The Cure For What Ales You

by Ellie Alexander

  “Let’s do this.” Kat clapped.

  I nodded.

  Before Garrett officially opened the pub, he checked in one last time with me and Officer Downs. “You’re both a go?”

  “I’ll be right here for the duration of the day,” confirmed Officer Downs, taking position between the end of the bar and the entrance to the brewery. “If anyone sees anything out of the norm, you flag me down immediately, understood?”

  Kat, Casey, and Jack agreed.

  Officer Downs had a photo of Forest on his phone. He passed it around for everyone to study. “Take a close look. You see this guy so much as step a toe inside, and I want you to make noise. You scream, you holler, you do whatever it takes to get my attention.”

  Our team diligently studied the photo. Everyone was solemn and unified.

  “Mrs. Krause, are you good?” Officer Downs gave me the final word.

  I nodded. “I’m good.”

  Garrett opened the doors, and as expected, a line had already formed.

  I tried to quench the sense of dread flooding my body. Focus, Sloan.

  It was nearly impossible not to profile every person who made their way to the bar to place their orders. I found myself constantly checking over my shoulder as I filled growlers and poured pints. Along with a few of our regulars, hospital staff coming off of the night shift, and locals in search of a lunchtime pint, there was a steady crowd of tourists who had indeed returned to fill growlers. Twice older gentlemen matching Forest’s description came into the bar. Officer Downs sprang into action both times, placing his hand on his holster and readying himself to tackle them. The first man ended up being a grandfather in search of our root beer for his grandkids. The second was a retired English professor who had promised his wife he wouldn’t leave Leavenworth without a growler of our Pucker Up IPA.

  Both false alarms hammered home reminders that Forest could be out there in the village, waiting for his opportunity to strike.

  Garrett stayed at the bar the entire time. I had a feeling he had also received orders from Chief Meyers not to let me out of his sight. If new glasses were needed or an order for lunch was placed, he directed the twins and Kat to take care of it, never allowing his eyes off of me.

  “How you doing, Sloan? Hanging in?” He checked in when we were about two hours into service and the rush had begun to slow. That was typical for Sunday crowds. People wanted to get on the road by early afternoon to beat the traffic and be home before dark.

  “I’m good.” That was the truth. Being busy had helped take the edge off.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary, right?” Garrett scanned the pub. There were a handful of locals enjoying lunch at our high-top bar tables and outside on the patio.

  “Nope.” Maybe this had been blown out of proportion. Or maybe the heavy show of police had scared Forest away.

  I was surprised that I hadn’t seen Marianne. I had expected that she might have been waiting outside when we opened the doors.

  “You want to take a lunch break?” Garrett asked.

  “I’m fine. I can do a sweep of the patio.” I started to move. He grabbed my wrist.

  “Sorry. I can’t let you do that. Chief’s orders—you are to stay behind the bar or in the back.” He made eye contact with Officer Downs, who gave him a nod of approval.

  “So basically I’m under house arrest?”

  Garrett tried to smile. His eyes were narrow with concern. “Yeah. You are, Sloan.”

  “Okay.”

  Before he could say more, April rushed in through the open patio doors. “Sloan, Sloan! Oh thank God, you’re okay.”

  She knocked over a barstool. It thudded on the concrete floor. April took no notice. She left it on the ground and ran up to the bar.

  Officer Downs blocked her path.

  She slammed into his sturdy frame and ricocheted backward, nearly falling over. “Hey, I need to get through!”

  Officer Downs stood his ground.

  “Sloan! Tell him who I am!” she demanded, propping her hands on her hips.

  If Officer Downs tackled her and dragged her out of Nitro, would it be such a bad thing? “She’s harmless,” I said to Downs. That wasn’t entirely true. April was responsible for nearly every piece of gossip that worked its way through the village. Part of me thought that being handcuffed by Officer Downs might serve as a lesson.

  He let her pass.

  “Sloan, oh goodness. Sloan!” She raced to the bar and grabbed my hand. “I’ve been beside myself with worry. I can’t believe you’re here and upright.”

  I yanked it away. “April, what are you doing?”

  “Checking on you.” She thrust both hands over her chest. “I was so worried when I heard the news, but you’re here, so it must be okay.” Yet again, she wore another German getup. Today’s was a springtime barmaid’s dress with pale yellow daisies and matching daisy earrings. I wondered how much she must spend on her wardrobe. It had to be a small fortune. I didn’t think I’d ever seen April in the same outfit. Her closet could probably supply a small textile museum with Bavarian skirts, dresses, and accessories.

  Leave it to April to overreact.

  “I saw the police and the flyers of course. I figured our fine men and women in blue would apprehend the suspect, but I had no idea they’d do it so fast.”

  There goes any glimmer of hope about privacy, I thought. What did she mean, apprehend the suspect? What was she talking about?

  “April, I’m not sure what you mean. Unless it just happened, I don’t think there’s been an arrest.”

  She stuck her neck forward and furrowed her brow. “No arrest? Then what are you doing here? I would have thought you’d be out there with them.”

  “With the police? No. They want me here so they can contain the situation.”

  April leaned her arms on the bar. “Oh, Sloan, I don’t know how you’re doing it. How can you be so calm? That’s so very brave of you. If my kid was missing, I don’t think I’d be able to follow orders. I think I would be out running around the village, screaming at the top of my lungs, doing anything I could to try and find him.”

  “What?” A cold sense of dread pulsed through me. “April, what are you saying?”

  “I’m talking about Alex!” She stared at me with eyes so wide I thought they might burst through their sockets. “My God, Sloan. You don’t know, do you?”

  “Know what?” I clutched the counter and braced myself for her answer.

  “Alex. He’s missing.”

  CHAPTER

  EIGHTEEN

  THERE HAD TO BE some of kind of a mistake. Missing? Alex wasn’t missing. He was with Mac at Der Keller, where Chief Meyers had posted another team of police officers. No way Forest could have gotten to him.

  “April, what are you talking about? Alex is at Der Keller. Mac is making sure of that. I might not be Mac’s biggest fan these days, but he knows the seriousness of the situation, and he wouldn’t let Alex of his sight.” My legs felt weak. I needed to sit down.

  “Look, Sloan. I don’t know what happened, but they’re looking for Alex right now.” She glanced toward the street.

  “Who? Who is they?”

  “Chief Meyers. The entire police squad. They’re searching the village, Blackbird Island. They’ve shut down the highway in both directions. No one is getting in or out of town.”

  Officer Downs’s cell phone rang. He answered the call, remaining silent as he listened to news or orders from the other end of the line.

  I thought I might collapse.

  “Garrett, come help!” April yelled.

  I felt myself sinking. My knees buckled. My stomach swirled. Was I going to throw up?

  Not Alex.

  Not Alex.

  How?

  How could Mac do this? He had stood in front of me and sworn that he would keep our son safe.

  “Sloan, Sloan, can you sit up?” Garrett knelt next to me. “Kat, grab her a glass of water!”

  I pushed him away
. “I don’t need water. I need to get out of here. Alex is missing.”

  He motioned for me to stay on the ground. “Stay there. Don’t move.”

  Officer Downs had ended the call. I looked up into his dark eyes. His nod of remorse confirmed my worst fears.

  I tried to stand, but my legs felt loose and floppy, like they were being controlled by a puppeteer.

  “Sloan, it’s okay.” Garrett placed his hand on my knee. “We’re going to help. We’re going to find him. We’re closing right now. Everyone here is going to help. We’re going to find him, Sloan,” he repeated pressing his hand on my skin. “But you need to keep breathing and drink some water. You’re not going to be any good to Alex or yourself if you pass out, okay?”

  I took the water Kat offered me. My throat cinched closed as I tried to gulp down a sip. I coughed. “Forget it.” I set the water down and pushed to my feet, not caring that the room spun sideways and ignoring the pounding in my chest. Rage took over. “Let’s go!”

  Officer Downs shouted orders to the team of officers posted inside. He led our small crew outside, where it looked like a movie set for an action film. Dozens of police officers raced in every direction—toward Blackbird Island, fanning out near the hospital and guarding the entrance to Front Street. Every road had been barricaded with orange and white cones. A helicopter’s blades whirled above us. Sirens wailed in the distance. Blue, red, and white lights flashed like fireworks.

  This was real. It wasn’t a lucid dream, it was a waking nightmare.

  “Sloan, stay right here.” April shoved me onto a patio chair. She addressed Garrett. “Get her to wait here for a minute. I’ll go find Chief Meyers.” April raced off.

  Garrett waited for directions from Officer Downs, who was on the phone again.

  How had Forest gotten to Alex?

  It didn’t make sense. It was the middle of the day. Had he taken Alex from Der Keller? But how? Wouldn’t Alex have put up a fight?

  The throbbing cry of sirens made it hard to think.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  Not Alex!

  Not Alex. Please, no, I begged the universe or whoever else was listening.

  I felt myself starting to collapse again. I sagged into the chair, letting my arms hang loose like a rag doll. My vision went blurry.

  I felt two firm hands wrap around my shoulders, pulling me upright. “Sloan, hang on. I’ve got you.”

  I looked behind me to find Hans supporting me. He kept one hand on my shoulder and pulled up a chair next to me.

  “Hans, it’s Alex.” I broke down. An ocean of tears spilled from my eyes. I collapsed into him, enveloped by the scent of cedar and the comfort of his solid arms.

  He let out a long sigh, then closed his golden-brown eyes. “I know.”

  Hans held me tight. He didn’t say anything. He simply stroked my head.

  I had no idea how long we stayed like that. Hans unbuckled his tool belt and set it on the table at some point. Officer Downs recruited Kat and the twins to join him and a search team heading to the high school. Activity whirled around us. Friends and neighbors scoured the village. Tents that had been used for yesterday’s merriment had been repurposed as temporary checkpoints. The sweet smells of spring evaporated. Gone was any remnant of charm. Our little Bavaria had turned into a stage for the biggest manhunt I’d ever seen.

  Hans continued to caress my arms, repeating, “We’ll find him, Sloan. We’ll find him.”

  It wasn’t until April returned with Chief Meyers that I was able to pull myself together.

  My entire body quaked. My legs felt like Jell-O. Hans kept a firm grip on my waist and helped me stand. “Do you have news?”

  “Not yet but, Sloan, we’ve got this. We’re following a number of leads, and I’m confident that we are going to find him safe and sound.” Chief Meyers met my eyes. Her stare held a resolve that I couldn’t conjure up in myself.

  “How? He was supposed to be at Der Keller with Mac.”

  “He was. We have a witness who saw him exiting the back toward the warehouse with an older gentleman.” She flipped through her notebook. “Signs indicate that he appeared to leave willingly, but we suspect that wasn’t the case.”

  “What does that mean?” I looked to Hans.

  The chief held up a finger to an officer who had approached us. “Give me a minute here. I’ll be right with you.”

  The officer nodded and held back.

  “Sloan, we suspect that Forest threatened him in some way. Perhaps he had a concealed weapon of some kind. Or perhaps he used verbal threats. He could have told Alex that harm would come to you, Mac, or the Krauses, something that would have made Alex leave with him.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “They were last seen heading toward Blackbird Island. We have every man, woman, and child in the village involved in the search, along with police teams from Spokane and Seattle.” She motioned to the blur of frenetic action around us. “We’re going to find him, but we need to move quickly. There’s an important window of time right now, and I don’t want to delay. We’re going to bring him back safe and sound,” she repeated.

  Was she saying it for me, or did she actually believe it? I wished I shared even a sliver of her confidence. Every worst-case scenario barraged my head. What would stop Forest from torturing Alex, or worse? What must be going through Alex’s mind right now?

  Hans cleared his throat. “What can we do, Chief?”

  “You can stay here and wait for Alex or one of us to call.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Hans replied, shaking his head.

  He took the words out of my mouth.

  “We’ve got cell phones. Alex knows how to reach us.” He picked up his tool belt and secured it around his waist. “We can’t just sit here. No way. Give us an area to search. Right, Sloan?”

  “Yeah,” I managed to mutter.

  The chief’s confidence evaporated ever so slightly. She tucked her notebook into her breast pocket and waved the officer waiting nearby closer. She whispered something in his ear, which I couldn’t hear. Then she returned her attention to us, addressing Hans. “Okay, take the warehouse. I sent in a team there a while ago, but you two know it well. You hear or see anything, and I mean anything, even the slightest peep—you call the team positioned there for help and then you call me directly on my cell and you wait. Understood?”

  We both nodded.

  Her pupils had dilated, and her jaw was like stone. “Alex’s safety could depend on it.”

  “Understood,” Hans said. His tone was somber.

  The chief returned her attention to the waiting officer.

  Garrett caught my eye, then he looked to Hans. “You’ve got her, right? It sounds like they need me to hang around in case they need to access anything inside.”

  “She’s safe with me.” Hans clapped him on the back. “Let’s go, sis.” He looped his arm through mine with such a firm grip I thought I might lose feeling in my wrist. He kept me upright as we passed the hospital. I tried to block out visions of ambulances and Alex arriving on a gurney.

  “What happened? How did Mac let this happen?” It took every effort to put one foot in front of the other. My body seemed to move outside of me.

  “You know that I don’t often defend my brother, but this one isn’t on him, Sloan. He’s distraught. My folks are with him now. They’ve cleared out the brewery. They’ve got police protection with them. He might be in even worse shape than you. He didn’t let this happen, Sloan. It was a fluke. Forest must have already been in the building. I’m with Chief Meyers—he must have threatened Alex to get him to leave.”

  “My God, this is all my fault.” I felt dizziness start to take hold. My fingertips were numb and tingly. A strange buzzing filled my ears.

  “No, it’s no one’s fault,” Hans replied, clutching my arm tighter. “Like the chief said, we’re going to find Alex. The best thing you can do right now is focus on that. Let’s think. Alex
is a smart kid. If Forest got him outside, what would Alex do? Can you think about anyplace he might have tried to get away to or maybe even tried to lead Forest to?”

  Hans’s methodical approach made me feel more rational.

  I had to focus. Panicking wasn’t going to save my son.

  Where would Alex go? The soccer fields? The park? He knew Blackbird Island well, but I couldn’t imagine him heading there. He wouldn’t have gone to the cottage or Mac’s condo. The warehouse was a possibility, but there weren’t many places to hide amongst the bottling racks and pallets of beer. There was the farmhouse, which had sat empty for the past few months while Mac and I were deciding whether to sell it or convert it into a Der Keller guesthouse like what Garrett and I had done with Nitro, but that was on the outskirts of town. I didn’t think Alex would take that kind of a risk if he had any control over his captor. Wouldn’t he try to be around more people, not less?

  “I guess it depends on the threat,” I said to Hans. “Did Forest take him by gun or knifepoint? Does Forest have a car? If he was threatening to kill me or Mac, maybe Alex panicked. Could they have gone to the farmhouse? Your parents’ house?” I stumbled over a pebble in the sidewalk.

  Hans caught me. “Maybe.” He stopped in front of the Gingerbread Cottage. The sugary and spicy scent of baking cookies, which usually reminded me of Ursula’s kitchen, sent a wave of nausea swirling in my stomach. If anything happened to Alex, I would never be able to live with myself.

  “Maybe he could have gone to my folks’ house,” Hans repeated. “But, like I said, Alex is one of the smartest kids I know. I can’t imagine him leaving the village, not of his own accord anyway. I feel like they must be close.”

  “Me, too.” Call it a mother’s intuition, but I sensed Alex would go somewhere nearby, if he had any say in the matter. “What’s Forest’s endgame? Do you think he’s using Alex to get to me?”

  “It seems like it.”

  “Right. So, if that’s the case, he wouldn’t want to go far either. I think they’re here in the village, Hans.” I massaged my temples.

  Think, Sloan. Think.