by N. M. Howell
I blinked. “Uh, yeah. Good thing.”
I figured it was best not to admit to law enforcement that I just broke into someone else’s home.
“Is there anything else you can tell me? What else do you know?”
I tried to think if I had missed anything, and filled him in on every little detail I could think of. Apart from the lie about the key, of course.
I told him the identities of the two ghosts and their warning. I left nothing out. When I had finished telling them everything, with help from the girls for the bits that I left out, Sheriff Reese immediately got on his phone and began making some calls. He dialed number after number, filling in different people in difference jurisdictions with the information he had learned. Finally, he reached someone who was on Sarah and Peter’s case and informed them of their likely deaths. He didn’t mention the ghost thing, rather he said he received an anonymous tip.
“You should have brought this to me as soon as you made the connection between the missing people,” he said to me while he was on hold with someone else, two phone calls later.
I shrugged. “Would you have stayed on the phone if it wasn’t an emergency?” He narrowed his eyes at me then stepped away as a woman’s voice sounded through his phone.
I paced back and forth while he was on the call. Finally, seemingly an eternity later, he hung up his phone and turned his attention back to me.
“Have you guys checked the restaurant?” he asked.
I paused. Oh, darn. “No, didn’t even think of it,” I admitted.
Sheriff Reese sighed. “Okay, well why don’t you all go check Jordan’s restaurant before we start panicking, okay?”
I nodded. “Right. Good idea.” Wow, my brain really wasn’t operating at full capacity. Jordan has recently purchased the local café and was turning it into a restaurant. He could easily be there now, working on the interior renovations or something.
One of the other officers pulled his keys out of his pocket and offered to drive us. Mrs. Brody and Mrs. Pots decided to stay with the sheriff in the house, and the girls and I followed the officer out to his car. I believed his name was Randy, but I couldn’t remember for sure. He looked angry, and I wasn’t going to be the one to strike up a conversation.
We sat in the car in silence as he drove us downtown to Jordan’s restaurant. He had bought it a few months before when the cafe that used to be in its place shut down. The windows were still boarded up, though, as he hadn’t found the time - or emotional strength - to hire a new pastry chef after his previous one was murdered. He also happened to be his best friend, so I didn’t blame Jordan for taking his time.
The lights inside were off, but I knocked at the front door, anyway. No sounds came from inside, and it didn’t seem like anyone was in there. I peered in the window through a small area where the plywood board had fallen. The place looked empty.
I knocked again, but no one answered. The sound of my knocking echoed in the silence until it faded into nothing and silence crept up once more.
I turned back to the officer and shrugged. “I don’t think anyone is here.”
The officer glared at me and stepped toward the door and rammed his fist loudly against the glass. “Anyone inside?” he shouted.
I jumped back at the loudness of his voice. It was a good thing there were no apartments on this block, as he would easily have woken people up with his shouting.
He glared again at me and got back in his car. “Let’s go,” he said.
I rolled my eyes but got back in the car as instructed. We drove back to the house in silence. On any other day, his attitude would have been enough to drive us all into a fit of giggles, but given the circumstance I just stared ahead and got lost in my thoughts. I tried to imagine Jordan going to some award gala and just couldn’t picture it. It made no sense that he would go without me, to begin with, but even if he didn’t want me to go with him I figured he would at least let me know that he was going. At least, I hoped he would have. I thought we were close, but maybe I was mistaken. Maybe he went without me because he wanted to break up with me. Maybe he didn’t like me anymore.
The car jolted as we drove over the end of a branch that had fallen on a side street. The sudden movement pulled me out of my dark thoughts, and I did my best to think clearly.
There was no way Jordan would go to an event like this without telling me, I knew that to be true. I convinced myself it was true.
The car had barely slowed to a stop in front of Jordan’s house when I opened the door and jumped out. I ran up the stairs to join the others inside to see if they had any news.
Nothing had changed, and they all sat around Jordan’s kitchen table waiting. Sheriff Reese had his phone on hand, ready to answer should anyone call with any information on Jordan’s whereabouts.
As an ex-member of the force, I knew the sheriff cared about his well-being, but the worried expression on his face made me pause.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Sheriff Reese sighed and handed me an empty envelope.
I turned it around in my hands to inspect it, but it didn’t seem like anything to me.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the envelope the invitation came in,” the sheriff answered. “We found it in the trash.”
“So?” I pulled up a chair and continued to inspect the rectangular paper envelope.
“So,” the sheriff began. “There isn’t an address on the invitation, and a piece is torn off, and it’s not on the counter anywhere.”
I peered into the envelope a third time. “There’s nothing in here, either.”
“Exactly.” The sheriff looked at me with a heavy expression on his face.
“Well,” I said, starting to sound frantic. “Where is it? Where is the address?”
Mrs. Brody shook her head. “We couldn’t find one, dear.”
“The person who sent it didn’t send one?” I asked, hopefully.
Mrs. Brody shook her head.
I knew what it meant. I knew that it meant Jordan had probably put the address in his pocket. He was probably on his way there now. He was probably already gone.
I slumped back in my chair and felt the color drain from my face.
“You think he’s gone,” I said in a half whisper.
“I’ve made some calls,” the sheriff said. “All towns where people have gone missing have been alerted. We have people investigating this, River. The best we can do now is to wait here for more information.”
I swallowed and nodded. I was no good at waiting.
Time went by slowly, and every minute that passed felt like we just losing time. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what.
“We have to go search,” I finally said two hours later. “We have to find him. We can’t just sit here doing nothing while he’s in danger.”
I refused to sit put while Jordan was out there in danger. Whether he still wanted me as his girlfriend or not, I still wanted him and needed him to be safe. I didn’t care if he wanted to go to the dumb event without me, I just wanted him to be alive.
Alive, I could at least chew him out for being such a stupid, uncaring ass. Dead, well… Dead is dead, and I had been around enough death in the previous few months that I really couldn’t handle the thought of more. Especially if the dead person was my boyfriend.
“From what I understand,” Sheriff Reese said, “you’re in danger, too.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care. You have a gun, you can protect me. We have to go find Jordan. Please!”
“We have strict instructions from higher up that we have to stay here at his house.”
“No,” I said as I began to pace back and forth in the kitchen. “No. I can’t. We have to go.”
My heart was racing in my chest again, and I felt as if the ticking of the clock on the wall was getting louder as if it was mocking me. I glared at it but the second hand seemed to slow down even further in response.
Everyone watched me in
silence as I pretty much had a meltdown walking in circles around the room, muttering things to myself.
The sudden sound of footsteps outside made me gasp and freeze in place.
“What was that?” Bailey whispered. She had nearly fallen asleep with her head on the table, but she snapped alert when I gasped.
I held my finger to my lips to signal her to keep quiet.
The sound came from outside the front door. My heart was going to beat right out of my chest if I didn’t have a heart attack before hand. Sheriff Reese reached for his gun, and I stared unblinkingly at the front door.
That was it. That was exactly when I was going to die, I knew it. My skin prickled as I felt ice over my entire body.
The footsteps grew louder as the killer approached the front door.
I watched the handle turn, and the door slowly creaked open. I couldn’t see past the door into the darkness beyond but a dark form slowly materialized, and I couldn’t gain control of my legs to move back.
The door finally pushed open as Sheriff Reese raised his gun and shouted “put your hands where I can see them!” to the response of more male shouting.
I threw my body to the ground and covered my head, waiting for the sound of a gunshot or screaming or something. Anything.
Nothing came. My body shook in fear, but after a moment I raised my head to see what was going on. Why was it so quiet?
When my mind finally registered what I was seeing, by body collapsed again on the floor. This time, in relief.
Jordan was standing in the front door with his arms in the air and an extremely confused and angry expression on his face.
9
“Can someone please tell me what you’re all doing here?” Jordan asked as he stepped into his kitchen.
“I…” I started, but couldn’t think of what to say. I was just so happy to see that man’s face. I pushed myself up off the ground and lunged at him, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face into his neck.
Normally I wasn’t one for PDA, but at that moment I really didn’t care.
“I thought you were dead,” I said into his neck.
He softly pushed me partially off of himself so he could look me in the eye. I shrugged sheepishly and kissed him.
“Can you point that thing somewhere else?” he growled at Sheriff Reese.
The sheriff slid the gun back into its holster and relaxed his stance. “Glad to see you’re alright,” he finally said.
Jordan raised his eyebrow. “Anyone going to fill me in?”
I shook my head dramatically, and to my dismay, my eyes began to fill with tears again. “No. First, you tell us where the hell you have been! I’ve been calling you for hours.”
I slammed my fists against his chest. I had so many emotions rushing through me, I didn’t know whether I was relieved, angry, happy, or what. I didn’t know how to express myself, so I continued to hit him until he grabbed my hands with his and led me to a chair in the kitchen and sat me down.
“I’ll make tea,” Mrs. Pots said. She got up and began scurrying about in the kitchen looking for a teapot.
I had nearly forgotten she was with us, this was the first she’d spoken anything since we’d left the house.
Jordan watched her with an amused look on his face but didn’t offer any guidance on where to find the teapot.
I highly doubted he owned one.
“So, where were you?” I repeated once I had calmed down a bit.
He scrunched his eyebrows together, and I couldn’t tell if he was angry or amused.
“I was fishing,” he finally said.
I jumped out of my chair. “Are you kidding me? Why the hell would you go fishing at night? And on Christmas Eve? That makes absolutely no sense!”
“Relax, River,” he said. He pushed down on my shoulders until I sat back down in the chair.
I glared at him. That man had absolutely no idea what awful hell he had put me through over the previous few hours.
“Brett and I went ice fishing up north,” he clarified. “We stopped for a late dinner on the drive back, and we took our time because the roads were icy.”
I blew out a loud sigh. “Brett? Ryan’s friend?”
Jordan nodded. “Yeah, he’s my friend, too. I knew you were busy with your Christmas stuff, so I agreed to go on a guy’s fishing trip with him.”
I gaped at him. From what I remembered from meeting Brett a few months back, he was a complete jackass. I couldn’t imagine what the two of them had in common.
“Are you going to tell me what you’re all doing in my house?” he asked the room.
Everyone looked back and forth amongst themselves sheepishly.
The sheriff and his men were the only ones who didn’t look embarrassed, but then again, they didn’t know we had broken into Jordan’s home.
I sighed and rubbed my eyes, trying to come up with a clear way to explain what was going on.
“Two ghosts appeared on my bed this morning and told me I was next to die,” I finally said. Might as well have started from the beginning.
He stared at me, and his mouth fell open. “Come again?”
I proceeded to tell him the whole story, from when the ghosts first appeared to our breaking into his house.
Sheriff Reese did not look impressed when I admitted that last part, but to his credit he kept his mouth shut and let me finish the story.
“I don’t understand,” Jordan said, finally. “Why would they be after ex-cops and their girlfriends?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea, but whatever the reason, we’re not safe.”
Sheriff Reese’s phone buzzed, but he swiped it to ignore the call. “Do you have the rest of the invitation?” he asked Jordan.
“The what?”
“The invitation to the gala,” the sheriff said.
“Oh. Yeah, maybe.” Jordan patted his jacket pockets and looked around himself on the floor. “Damn, I left my bag with Brett.”
“The invitation is in the bag?” Sheriff Reese asked.
“Yeah, is it important?”
I nodded. “Very. It could be the clue we need to find out more about who is doing this, and why.”
“I’ll call Brett. He shouldn’t be too far, it won’t be a problem for him to bring it back.” Jordan pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and began texting his friend.
I rolled my eyes. Great, now I would have to see that jerk again. That guy left a bad taste in my mouth.
“Better get him to bring it to their house,” the sheriff nodded towards me. “I’d like you all to stay together tonight, for your own safety. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here, given the fact that whoever is drawing the missing people away knows your address.”
Jordan nodded. “Sure thing.”
When Jordan’s phone didn’t buzz back, he dialed his friend’s number and went into the other room to talk. I heard him leave a quick message, though, and he returned a few seconds later.
“Voicemail,” he said. “Hopefully he gets it before getting all the way home.”
I sighed. “Well, no sense waiting around here. Let’s get going.”
“I’ll drive,” Jordan said.
“Rory’s got her car, but I’ll go with you,” I said.
The sheriff grabbed his jacket and keys from the kitchen table. “Works for me. You guys stay safe. I’ll go make some more calls and we’ll arrange to go investigate the event site in the morning when there’s light.”
I nodded. “Good idea. Do you remember if it was far?” I asked Jordan.
Jordan shook his head. “Less than an hour away, I think. I can’t remember the exact address, but it was just a town or two over.”
“Well, hopefully, your friend gets back to you soon. If he can’t return the bag, ask him for the address on your invitation,” Sheriff Reese said as he shook Jordan’s hand. “Stay safe. We’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
We all followed the sheriff and his officers out of the house, an
d Jordan locked up behind us.
I went ahead and took a seat in his car as the rest of my group piled into Rory’s car, and I watched the girls drive away in front of us as Jordan joined me in his.
We drove in silence for a minute while I tried my very best to keep my cool, but my mind wasn’t having any of it at that moment.
“What the hell did you think you were doing going out fishing in the middle of the night?” I basically shouted at him as he drove.
Jordan jumped at my sudden outburst and pulled the car over. He looked me level in the eye and spoke calmly. “River, we didn’t go at night. We went early this morning. I told you, the roads were bad and we took our time to get home.”
“I thought you had gone to the gala,” I finally said after staring out the window, avoiding his eye contact.
“The gala?” he asked. “Oh, the invitation. Why would you think I would go to something like that without you?”
I really didn’t want to admit to him that the thought of him not wanting to be with me with me scared me more than the idea of both of us being kidnapped. I knew how ridiculous it sounded, so I kept it to myself. I didn’t want to scare the poor boy off.
“Did you want to go?” I asked.
Jordan considered for a moment. “Well, I was really planning on it. I wanted to go so bad, for some reason.”
I nodded. “Makes sense. It’s nice to be honored for your work.”
“But,” Jordan continued, “now that I look back on it, I really couldn’t care less if I go. I’m really not the gala type of guy.”
I turned back towards him and glanced down at his torn jeans and leather jacket. “Yeah, you don’t really strike me as the suit and tie kind of guy.”
He grinned at me. “And you don’t strike me as the ball gown type of girl.”
I laughed. “Definitely not. Besides, who said I even wanted to go with you?”
Jordan rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. You know how irresistible I’d look in a tux. You wouldn’t be able to stay away.” He winked at me, and it was my turn to roll my eyes.
“Whatever you say, Danny.” We had watched Greece a few weeks ago, and I liked to tease him about how much he dressed like him. All he needed was the black hair, and he’d be all set.