by Ponzo, Gary
Rachel could now see deeper inside the tiny apartment. The front door exposed a minuscule living room crammed with toys amongst other stuff. Two more kids were sitting on the green shag carpet, playing with toy cars. A woman wearing a ratty robe came from a back room, a cigarette hanging from her bright pink lips and her mousy brown hair entangled into a ponytail.
“Hey, Natasha. It’s Janine.”
Only awkward silence answered her.
“Um, Scotty’s wife, remember? Can we come in?”
Natasha narrowed her eyes at Janine and Rachel. “Jan, I reckon I ain’t surprised. Ain’t nobody know where your son is if that’s why your here. I done told the police I everything I know.” Natasha’s large frame was blocking the entrance and it appeared she had no intention of letting them in.
“I just want to talk to you. Can we come in?” Janine asked again.
Natasha focused on Rachel, looking her up and down.
Rachel was glad she dressed way down today. Dark jeans with a faded polo shirt and Ked sneakers, her long auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her makeup was at a minimal. She followed Natasha’s gaze to her ring finger where her four carat diamond ring sparkled in the sunlight.
“Who’s your rich friend?” Natasha asked Janine, snidely.
Sometimes you just can’t hide who you really are, Rachel thought.
“I’m Rachel.” She held out her hand to Natasha who seemingly intensified her glare before stepping aside to let them in, ignoring Rachel’s hand.
“Kids, to your room! Off the couch. Take your sister with y’uns.”
The three boys carted off their sister into the back room. Rachel sat gingerly on the sofa, worried by the many unidentifiable stains and cigarette burns.
“I ain’t seen that no-good brother of mine in over two years, so I don’ reckon I know what good this is gonna do.” Natasha spat from opposite of the couch, on an equally nasty recliner. Rachel winced at Natasha’s dirty feet. An unnatural black crust carpeted her soles beneath protruding toenails so sharp they could cut diamonds. “Your boy ain’t here, that’s for sure.”
“We were hoping you could tell us something that will help find him,” Janine said.
“Like what?”
Janine looked at Rachel for help.
“Like, if you know some friends he may have in the area. You grew up here, right?” Rachel asked.
“The only friend Scotty may still talk to is holed up on the other side of town. Last I heard Scotty owes him some money. That boy is no good son-of-a-bitch… I doubt he’s seen him lately.”
“Who would that be?” Janine asked.
“Adam Bloomfield. He’s works over at the Pier House Marina.”
Chapter 15
Rachel and Janine shared a plate of seafood nachos at the Pier House. The sound of sails gently flapping in the breeze and the cool, salty air on their skin was admittedly distracting their worried minds. But they hadn’t so hastily forgotten the purpose of their visit – they were waiting for Adam Bloomfield to get off work. Rachel had asked to see him at the dock master’s office, but the dock master had informed them that Adam was out on his employer’s boat, The Loan Ranger, and wasn’t expected to return until six. So, Rachel and Janine decided to take refuge at the Pier House restaurant until Adam returned from business.
“I can’t find an address for Adam.” Rachel put her Blackberry away and plucked a piece of shrimp off the pile of tortilla chips.
“He probably rents.”
“Right. Well, when was the last time you saw Adam?”
“At Scotty’s ten-year high school reunion. I barely remember him. Scotty doesn’t really have a lot of close friends but he and Adam have kept in touch over the years. Scotty would meet him for a drink after work if Adam was in town. Haven’t seen him since the reunion, though.”
“Do you know how long he’s been working as a deck hand?”
“I do remember Scotty telling me that Adam’s been working around boats since their high school days. I guess it’s pretty lucrative with the tips and all.”
“Did your son ever meet Adam?”
Janine shook her head. “Not that I know of. Scotty took Jack fishing a couple of times while I was working but I don’t think Adam went with them.”
Rachel checked her watch. It was almost five. “After we finish eating, should we take a walk down to the marina? Wait for him there?”
Janine drained the rest of her wine. “I’m ready when you are.”
They paid the check and headed directly to the boat slips. Rachel counted five yachts of various sizes that were docking for the night and another two that were heading out for a sunset cruise.
“There’s the boat.” Janine pointed at an all-white, forty-two foot Brewer sailboat idling into slip number forty-nine. The Loan Ranger was emblazoned on the hull.
A man with dark leathery skin, a lanky build, and sandy blond hair hopped onto the dock and tied the line to the bollard. “Is that him?” she asked Janine.
“Yeah, I think so.” Janine waited until he was done securing the boat and then walked to the bow. “Adam!” she yelled and waved her hand at him.
Adam looked down at Janine, his hand shielding the last rays of sun shining down on them. “Yeah?”
“It’s Janine. Janine Jensen.” She waited for some kind of recognition. When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “Scotty Jensen’s wife.”
“Oh, yeah. What’s up?” Adam wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
Adam looked around before answering. “Sure. Give me fifteen minutes. I need to clean up then I can meet you at the bar.”
Janine nodded and she and Rachel began walking back toward the restaurant. “This is a little awkward. Do you think he will tell us anything useful?”
“Maybe. But then again, maybe not.” Rachel made her way to the same bar stool she occupied before and sat down.
“What do I say to him?” Janine took the seat next to her. “For all I know, he’s calling Scotty right now and telling him that I’m here.”
“I’d start by asking him when he last saw Scotty. Also, if he’s ever met your son.” Rachel ordered two iced teas while they waited. “After that, see where it goes.”
They sat at the bar for nearly thirty minutes, nursing their drinks. They were just about to go find Adam when he finally showed.
“Now’s your chance,” Rachel whispered. Rachel noted that he had changed into a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, and his hair was still damp from his recent shower.
“’Bout time,” Janine mumbled.
“Hello, ladies.” Adam sat down on a bar stool next to Rachel and ordered a beer from the tap. “Y’all need anything?”
They both declined. Janine quickly introduced him to Rachel. “It’s been awhile,” she tried to sound friendly to the man who possibly knew where her missing son was.
Adam took a long draw from his beer. “It has. How’s Scotty?”
“He’s okay I guess. We’re going through a divorce right now. So I don’t see him that much.” Janine picked nervously at her napkin.
“Sorry to hear that.” Adam sipped his beer again, the foamy head of which now rest on his upper lip, ignored.
“I know you’re curious as to why I’m here,” Janine began.
Adam smiled at her. “I am.”
“My son, Jack… he’s missing.”
Adam flagged the bartender down for another beer, his face void of concern.
Janine hesitated, but Rachel gave her an encouraging nod. “I’m contacting all of Scotty’s friends and family to see if they know anything about Jack’s disappearance.”
“Wow. I didn’t know that. I haven’t talked to Scotty in ages,” Adam said. He looked into his mug as if searching for the right words to say. “How old is your son?”
“He’s three.”
“Huh. I knew you had a son, but I’ve never met him.”
“When was the last time you sai
d you talked to Scotty?” Rachel jumped in.
“A couple of years ago - I was down in Miami, getting ready for a trip to the Bahamas. He met me at the marina and we had a couple of beers. That was it. I tried calling him at the dealership the next time I was in town, but they said he didn’t work there anymore. His cell phone was disconnected.” Adam finished his beer and laid two five dollar bills on the bar. “I hope that helps.”
“When was that? The last time you were in town?” Rachel asked.
“This past June.” Adam got up from his seat. “If that’s all ladies…I need to get back to work.”
“Well, thanks for your time. If you hear anything about my son, please give me a call.” Janine handed him a flyer with Jack’s picture and wrote her cell phone number on the back.
Adam took the flyer, folded it over several times before sticking it into his back pocket. “Nice to meet you gals.” He nodded to Rachel and patted Janine on the back. “Good luck with everything.”
Janine waited until he was out of ear shot. “Well? What now?”
“I don’t believe him.” Rachel grabbed her purse off the bar.
“Why not?”
“He’s lying to us. He said the last time he saw Scotty was two years ago. You told me that Scotty was fired at the dealership over three years ago. So how come last June when Adam came in town, he called the dealership looking for Scotty? Shouldn’t he have known that Scotty didn’t work there two years ago when he last saw him?”
Janine thought about it for a minute. “You’re right. But…he could’ve gotten his dates wrong. Or maybe Scotty didn’t tell him that he lost his job.”
Rachel shrugged. “Call it women’s intuition or whatever you’d like, but I still think he’s lying.”
Chapter 16
Back at their room, Rachel decided to take a hot shower while Janine checked in with her house sitter. She lathered up her hair with strawberry-scented shampoo and thought about what she was going to say to Rick when she got back to Miami. Even before her impromptu trip to Clearwater, they’d been living separate lives. Rick had spent an increasing amount of time at the dealership while she combed every corner of the internet to try and unearth a lead on Mallory. She read through the forums on missing persons websites, walked the site where Mallory’s doll was discovered to look for more clues, and cruised through the airport and bus terminals searching the faces of children. She would end her day at Detective Cooper’s office to check in with him. At first, Rick was patient with her. He would even accompany her on her outings. Then his enthusiasm fell off. Soon, he stopped altogether. One weekend, she told him that she was considering selling her real estate and property management business. She didn’t know what she wanted to do, but real estate just wasn’t in her heart anymore – nothing was. Rick was furious with her. He thought she was nuts to give up such a lucrative business that she’d worked extremely hard at for so long. She couldn’t make him understand that with Mallory gone, nothing was worth living for. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand he just didn’t want to.
She stepped out of the shower, dried off, and slipped on a pair of cotton drawstring pants and a matching shirt. With a towel wrapped around her wet hair, she walked out of the bathroom.
“Feel better?” Janine asked her.
“Yeah, thanks. How’s everything at home?”
“Good. My house sitter said that Scotty stopped by this afternoon to see me.”
“What did she tell her?”
“That I was out of town visiting friends.”
Rachel contemplated that for a minute. “Do you think our friend Adam tipped him off that we were here asking questions?”
“Probably.”
“If Adam has anything to do with this, we better find out soon.”
“Think we should call Detective Cooper?” Janine asked.
“So far, we really don’t have much to go on other than womanly instinct.”
“And the fact that Adam lied to us.”
Rachel shrugged. “Doesn’t really mean much to a police officer. Like you said, Adam could’ve had his dates wrong.”
“Right.” Janine rolled her eyes.
“Let’s see what tomorrow turns up. Then we can hand over what we know to Detective Cooper and he can take it from there.” Rachel took a brush and worked on detangling her hair. “After we have breakfast with my parents, we can head back to the marina. We’ll talk with Adam one more time before we head back to Miami.”
“I hope we come up with something.” Janine sat on the bed next to Rachel, flipping through the channels on the T.V. “I feel like I’m running out of options.”
“We’ll find Jack. You’ll see. Just have to keep the faith.”
Chapter 17
The sailboat rocked gently with the chop of the water. It was a 1985 Sea Sprite and was Adam’s pride and joy. He had spent every last dime he’d made meticulously renovating the interior with exquisite cherry and teak woods, new appliances, and lighting. The money he was getting from doing a favor for his old pal was going to come in handy. Adam was looking forward to using that cash to finish the exterior of the boat. Then he could take a few months off to sail around the Bahamas.
Adam pushed a plate of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chips and a pile of grapes to the little boy. “Eat up. We have a big day tomorrow.”
“I’m not hungry.” The little boy didn’t look up from the portable DVD player. He brushed away the dark hair that fell into his pale face.
“You need to eat something.” Adam reached down and closed the DVD’s lid.
“Hey! Put it back!” the little boy protested.
“After you eat your sandwich and drink the milk I gave you, then you can finish watching your movie.”
A tear rolled down the little boy’s cheek as he took a tentative bit of the sandwich. “When am I going to see my mommy?”
Adam turned his attention to his own sandwich - a pimento cheese and ham. “I told you. We’re meeting your dad tomorrow. He’s going to take you on vacation.”
“I don’t wanna see my daddy. I want my mommy.”
“You’ll have to ask your dad about that, Cowboy. Now eat up if you want to watch your movie again.”
“My name’s not Cowboy,” the boy whispered under his breath.
Adam knew the little boy’s patience was wearing thin. He was happy to help out his old buddy Scotty and the money he was getting for “babysitting” the kid was nice, but now he worried. The presence of the kid’s mother was unsettling to him. Scotty had told him about the custody problems and that Janine was emotionally abusing the kid, but Adam began to doubt if that held any truth. Janine was nice enough the first time that he met her and she seemed really concerned today about her son. It wasn’t easy to figure people out, especially what their demeanor was like at home, but she didn’t seem like someone who would be abusive to her son.
He finished his pimento sandwich in three bites and threw the paper plate in the trash.
“All done?” Adam asked, noting the boy had eaten almost all of his meal. “Then throw away your trash.”
“No!”
“Look, kid. You want to finish your movie?”
“I want my mommy!” The boy started to cry again.
Adam ran his hands through his hair. This was getting to be a little more than what he bargained for. He threw away the remnants of the little boy’s meal before turning on the DVD player.
“I’m going to step out and make a call. You stay here at watch your movie.” Adam swiped his cell from the kitchen counter and made his way onto the deck. He carefully stepped around the stern and placed his call.
“Scotty, its Adam. We all set for tomorrow?”
“Glad you called. Change of plans. Can you meet me at Bruster’s Marina instead? Same time?”
“That’s another hour away.”
“So leave early.”
“It’ll be an extra hundred. Gas and all.”
Scotty grunted on the othe
r end.
“Look, that’s not all. I had a visitor earlier today. You told me there wouldn’t be any problems.”
“What visitor?”
“Your fuckin’ wife, Scotty. Janine and some lady came to my work.”
There was a pregnant pause on the other end. “What did she want?”
“I think you know the answer to that, man.”
“Just answer the damn question, Adam!”
“She was asking if I had seen her kid around.”
“My kid. Jack is my son.” Scotty let out a long sigh. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her that I didn’t know anything. You know me, if I tell you I’ll keep my mouth then I will.”
“What about Donna?”
“My girlfriend? Donna ain’t gonna say nothing. She only babysat your kid twice while I was working. She thinks Jack is my nephew. No biggie.”
“Okay,” Scotty breathed heavily into the phone. “How is Jack doing?”
“He wants his mom,” Adam said, exasperated. “What’s really going on here?”
“Just get my kid down here. On time. Tomorrow. Don’t worry about Janine - I’ll handle her.”
Adam snapped his cell phone shut and had to stop himself from throwing it into the water. He may be doing his old buddy a favor and he may be getting paid for said favor, but he didn’t need to be treated like an imbecile. Tomorrow he would deliver Jack to his dad, get his money, and he and Scotty would be even. He could care less if he saw Scotty again. This was getting to be more trouble than it was worth.
Chapter 18
“Your parents were very nice,” Janine said as they drove back from Clearwater. Breakfast with Rachel’s parents only took a couple of hours.
“Thanks.” Rachel blew out a breath. “I feel bad because I don’t get to see them that often. It seems like I always have something going on. With real estate, I worked eighty hours a week before Mallory was born. Then when she came along, I cut back on my hours and spent every chance I could with my daughter. After she went missing, I threw myself into finding her. It made a huge impact on my parents; especially my dad who is still recovering from a heart attack.” Rachel made the turn onto the Clearwater toll bridge and directed her car towards the marina where Adam worked.