by Andrew Gruse
The tall man looked off into the distance while the blonde woman smiled at her. Brittany knew they were not from town. She put her hand on the handle but didn’t unlock it.
“Can I help you?”
“Are you Brittany Danielson?”
She nodded, yes.
“Brittany, I’m Julie Fletcher. This is Zack. We’re private investigators,” Julie said. “We’ve been hired by Derek Willows’ grandmother to find him. We were hoping you would be willing to talk to us.”
“I haven’t heard from Derek since yesterday,” Brittany said.
“No one has,” Julie said. “Look, it’s ok. You’re not in trouble. We were told you’re his girlfriend. Please. We need to find him.”
Brittany paused, then opened the door. “Were you part of the search effort?”
“What search?” Zack asked.
“His football coach, Tim Weber, sent out a mass text to everyone in town. He organized a search for Derek. It started at one today,” Brittany said.
“Today?” Zack asked. “Where?”
Brittany frowned. “Yes. There’s some wooded land just west of town. Weber thinks that would be a good place to start.”
Zack thought of several questions but settled on one she might have an answer to. “Why there?”
“It’s a place kids used to drive to and do things like drink and stuff. The cops wouldn’t go there,” Brittany said.
“Did you and Derek go there?”
Brittany shook her head. “Maybe once or twice. Usually, if we did something, it was here in town, or we hung out here or at his house. One of our houses was usually empty.”
“Did he go there without you?” Zack asked.
Brittany seemed to hesitate and shrugged an unconvincing shrug.
Zack nodded and pulled Julie down the stairs. He said something to her, they kissed, Zack smiled at Brittany, and walked away. Brittany and Julie watched Zack walk south down the street.
Julie stepped up the stairs to the porch.
“Where is he going?” Brittany asked.
“He’s going for a walk,” Julie said, both still watched Zack walk.
“Why?”
She looked at Brittany. “He’s odd like that sometimes. Now that’s it’s just us girls, can we talk?”
CHAPTER 9
Brittany let Julie onto the porch. Julie shut the screen door behind her and looked around the front porch. Two chairs with a table between them in a corner, an ashtray set in the center of the table and a magazine rack beside one of the chairs, the screened-in porch reminded Julie of one of her childhood homes. They had a screened-in porch. If the porch wasn’t screened, the state bird, The Mosquito, would suck them dry at night.
“This reminds me of my home growing up,” Julie said. “It’s nice.”
“Thank you.”
Julie knew Brittany was uncomfortable. “Would you like to go for a walk? There’s a convenience store down the road, I could really use a cup of coffee or a soda,” Julie said.
Brittany smiled. “Yeah, let me grab my phone first.”
The two walked. Julie asked questions about the town, school, college in the fall, anything to make Brittany more comfortable. Once Julie felt the ice was gone, she moved forward.
Julie looked at Brittany. “His grandmother is anxious. Did he talk to you yesterday?”
“I talked to him early. He said he had to stop at the high school, then run a quick errand for his grandmother. Then we were meeting some friends and heading downstate to see the university,” Brittany said.
“Why was he going to the high school?”
“He didn’t say,” Brittany answered.
“Was he upset or anything? Maybe about college?”
“He sounded fine to me, but,” Brittany trailed off.
Julie sensed Brittany was holding back. Julie also suspected Zack held something back, too. And Brittany was to confirm it. The way Zack whispered into Julie’s ear, “she knows something. Keep an open mind,” before he left proved it.
“Brittany, I know you don’t know me. But you can trust me. And anything you can tell me about Derek may help us find him. Believe me, time isn’t on our side right now,” Julie said.
The two walked in silence another half-block towards the convenience store/gas station, and Julie could see the tension on Brittany’s face. She wants to tell me something. Just wait.
“Ok, there is one thing,” Brittany began hesitantly. She took a deep breath and sneaked a quick look at Julie. “It probably is nothing but,” she hesitated again, “I noticed he was acting a little more, uh, reserved, the last few days, and it might have been because of something.”
“What?”
“There were rumors.”
Julie waited.
“No one ever said it to Derek or to me, but friends would tell me what so-and-so said and stuff like that.”
“What were they?”
“Some people,” Brittany paused again. Julie saw the torment on her face. “Some people thought that Derek was,” she stopped.
This is what Zack was thinking? How could he have been? “It’s ok, Brittany. You can tell me.”
“The rumor was that Derek was gay.”
Julie’s heart stopped. She couldn’t imagine how hard that would be for a teenager. “Was he? I mean, you dated him for how long?”
“All four years of high school,” Brittany answered the latter question.
“Did you think he was?” The pause told Julie volumes. “So, you did?”
“Look, I love Derek. He is so sweet and nice and loving. He’s always been there for me through everything, and we never fought. But, well, there was one thing that made me wonder.”
“What was it?”
“I’m not a virgin,” Brittany said softly, confessing as if waiting for judgment.
“I don’t think that’s a crime. Especially when you’re a senior in high school, and you’ve been dating the same boy for four years,” Julie replied, light-hearted.
“Yeah, but Derek is.” She looked sheepishly at Julie. “At least with me.”
“Whoa,” Julie said. They stopped in front of the store. “I think it’s time for a cup of coffee or soft drink or something.”
* * * *
Zack walked to a dead-end of Brittany’s street and hopped over the metal railing that blocked the end of the road. A narrow strip of long grass and sucker growth lined the edge of the property and the beginning of a farmed field. As of yet, still unplowed and wet, it bordered the southern tip of the town and the forest that started a quarter-mile east of where Zack stood. Zack looked both ways and suspected the trees he saw to the far west was the forest Coach Weber organized a search party for Derek. Zack looked east towards the forest behind the high school. Why not start there?
Zack walked along the edge of the field east towards the forest that stretched to beyond and behind the high school. When the forest started, on the other side of the field’s fence, Zack saw a small city park. He hopped the barrier and entered the park. A small stream with rock features caught Zack’s eye. Brush and flowering trees bordered one side, and a forest of trees bordered another. A fence separated the two and “KEEP OUT!” and “NO TRESPASSING!” signs kept vigilance.
Zack heard goldfinches, robins and blue jays in the area, and distant woodpecker calls in the forest. He walked through the park to the far east side when a familiar voice called.
“Hey there! I know you,” the female voice said. Zack turned to see Molly Lockett, the schoolteacher he saved in the fire. She caught her breath and wiped sweat off her forehead. She smiled at Zack and put her hands on her hips. “What are you doing here?”
Zack smiled and tried not to make it evident that he looked her up and down. Her black yoga pants stopped above her ankles and had thin swaths of see-through material on the thighs and calves. The florescent light-green colored running shoes looked worn but fresh, and her navy sports bra with a light-green tank top over it did nothing to hide her allu
ring curves. “Believe it or not, I was looking for you.”
She smiled. “Well, lucky me. You found me.” She pulled buds out of her ears and touched the screen of the cellphone strapped to her bicep. For good measure, she shook her head, so the ponytail flapped behind her. Attractive.
“You run often?”
“Trying to stay in shape,” she said.
“You’re doing a good job,” Zack complimented.
She blushed. “Thanks, it isn’t easy. But, you know how it is,” she trailed off.
Zack didn’t know how it was. He didn’t exercise. Apparently, Zack was a lucky recipient of good DNA. “Yeah,” he smiled. “How are you feeling by the way?”
She shrugged. “Well, I’m sore all over from when you threw me out a window. And I stopped hacking disgusting gobs of black death out of my lungs,” she said with a smile. “What about you?”
“Sounds eerily similar.” He showed the bandage across his hand. “Not even any stitches this time.”
She tilted her head. “You say that like you need stitches often.”
Zack shrugged. She expected him to continue, but that wasn’t going to happen. She shifted on her feet during the awkward silence.
“So, you were looking for me?”
“And for spring migrants,” he said. “Kind of early still, but this is a nice place.”
“It is,” Molly said. “About the only place around here that does.”
“What about the forest behind the school?”
Molly shook her head. “No one goes in there.”
Zack remembered a road that headed through the small prairie, past the pond, and disappeared in the forest. “There’s a road there.”
“Oh, trust me, no one goes into the forest. Let’s change the subject. So you like birds? Are you a birder?”
Zack smiled. “Ahh, you must be one also to use that term.”
“It’s a hobby I got into in grade school. I like it. It’s cheap, doesn’t involve a license, or shooting anything, and I can do it anywhere anytime. How about you?”
“Similar start,” Zack said. He didn’t want to get caught reminiscing why and when he started birding. That took his thoughts back to Michigan City, and Zack had to keep his thoughts far away from there. “Maybe another day,” Zack said. “Let’s focus on yesterday at the school and Derek Willows.”
“I’m trying to forget that day.”
“I wish I could, but we can’t,” Zack said. “I need to talk to you.”
The smile left her face. “Why?”
“I think you know why. How about if we go back to your place and talk there?”
She crossed her arms and the joy that covered her face left. Apprehension filled her eyes just like she looked after Zack got her out of the building.
“Stuff like this isn’t supposed to happen in Clyde,” she said. “Maybe in Chicago or big cities, but not here.”
“Welcome to Clyde,” Zack said as he touched her arm and guided her towards her house. “Where it all begins.”
CHAPTER 10
“I asked him to have sex all the time at first. After a while, I gave up. He just wasn’t interested, and when I touched him,” Brittany hesitated like she was embarrassed, “he, well, he,” she looked at Julie for strength. “He was uncomfortable with it. I mean, we kissed and stuff, but that was it.”
“Why didn’t you break up with him?”
“He told me he was saving himself. He said he didn’t want us to end up like some other kids, and I couldn’t do that to Derek. Not after all that he had done for me. And besides, the rest of the boys left me alone since I was Derek’s girl,” she explained. “And I had my one on the side, and we didn’t want to mess any of that up.”
“End up like some other kids?”
“Oh, pregnant. Every year it seems there’s at least one girl in school getting pregnant. That isn’t smart in this town,” Brittany said.
Julie understood. “To your knowledge, did anyone else know he was gay?”
“No one knew. Derek denied it. But I knew something was different about him. What teenage boy isn’t interested in sex with a girl? I mean,” she motioned her hands at herself. “I don’t want to sound like that girl, but I think I have a nice body and am good looking. Every other boy in school wants to get with me, why not Derek?”
Julie smiled. You may be full of yourself, but you are a hottie. “You just suspected it, or you know it for sure?”
“At first, I just suspected it,” Brittany said. “Then,” she paused, “well, then I kind of found out for sure, but because of the way I felt about Derek, I kept it to myself.”
“You want to elaborate?” Julie thought that maybe Derek ran away. Perhaps someone did find out, and he couldn’t deal with it. After all, he was the high school jock. The Team Captain. The stud. She couldn’t imagine any 17 or 18-year-old high school kid would want to deal with that.
“Well, one time, I was at cheerleading practice, and we got done early. I knew Derek was home alone, so I stopped by to see him and,” Brittany paused.
“Yes?”
“I walked into the house and saw him.”
Brittany was uncomfortable. Julie wasn’t sure if she should push it or not. “Saw him what?”
“He was with another man. Doing something,” she said.
Julie understood. “Do you know who he was with?”
Brittany shook her head. “No, I got out of there. I freaked out and ran, but they didn’t know I was there. I never told anyone, and Derek doesn’t know I saw. I couldn’t do that to him,” she said.
Julie wondered what she would have done in the same situation.
Julie nodded. “Would anyone hurt him if they knew he was gay?”
Brittany thought for a long moment. “I don’t know. Everyone seemed to like him. The coach liked him; the teachers all liked him. I mean, everyone did.”
“Do you think he’d come out?”
Brittany laughed. “In this town? Are you kidding? Not a chance.”
“If someone did know, do you think he’d run away?”
Brittany thought about it. “No, I don’t think he would.” She shook her head. “No. He was going to state this fall on a scholarship.”
That answers my next question. Brittany didn’t know about Derek losing his scholarship. “So, after you talked to him and he went to school, you didn’t hear from him?”
Brittany shook her head. “I sent a couple of texts, but I never heard back. I got in my car to look for him, then heard about the school on fire.” Brittany looked at Julie as if she knew what Julie’s next question was. “Derek would never do that. He had no reason to start a fire. If it was arson, it wasn’t Derek,” she said.
“So, where is he?
Brittany shook her head. “I think something happened to him.”
Julie didn’t want to agree. But it didn’t look good. I have to find Zack.
* * * *
Zack followed Molly to her house two blocks away from the city park. Still a mile from the high school but only five blocks away from Brittany Danielson’s home, both on the south side of Main Street. The house was a large Colonial. The older house had off-white wooden-lapped siding with bright-white framing around the doors and windows. A large front porch, screened, covered the front of the house, and another more massive deck in the back of the house overlooked an expansive well-manicured backyard with several bird-feeders, islands of perennial flowers and flowering fruit trees.
They small-talked on the way to her house. She unlocked the front door, immediately guzzled a cup of water, and turned to Zack. “Can I get you anything?”
Zack shook his head no while he glanced around the inside of her kitchen. Well furnished, a bit busy for his liking with the knick-knacks and open shelves but clean and organized. The stainless steel finish appliances shined, and none had a single fingerprint upon it. Meticulous.
Zack looked at Molly as she leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “How well did you k
now Derek Willows outside the accolades?”
Molly looked sidewise at Zack. A suspicious look. “I had him in the classes I teach. I knew him, I mean,” she paused, “I didn’t have a relationship with him or any of the students outside the classroom.”
“Not asking that never thought that and don’t care if you did,” Zack said quickly to put her at ease. “I am just wondering what you knew about him outside the athlete and good student part.”
Molly uncrossed her arms. “I heard a couple of teachers talking. There were suspicions.”
“Did you believe them?”
Molly bobbed her head in contemplation. “Why are you asking?”
“Because his grandmother hired me to find him. He’s been missing since before the fire.”
“What? He’s missing? Oh, no!” She covered her mouth with her hands. “No, that can’t be,” she said softly. She quickly looked at Zack.
Zack stepped closer to her. “Molly, is there something you want to tell me?” Her silence betrayed her. “His car parked was alongside the school between the school buses. Did you see him that day at school?”
She crossed her arms again and looked out a side window towards the backyard. Zack walked to her, grabbed her arm gently, and make her look at him. “Molly, a child is missing. His grandmother is worried sick. You saw something before the school burnt down. Someone blocked a door to your room with a table, and you hid from someone in the bathroom. You have got to tell me what you saw.”
She looked at him, anguish in her face, fear in her eyes, and a tear crept out the side of one eye. “I had my room windows open because it was such a beautiful day. It was quiet, I could hear House Finches singing,” she smiled at him as if knowing that was a connection she needed to trust the man in front of her. “I heard a car door shut. That’s unusual because my window is on the back of the school and besides that, it was a Saturday, I know nothing was going on that day. The band was practicing, but they are in the parking lot, not behind the school.”
“Then what?”
“I heard voices. They were animated like two people arguing. I didn’t recognize the voices because the wind picked up and whistled through the window. Before I could get to the window, I heard a door shut to the school, and no one was outside any longer.”