After a while, Jack looked down the boat at Ernest and tapped the paddle on the middle seat, getting his deputy’s attention. He shook his head and motioned he was turning the boat around. They had been on the water for an hour and hadn’t spotted anything. Jack pulled out his radio and spoke to one of his deputies working the night shift.
“Get in touch with the Corps and see about a helicopter with a light. Need to find those folks tonight if we can. We’ll be back at Gandy’s. Tell dispatch to let me know when they get ready to show up.”
Chapter 2
The interstate was crowded with cars, cross-over vehicles, or SUV’s, and semis hauling everything from soup to nuts. A huge truck carrying Campbell’s Soup had just passed her, the driver absorbed in emptying a water bottle’s contents into his mouth. Maude Rogers kicked back in the seat of her pick-up truck, content to let the other drivers hog the road. She was taking a few days off for the first time in two years.
Lilly Ann Hamilton, her niece, lived on the coast, and had wrangled Maude into agreeing to visit, the girl refusing to take no for an answer. The weather was cool, but not unpleasant even though there was some rain in the forecast for the coastal region around the small town of Ellison where Lilly Ann lived with her mother.
Maude’s brother, Leonard, had died of a drug overdose when he was in his early thirties, leaving an ex-wife and their ten year old child. Maude believed that the divorce and the loss of his family had contributed to her brother’s slide into tragic circumstances. He had suffered from depression for many years and begun early experimentation with illegal drugs, looking for happiness or a semblance of it. His need for more and more of the substance finally got out of control.
Maude had been working in Chicago during those years, and was unaware of the extent of her brother’s situation. By the time she knew of his drug addiction, he was dead from an overdose. She believed it was intentional, that her brother was tired of living the life he had chosen.
A small sports car edged up behind her, too close for her comfort. The driver stayed on her tail, expecting that Maude would get out of the way, but there was nowhere to go safely. The lane on the left was solid traffic, and the right was dominated by semis on their way to delivery points with deadlines.
She tried tapping her brakes, but the driver following her was unfazed, responding in kind, only now the headlights of the car began flashing, urging her on. The car ahead of the pick-up was driving at a safe rate of speed and didn’t seem inclined to speed up.
“Sorry Buddy,” she said, wagging her finger in her rearview mirror, “You’re not going to get there any faster by riding my tail.”
The driver of the sports car was relentless, staying so close that Maude began getting a more upset each minute. She couldn’t believe the driver was really that stupid. She pulled the bubble light from the bag on the seat, rolled down the window, and slammed the magnetic emergency strobe against the roof of the truck. The brilliant reds and blues began flashing, causing the person ahead of her to slow, wondering if he had broken a traffic law.
The sports car driver slammed the brakes, trying to get away from Maude and the flashing light, the front wheels of the trailing vehicle skewing, entering the traffic lane on the left. The car that was traveling in the fast lane quickly moved ahead, opening a small space between vehicles for the escaping car to slip inside. Maude saw some of it in her rearview mirror; both the fast-thinking driver who opened the spot in traffic, and the idiotic driver of the small car whose actions could have caused a major pileup on the freeway.
Using the police light to her advantage, Maude moved into the left lane until the offending vehicle came into view; all the while observing the traffic ahead was parting to allow her through. The driver began to slow as Maude came close behind, her pick-up hot on the offender’s bumper. The driver finally pulled over to the side of the road, as Maude herded the sports car away from other traffic. She parked the pick-up as far from the line of traffic as she could, forcing the other driver’s wheels onto the edge of the grass.
The door of the small car opened hesitantly as Maude approached, her weapon in hand. The Glock semi-automatic encapsulated all of the driver’s fears into one very, bad dream. She appeared to be in her teens, a skinny young girl with stringy, blonde hair and wide, brown eyes. Her pupils dilated upon seeing Maude Roger’s five-feet-nine-inch frame standing by her door.
“Get out and stand with your back against the car. Keep your hands out in front of you.”
“Yes ma’am.” The girl replied with the squeak of fear in her voice.
“Now, tell me, young lady, why you were in such a hurry, hanging on my bumper, flashing your lights trying to get me to run into the man ahead of me?”
“I…I was supposed to be somewhere and I’m running late. Please don’t shoot me.”
Maude had to take a minute and get her emotions under control. The urge to laugh out loud was suddenly overpowering.
“What kind of meeting is so important that you would chance getting killed on the highway?”
The girl mumbled about staying too long with friends, and needing to get to her grandparent’s house.
Maude knew she was out of her jurisdiction and wanted to scare the kid, but she had no intention of ticketing her.
“Well, you run along now, but let me give you a piece of good advice. Watch your driving, and don’t be tailgating. It will definitely get you killed.”
“Yes ma’am. I promise to be more careful. And thank you for not shooting me,” the girl replied.
“You’re welcome.” Maude said. She watched the car pull back into traffic and murmured, “I get ‘em, don’t I.”
Chapter 3
Lilly Ann lived in a gated subdivision in Ellison, Texas, near shopping centers and bus lines, the kind of place her aunt had always avoided. Maude liked the solitude of the country, even though her work was in the very heart of the city of Madison, Texas. The Homicide Division of the police department had three other detectives besides her, a fact that allowed for time off, such as the visit to her niece. Mostly, Maude stayed home on her days off, sitting with a few friends, or lately, bike riding.
She had taken up the sport again after many years, the first time out of necessity to chase down a murderer. The bicycle had been her only means of catching him. It was a long story, but thankfully had a decent ending. Nowadays, the bicycle she owned was for exercise, and just plain fun. She enjoyed the motion, and had discovered it was good for her arthritic knees.
The women of Maude’s family ran to tall, thin frames, and sharp tongues. Lilly Ann was no exception. She was twenty-seven and unmarried, a student working toward her doctorate in medical science. Maude was unsure of what the girl wanted to do with the education, but she supported her all the way.
Lilly Ann’s mother was the exception to the family rule. She was short and soft-spoken, and as far as Maude was concerned, a good mother to the girl. Maude felt out of place sometimes, due to her job with the police department. It was not a place where the weak-willed or soft-spoken survived for very long. The neighborhood saw to that. Maude’s topics of conversation were not always acceptable in the polite society where few women wanted to hear about murder and mayhem.
Her sister-in-law’s name was Jean Hamilton. She had kept her married name after the divorce, a fact that pleased Maude. Jean had been reticent to ever speak of her ex-husband’s death, even to his sister, for she was still angry with him for dying, and leaving his daughter. Jean said she couldn’t understand how it had happened, how his drug addictions claimed the best part of him, and there was nothing to be done to stop it.
Jean divorced Leonard because she had loved him. The pain of daily exposure to his downhill slide was something she refused for Lilly Ann and herself. Maude admired her for that too.
The two women were not alike at all, with Maude’s height and Jean’s sweet disposition, yet they had remained on good terms for all the years since their first meeting, when Jean was a
teenager and lived next door to the Hamilton family. It was Jean’s family’s home that Maude bought as a rent house upon graduating from the University of Oklahoma. She had needed to establish roots. Grace, Maude’s mother, had encouraged her to buy the vacated property, and had been the caretaker while Maude was living out of state.
Lilly Ann’s advisor at the Ellison University Medical School had chosen her because of her ability, and intelligence, traits that were highly valued in her chosen occupation. Medical research was boring to some, but very interesting to Lilly Ann. In her mind, the opportunity to discover new cures for old diseases was extremely fulfilling, and she hoped to contribute to the cure for cancer. Both her aunt and her mother admired Lilly Ann, but they also agreed that it was not a career they would have chosen.
On Monday, the third day of Maude’s visit, Lilly Ann asked a favor. She said that a friend of hers, a doctor who headed a research team in the center for disease control at the university, had disappeared, and had not responded to any of the phone calls or emails that were sent to him. She said she was very worried, asked Maude if it was not too much trouble, would she find out if the doctor was okay.
Three days without work to occupy her mind was about Maude’s limit, thus she jumped at the chance to be busy. Hopes for a happy ending in such disappearances were always good. More than likely, there was a girl involved and the missing friend was out of touch for personal reasons. Lilly Ann said the doctor had left the research facility on Thursday, about noon, and had been out of contact since then. It was doubtful he would be gone for such a long time from the program he sponsored at the university. Maude felt a shiver of apprehension, and asked a few more questions to clarify the details.
“So, let me get this part clear, Lilly Ann. This man who disappeared is a coworker of yours?”
“Not exactly,” her niece said, “He’s the leader of the project, a co-advisor to the professor that sponsors me at the university.”
“He works directly for the university?”
“Yes,” Lilly Ann replied, “his specialty is nuclear medicine, and the project is kind of hush-hush.” She hesitated a moment, and then went on. “I asked once what he was working on, and Aaron, his name is Aaron Dennis, just gave me a blank stare, and said he would get back to me on that. I never asked him again, and he never got back to me, so I don’t know for sure what he does.” She was out of breath with the long sentence, but her attitude was brightening by the minute as she entrusted her worries to her aunt.
“Is the dean worried because your friend hasn’t been in contact?”
“No, he says Aaron, as a department head, has plenty of time-off coming, and if he doesn’t want to be located, he has a right to his privacy.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Maude told her gently. “He’s probably just blocking out work for a few days, staying away from it.”
“Maybe so, but it isn’t like him at all.”
“How well do you know this man, Lilly Ann?”
“Well, we dated for a while last summer.”
“So you’re concerned more than for just a friend?”
“No, I don’t think so Aunt Maude. This just isn’t like him to be out of touch. I am concerned, but really, he is only a friend. I heard he was seeing someone else anyway.”
“Do you know how to get in touch with her?” Maude was taking notes as she talked.
“No, but I heard she lives in the fourth year dorm. Her name is Jenny Marx. She is kind of young for Aaron, but that’s their problem.” Lilly Ann seemed disturbed again as if the thought of her friend dating an undergrad student at the university was unpleasant. “Okay, so maybe I am a little jealous, but it isn’t serious. Aaron and I decided to call it quits a long time ago. We had too many disagreements.”
“Sure, okay,” Maude replied. “I wanted to make sure that I’m not chasing my tail looking for someone who isn’t really missing, someone who’s just out of pocket for a while. You wouldn’t be the first woman to worry about a man because he didn’t call.”
“No, Aunt Maude, I’m really worried about him.” Lilly Ann spoke softly, concern in her voice.
“Then I’ll do what I can without stepping on anyone’s toes. Has he been reported missing to the authorities?”
“No, like I said, the dean thinks there is no reason for concern. But I do. I just know Aaron wouldn’t leave town, and not get in touch with someone, if he couldn’t be here on a regular work day.”
The coffee was finished, her first unfiltered lit and smoked, with three more to go before midnight. That was the limit Maude allowed herself now, her compromise. Yeah, she knew the cigarettes were bad, that she was a high risk for lung cancer, and it scared the crap out of her. But at least she was trying to cut back. It was the first time in her smoking days she had seriously considered the fallout from the smoke she pulled into her lungs.
Maude took a moment to call the university, and ask to speak to someone in the dean’s office, but she found that to be impossible because the front desk people wanted to help her instead. They were the first line of attack when the boss didn’t want to be bothered. Finally, she decided to put the phone away, and make a trip to the dean’s office. It wasn’t far, in fact, it was close enough to walk. She put on her walking shoes and a light jacket because the wind was cold when the sun went behind the clouds.
The path to the university was an easy walk, located within three blocks of the house, a fact that had pleased Lilly Ann when they moved there. Maude enjoyed walking when her knees weren’t hurting, and so far, the trip had been good for her. Nothing much was bothering her that a couple of ibuprofen couldn’t fix. Moderate joint pain was something she and many others her age learned to live with.
The dean’s office and the fourth-year dorms were easy to find. Maude intended visiting both of them. First on her to-do list was the visit to the man who did the firing and part of the hiring of professors for the university. She wanted to hear it from his lips that there was no reason for concern about Aaron Dennis before she went off half-cocked asking questions.
The dean’s name was on the door. Dean Albert Micah Stone had a load of letters following behind the name. Maude was already opening the door when one of the ladies behind a desk hailed her from across the room.
“Hello,” she said, “May I help you? I’m Mrs. Clark, Dean Stone’s secretary. If you’re hoping to get information about your grandchild, please have a seat and someone from admissions will be with you in a while.”
“No, that’s not why I am here. I’m a homicide detective, and I would like to see the dean in an unofficial capacity.” Maude pulled her shield and showed it to the woman at the desk, all the while observing the knowing smile on her face.
“Oh, Dean Stone doesn’t contribute to police agencies! You will have to go to the business office, and speak to our comptroller about donations.”
The clerk had touched a nerve in Maude. Begging for money or for anything else was out of the question for her, and for the employee to wrongly assume Maude’s reason for being there was to seek a donation was very aggravating.
“No, you misunderstood what I said. I need to see Dean Stone to ask him some questions about someone who might be missing,” Maude said, gritting her teeth.
“Well for goodness sakes, why didn’t you say so?” the woman asked. She was really beginning to get on Maude’s nerves.
“Do you think I could speak to him for just a minute? Or do I need an appointment?” Maude was trying her best to be civilized. Her partner Joe Allen was a great one for trying to make her a more social creature. She hoped he would have approved.
“Oh no, Dean Stone doesn’t keep up with all the students in the university. How would he know if someone was missing?” Maude bit her tongue and tried again.
“Lady, this is not about a student, it’s about one of your professors. Will you please ask him to see me for a minute? Then I’ll go away, and won’t bother you again.”
“Oh, no bother, but
you should have stated your business from the beginning, Miss Rogers. We have a great deal to do in this office. You would be better served to speak your piece from the very beginning and not waste my time. Now, hold on a minute while I call Dean Stone.”
Maude could hear the other receptionists and staff tittering at their desks. This must be a regular routine she does, Maude thought.
* * *
Dean Stone was overweight, probably in his fifties, with iron gray hair and square glasses, a narrow nose and wide mouth. His striped suit was impeccable, however, without blemish or wrinkle. Maude knew it was important that she be on good terms with the man, therefore she approached him with her badge in hand, ready to ask her questions and be on her way, back to the house and the rocking chair on the porch.
“I’m Detective Maude Rogers from Madison, Texas, just up the way and west of here. I wonder if I might ask you about one of your professors, Doctor Aaron Dennis?”
“Oh my,” the man said with a frown, “Has something happened? Has he done something wrong?”
“No Dean Stone, I’m doing a favor for my niece. She believes that your employee is missing without cause and wants me to find out about him. I’m hoping you can set her mind at ease.”
“Detective Rogers, I don’t know where Doctor Dennis went, nor what he had in mind when he left, but I know that he certainly has the time coming for vacation days. Doctor Dennis is one of our brightest stars, coming to us from UCLA, working on a project for the US Government. I suppose I can tell you that much, even though I have no idea what it is about.”
“Dean Stone, when was the last time you saw Doctor Dennis, and please try to remember his last words to you.”
“Well, I saw him briefly on Thursday afternoon after he finished a lecture. He was speaking to one of the fourth year classes about the future of chemical warfare and the responsibility of the medical community to find antidotes for every new rogue disease.”
The Maude Rogers Murder Collection Page 29