Diners, Dives & Dead Ends

by Terri L. Austin

  Ma pursed her lips, causing her wrinkles to deepen. “Did you call the police?”

  “No, this guy made it seem like a bad idea. But I am going to report Axton missing. I’m just not going to mention anything about this guy. That’s the right thing to do, right? But what if it isn’t? Oh my God, what am I going to do?”

  “Okay, honey,” Ma led me to the nearest chair, gently pushing on my shoulder until I sat. “No more coffee for you. Now, do you have any idea who this man was?” She pulled out a chair next to me and plonked her bony butt on the edge of it. She put her hand over my knee, which was bouncing like a jackhammer.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know who he is or what he does, or how he knew everything about me. I have to find Ax.” I reached out and grabbed Ma’s hand. “And I haven’t heard from him since Monday night. I’ve racked my brain, but I don’t know where he could be.”

  “It’s going to be all right, Rose. Axton’s probably just hiding out somewhere.”

  I shook my head. “Where? I know where Axton goes and what he does. What if he’s…” I couldn’t even bring myself to say it, but it had been circling my brain since last night. What if Axton was lying out there, hurt and unable to get to a phone? What if he was dead?

  “No, Rose,” Ma said forcefully, squeezing my fingers. “He’s just fine, do you hear me? He’s fine. You have to believe that.”

  “Okay.” I wanted to believe it.

  Ma glanced out the window at the line of people standing outside the door. “Why don’t you go home today, honey?”

  “I’m too wired. I need to work. I need the money. And I can’t go back there until I get a new lock.”

  Roxy, uncharacteristically quiet, bit her lip. She looked worried. And if Roxy looked worried, that was saying something.

  I cleared my throat, got up from the table, and put a smile on my face. “You know what? It’s going to be fine.” Neither Ma nor Roxy appeared convinced. “Really. Just fine. I’m going to find Axton. End of story. See? I have a plan.” I had no idea what that plan would entail, but those were just details. I moved to the door and flipped the open sign.

  I don’t think in the five years since I’d worked at Ma’s I had ever been quite so speedy. I felt like I was on fast forward. I forced myself to be cheerful to customers as I whirled around filling coffee, taking orders, helping Roxy and Ma get their food out. My tips had never been so good. But it didn’t last. Before noon, my caffeinated high crashed and left me cranky. When a customer sent back his omelet for the second time, I nearly burst into tears.

  Ma stood next to me at the kitchen pass through with a carafe of coffee in her hand. “Roxy and I will finish here. She said you can go to her place and get some sleep. Ray will come by your apartment later and put on a new lock.”

  “Bu—”

  “I’m not asking you, Rose, I’m telling you. You look like shit warmed over, toots.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Just telling it like I see it. Now get out of here. I’ll take that jackass his omelet.”

  “Okay.”

  Roxy came up behind me, took my elbow, and ushered me into the kitchen where she took her apartment key off her key ring. “Take a shower and try to get some sleep. You can change, too, if you want. Sweats and stuff are in the third drawer of my dresser.”

  I got a little teary. “You’re a good friend, Rox.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Jeez Louise, you are one hot mess today.” She spun on her heel and left the kitchen.

  I went to the pantry and pulled the syrup box off the shelf. I dug out Ax’s backpack and stuck his laptop and the shiny computer doodad in my own backpack. I still needed to take it to the IT office for Steve to look at. Then I put everything back and walked out to the kitchen.

  Jorge stopped me before I left. “Are you all right, chica? Do you need to come stay with me and Marisol? You’ll have to sleep on the floor in the baby’s room. Marisol’s brother is sleeping on the sofa until his wife takes him back.”

  “Thanks Jorge, but I’ll be okay.”

  He hugged me with one arm decorated with colorful sleeve tattoos. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

  Now I really was about to cry. I took off my apron, grabbed my jacket and said goodbye as quickly as I could before I broke down completely.

  I let myself into Roxy’s apartment — well, you could call it an apartment if you were being generous. I had a studio with an economy kitchen. Roxy’s place was a room with a hotplate. A rack with wheels held most her clothes. A sewing machine was set up along one wall and a Sailor Moon poster hung on the door.

  Her bathroom was the size of a small closet with light pink tile that had been popular sometime during the Eisenhower administration. But it was clean and organized and the shower felt good.

  I put my bra and panties back on, and from Roxy’s dresser I chose a Hello Kitty t-shirt and a pair of worn sweatpants that were a little short on me.

  I sat crossed-legged on the bed and pulled my hair into a ponytail and wondered what I should do next. Quitting at this point was not even an option. I had to find Axton before The Bossy Jackass did — or BJ as I was starting to think of him. Axton had something that belonged to him. It had to be related to that club Axton went to. And it had to be in the backpack Axton gave me. The computer stuff was the only option, unless BJ was jonesing for a used copy of The Hobbit.

  Exhausted and out of ideas, I sighed and crawled under the blanket and decided to rest for an hour.

  I must have slept harder than I thought because when I awoke, Roxy was sitting on the other side of the bed reading a paperback book with a Japanese anime drawing on the cover.

  “Hey,” I said around a yawn. “What time is it?”

  “After four. Ray got your new lock put on and left the keys with your landlord.” She flipped a page. “You make a funny noise when you sleep.”

  “Like what? Do you mean snoring?”

  “More like a soft humpf, humpf. You do it over and over and then you stop for a while.”

  “Are you serious?” I scanned her face to see if she was teasing me. She was not. “So I’m a humpfer. That’s what I am I guess.” No one had ever told me that I made noises when I sleep. “Was it annoying?”

  “I got used to it after a while. So, what’s the next step in getting Axton back?”

  “I need to take Axton’s computer to Steve.”

  “Who?”

  “Right, I forgot to tell you about him.” I filled her in on Mr. Grabby. “Then I’m going to have dinner at my parent’s house so my mother can harass me and hopefully give me Packard Graystone’s phone number. I doubt Axton told his brother anything, but it wouldn’t hurt to make sure.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “Not a great one.”

  We sat in silence a few moments. The only sound in the apartment was Roxy slowly and quietly — at least for her— chewing her nicotine gum. The stillness finally broke when my stomach growled.

  “I’m going to go see Steve.” I stood up, folded my jeans, and slipped on my jacket, promising Roxy I would wash her clothes and bring them back. I left feeling much better than I had that morning. The coffee was out of my system, I’d slept for over three hours, and my apartment had a new lock, thanks to Ray.

  On my way to the campus, I picked up sub sandwiches for Steve and me. It was the least I could do, since he was helping me with Ax’s computer. Plus, I was starving.

  The college was fairly quiet. Most of the day students were gone and the night classes didn’t start for at least two hours. I snagged a great spot in the parking lot for a change.

  The basement of Blake Hall was dimly lit with gray concrete floors and ugly green subway-tiled walls. Wedged between the men’s room and the supply closet, the tiny IT office was crowded with multiple desks, numerous computers, and two guys.

  Both men looked up at me when I opened the door, a sandwich sack in my hand and my backpack over my shoulder. Steve sat in the back corne
r and Eric, whom I had met before, sat in the middle of the room. The empty desk at the back wall was Axton’s. A wave of anxiety rolled over me when I saw it. Ax should be sitting there, fiddling with… Well, whatever computer stuff he fiddled with. I missed him.

  I smiled. “Hello.”

  Steve jumped out of his chair. “Hey, I thought you’d forgotten.”

  “Sorry, I’m just running late.”

  “Rose, this is Eric.”

  “Yeah, I know. Eric and I sang a karaoke duet at last year’s Christmas party.” Islands in the Stream. It wasn’t pretty.

  “Where the hell is Axton?” Eric asked. “We were in deep shit yesterday with that server.” In his late thirties, Eric’s spare tire was little bigger than the last time I’d seen him and his hair was definitely thinner.

  I raised my eyebrows at Steve. “Didn’t you tell him?”

  “I kind of forgot.”

  I turned back to Eric. “Axton’s missing. He gave me his computer for safekeeping, but I can’t get into it without a password.” I tilted my head sideways in Steve’s direction. “Steve said he’d try to get into Axton’s computer and see if there’s anything that’ll help me find him.”

  “Missing?” Eric ran his hand over his stubble-covered cheek and frowned. “Are you sure he didn’t just leave for a few days? He’s done that before, you know.”

  “Only for important stuff like Comic-Con or a Trekkie convention,” I said. “I always knew where he was. Besides, he wouldn’t leave behind his car or his backpack.”

  Eric’s frown deepened. “Have you called the police?”

  “Yeah, but they won’t let me file a report until he’s been missing forty-eight hours.”

  “Are you sure he’s not on a bender?” Eric asked.

  “He is not on a bender.” Why wouldn’t he believe me? Axton wasn’t off on an adventure or out getting stoned, the guy was missing. “There’s a strange man looking for him, says Axton has something that belongs to him. Do you know what Ax was up to? Do you know anything about a club he went to a couple of nights ago?”

  “He didn’t mention it.” Eric reached his hands out to me. “Let’s get a look at that computer.”

  I shrugged at Steve. He frowned and shrugged back.

  First I handed the backpack to Eric, then I handed the food to Steve. “I brought you a sandwich as a thank you.”

  Steve adjusted his glasses. “That was really thoughtful of you. Thanks.”

  Eric dug Axton’s computer out of the bag and booted it up. “Where did this internal hard drive come from?” He held up the shiny rectangle.

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t even sure what it was. There’s another sandwich in the sack, Eric. You can have it.”

  He grabbed a sandwich out of the bag, unwrapped it, and peeked beneath the bread. “Bring ham next time.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re welcome. How long do you think it will take?”

  “Don’t know. May take a few minutes or I may have to run a program. Maybe longer if the hard drive is encrypted.” He finally glanced up at me. “You want to come back tomorrow?”

  I grabbed my backpack from Eric’s desk. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll probably be here around two-thirty. By the way, if you find anything about NorthStar Inc., pay special attention to that, would you?” I stuck my hand in my purse and brought out all the burned CDs I’d taken from Axton’s desk. “You might look at these, too.”

  “Okay. And Rose? You better find Axton soon or he won’t have a job to come back to.”

  Chapter 9

  When I got home I was disappointed there were no messages from Axton or Dane. There was, however, one from Jacks telling me she was excited I was coming to dinner. That made one of us. And yet another message from Kevin, which I deleted.

  Girding myself for dinner with my parents, I straightened my hair, put on some makeup, and donned a pair of black slacks and nice flats. I took one last look in the mirror and made a face.

  My parents lived in a subdivision called The Greens, which skirted a golf course — of course. In an effort to downsize, they bought this home a few years back. My childhood home boasted a two acre plot with easy access to horse trails, which we never made use of because we had no horses. My mother was allergic. This newer, smaller house had four bedrooms, five baths, a media room, a state of the art kitchen, and a game room. But it was less of a home, more of a showplace. A sterile, gorgeous showplace.

  I parked on the street in front of the house — I didn’t want to hear about my car leaving oil stains — and walked to the front door. My sister’s SUV was already in the driveway. I glanced at my watch. Two minutes early. I admit I felt a little smug when I rang the bell.

  Barbara, my mother, answered the door with a glass of wine in her hand. Her champagne blond hair perfectly coiffed, her slacks and blouse fashionably chic. “Hello, Rosalyn. You’re late.” She turned and walked toward the living room, leaving me on the front porch.

  I found my family gathered in the ivory and beige living room. Standing by the empty fireplace with a drink in one hand, my father talked hospital politics, gesturing with his glass. My brother-in-law, Allen nodded, a look of concentration of his face. Their plaid shirts, khaki pants and sweater vests were almost identical. Allen, with his sandy blond hair and handsome features reminded me of a younger version of my dad. What that said about Jacks, I didn’t want question too closely.

  Jacqueline sat on an ivory chair with a glass of white wine in her hand. Although she was six years older than me, she didn’t look it. She wore her expensive blonde hair several inches shorter than mine and kept herself trimmed and toned by working out at the country club gym. I, on the other hand, kept my girlish figure by not being able to afford a lot of groceries and got my hair cut at Huntingford Beauty Academy.

  When she saw me, Jacks set her glass down on the marble-top coffee table and hopped up to give me a hug. “Hey, you,” she said, embracing me. “I haven’t heard from you since Monday.”

  I hugged her back.

  Barbara, her head tipped to one side, gestured with her wine glass. “Don’t feel bad, Jacqueline, I never hear from her.”

  “I called you yesterday, Mom.”

  Her lips thinned. “Only because you wanted something fr—”

  “Rosalyn.” My dad set his glass on the mantle as he walked toward me. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Your mother said something about Axton Graystone?”

  Barbara put a hand to her temple. “We can discuss that unpleasant subject later.”

  My dad nodded. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “Yes, please.” I was going to need it to get through the evening.

  “No,” my mother said, “she’s late. There’s no time for drinks.” With that, she walked to the kitchen. “Get Scotty to the table, Jacqueline,” she said over her shoulder.

  Jacks raised one brow. I sighed and shook my head. The maternal unit was in fine form tonight.

  “I’ll get Scotty, hon,” said Allen. “Good to see you, Rose.” He smiled and headed to the game room.

  My father drained his glass. “I’ll go help your mother.”

  Left alone with Jacks, I grinned. “I ran into one of my old classmates yesterday.”

  We walked slowly toward the dining room. “Oh really?” She linked her arm in mine. “Who?”

  “Dane Harker.”

  “I’ve seen him around the club. He’s a hottie.”

  “I didn’t remember him at first. But the dimples—”

  “Oh, those dimples.” She gave a little sigh.

  “Apparently he had a crush on me in sixth grade.”

  “Where did you meet him and is he still pining away?”

  “The police station and nope, I’m pretty sure he got over his crush a long time ago.”

  “Just think about how romantic it would be if you married your childhood sweetheart.”

  “We weren’t sweethearts and nobody’s said anything about marriage.”

&nbs
p; “You never know.” She turned to me and frowned. “Were you at the police station because of Axton?”

  “Yeah, I’ll give you the details later.” And I would have to give her the abbreviated version, because there was no way I’d tell Jacks about seeing BJ in the park. I didn’t want her to worry about leaving Scotty in my care. He would always be safe with me — I’d take a bullet for that kid.

  “Tell me now.”

  Barbara popped her head out of the kitchen. “Rosalyn, are you going to sit down? Or should we continue to wait on you?”

  Grinding my teeth, I sat next to Scotty.

  “Look, Aunt Rose,” he said with a wide grin. There was a hole where his front tooth should have been.

  I ruffled his hair. “Hey, Sport, where’d it go?”

  “I lost it,” he said. “And I got five whole dollars when the tooth fairy took it. So I’m trying to make this one come out too.” He wiggled another tooth.

  “Well, good luck with that.” I unfolded my beige linen napkin and placed it on my lap.

  My mom and dad brought platters of food from the kitchen and took their seats at the table. On the menu: salmon. I hated salmon. My mother knew I hated salmon. She was definitely bringing her A-game.

  Everyone settled in and began passing the food. I piled my plate with rice and grilled vegetables, but passed the salmon off to my dad.

  Barbara noticed and attempted to raise an eyebrow. Since she had regular Botox injections, she was not entirely successful. “Is there something wrong, Rosalyn?” She delicately wiped the corner of her mouth.

  I blinked and tried to look serene. “No, I don’t think so.” I took a small bite of rice.

  “Was there something wrong with the salmon, dear? I noticed you didn’t have any. You’re not turning into a vegan, are you?”

  “No, of course not, mother.”

  She pursed her lips. “Then why won’t you try the salmon?”

  “Barbara,” my father cut in, “if she doesn’t want salmon…” he trailed off with a shrug.