The Video Store

by S J Sargent

“Is that okay with you?”

  “I just…don’t know if it helps you to know.”

  Bolin smiled. “I guess I’ll have to decide that, won’t I?”

  “I never knew Amy. I had never even heard her name until the case was reported last week. Then again, a twenty-nine-year-old single guy probably shouldn’t know many teenage girls.” This was meant to be a joke, but it didn’t land well.

  “That’s true. And another que-”

  But before Bolin could finish his question, they were interrupted by a loud bang.

  Bolin popped up out of his chair to look toward the back of the office. Jonathan did too, though in defense.

  Another bang. Bolin’s hand slid onto his holster as he slowly approached the supply closet. Bolin looked at Jonathan then back over at the supply closet. Now standing outside of it, he rested his hand on the knob.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  Jonathan stayed frozen like the poles outside. As Bolin’s hand began to cautiously turn the doorknob, Jonathan debated if he could make it to his car before Bolin would catch him.

  32

  The Message

  Monday, December 20 – 9:47 A.M.

  Just stay awake.

  That’s all Molly could hope for at this point. She’d basically kissed her undefeated, A-plus finals streak goodbye as she just scribbled in random answers for the questions she didn’t know. This would have bothered her a lot more a week earlier. After the night before though, she was just glad to be out of the police station and able to be at school. She got home a little bit after two and laid in her bed for five hours before getting up to go to school. Sparsely sprinkled in that time were twenty-minute episodes of sleep, but mostly it was her memorizing her bedroom ceiling and fearing what would happen next.

  The news broke about Christine an hour earlier, right in the middle of the first final. To avoid panic, the school made an announcement immediately following. “…today’s schedule will remain as previously planned. Please proceed to your next final as you hear the bell.”

  Just as with Amy, their handling of the news began all types of critiques from students and parents. Students started to mumble and hop on their phones to see what was happening. The ones who had already heard the news groaned at the lost potential of going home early. It amazed Molly how few people seemed to even care that a second girl had gone missing. A sneak peek at the typical mindset of the modern teenager.

  For Molly, seeing the breaking news about Christine was even more unsettling than Amy. Seeing her picture all over social media with a ‘MISSING PERSON’ caption brought back all the emotions from the morning before. It felt so long ago, yet it wasn’t. Her fellow classmates had no concept of all Molly had gone through in the past twenty-four hours.

  The lack of emotional engagement to the news for most people bothered Molly in a tremendous way. Especially since this case wasn’t just about a missing person anymore. This was now about a missing serial killer.

  Molly’s stare out the window was one notch above a power nap. On the corner of her spiral notebook were the coded numbers written repeatedly with random combinations of letters under them. Trying to keep her eyes open, she looked over them one more time. And on this twenty-third glance, she noticed something new. Almost as if they were highlighted and popping off the page, Molly finally saw the next part of Amy’s code in the midst of her scattered solutions.

  HELP. GUY FROM _ _. AMY.

  Molly frantically tried to tie together the two remaining letters, but none of them made sense or fit anywhere. Guy from what? Had she gotten cut off before she could finish?

  “Guy from… Guy from…”

  Molly said it over and over in her head. She tapped her pen on the side of her desk, trying to figure out what she was missing. Now her exhaustion turned to a new, focused energy. She’d discovered a new clue. New information. New possibilities. Amy had definitely tried to send her this code. There was something to this and Molly was eager to figure it out. Even if it was too late.

  The bell rang and Molly made her way for her car, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone at all. Usually she took her time going through the hallways, talking to friends and teachers on her way out. But not now. She had to get out of there and think, even if it meant blowing off her next final. Two different students tried to ask how she was doing. She didn’t even look up to acknowledge them. As she bolted across the parking lot, she heard a familiar voice from over her shoulder.

  “Tired?”

  Molly turned around to see Alex chasing after her with a textbook tucked under his arm. She immediately attacked him with a hug. He embraced her back and smelled the fruity scent in her shampoo. They held each other long enough for the lazy-eyed gym teacher to yell across the parking lot through her megaphone.

  “Hey! Leave some breathing room, you two.”

  Alex smiled and pulled back, gawking into her hazel eyes. She nodded and pointed at her backpack with her head. “I think I found something. ”

  She grabbed his hand and led him to her car. They both got in. She pulled out her notebook. Alex looked closely at the heap of letters and numbers. It was a complete mess. A puzzle with no picture on the box. Then she pointed to her final decoded solution and said it out loud.

  Molly said each word slowly, like teaching a kindergartener to read for the first time. “Help. Guy. From. Blank. Blank.” She paused for effect. “Amy.”

  “Guy from blank blank? How did you get that?” Alex now had the notebook close enough to smell her scent off of it. “What does that mean? Are you sure the last part is ‘Amy?’

  “What else would it be?” She pointed at the final series of numbers. “26999. A-M-Y. It was her signature. Her way of letting you know it was her.”

  They both sat together quietly, staring at the paper. They were close to something. They could feel it. They could also feel the fatigue hitting them like a tidal wave. Everything in Molly just wanted to take a nap with no anxiety in her mind.

  “Wait.” Alex grabbed the notebook back and started scribbling. “The two missing numbers are sixes, right?” She nodded. “It’s ‘no’. N-o. Six. Six. It’s gotta be…”

  “No. No, what?” Molly asked. “No help?”

  Alex shook his head. He finally spoke his mind. He said each word with a pause between them. “Rearrange it. Help. No. guy.” Alex stopped. “From. Amy.”

  Molly looked up from the notebook, fear in her eyes. Alex mirrored the same. “No guy?” She looked back down at the numbers. She could feel Amy staring back through the paper to give her further explanation. Trying to help point her to the menace that was causing havoc all over Pecos. This was all she had left from Amy. In a way, it was her final words. At least, the final words anyone knows she said. Her final effort to help Molly stop any more evil from taking place.

  Molly repeated it again. “No guy…?”

  “As in, it’s not a guy,” Alex said. “The person who took Amy was not a guy. It was a girl. Amy’s trying to help us find the killer.” The two locked eyes. They didn’t say it, but they were doing the same thing. Listing out suspects. Then a thought occurred to Alex and he broke the silence between them.”

  “Molly.” He cuffed her hands. “That just eliminated everyone that Bolin thinks is a suspect.”

  33

  Back At Movie Madness

  Monday, December 20 – 10:40 A.M.

  By the time Molly and Alex pulled into Movie Madness, it had started to snow again. Fitting for the Christmas season, especially considering how little it felt like Christmas to the two of them. They hopped out of the car and ran to the break room in the back.

  “I think it’s still in here,” Alex said as Molly tried to keep up with him. “I saw it last night. And I doubt Bolin took it.”

  “Took what?” Molly asked.

  They opened the back-hallway door toward the office. Alex scanned around the desk until he found what he had come there to grab—a small flash drive. “I knew it!” He hel
d it in front of him like a trophy. “I knew he left it here! He never even brought it to the police station. Because he wasn’t seriously looking at all the evidence. He was just looking for what he wanted to find. He’s been biased since the beginning.”

  Alex shoved the flash drive in his pocket, and they made their way back to the front of the Movie Madness. Molly, still confused what was on the flash drive, stayed back in the hallway. “Do you hear that?” She opened the break room door across from the office and froze in the door frame when they saw what was inside.

  Peter was sitting on the floor, tears in his eyes. His shirt was wrinkled and snotty like a tissue. His glasses were on the floor next to him. He usually would have composed himself when someone saw him crying. But this time he just looked up at them and kept on wailing.

  “Pete. What are you doing here?” Alex came and sat next to him on the floor.

  “It’s over. It’s all over.” Peter stared past the door. Silence in the room. “Bolin. He called me a little while ago and asked me to come back in for more questioning. He said if I resisted and wasn’t there within the hour, he would put out a warrant for my arrest.” Peter stopped and looked at them. He shook his head and buried his palm into his eye. “My arrest, Alex.”

  “How can he do that?” Molly asked.

  “Because he found something. That’s what he said.” Peter answered. “I knew he would find out, but I didn’t say anything because it made me look like I was more…involved. But I wasn’t! You have to believe me.”

  Molly now sat down in front of him, too. “What did he find, Pete? What are you talking about?”

  “I didn’t do it!” Peter snapped. “Please. If my parents even think I was tied in to this, it’s over. They’ll disown me. They probably already have at this point. But they don’t know the whole story. No one does. Except for Christine…”

  Alex stayed calm. One thing at a time. “We know it wasn’t you.” He motioned over to Molly, who sat down in front of Peter. “We found something, too. And it might actually help your case here.”

  Peter looked up. Wiping the nerves out of his eyes, he stared at Molly. She nodded. “We found a message from Amy.”

  Color came back into Peter’s face. “What? When?”

  Before they could say anything else, a loud bang interrupted them. Molly peeked out to see Bolin knocking on the front door. She raced back in and locked the back-hallway door behind her. Bolin’s voice carried through the front glass and poured into the break room.

  “Peter! I know you are in the store. It’s time to go.”

  Peter looked at Alex for help. “What do we do?”

  “What did Bolin find?” Alex looked him in the eye. “Why is he after you right now? What is happening?”

  Peter took a deep breath. “Evidence. That I was at Christine’s apartment on Saturday night.” Molly tried to hide her jaw drop, but it didn’t work. Peter looked at both of them. They waited for him to say something more. “But I was…I wasn’t there…I left…before…” His words just turned into a nervous head shake.

  “Why were you at her apartment?” Molly asked.

  Bolin yelled again from the outside, backed by some surrounding commotion from the other police officers. “We will be forced to break the lock if you don’t come out in ten seconds. This is your final chance.”

  “We need to go.” Alex stood up. Molly quickly followed.

  “Alex. No.” Peter stayed seated. “If you run with me, you’ll be an accomplice. I don’t want to tie you into this.”

  “Ten! Nine! Eight!”

  “An accomplice for what? You didn’t do anything. He’s trying to pin this on you. Just like he did with Kenny.”

  “You don’t know that!” Molly spoke up. “I’m not going anywhere until he tells us why he was at her apartment on Saturday night. I need to know.” Molly’s hand rested on the doorknob, ready to run for her car. She was terrified and wished she’d never followed Alex back to the store in the first place. Molly began wondering how her parents would respond if she just sped home and hid in her room for the next three days.

  Glass crash from the front of the store.

  “This isn’t about him, Molly,” Alex added. “This is about fighting against the guy that is trying to find a sucker that he can arrest so he can keep his job at the police station. I can’t let Bolin do that. You know it’s not Pete. We both do now. Amy told you that.” Alex jumped up, grabbing Peter’s hand. “Come on. You can explain your story on the way. But we have to get it out of here. Now.”

  They darted out of the breakroom and toward the cars in the back. Molly grabbed Alex. “Are you sure about this? There’s no going back…” Alex nodded. She looked at him, less certain. He tried to pull her out the door. She pulled him back.

  “Who do you trust more, Molly? Bolin or Peter?” Molly looked back as she heard Bolin clearing out the glass and making his way into the front of the store. If they were going to escape, it had to be now. Alex gently took her hand. “You’ll be safe if you stay with me. Safer than with your parents. Definitely safer than with these cops. I promise.” In a moment of blind trust, she took his hand and ran through the door with him and Peter.

  Running faster than any of them ever had before, Alex led them through the back trees to an old apartment complex that rested well off the road behind Movie Madness. With it being late afternoon and still light out, Alex was anxious to be out in the open. Holding Molly’s hand, he sprinted up the apartment stairs to the third floor where they were finally out of sight. All three collapsed on the ground. Complete exhaustion. Not sure where they were. And not sure that Bolin saw them or not.

  Peter tried to talk through winded, deep breaths. “Thank you.” Deep breath. “Thanks for…” Another breath. “…for believing me.” Still trying to catch their breath, Molly looked out over the railing. She couldn’t see Bolin anywhere.

  “I’m not sure I do believe you yet.” She shared. “I just knew we had to get out of there.”

  “And we have to get out of here.” Alex began to strategize as he looked out over the railing for a path. “We have to get somewhere safe that we can hide out for the rest of the night. Somewhere they won’t expect.”

  “He’s going to wait by our cars,” Molly pointed out. “We can’t go back to the store. Wherever we go, it has to be on foot. Outside. In the freezing cold. We’re trapped.”

  “Guys, can we hold up for one minute?” Peter stopped them. “Can you tell me what Amy told you?”

  “You first, Pete,” Alex said, sitting back down. “Why were you at Christine’s house the night she went missing? Come clean. We need everything on the table. Now. Or you are on your own.”

  Peter pondered for a moment, trying to figure out his starting point. “Okay. You can’t…judge me. I don’t know how to say this.” He looked at Molly, desperate for empathy. “I…like Christine. We are kind of seeing each other. We were. Nothing big. Just a few dates. Not even dates. Just hanging out. And when Amy went missing, I started to worry about Christine. You know? A single girl, living by herself. I just, I felt like I needed to check in with her and make sure she was okay when she was home by herself. Just to make sure she was fine. That she was safe…”

  “I’m trying to wrap my head around this…” Alex half-smiled. “You and Christine…?”

  Peter nodded.

  “Unofficially. We kept it low key. But I was so worried that something was going to happen to her. So I followed her home the last few nights that we worked together.” Molly retracted at this, as if Peter had just raised his hand to slap her. He raised his voice. “Just to make sure she was okay and…nothing creepy. It was for her safety…”

  “You followed her home? Did she ask you to?” Molly asked. Peter shook his head in complete shame.

  “She didn’t know. I didn’t want to weird her out or make her think I was…I don’t know.” Peter looked down. “Now when I say it out loud, it sounds like I was doing exactly what I was trying to avoi
d. Honestly. I don’t…I just, I really like her.” Peter’s emotions overcame him again. In his brief sobbing, Alex looked over the railing again. Still, no sign of Bolin, though he heard a door slam in the distance. Maybe the back door of Movie Madness, but he wasn’t sure.

  “Pete.” Molly put a hand on his shoulder.” I think that’s sweet.” She got up and leaned against the wall, still trying to catch her breath. “I get why it could look bad if you don’t know the whole story.” She locked eyes with him. “I trust you…”

  Alex hopped back up, flattened against the wall as he began his soliloquy to Peter. “I don’t trust Bolin. I think he’s just trying to pin this thing on someone. He’s got nothing so he’s just pulling people in and throwing evidence at them. He already tried to do it with Ken. He knows that with each day people are getting more and more anxious. So he just wants to find someone. Just someone that will get people to stop worrying that a killer is on the loose. He’s desperate…”

  Molly looked up from her stare. “You don’t think Detective Bolin is ever going to find the real suspect? You don’t think he’ll ever find him?”

  “Her.” Alex reminded Molly.

  “What?” Peter looked over at Alex.

  Alex looked around for an escape plan. “Okay. We need to catch you up on our info, too. But we need to keep moving here. If we don’t, we’re trapped up here.” Alex waved toward them, and they quickly charged down the back stairs and to the main level. In quicker fashion than any of them thought, they ran to the very back of the apartment complex and hid in a wooden storage shed. Once they got there, Molly and Peter plopped on the ground and tried to regain their breath. It was freezing outside, with a wind chill in the twenties. The shed offered about as much warmth as a cardboard box.

  Alex stayed standing and explained everything as he kept an eye out through the shed window. “Amy gave us a big clue that we just figured out. She said that it wasn’t a guy. Her abductor wasn’t a guy. She told Molly that. Which means…obviously…it was a girl.” Peter’s face changed, trying to put together the puzzle. Alex pulled out the flash drive and held it up. “And this proves it even more. You see, Bolin wasn’t looking at all the evidence. He was just looking at enough of it to put it on you. Or Ken. That was always his plan.”