money.
Outrage overtook him as he stormed across the street and yanked open the car door, pulling the startled man out of the sedan before he’d even buttoned and zipped his pants. LJ sent him reeling with a left hook to the guy’s jaw.
“LJ!” Shannon shrieked as she hurried out of the car as quickly as her tight skirt and high heels would allow.
LJ grabbed the man by the front of his sweatshirt and pulled him to his feet, only to send him flying back into his car with a haymaker. “You sick son-of-a-bitch!” he roared at the bleeding man, who was at least thirty. “She’s a fifteen-year-old kid!”
The man looked at Shannon with wide eyes before nearly diving into his car, the door barely closed before he squealed out of the neighborhood.
He turned to Shannon who looked defiantly up at him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he said, his voice nearly a roar. “Please tell me that was not what I think it was.” He reached down and ripped the twenty-dollar bill out of her hand and waved it in front of her face. “Is it?”
It was only then that Shannon looked contrite. She glanced down at her shuffling feet but said nothing.
LJ let out a heavy sigh and knelt down to pick up Shannon’s purse, which she’d dropped when she’d run over to the man. He reached out to gather the scattered things that had come out upon impact: a pair of sunglasses, tube of lipstick, her house keys, and a clear plastic sandwich baggie. He picked it up and examined the contents.
“Is this why you were doing that?” he asked, holding the baggie up for Shannon to see. “Pot? Is that what this is for?” he asked, again waving the money. Disgusted, he unzipped the baggie and shoved the money inside with the three rolled marijuana joints and stuck it in her purse before handing it all back to her.
****
Three days later, LJ was in his classroom where he taught English and Literature when he was coaching football. The day was over and the kids had all left, leaving him to finish up grading a few of the tests they’d taken the previous period. He glanced up when the classroom door was opened.
Shannon walked in, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a loose button-up shirt. She truly was a stunning young woman with delicate features, a petite frame, and long, auburn hair that flowed down her back.
“Hey, LJ,” she said quietly, walking over to his desk where she set down the two textbooks and notebook she was carrying.
“Hey, kiddo,” he responded, voice calm and even. He was still deeply troubled by what had happened the previous Sunday and what he’d witnessed and discovered. He hadn’t mentioned anything to his wife because, frankly, he was deeply embarrassed for Shannon. “How’d you do on that math test?”
She shrugged, resting her hip against the edge of her desk. “Okay, I guess. I know Mr. Nunez doesn’t like me, so…We’ll see, I guess.”
He nodded, not sure what to say. Truth was, he didn’t like Troy Nunez at all.
“Look, the reason I stayed after today was to come talk to you without Adrienne being around.”
LJ sat back in his chair. “I understand.”
Shannon briefly met his gaze with her emerald-green eyes before looking away, her fingers playing nervously with a dry-erase marker from the whiteboard mounted on the wall behind LJ’s desk. “I want to apologize for the other night. Like, I don’t even know how that happened or how I got caught up in it with that guy, you know?”
“Who is he?”
“His name is Alex or Allen, something like that. I don’t really know him. Sunday was I think only the second or third time I’d ever seen him.”
“He’s obviously not a student here,” LJ said, indicating the school around them.
Shannon shook her head. “No. He’s old, like almost thirty-five or something.” She glanced up at her older brother, who was thirty-one. “Sorry,” she said, giving him the smile that had melted his heart since she’d been a little girl. She quickly sobered. “I promise that’ll never happen again, LJ. Honestly.”
He nodded, sitting forward in the squeaky wooden chair. “Shannon,” he said softly, reaching across the desk to take the marker from her fidgeting fingers and tuck them in his larger hand. “You are an absolutely beautiful young woman. I was thinking that right when you walked in. You have the singing voice of an angel and, even though you’re only halfway through your freshman year, Mrs. Barr already wants you for the starring role in the end-of-year play.”
“Really?” she asked, eyes wide. He nodded and grinned. “Oh my God!” she gushed, hurrying around the desk to plop down in her brother’s lap and hug him so hard it hurt.
He hugged her back and gave her a noisy kiss on her cheek, like he had since she was a baby. His smile grew when that made her giggle. “You’ve got a lot going for you, kid. Don’t screw it up or I’ll have to hunt you down.”
She grinned and looked at him. “I love you, LJ.”
“Love you, too.”
****
LJ looked down into his cup of coffee, his daughter sitting quietly across from him at the small diner they’d stopped at. He hadn’t thought of that time in Shannon’s life in a lot of years, and in all honesty, it kind of hurt, even now.
“Dad? You okay?”
He glanced up at Kristie, who was halfway through her piece of banana cream pie. He nodded. “Yeah. I guess.”
“How come nobody told me about all the issues Aunt Shannon has? Had….Has, I guess.”
“I don’t know,” he said with a heavy sigh, sitting back against the vinyl of their booth. “I guess partly because it wasn’t exactly my story to tell or share, but mostly, if I’m honest with myself and with you…mostly I think we all hoped she’d eventually pull it together. Especially after Bella was born.”
“I thought she had,” Kristie said, forking herself another bite of pie.
“So did I.”
Chapter Six
“Ma’am, I’ve told you, as a twenty-seven-year-old woman, your sister has the right to walk away, disappear, or anything else. Since she’s an adult, we cannot open a missing person’s case until she’s been missing for—”
“She left her five-year-old daughter alone in the apartment for more than two days! Is that something a grown-ass woman would do to disappear or walk away from her
life?” Nora exclaimed, palms flat on the front counter at the Pueblo Police Department. “My sister is missing, damn it, and I need someone to listen to me!”
The officer at the desk eventually sighed, raising his hands in supplication. “Okay. Hold on.” He pushed up from his chair and stepped away.
Left alone, Nora hugged herself and let out an agitated sigh. She walked over to a wall in the lobby that was filled with plaques dedicated to officers killed in the line of duty. She absently read the names as she waited.
“Miss Schaeffer?”
Nora turned to see the officer she’d been speaking to standing at a solid metal door that led deeper into the police department and required the person to be buzzed in from inside.
“If you’ll follow me.”
She was led through a maze of hallways until they ended up in front of a small room. A sign next to the opened door indicated it was Interview Room 2.
“Go ahead and have a seat, Miss Schaeffer. Someone will be with you in a minute,” the officer said before heading back the way they’d come.
The room was small and square with a partial wall serving as a two-way mirror, a metal table at the center, and three chairs—two on one side, one on the opposite. She took the single chair and sat down. She assumed this would be the room a suspect would be taken to for interrogation and couldn’t help but think of all the cop shows she’d seen over the years.
Tucking her hair back behind her ear, she removed her phone from her purse, which she’d set on the table. She sent off a quick text to check in with Jamie, who was sitting with Bella for her. Based on his response, she was confident that all was well, and she set her phone aside and waited, though she didn’t have to wait long. A few moments later, the door was opened and someone stepped through.