by Mark Bentsen
Luke nodded, “No, not with me.” Then he remembered he took some pictures of her the day they arrived. “Wait a minute. I took some pictures of her yesterday. If I bring in that memory card from my camera, can you print some pictures?”
“Not really. The printer we use for pictures is on the blink, so it would be best if you go to the camera shop on Main Street. They can do them while you wait.”
For the next half hour, Luke filled out forms and answered more questions.
“I’ll get those pictures made and get back here as soon as I can.”
Ernest followed Luke as he made his way to the front door. “Luke, I’m sure she’s okay. I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone kidnapped or abducted in Cardston. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for this.”
“That’s the same thing Dr. Duncan said. I hope you’re right.”
***
Luke hurried back to the car, hoping to find Bonnie there waiting. But she wasn’t. He grabbed the camera, ejected the memory card, and headed for the camera shop. Rocky Mountain Photography was a few blocks away and as soon as he stepped inside the teenage girl behind the counter pointed to a clock that said 5:35. “I’m sorry sir, but we close at five-thirty.”
“I understand, but this is an emergency,” Luke said. He held out the memory card to the girl and said, “The police have asked me to get some pictures made for them as soon as possible.”
“All of our equipment has been turned off for the day. I don’t know...”
“This is very important. My wife is missing and the police need some pictures printed now. I’ll pay whatever it takes.”
She backed away and said, “I’ll have to talk to the manager.” She walked around the corner and disappeared in the back.
While Luke waited, he looked out the big window across the front of the store and watched people walking by, hoping to see a redhead.
“Can I help you?” came a voice behind him.
When Luke turned around he recognized the tall man with long blond hair. Sonny Diamond, the man Bonnie had argued with in St. Mary. Sonny recognized Luke and his expression hardened.
Luke sighed and regained his composure. “I’m Luke Wakefield from Austin, Texas. I... we met yesterday at—”
Without emotion Sonny said, “At my camera store in St. Mary. I remember you. What can I do for you?”
“You own both stores?”
“I don’t own them, but I manage both of them. How can I help you?” he asked impatiently.
“My wife has disappeared and I need to have some pictures of her printed to give the police.”
“What do you mean, she disappeared?” he asked. “Was she hiking or something?”
Luke explained.
“That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever heard,” Sonny said. “Who’d you talk to at the RCMP?”
“An older man named Ernest. I think he’s in charge over there.”
“Yeah, Ernest’s the one to talk to. He’s been the commanding officer here in Cardston as long as I can remember. He’ll find her.” Sonny reached for the memory card Luke was holding. “Give me that and I’ll make some prints for you.”
Sonny told the teenage girl she could go, then stuck the card into the machine, and the photos Luke and Bonnie had taken the day before came up on the monitor. Luke pointed to the photo that showed Bonnie’s face the best.
A moment later, Sonny slipped a stack of 4 x 5s, and some 8 x 10s into an envelope and slid them across the counter to Luke.
“There are plenty of prints in there. Give some to the police and you might post some around town.”
“Thanks. How much do I owe you?” Luke asked as he pushed a fifty-dollar bill across the counter, but Sonny slid it back.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I appreciate that,” Luke said, and the two men headed to the door.
“What are you going to do now?” Sonny asked.
Luke looked back down the street in the direction of the police station, “I’ll take these back to the police and then, I don’t know. Just wait at the car, I guess.”
“Where’s your car?”
“I left it parked in front of the clinic. When Bonnie comes back, I want it to be there.”
Sonny nodded and said, “C’mon. Let me drop you at the RCMP office.”
They got into a dark blue BMW that smelled of new leather and as they started down the road, Sonny asked, “Where are you staying?”
“At the Red Eagle Lodge in St. Mary, but I’m not going back without Bonnie. She’s here somewhere and I’m not leaving without her.”
“I don’t blame you. I’m going to see some friends tonight,” he said. “Give me a couple of those pictures and I’ll pass them around.”
Luke handed him three of the photos.
“It’s a small town. You never know who might have seen something, and the more people looking for her the better.”
A few minutes later Sonny rolled to a stop in front of the police station.
“If you haven’t eaten, the diner next to my store has excellent home cooking.”
“I haven’t eaten since breakfast. I’ll try it.” Then he extended his hand to Sonny. “Hey Sonny, thanks for everything,” Then awkwardly added, “and... I’m sorry about what happened in St. Mary. Bonnie didn’t mean to—”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I kind of lost my cool. I can be a real asshole sometimes,” Sonny said with a chuckle. “Let’s forget it.”
Luke smiled and nodded as he pushed the door closed. Sonny made a U-turn and headed back toward town.
When Luke walked into the lobby, an officer he hadn’t seen before took him back to Ernest’s office.
“Give me about six of those pictures,” Ernest said. “I’ll scan one and get it on the wire as soon as I can. Within an hour, every detachment in Alberta will have a copy of it. I’ll also get these others out to the officers on patrol.”
“What should I do now?”
“We’ll contact you as soon as we know anything. Where are you staying?”
“Our room is at the Red Eagle Lodge in St. Mary, but I’m not leaving without Bonnie. I’ll be in my car across from the clinic.”
“Okay. If she doesn’t show up, check back with me in the morning.”
Luke walked back to town; the sidewalks were deserted and the lights were turned off inside most of the storefront businesses. Just past Sonny’s store, he came to the diner. His omelet from early that morning had worn off hours ago. Just thinking about eating without knowing where Bonnie was seemed wrong, but he needed food. He ordered two burgers and two Cokes, to go. He couldn’t see getting something for himself without something for Bonnie. Just in case.
Fifteen minutes later, with a brown paper bag in his hand, he rounded the corner to the clinic. The Sebring was the only car left, and from half a block away, he could tell there was something different. The passenger window in the front seat was down. Bonnie must have come back... and somehow, gotten in. But, he didn’t see her anywhere.
He picked up his pace, breaking into a trot, a tinge of excitement lifting his spirits. But when he got closer, his stomach sank. Broken glass sparkled like diamonds beside the car. The window wasn’t down. It was broken out.
His pace slowed to a stop while he looked from side to side, as if whoever did this was still nearby or watching him from behind the bushes. But, there was no one in sight. He edged closer and peered inside. Everything appeared to be as it was when he was there an hour ago, except now there was a brick sitting on the console between the seats and small pieces of safety glass decorated the interior.
He checked the backseat. The ice chest, picnic supplies, and even the binoculars were still there. But when he looked back in the front seat, he realized what was missing. It was the camera he had carelessly tossed on the passenger seat, and his cell phone.
“Damn it,” Luke said, scolding himself for being careless. A camera and a cell phone sitting in plain sight were like Twinkie
s at a Weight Watchers meeting. The temptation was obviously too much for someone to resist.
Then he remembered that most of Bonnie’s expensive camera gear was in the trunk. To get it, all a thief had to do was use the trunk release beside the steering wheel. He went to the back of the car, held his breath and opened the trunk. Everything was all still there. He let out a sigh of relief.
Whoever did this was an amateur, an opportunist. Replacing the equipment Bonnie brought on this trip would have cost at least ten grand, probably more. The camera and the cell phone were not a tenth of that. He felt lucky.
But then he wondered if it might be more than a coincidence. Could it be related to Bonnie’s disappearance? Doubtful, but how did he know? He opened the glove compartment where Bonnie had put their passports and insurance papers. All still there.
But the more he thought about it, the more he felt like he needed to let the RCMP know about this.
Leaving the car behind earlier turned out to be a mistake, so this time he’d drive to their office. But, if Bonnie came back and found the car gone she’d panic. He looked in the backseat and saw a cardboard box with their picnic supplies. He unloaded all of the paper plates, napkins and other things onto the backseat, then with a black marker, he wrote on the side of the box: Bonnie—I’m looking for you—I’ll be back about 7:00 PM—Stay Here!!! Luke.
When he got back to the police station, Ernest’s cruiser was about to pull out. Luke screeched to a stop in front of him and rushed over to his window. He thrust his arm back toward the broken window. “Now someone broke into my car.”
“What’d they take?” Ernest said.
“As far as I can tell, they only took a camera and my cell phone,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Do you think it would have something to do with Bonnie?”
Without answering, Ernest got out of his vehicle and ambled over to check out the damage. Before looking inside he walked around the car, looking it over the way a prospective buyer might. When he got to the broken window, he leaned close and looked inside. The brick sat on the console and broken glass was scattered everywhere.
“Where was the camera and the phone?”
“Right there on that seat,” he said.
“Hell, you were just inviting trouble leaving a camera out in plain view like that.”
“I know, I wasn’t thinking.” Luke bent over and looked closer at the door handle. “Would it do any good to get the fingerprints?”
“No. I doubt they even touched the door handle. I’ll make a note in your file, and if the rental company needs a police report, let me know and I’ll get you one.”
It was what he expected but he felt better at least reporting it. When he got back to the clinic, the box with his note was still there. No sign of Bonnie.
Luke quickly downed one of the now-cold burgers and when he was finished he was in no mood to sit and wait. He changed the note on the box to say he’d be back at nine, and started driving.
First he went down all of the streets north and south, then he did the same thing on the streets east and west. The town was small and in less than an hour he’d seen the entire town. He went back to his parking space across from the clinic. The street was deserted and after a few minutes he got out and paced up and down the street until finally stopping to peer across the roof of the car back toward Main Street.
He saw two, maybe three cars a minute drive past on Main, and none on the side streets. Just like any other small town, even back home in Lampasas, after the workday was over you might as well roll up the streets. Everyone’s gone home for the night.
But, he wasn’t home. And neither was Bonnie. Something was wrong. And for the first time in his life, Luke didn’t know what to do.
Chapter 6
As the starlit sky gave way to dawn, Luke leaned across the roof of the car, his thoughtless stare transfixed on the glowing horizon to the east.
He rubbed his eyes and stretched. His night had been restless. It took a while to fall asleep and he dozed for only a few hours before a barking dog woke him. That was about two in the morning. After that, he never was able to get back to sleep. His mind constantly worked through all the different things that could have happened to Bonnie. None made sense, and he came to the same conclusion each time; something was horribly wrong. He wouldn’t allow himself to consider anything beyond that.
After a long drink from a bottle of water he realized that he really needed to take a leak. Though the streets were still deserted, he wouldn’t piss right there; it would be best to find an alley. He locked the car and crossed the street to the sidewalk in front of the clinic where he walked toward the end of the block. Next to the clinic he came to an empty storefront with a For Lease sign that hung on the dirty plate glass doors. Inside the store, brown paper covered all of the windows from the ground to about six feet high, hiding whatever was inside.
He slowed when he came to an area where the tape had lost its hold and one corner of the paper had partially fallen. When he peeked inside he could barely make anything out since the windows were dirty and a large cabinet blocked most of his view. So, with pressing business at hand, he walked on. At the end of the building, he turned and went down half a block to the alley. The cool morning breeze hit him in the face and old yellowed newspapers cart wheeled toward him like tumbleweeds. Half a dozen brown dumpsters dotted the alley intermittently and weeds grew in the cracks of the pavement against the building.
While he looked for an appropriate corner, he noticed graffiti on the back door of the vacant building. It wasn’t the common gang script as he’d seen in big cities, like Austin, but written more in the style of a sixth-grader with a can of spray paint. LNR loves CB was legible across the top and below it was a pretty good drawing of two dogs having sex, missionary style. If Luke weren’t so tired, he would have laughed.
Then something weird caught his eye. The back door of the vacant store appeared to have been opened recently because some weeds growing next to the building were closed inside the door. This was interesting since the front door looked like it had not been opened for a year or more. For the hell of it, he tried the handle. And as expected, it was locked.
He walked a little further and ducked behind a dumpster and unzipped his pants. While he peed, he heard a faint, muffled cry. He twisted his head around and stood motionless, and focused on the noise. After he finished he stayed still and listened. Ten silent seconds later, he heard it again. It was coming from the dumpster.
He stepped on the side and lifted the lid. A small orange cat lay curled up on a pile of bulging black garbage bags about three feet below the lid. The cat meowed at Luke, stood up and meowed again.
“Come on Kitty,” Luke said as he opened the lid fully.
The cat wasted no time. He sprang and landed on the edge of the dumpster about three feet away, then jumped to the ground. It casually trotted down the alley a dozen steps then stopped and looked back, as if to thank him, and then slowly sauntered away.
Luke started to close the lid when he noticed one of the plastic bags had a tear in it, and a patch of burnt orange caught his eye. He grabbed the bag and tore at the plastic. The single item in the bag spilled out onto the dumpster lid sending a shiver down his spine.
It was an all-too-familiar windbreaker with The University of Texas Longhorns embroidered across the back. Bonnie’s windbreaker. The one she never left home without.
His heart began to pound as he held it up and examined it. Near the collar, a dark red stain about four inches long stained the fabric.
Luke dropped it onto the pavement, frantically pulled out another bag, and tore it open. Junk mail, copy paper, large brown envelopes torn in half and magazines slid out. He grabbed the next one. Soda cans, an empty box that earlier had been filled with donuts, chicken bones, and a box that said Lean Cuisine Glazed Chicken across the front. He ripped into the next one; damp paper towels and tissues spilled out and then his fingers felt something slimy. He almost gagged as he
jerked his hands back. He was about to reach back for another bag when he felt something hard poked him in the leg.
Startled, he jerked his leg away and looked down to see a man looking up at him. He was a bum with a scraggly gray beard, wearing a dirty blue trench coat and black fedora. In one hand he held a crutch, the end of it pointed up at Luke.
“What ’cha doing up there?” the bum said, not smiling.
“Just looking,” Luke said as he cautiously watched the bum. Then, looking back in the dumpster, he thought quickly, and added, “Just looking for something I lost.”
The bum looked away from Luke, down the alley. Luke followed his gaze and saw two more people halfway down the block looking in other dumpsters. He shifted his focus back to Luke and stepped closer, “Come on, man. What ya looking for?”
Luke jumped down, away from the bum, and stumbled backwards a few steps. When he gained his balance he looked toward the other bums and noticed they were running in his direction. One was a stout guy with a beard that covered most his face and could have easily hidden a bird’s nest. He was about thirty yards away, and closing fast. Under one arm he carried a bedroll. The other was a squatty little woman so more than four feet tall, running as fast as her short legs would carry her.
Luke stepped over and looked to where he had dropped the windbreaker and noticed it was gone. He saw it in the bum’s other hand.
“Give me that,” he said, jerking it out of the grasp of the bum, who cowered as if Luke was going to hit him.
Luke saw the others closing in.
“You don’t look like the type to be hanging around in alleys,” the bum with the crutch said. He apprised Luke’s silver watch, clean shorts and Columbia shirt. “Especially before six in the morning.”