A Perfect Canvas

by Kevin Adkisson

  Chapter 9

  Eddie stood up. “This is bullshit!” He wasn’t going to listen to this. “That man said that he was going to kill me. That he was going to make my wife watch. I can’t believe you aren’t doing anything!”

  A policeman, all creases and shine, stood in the middle of Henry’s Restaurant bearing the brunt of Eddie’s growing frustration. Officer J. TUCKER was stamped into the pin on the cop’s uniform.

  “All right, Mr. Knight. Why don’t you slow down? We’re doing all we can.”

  “I don’t think you understand,” Eddie said. “My wife is missing.”

  This wasn’t going the way Eddie expected. The cop was supposed to be jumping on the radio and sending out a message to search for his wife. They were supposed to be alerting the media, putting a photo of Paige up on every channel. Maybe Officer Tucker didn’t realize the gravity of the situation.

  “The man who cut me was crazy.”

  Officer Tucker jotted something on his notepad. “Do you know the man?”

  “No. I don’t know him. He said his name was Nicholas. He said he had my wife. I’ve tried calling her and can’t get her on the phone,” Eddie said, his voice stretched to near panic.

  “I understand your concern. But I’m not going to jump to conclusions. People don’t answer their phones for lots of reasons. That doesn’t mean they’ve been abducted. The best way you can help her right now is to answer my questions. Help me get a picture of what happened. When was the last time you talked to her?”

  “Around dawn.”

  “How long have you been trying to contact her?”

  “Since the guy cut me. A few minutes.”

  “Have you tried calling her work, her friends?”

  “No, not yet.” Eddie made a mental note to call her work and friends as soon as he was done talking with the cop.

  “What did the man look like, again?”

  Eddie described Nicholas to Officer Tucker for what seemed like the fifth time. The cop took a few steps back and spoke into the radio microphone clipped to his shoulder.

  “We’re checking on your wife. I’m sure she’s fine. Now let me see this cut.”

  Eddie remained standing, removed the cloth napkin to show Officer Tucker the back of his hand. A thin cut ran from his middle knuckle to his wrist. It didn’t look nearly as bad as Eddie expected, but it was still an ugly wound.

  Officer Tucker looked at Eddie’s hand and frowned. “Were you hurt anywhere else?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Eddie said through clinched teeth. “It’s my wife who needs help.”

  Flashing lights drew his attention to the window. An ambulance pulled in front of the restaurant and stopped. Two EMTs got out. Great. Who called them?

  Officer Tucker motioned for Eddie to sit down, and he did.

  The two EMTs came through the front door pushing a gurney with their gear on top. Officer Tucker nodded as they approached and pointed at the back of Eddie’s hand with his pen. Eddie’s hand had nearly stopped bleeding. One of the EMTs looked back up at the cop with a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. Officer Tucker shrugged.

  Eddie shuffled in his seat anxious to get back to his feet. He didn’t like where this was going. “I didn’t ask for an ambulance.”

  An EMT opened up a gray box similar to a mechanics toolbox and pulled out a stack of gauze the size of a Stephen King novel. His partner stepped forward and said, “Are you allergic to any medication?”

  “No.”

  The EMT stuck a plastic gun thermometer in Eddie’s ear, pulled the trigger, handed it to his partner.

  “Anyone see the man who cut you?” Officer Tucker asked.

  “Not that I know of. Maybe one of them.” Eddie pointed towards the employees congregating around the bar staring at him, watching the action like they might watch an episode of Law & Order.

  “If you’ll wait right here,” Officer Tucker said. “I need to speak with a few of the employees. Any information, even the smallest bit, could help us in locating your wife.”

  Eddie’s shoulders relaxed at this. They’re just trying to help. Cooperate, stay out of their way, and things will go much faster.

  Officer Tucker pointed with his pen at the EMT. “Just let the EMTs take care of you, all right?”

  Eddie nodded. The quicker he got through this the quicker they would start looking for Paige. And he reminded himself that having a couple of hundred cops helping him look would be a good thing.

  The EMT pulled out an industrial strength antiseptic that looked as if it would cause the mother of all stings and cleaned Eddie’s wound. Pain burst through his hand in staccato spurts as if he were being shot at point blank range with a fully automatic BB gun. Eddie winced and did his best to hold his hand still.

  “I’m sorry you guys had to come out here,” Eddie told the EMT. “I didn’t call you.”

  The EMT shrugged, ripped open a Steri-strip package, and applied the bandage to the back of Eddie’s hand. He then flashed a penlight in Eddie’s eyes.

  Eddie turned his head away. “Is that really necessary? There’s nothing wrong with my eyes.”

  “Hey, give me a break buddy. I’m trying to do my job,” the EMT said. “We need to run you over to the hospital. You need a few stitches. You were lucky though. There doesn’t seem to be any major damage.”

  “Stitches? No, I’m not going to the hospital.”

  The EMT sighed, “Then you’ll have to sign a waiver.”

  “Fine.”

  Officer Tucker and the manager were still talking. The manager smiled and laughed a couple of times. Tucker pointed over his shoulder in Eddie’s direction with the back of his pen. Eddie’s jawed tightened. What was so damned funny? How was this helping anything?

  The EMT pulled out a form and a pen and handed them to Eddie. His partner closed up the medical kit.

  “You need to sign here and here,” the EMT told Eddie. “Be sure and use your uninjured hand. You shouldn’t use your lacerated hand any more than you have to, especially over the next several days. And you really should see a doctor.”

  Eddie signed with his left hand, eager for the EMTs to leave so the crowd of employees would have less to look at. He wanted to slap every one of them for gawking. What was wrong with them?

  “The dressing should be changed and the wound cleaned every day,” the EMT continued. “Without the stitches you might scar badly.”

  “I’m not worried about scars,” Eddie said.

  The EMT shrugged again, picked up the waiver, and handed it to his silent partner. “You take care,” he said. Then they grabbed their gear and hurried over to Officer Tucker. One of them spoke a few words to the cop and then they were out the door.

  Eddie clinched his good hand into a fist. He was tired of waiting. The manager couldn’t have much of a story to tell. Eddie stood up and marched towards them. He wanted some answers. He wanted someone to start looking for Paige. Now.

  The officer looked at Eddie, spoke into the radio microphone again, and met him near the door.

  Officer Tucker motioned for Eddie to sit down and he did. Finally. Something was going to be done. The cop sat down across from Eddie, placed his notebook on the table.

  “Look Mr. Knight, I’m afraid there isn’t much we can do.”

  “What about them?” In complete disbelief Eddie pointed at the manager and the waitresses. “Didn’t they see something?”

  “No one saw a man with the description you gave come into or leave the restaurant.”

  “What?” Eddie said, standing again, confused.

  Officer Tucker stood and tapped Eddie in the chest with his pen. “Calm down. Have a seat.”

  The cop wasn’t asking, so Eddie sat back down. He’d been brought up to respect the law even though he wanted to take the pen out of the cop’s hand and shove it up his ass. But pissing the cop off wouldn’t help him any and he could use all the
help he could get looking for Paige. It was a big city.

  “Look, this is serious. My wife is in danger.”

  The officer nodded at Eddie as if he’d heard this a hundred times before and was eager to get to the end so he could get back to the important business of handing out tickets, eating doughnuts, and courting a new mistress.

  “Just let us do our jobs,” Officer Tucker said. “Did the man say anything that might help us to identify him?”

  “No. But he showed me a picture. It was of him and my wife at the Museum of Art.”

  The cop raised an eyebrow, shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

  “Look, Paige doesn’t know any man named Nicholas. I’d know if she did.”

  Officer Tucker grunted. “Course you would.”

  Eddie didn’t like the hint of sarcasm in the cop’s voice. So maybe he hadn’t met every single client Paige had, but he’d met most and they always talked about them. He’d never heard the name Nicholas before. Not once. He was sure of it.

  “I don’t understand. Shouldn’t you be searching for my wife right now?”

  “I wouldn’t worry about her. We’ve spoken with your wife’s employer. She’s fine. She’s in a meeting with a client. We asked them to have her call you when she’s finished.”

  Eddie heard the large breath leave his body before he felt it. Paige was okay. She was okay. That was the best news he’d heard all day. No wonder the cop hadn’t been in any big hurry. Well, he could have at least told him the news so he wouldn’t have sat there worried out of his mind.

  “I doubt you’ll hear from this guy again,” the cop said.

  “Why do you say that?”

  Tucker crossed his thick arms across his chest. “To be frank, it sounds to me like your wife might be playing some kind of game with you."

  Game? “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, it sounds like maybe she knows this man, only she doesn’t want you to know it.”

  “Why would she lie?”

  Officer Tucker looked away. “People lie for all sorts of reasons.”

  “What about the cut on my hand?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll file the report. If it’s any consolation, it’s not much of a cut. I’ve done worse in the kitchen cutting onions.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Eddie said, shaking his head.

  “Look, you haven’t given us enough information. No last name. No car. A generic description. What do you want me to do? Point him out, and I’ll go arrest him. In the meantime I’ll write up a report and file it, but that’s about all I can do.”

  Eddie took a couple of deep breaths. Something had to be done. He needed to know that this maniac wasn’t out there waiting around the next corner for him. At least the police were able to find out that Paige was okay. Still, he felt uneasy.

  Tucker picked up his notebook, stood up. “I’d like to give you some advice about your wife. If you really want to keep her, which I assume you do, then I would forget about this. I understand how you feel. It isn’t easy to accept the fact that your wife is cheating on you. I went through the same thing, so I understand. It’s rough. But if you keep digging, you’re just going to find something that you don’t want to find. Give her some space. Give her some time. After a while, she’ll get tired of him and that’ll be the end of it. And if she doesn’t, well, then maybe it’s for the best.”

  Officer Tucker walked away from the table, leaving his words hanging in the air. Eddie sat in disbelief. His hand throbbed with the pulse of his quickening heartbeat. He rubbed the back of his neck with his good hand. Paige wasn’t cheating on him. Was she? He’d know. Wouldn’t he?