Finding 01 Finding Kaden

by Jean Reinhardt

  The next call Estelle made was to her husband.

  “Lloyd, sorry I had to wake you but I’m worried about Kaden. I think you should come over to Ethan’s place. Amelia is here and they have both been looking for him all afternoon.”

  Her husband yawned and rubbed his face realizing he hadn’t shaved since the morning before.

  “Maybe he woke up early and didn’t want to disturb Ethan, so went off somewhere on his own. You know what Kaden is like,” he muttered.

  Estelle took a deep breath before answering.

  “Lloyd, Kaden didn’t stay here last night. Ethan found his pick-up in the city. Nobody has seen him since yesterday afternoon. That’s almost twenty four hours. I am really worried about him.”

  On hearing this, Lloyd jumped out of bed.

  “Stay with Amelia, I’m on my way. I’ll give Jake a call, try not to worry. I’ll be there soon.”

  Lloyd quickly got dressed and called his old college buddy, a detective down town.

  “Hi, Jake, how are you?”

  “Fine, I hope you’re not inviting me to another one of your charity do’s, I’m still out of pocket from the last one,” he joked.

  It was good for publicity when members of law enforcement turned up to help promote charities and Jake had done his fair share in support of his friend, Lloyd. The homeless boys’ shelter was a particularly worthy cause and definitely needed in the city.

  “It’s Kaden, we had a row yesterday morning, and he stormed out of the house. I had a flight to catch and didn’t get back till today. Estelle and Amelia assumed he’d gone over to his friend Ethan’s place and stayed there the night - but we’ve just found out he never turned up. Jake, they found his empty pick-up down town and no sign of Kaden.”

  The detective could hear the concern in the voice coming from his phone.

  “I’m on my way over, don’t go anywhere, he said.

  Lloyd told Jake he was going to meet up with his wife and daughter at Ethan’s apartment and gave him the address.

  When her father walked through the door Amelia threw her arms around him, relieved to have him there. Estelle remained calm but there were tears in her eyes. She turned to Ethan.

  “Can you bring over Kaden’s shoes please?”

  Lloyd wondered why his son’s shoes were there if he was missing. Then Estelle asked Ethan to tell her husband what he had just told her. Before he had a chance to finish, the buzzer sounded.

  “That will be Jake. Can you let him in please, and would you mind repeating everything for a third time, Ethan?” Lloyd asked, before turning to his daughter.

  “Amelia, any chance of a coffee, hun? I know Jake will have one and I definitely need it. Estelle, coffee for you too?”

  His wife shook her head, her eyes glued to the door, as if waiting to be rescued.

  When Detective Jake Matthews appeared in the doorway the atmosphere in the apartment changed abruptly. The presence of the law, even though he was a friend of the family, seemed to make the whole situation much more serious. Ethan recounted his story for the third time. After listening carefully to everything that was said, Jake picked up Kaden’s shoes and looked at each of them in turn.

  “You’re right to be worried, but there still could be a simple explanation for all of this. I want you to keep that in mind. I am going to pay a visit to that shop before it closes and then head on over to Kaden’s pick-up. I’ll arrange for it to be towed to the station and checked over. Can you all meet me there two hours from now? You’ll need to make statements. It’s important to get the facts on record while they are still fresh in your minds.”

  Everyone nodded, stunned into silence. They were all hoping that maybe they were overreacting to Kaden’s disappearance, but Jake seemed to be taking it very seriously. The detective left behind him a very worried group of people.

  Ethan was first to speak. “We should eat something before we go down to the station, even though I’m sure none of us has any appetite. Amelia, do you want to help me find something edible in the kitchen?”

  “That’s a good idea Ethan, I might feel a bit better if I keep busy” she answered, following him out of the room.

  Estelle sat on the couch and looked over at her husband. He was lying back in a large chair and appeared to be asleep, although she knew he wasn’t. Lloyd could sense her gaze.

  “Do you blame me for this?” he asked without opening his eyes.

  There was a moment’s hesitation

  “Yes, I think I do,” she said in a quiet voice.

  Lloyd’s brow creased as he swallowed hard.

  “I blame myself too, if that’s any consolation,” he whispered.

  Estelle stood up and in a strained voice said, “Nothing will console me until I know Kaden is safe.”

  Her husband leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

  “I had better see if there’s anything I can do in the kitchen Amelia is right, keeping busy will help,” as she said this Estelle turned to leave the room and didn’t hear Lloyd say, “I am so sorry.”

  “I’ve made coffee three times and nobody has taken even a sip. This time we definitely have to have some, and food too. We could be at the station for hours. Okay?” Ethan said to Amelia, trying to lighten the mood.

  She smiled back at him and was grateful for the effort he was making.

  “He is such a nice guy. Under any other circumstances I would be enjoying this.”

  They managed to find enough ingredients to make a decent lunch and had begun to prepare the food when Estelle came into the kitchen.

  “Mind if I join you?” she asked picking up a knife before either had a chance to reply. “There’s something very therapeutic about chopping up food don’t you think?”

  Estelle enjoyed cooking and being in the kitchen helped to bring back a sense of normality to her. Amelia picked up the rest of the vegetables and brought them over to the chopping board her mother was using.

  “Here Mom, you can do these too, while I make the pasta. Ethan is putting a salad together. Between us we’ll have lunch ready in no time.”

  Estelle smiled at her daughter then turned to their host.

  “Thanks for everything, Ethan. It means a lot. Kaden is lucky to have such a good friend.”

  “Mrs. Seager, Kaden is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known. He’s like a brother to me and he’s been there for me plenty of times. Any help I can give now is the least I can do.”

  “Please Ethan, call me Estelle and thank you for saying that. Well here you go Amelia this is ready for the pot. I’m going to go sit with your father now.”

  ******

  After a quiet lunch, the Seagers left to go home. When they got there, Estelle and Amelia parked up their vehicles and got into Lloyd’s car. They set off for the police station, each one lost in thought. Ethan got there before them and was already making a statement by the time the family arrived. Detective Matthews beckoned Amelia to come into a small room while Lloyd and Estelle were asked to wait outside.

  “It’s better to make your statement alone without any distraction, Amelia. Ethan is across the corridor doing the same thing. The reason it’s recorded is so that it can be typed up later. Just tell me everything you remember from the last twenty four hours.”

  Estelle went in after Amelia and was surprised to learn that Ethan was still making a statement. When Lloyd took his wife’s place at the table in front of the detective he had a puzzled look on his face.

  “Jake, why are you keeping Ethan in there for so long, he must have finished making a statement by now?” he asked as he sat down.

  “He could be a suspect. He had your son’s shoes and he found the pick-up. How long has Kaden known Ethan? How long have you known him? Did you realize his family are not very well off? Strange for Kaden to have a close friendship with someone from such a different background, don’t you think?”

  Lloyd was taken aback to hear this.

  “You can’t be serious Jake. Kaden doe
sn’t care how much or how little his friends have, you know that. He is a very good judge of character and I trust him to make the right choice when it comes to who he associates with. I can’t believe you’re even asking me these questions, and another thing - ‘

  The detective held up his hands. “Okay, okay. I understand where you’re coming from, but you have to see it from my point of view. This is standard procedure and the more information we have the quicker we might find Kaden - isn’t that what you want?”

  Lloyd took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Good. Now, did you bring a recent photo of Kaden, or have you got one on your phone?” Jake asked.

  Lloyd sent an image from his phone to Jake’s.

  “We’ll get this circulated straight away. Have you any objection to the media getting involved, Lloyd? The family don’t need to give any interviews just yet, but releasing Kaden’s photo on TV and in the papers might jog someone’s memory.”

  This was true and Lloyd knew it. He also knew the media would descend on his house like a swarm of flies so he asked Jake to take care of it after his family had arrived home. There were two officers already stationed in their house in case Kaden should turn up. Telephone calls were being monitored should the disappearance be due to a kidnapping. That possibility had not been mentioned by the detective, although he suspected it was playing on all of their minds. Jake stood up, went around the table and placed his hands on Lloyd’s slumped shoulders.

  “Go home with your family. I’ll be over later, and I promise as soon as I have any news you’ll be the first to know.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Milo checked out all their old haunts but there was no sign of Tuck. He remembered his friend sometimes said he fancied a trip down south but felt sure he would have said goodbye. Milo crossed the street to get a burger. As he waited for his order in the diner, a news flash came on TV. It showed a photo of the young man whose jacket and shoes he had taken and a shot of a pair of boots similar to the ones he had in his bag at that very moment. There was no mention of any reward.

  “That means I can’t sell them now, they could be traced back to me” Milo thought, “Good job I spent so much time searching for Tuck - I didn’t get a chance to sell anything.”

  Remembering that there was nobody in the alley when Tuck checked it out, Milo wondered what could have happened to their victim. Did he wonder down by the river and fall in? Maybe he wanted to disappear and used the opportunity to do so. Milo tried to think where exactly he had dumped the wallet. He knew which part of the river to look and made his way across town to find it. The guy’s ID would be in it. The money was already spent.

  “Thanks for the burger, Kaden Whatever-Your-Name-Is” laughed Milo.

  Walking along the river bank kicking about the day’s litter, Milo knew the wallet should be there. If anybody found it empty they would leave it, nobody ever keeps stolen wallets and bags. It wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for. Making sure that he cleaned off any fingerprints, Milo lay Kaden’s boots and jacket on top of the wallet, then kicked some dirt and litter over the bundle to make it look as if it had been there overnight. He decided to make an anonymous call to a newspaper saying he had seen Kaden the night before, standing at that spot looking out over the river. Everyone would assume he had jumped in to end it all. That should put a stop to the searching and the police would drop the case. Milo knew which phone to use to call the newspaper, one that was nowhere near a street camera.

  ******

  It wasn’t long before the river side was swarming with police cars and the media. The area was cordoned off and forensics took over. Detective Jake Matthews arrived with Lloyd Seager. As the men walked along the river bank towards the yellow crime scene tape, a boat sped passed them, police divers on board. Lloyd closed his eyes and said a quick prayer that they wouldn’t find Kaden’s body, it was better to be missing than found dead. By the time the two men arrived at the spot where all the activity was taking place, one of the officers was holding up a clear plastic bag with what Lloyd immediately recognized as his son’s jacket folded inside.

  “Jake, that’s what Kaden was wearing the last time I saw him and those must be the shoes he bought” his hand shaking, Lloyd pointed to another officer holding a second bag.

  Detective Matthews put an arm around his friend’s shoulder. “Okay, Lloyd, we’ve seen enough, let’s…”

  Before he could finish his sentence one of the forensics shouted over to him.

  “Jake, wait up, we’ve found a wallet,” he held it up in a gloved hand.

  “Is that Kaden’s?” the detective asked.

  “I’m not sure, but the jacket is the same as the one he was wearing. Then again, I could be mistaken, maybe it’s not Kaden’s, just a similar one.”

  A small seed of hoped was beginning to grow in Lloyd’s heart, that the objects in those clear plastic bags might not be his son’s after all. Jake could see this in his friend’s eyes and before his hopes were raised too much he beckoned the officer over to where they were standing.

  “Open the wallet,” he said. “Let’s see what’s inside before you bag it.”

  Jake kept his eyes on Lloyd’s face, not the wallet. He could see the look of hope change to one of despair and knew it was Kaden’s before he even saw the ID card that was being held out to them.

  “I’m so sorry,” Jake was lost for words. “I should take you home now.”

  Lloyd nodded and let his friend lead him back to the car, through the crowd of reporters who had recognized him. Sitting into the passenger seat, Lloyd said he needed to get home as quickly as possible.

  Megan Brubaker and her parents had just left the Seager home when Jake drove up to the front entrance. Before the car had fully stopped Lloyd was out of it and Amelia had the door open when he reached it. Her father embraced her and held on tight as if she too might disappear.

  “Let’s go inside to your mother, hun. Jake has something to say to us all.”

  Arms around each other they went into the kitchen, the detective following behind. Estelle and Amelia were so upset at the news that the ID in the wallet was Kaden’s that Lloyd asked if he might be left alone with his family for a while. Jake suggested they go into the living room and he would stay with the two officers who were monitoring all incoming phone calls.

  When the family had left the kitchen, the officer who had the head phones on signalled to the other one to take his place. He poured himself a coffee.

  “Anyone else want one?” he asked and Jake held his hand up, too drained to speak.

  “Do you think it was suicide? Or murder?” the officer wearing the earphones asked Jake. “Maybe his clothes and wallet were put there to make it look like he jumped in.”

  “I’ve known that boy since he was a baby. I just can’t believe he would kill himself. This could be a homicide. There’s a strong current in the river so the divers are concentrating their search downstream towards the bay area. For the family’s sake let’s hope there’s news soon.”

  Jake felt drained and slumped into a chair.

  The officer who had poured the coffee could see how upset the detective was.

  “Maybe the young man is alive but just doesn’t want to be found. He might see the news bulletin or the press release tomorrow. Hopefully that will encourage him to get in touch and let his family know he’s okay. That would be the best scenario for everyone’s sake.”

  ******

  “Are you hungry?” Estelle asked her husband.

  “Lydia brought over lasagne for us but we couldn’t touch it. I can heat some up for you, if you’d like.”

  Lloyd shook his head and sat on the coffee table. He looked sadly at his wife and daughter sitting on the sofa opposite him, arms around each other. They cried as he told them everything that had happened at the river bank. About the jacket that was identical to the one Kaden was wearing, and the new boots. He could see from their faces that they were trying to think of a reasonable e
xplanation for this. But when he said that a wallet was found with Kaden’s ID card inside, they both put their hands over their mouths and he could see the fear in their eyes.

  “I have to ask this, but do you think Kaden wanted to disappear?” Lloyd said.

  Amelia immediately jumped up from the sofa.

  “No, don’t even think it, he would never have killed himself. How could you even say that, Dad?”

  “That’s not what I’m saying,” her father tried to calm her down.

  “I mean, maybe he just wanted it to look like he’d committed suicide. What if he doesn’t want to be found? Estelle help me out here. You know what I’m saying,” he turned to his wife.

  “Kaden would never hurt us like that, he’s one of the most balanced people I know. How could you think that of him, Lloyd?”

  Estelle went over to her daughter who was standing very still with a strange look on her face.

  “What’s wrong, Amelia?” she asked, putting an arm around the young girl’s shoulders.

  “If Kaden didn’t kill himself or didn’t stage his suicide, then why were his clothes and wallet found at the river, and who put them there? I don’t want to say what I’m thinking, it’s too awful. Dad, please give me another explanation, one that can mean Kaden is alive. Please.”

  Lloyd was thinking as his daughter was pleading.

  “This isn’t much easier to accept, but it may be a kidnapping, and they just haven’t gotten in touch yet. That’s why the police are monitoring our calls.”

  Amelia’s face relaxed a little when her father said this.

  “It would be the lesser of two evils, murder or kidnapping. I just know Kaden would never kill himself or disappear without a trace voluntarily,” said Estelle.

  A smile began to spread across Amelia’s face.

  “Maybe he was kidnapped and escaped, but they had taken his clothes and wallet as proof that they had him - and before they could ask for a ransom he got away. The kidnappers had to do something, so they left his clothes by the river and made that anonymous call. Oh, that has to be it.”