“I’m looking for someone. A boy that never made it home from the carnival, last night.”
“And you think I know where he is?”
“He was in here, to see you.”
“Many people were in to see me. Most of them are fine.”
Glenn rubbed his hand across his brow with a distressed look on his face.
“Yeah, I don’t know what I thought you could tell me.”
“You want a drink?”
She walked to the curtain into the next room and waved him on. He followed. He admired her figure as she walked to a small bar stand that had a silver ice-bucket on a silver tray with a bottle of Tanguery gin and a few smaller bottles next to it. She filled two rocks glasses with ice and filled them with gin before adding a splash of tonic. She handed a glass to Glenn. He held out the glass, and she clinked hers to it before they both took a sip. She walked over and sat on the edge of the futon loveseat. He looked around and sat in a low upholstered chair with a wrap-around back and arms that faced her.
She was young, maybe mid-twenties and with a strong magnetism that was pulling him in as she ran her fingers down her neck and undid a button on her blouse.
“So, are you from here? From Montauk?”
“No, I’ve only been here, like a month.”
“Where are you from?”
“The south—South Jersey.”
“What are you looking for?”
“A boy.”
“No. You were looking for something last night too, before the boy was missing.”
She took a sip and drained the glass. He followed her lead and finished his. She rose and filled her glass with more ice.
“We’re all looking for something, or someone. Sometimes when we think we’re lost, we’re just finding our destiny.”
He stood and walked to her. She held out her hand, and he took it and pulled her up. She put her hand behind his head and moved in to kiss him. They kissed, and he placed his glass on the table. She unbuttoned his shirt and put her hand on his chest. He unbuttoned her blouse, and she kneeled down and unbuttoned his jeans.
He pulled her up and took off her top and turned her around. She leaned over the couch. He lifted her skirt up and ran his hand down her back to her tattoo of the goddess Shiva. He froze at the sight of it and the room closed in around him, shutting down his vision.
Someone banged on the door and woke Glenn up. He heard Andromeda talking to someone in the other room. He was sitting back on the futon and realized his pants were unbuttoned and wide open. He remembered making love to her and wondered how he passed out. He buttoned his jeans and stared ahead at the bar stand, next to the ice-bucket and bottles there was a small antique-looking bottle that glowed a neon green. The lights switched on; the bottle changed to white, and he looked to Andromeda emerging from the curtain.
“You have to go sleepy-head.”
“What happened?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot?”
“Not everything. Just how I passed out.”
“Sorry, I guess I tired you out. You're very susceptible to my charms.”
She walked to him, leaned over him and gave him a wet kiss, slowly teasing his mouth with her lips.
Chapter Four
Sunday, August 7, 1983
9:00 AM, Montauk Police Station
Glenn felt like crap. His head pounded and his eyes burned and scratched against his sandpaper eyelids. The only thing that could explain it was that Andromeda slipped him something the night before. He looked down and saw that his jeans had a dirt stain on the knee from his tussle with the dumbass kid in the woods.
He walked into the station and stood in the four square-foot waiting area for someone to appear in the little sliding glass window to buzz him in. The woman that took his license and buzzed him in pointed past the bathroom to the only other door, to Chief Lutz’s office. The Chief was a man wider than he was tall. In his early fifties and counting the days to retirement. Dark wood-paneling lined the walls. Dotted around the room were photos of the chief with other officers. On the desk a photo of him with The Tigers, Little-League Baseball team. Next to it a hunting photo with the chief standing over his conquest.
Chief Lutz squeezed in between the wood-paneled wall behind him and his cheap desk, letting an inch or two overlap on the desk.
“Glenn Rogers. A hero that once saved the nation’s First Lady, or an aimless drifter that can’t hold down a job and brings with him nothing but trouble?”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Don’t be a smart-ass now Rogers. I’ll hold you for questioning in the boy’s disappearance.”
“I’m here to answer questions, but I was with the boy’s mother from the time he was last seen to when she found him missing!”
“Most of that time she was asleep. Who knows where you were or what you were doing. You were in the prime location to see him last. Maybe you liked Mom but didn’t want to be bothered with the boy.”
“You’re not serious.”
“And speaking of Mom. Robin’s a nice girl. She doesn’t need you hanging around. I don’t want you seeing her anymore.”
“What? I work with her.”
“We can talk about that too. We’re a small town here and a tight-knit community. You’re staying at the old Montauk Towers, right?”
“Yeah, an amazing building.”
“How long have you been in town?”
“Just over a month.”
“A little too long, maybe. Why this town Rogers? Why Montauk?”
“I was just looking for a nice quiet town.”
“Yeah, well it was,” he said while he grabbed his mug and tilted it to see if anything was left. He slammed it down on the desk.
“I don’t like you, Rogers. And I don’t want you in my town. But don’t think of going anywhere yet. I want an eye on you until this is all worked out.”
“Listen chief, I’m not looking for any trouble.”
“No. I bet it finds you all on its own, doesn’t it?”
“You might have a point there.”
“What’d I say about smart-ass comments?”
“How about I don’t talk?”
“That sounds great. If I want to hear from you again, you’ll know it.”
“Am I free to go now.”
“Yeah, get the hell out of my office. And stay out of trouble. Go to work and watch TV. That’s all you should be doing. And think about where you’re going to move.”
Chapter Five
Sunday, August 7, 1983
11:30 AM, Carnival Grounds
Glenn pulled up to the carnival grounds and parked on the side of the road. He could see Robin in the distance with a line of volunteers beginning a search. The police chief there. He looked at Andromeda’s trailer, then to the path into the woods he took the night before. He headed toward the woods.
He followed the path down to where he had been and searched the area. He saw where someone had walked into the brush. Kicked up dirt and broken branches pointed the way. A few yards in, there was a depression and a sticker bush with a denim jacket caught in the branches. He picked it up and searched the pockets, but they were empty. He held it up and his mind flashed back to the first night at Andromeda’s with Robin. He recalled the kid rushing out of the back room and Andromeda stopping him and touching his shoulder. He played the scene back in his head and saw the spot on his shoulder glow in the black-light. Then he remembered the bottle on the bar stand. He looked at the jacket and examined the shoulders. He needed a black-light.
He tried to remember the jacket the kid was wearing and what Michael had on when he last saw him. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought they both had denim jackets. Or was the kid wearing a Members Only jacket? He wasn’t sure anymore. He needed to show Robin. He should get the chief but thought about how that would look. He already accused him of taking the kid. He shouldn’t have touched it but he figured the chief wouldn’t believe him, anyway. He folded it up and headed back ou
t of the woods.
He cleared the trees and looked to the search-party. He couldn’t see them anymore and bee-lined to Andromeda’s trailer. He banged on the door but no one answered. He gave a quick look around and kicked it in. He looked to the right and saw the lamp that reflected the ink. He turned it on and waited for it to fire up. He held the jacket up and checked the shoulders. The left looked normal. The right showed a smeared spot that glowed. He went the other room, grabbed the bottle with the white fluid. He dipped his finger in it and wiped it on the jacket. The spot glowed the same.
She was tagging them. The kids to take. She must pick them out and mark them for someone else to grab. He took the jacket and headed toward the search-party.
Glenn approached the chief as he stood in the field looking out at the volunteers.
“Chief,” he called out.
The chief looked to Glenn, holding the jacket in the air. Glenn held it careful not to touch the area with the invisible-ink.
“What is it Rogers?”
“You gotta listen to this,” he said as he came to a stop holding the jacket in front of him.
“I found Michael’s jacket in the woods. It was down the path where kids hang out.”
“You’ve been hanging out with kids in the woods, Rogers?”
“What? No, just listen a second. When I was in Andromeda–the fortune teller’s trailer.”
“I know who she is.”
“Well, I saw her wipe something on a kid’s shoulder. It was invisible ink, and it’s on this jacket.”
“You saw her put invisible-ink on his jacket?”
“No, not this one actually. It was another kid, but when he passed her black-light it glows. She’s marking the kids to take.”
“I think you lost your mind, Rogers. You know I didn’t really think you did it before, but you’re convincing me.”
“Just listen a minute.”
“So far what I heard is that you think you found evidence, and you contaminated the area and removed it.”
“I had to make sure I was right.”
“And how did you do that?”
“I had to see if the ink was on the jacket so I needed a black-light. I went to Andromeda’s to look under the light.”
“Is she there?”
“Uh, no.”
“I ought to cuff you right now. You’ve contaminated a crime scene and created another by breaking and entering. I don’t know what game you’re playing here Rogers, but you’re trying a little too hard. And you’re guilty of several things now. Now I just don’t know if you’re guilty of messing with this kid.”
“Go to her trailer and look. The ink is in the back room, on the bar stand.”
“How do I know you didn’t put it there?”
“It was there last night.”
“What were you doing in there last night?” the chief asked before shaking his head and throwing his cigarette on the ground, like a spear. “You get around, don’t you Rogers? I told you before I don’t want you around Robin and I’m telling you again now.”
The chief grabbed the jacket from Glenn and put his hand on his arm.
“I think you better come with me, back to the station.”
Robin approached them.
“Glenn, honey. Chief Lutz, what’s going on?”
“Robin, I found Michael’s jacket in the woods. It has invisible ink on it from the fortune teller. I think she’s marking the kids to take, for someone.”
“With invisible-ink, he says.” The chief added.
“The mark’s there. Take it to the black-light and you’ll see it. I saw her put it on another kid when we were there.”
“Glenn, that’s not Michael’s. He was wearing his Members Only jacket.”
“Rogers, we’ll be talking again soon.” He tipped his hat to Robin. “We’ll find him Robin,” and he walked toward the carnival to his squad car.
Robin put her arms around Glenn, buried her head in his chest and cried.
Chapter Six
Sunday, August 7, 1983
7:30 PM, The Lookout Diner
Glenn was back at work, happy that he wasn’t locked up for breaking and entering. He was thinking it was time to move again. He hoped to find a nice quiet town to work, keep his head down and remain anonymous. The last thing he wanted was the attention of the local authorities.
It was the middle of the dinner rush when he spotted Andromeda, seated at a booth with an older guy in a suit. He studied her through the pass-through window from the kitchen to the dining room. She looked different without the heavy white and black makeup she wore when working, but it was her. He was sure after a few minutes and catching sound of her voice bouncing among the room full of diners. She looked good dressed down, wearing a red and white flannel shirt and faded jeans. He looked her up and down from the window of the kitchen and stopped to notice her high-platform, strapped shoes, and bare ankle with a dangling gold bracelet. Her foot was tapping a million times a minute. She appeared anxious.
She must have felt his staring, as she turned to catch his eye. He didn’t want her to see him but it was too late. When they got up, he walked out the door and she lingered at the counter. He saw her waiting for him and went to talk to her.
“Hello Glenn.”
“I wasn’t sure I ever gave you my name, did I?”
“You didn’t have to. Since we have an open-door policy, I figure we should be on a first name basis.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Andromeda.”
Glenn nodded with skepticism.
“So you really think I abduct children?”
“You talked to the chief.”
“Do you?” She asked again.
“I don’t know what’s going on, Andromeda.”
“How could you believe that? You must have had some real evil in your past to believe that.”
“I’ve seen evil, yeah. And I think you know more than you’re letting on.”
“You want to stop by again tonight? Maybe we can talk more. Maybe I can tell you what you want to hear. Tomorrow we will leave town, you’ll have to look harder to find me then.”
“I don’t think I can tonight. The girl I was with whose son is missing may need me.”
“I hope you find him. There is evil in this town. Hidden things.”
Glenn’s manager called him from the kitchen.
“I gotta go. Listen, I’m sorry for breaking in your place. I just got carried away.”
“I’ll forgive you, Glenn.”
“Where are you going next?”
His manager called again for him and she gave him a hug and kiss and then gently bit his ear before she walked out the door.
Before he finished for the night, he saw one other set of diners that caught his attention. It was a two odd-looking guys; one with long dark hair, past his shoulders and the other a heavy-set guy with a bad short haircut and thick Coke-bottle glasses. Glenn thought the long-haired one looked like a gremlin. He wasn’t sure if it was his ears, his eyes, his turned-up pointed nose, or all of them combined.
They sat at the bar counter on stools, near the kitchen window so as the evening rush died out he could overhear part of their conversation.
“Because if I can fix the portal to a location on the base and they have enough energy they could keep it open, and tune in whatever time and place they want.”
“You’re going to kill yourself. They’re going to kill you. You can’t keep going at it like this. There’s only so much the mind and body can take.”
“They don’t care; they have plenty of kids they’re training to take my place.”
Terry adjusted his glasses. “The radar tower isn’t enough, and no one person can do it. All they can do is let it get out of control.”
“That would be bad. I could easily let something through and they have no idea how to defend against them.”
The new waitress filling in for Robin told him they were civilian employees of Camp Hero; Damo
n and Terry. Damon was the long-haired one. Everyone thought they were crazy, but she was sure they worked there. He realized they must work in a program similar to what he was a part of except they were willing participants and seemed to know what they were involved in.
He was closing the kitchen for the night when Robin rushed in the door.
“Glenn. Glenn, there’s another boy missing. Johnny Wheeler. He disappeared the same night as Michael. The poor thing, they didn’t even realize he was missing. His parents divorced, and they both thought he was with the other. Michael used to be friends with him in elementary school.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Oh, and the jacket you found was his!”
“Oh shit, I’m right.”
“About what? Glenn if you know something you have to talk to the chief.”
“I tried talking to him. He doesn’t trust me and I’m trusting him less by the minute.”
“Glenn, this is about Michael. Don’t pull some macho-ego shit.”
“I’m not, Robin. I have a hunch that’s all, and he wants nothing to do with it.”
“But I’ll talk to him again in the morning. I’m only trying to help. I want to see you get your boy back safe.”
She broke down and hugged him, sobbing and apologizing.
“Listen, it’s good at least maybe he’s with the other kid and they can help each other.”
“Yeah, that’s what I hope, too. He’s out there somewhere, Glenn. I know it in my heart.”
“I think you’re right, too.”
“I have to go back home in case he calls. Are you going to come by tonight?”
“I don’t think so, unless you need me to. I have to do something before I talk to the chief.”
“Okay, be careful–whatever you’re doing.”
He wanted to stay with her, but he was thinking his stay in Montauk might get cut short and he was afraid to let her get too attached to him now.
Chapter Seven
Monday, August 8, 1983
Montauk Mayhem Page 2