A third set of cuffs connected the other two.
Lastly, Dave used a roll of duct tape to cover her mouth and wrap around her head three times.
Luckily, Hannah never came to. The diazepam did its job, and she’d be out for hours. It was, therefore, a lot less painful for her as they drove on, bouncing through potholes and along rough roads.
Tony finished his beer first, practically guzzling it. He placed his cigarette on the hood of his car, parked directly in front of the motel room door.
It was in the same spot where the black Ford had been backed into less than half an hour before.
He left the cigarette burning there just long enough to dart inside to grab a second beer.
The room was still empty, the bathroom door was still closed, the bathroom light still peeking out from beneath the door.
And once again, he didn’t notice the missing computers or comforter.
He went into the room again a few minutes later and examined the gallon of ice cream. He decided it had softened sufficiently to prepare Hannah’s treat, and scooped out three large spoonfuls.
Then he ripped open the bag of gummy bears and sprinkled them liberally over the top.
“There! Perfect!”
He’d taken the whipped topping and maraschino cherries back at the last minute before checking out. It occurred to him that Hannah was awfully moody of late. Moody enough, perhaps, to be annoyed with him for not following her instructions to the letter.
He took the bowl to the bathroom door and called out before opening it.
“Honey, don’t jump. It’s just me.”
He opened the door.
And dropped both his jaw and the bowl of ice cream onto the floor.
Chapter 27
“I’m not quite sure what you want me to do here,” the cop said. “There’s no blood. No evidence of foul play. Just a bathtub full of water that somebody forgot to drain. Are you sure she didn’t just go out for a drink?”
“No… I mean, she can’t drink. She’s pregnant. And she wouldn’t just leave without calling me or leaving me a note.”
“Whose cell phone is that on the night table?”
Tony looked behind him and said, “It’s hers. Mine’s in my pocket. And that’s further proof. She wouldn’t just leave without taking her cell phone.”
“People do it all the time, son.”
“Not Hannah.”
“How much have you been drinking tonight, son?”
Tony stopped short. Were they really gonna turn this around on him?
He suddenly realized he was in a small town, dealing with a police force that might not be too kindly about strangers coming in and causing a ruckus.
“Only two beers.”
“Hah!”
“Why hah?”
“Any cop will tell you… every time they ask a drunk how much he’s been drinking, the answer is always two beers.”
“Look, officer. I bought a six-pack. I can show you the receipt. There it is on the bed. There’s only two bottles missing.”
“Did you drink them in your car or after you got here?”
It was becoming obvious he was getting hassled. He started to regret pulling this officer away from his television at the police station.
“I drank them both here, officer. The bottle caps are both in that trash can over there.”
Another officer, standing in the doorway, spoke for the first time.
“Want me to bring him outside and see if he can walk a straight line, Smitty?”
“No. Maybe in a minute, but not quite yet.”
Tony saw a sudden need to walk on eggshells. To be polite and overly respectful, even if it pained him to do it.
“Look sir, I promise I’m not drunk. And Hannah really wouldn’t just walk out into the night without telling me where she was going. I promise that too.”
The second officer said, “Did you two have an argument tonight?”
“No sir. Not at all. We went for a walk. She said she wanted some ice cream. When we got back to the room she went in to run a bath and I went for beer. I stopped and got some ice cream on the way back. I was going to surprise her with it.”
“Then why did you throw it at her?”
“I didn’t.”
“It’s all over the bathroom floor.”
“When I opened the door and she wasn’t there I freaked out. I dropped it. Then I called you guys.”
“What do you think, Smitty?”
“I don’t know, Al. I think maybe he and the missus had a fight and she stormed out. And I think he wants us to waste our time trying to find her.”
He turned to Tony.
“Does that about sum it up, son? Come on, you can be honest with me. We’ve all been there, having to deal with unreasonable women. There’s no shame in admitting that.”
Tony wanted to lash out, to tell these buffoons off. To ask them why in heck they wore badges and called themselves officers of the law if they had no intention of doing their jobs.
But he bit his tongue.
Spending the night in jail wouldn’t help him find Hannah.
The first cop softened his tone just a bit.
“I’ll tell you what, son. We’ll drive around the neighborhood and look for your wife. If we find her, we’ll ask her if she wants to come back, and if she does we’ll give her a ride. But I’m warning you, if she has any injuries you’re gonna have some tough questions to answer.”
“Is that it, sir? Is that all you’re willing to do?”
The officer took a deep breath. Tony was trying his patience.
“It’s all we’re willing to do because it’s all we can do. You say she was taken against her will, but there’s no evidence of that. You say there’s nothing missing. You say she wanted ice cream. My guess is that she went out for ice cream and just hasn’t made it back yet…”
“She left her purse and money here. How in hell is she gonna buy ice cream?”
“Open your mouth and interrupt me again and I’ll cuff you and take you in. Understand?”
“Yes sir.”
“Now then… there’s absolutely nothing to support your belief that she was taken against her will. If she’s still missing in twenty four hours you can come to the station and file a missing persons report. In the meantime, we’ll do the courtesy of scouting the neighborhood and looking for her. You should do the same. Maybe you’ll find her out there watching the stars.”
The cop in the doorway commented, “Or searching for a new boyfriend.”
The first cop chuckled.
Tony didn’t find it humorous at all.
He’d run out of words. The cop named Smitty said to the other one, “We’re done here. Let’s go.”
The cop at the door turned and walked away. Smitty followed suit.
They didn’t even bother to close the door behind them.
Tony was all alone in the room now, eyes affixed on the blank spot beneath the table where one of the computer towers used to be.
He’d noticed they were missing just before the police showed up.
He could have mentioned it. Should have mentioned it, maybe. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t.
But it was obvious Hannah’s disappearance had something to do with the project they’d worked on.
And it was obvious the local police didn’t know or care whether Hannah was found or not.
Or even if she was alive or dead.
Chapter 28
He wasn’t quite sure what to do or where to start.
But he wouldn’t find her or get her back by staying there in the motel room.
He took the notepad from the top of the nightstand and uncapped the pen next to it.
The pen was dried out and didn’t work.
That figured.
He went to the car and got one from the glove box. Back inside, he wrote Hannah a short note:
BABY I’M WORRIED. CALL ME ASAP.
He left it on the edge of the bed, just inside th
e door, where she couldn’t miss it. He was almost positive she’d never see it, but hoped beyond reason that perhaps the cops were right. That she’d merely gone out for a walk.
He’d have to leave the door unlocked, since her room key was on the night table next to her telephone and purse.
He took the purse with him. If anyone came into the room in his absence, at least they wouldn’t get anything of value. Some clothing, perhaps. A couple of computer monitors and a printer.
And four bottles of beer.
He resisted the urge to down another one, opting instead to pick up Hannah’s half-finished bottle of water from one of the computer tables.
He was inexplicably thirsty, and guzzled the water without stopping for air.
Then he went to the car, still unsure where to go or what to do.
But he had to do something. He supposed that cruising the streets of the tiny town, looking for black Fords, was better than nothing.
He knew it was a shot in the dark. But he couldn’t just do nothing and sit there and wait.
He just couldn’t.
Half a block away, a blacked out patrol car sat beneath an oak tree with its engine running.
Tony didn’t see it when he got into his car. Still didn’t see it when he pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the street in the opposite direction.
He didn’t see it until the patrol car pulled up behind him and lit him up.
Then all he could see were the flashing blue and white lights in his rearview mirror.
“Jesus Christ, what now?”
He dutifully pulled to the side of the road and turned off his car.
Most men, under the circumstances, would have been angry. Maybe even hostile.
But Tony, for a flash of a second, had quite the opposite reaction.
As improbable as it seemed he thought maybe, just maybe, the police officers had found Hannah and were bringing her back to him.
Improbable, and not to be.
The man who walked up to Tony’s window was Al, the burly cop who’d stood in the motel doorway exuding bad attitude.
“Well, well, well… what have we here?”
Tony gulped hard and realized he’d been set up.
Now, as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t lash out. He couldn’t curse at these buffoons. He couldn’t ask why in hell they were hassling him.
As much as it was going to hurt, he had to control his temper and show them respect.
“Um… I’m taking your suggestion, officer. I’ve looking for my wife.”
Al acted as though they’d never met before.
“Where are you coming from, sir?”
“I’m coming from the motel back there, officer. You came to my room just a few minutes ago. We were talking about my missing wife…”
“How much have you had to drink tonight, sir?”
Tony felt his temperature rising, and was struggling to maintain his self-control.
“Two beers, officer. I showed your partner the bottle caps in my trash can.”
“Step out of the car, please.”
“Why?”
Al leaned over and whispered into Tony’s ear, “Because if you don’t get out of the car, you little snot, I will drag you out, throw you to the ground, taze you and beat the hell out of you. And if you so much as twitch I will arrest you for resisting and assaulting a police officer.”
Chapter 29
Tony watched incredulously when Officer Al did something Tony wouldn’t have expected in a million years.
He stared directly into Tony’s face and bit his own lip.
Hard.
Hard enough to draw blood.
With his tongue he brushed a sickening reddish spittle to the corner of his mouth and said, “Punching a peace officer in the mouth is a very serious offense, you little twerp. We’re talking a Class A felony.
“Hard time in the big house.”
He let that sink in for a moment, then said, “I suggest you do as you’re told.”
Tony knew he was screwed. He did as he was told.
Outside the car they were joined by Officer Smitty, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
“What do you think, Al? You think he’s intoxicated? I think he’s intoxicated.”
“Well, he does smell like a brewery.”
“Look, officers, I’m not drunk. I’ll take a breathalyzer test. Do you have a breathalyzer?”
Al looked to Smitty and asked him the same question.
“Smitty, do we have a breathalyzer kit?”
“We do not have a breathalyzer kit.”
“Yeah. I didn’t think so. But that’s okay. We’ll just do it the old fashioned way.”
Al put his nose two inches from Tony’s and said, “How long you been out of school, dirt bag?”
“Um… about three years now.”
“You graduated from high school three years ago? Are you even old enough to drink?”
“I graduated from college three years ago. And yes, I’m old enough to drink. You can check my driver’s license, which by the way you haven’t even asked to see yet.”
Al seemed to take glee in Tony’s rising temper and increasingly defiant tone.
“Hey Smitty, he sounds like he’s trying to be a smartass. Does it sound like that to you?”
“It certainly does, my big friend.”
“I’m gonna ask you again, you little piece of crap. And I don’t want you throwing it in my face that you went to college. That don’t make you no better than me, and it don’t make it legal to drive drunk. Now I’m gonna ask you the same question, and I want a number. No smartass comment about you bein’ a damn college graduate. You got me, smart boy?”
Tony was confused, and starting to get a bit frightened. He honestly didn’t know what the big cop was looking for.
“Now then, college boy, how long have you been out of school?”
“Um… three years, sir.”
“That’s better. So you probably remember your ABCs.”
“Um… yes sir.”
This time Officer Al seemed satisfied with the answer. It wasn’t lost on Tony that it was exactly the same answer he’d given a minute before. Before the officer apparently took exception to Tony’s having been to college.
At the least he was dealing with a backwoods redneck. At worst a psychopath.
He wondered what the cop meant by remembering his ABCs.
“Okay, college boy. Stand straight up.”
Tony did what he was told.
“Good. If you graduated from college, you’re probably smart enough to know your left foot from your right. Get it wrong and you go to jail.”
Tony swallowed hard. This guy was definitely nuts.
“Okay, college boy. Lift your right foot out in front of you until it’s twelve inches off the ground. While you’re holding it out there, say the alphabet backwards. If your foot touches the ground, you go to jail. If you screw up the alphabet, you go to jail. If you lose your balance, you go to jail.”
Tony stood in place, assuming whatever he did was going to be wrong.
“Do it now, dirt bag!”
He raised his right foot, and Officer Smitty cackled from behind him.
“Well, he got that part right, Al. That must have been a good college he went to.”
Tony said, “Z…Y…X…W…”
He went through the alphabet slowly and deliberately, afraid that his nerves would cause him to call the letters out of order. But his mind was clear, having been shocked free of whatever effects the alcohol had on him.
His foot started getting very heavy halfway through the alphabet, and started to drop. He fought to keep it aloft, while also fighting to keep his composure and focusing on the letters of the alphabet.
It turned out to be a monumental task.
But he was doing it.
He made it all the way to the letter D when Officer Al tired of his little charade.
He bumped Tony hard against his left shoulder
and sent him toppling to the ground.
Then he towered over him and growled, “Guess what, dirt bag? You failed. Now you get to go to jail.”
“I’ll take him from here, Al…”
The big man walked away, leaned against his patrol car and lit a cigarette.
Officer Smitty rolled Tony onto his stomach and shoved his knee into the small of Tony’s back. He began to pat him down for weapons, saying, “I suggest you don’t twitch. If you twitch I’ll assume you’re reaching for a weapon and I’ll shoot you dead.”
Tony responded by, “Did you see what he did to me? That guy is insane.”
“Yeah, well… you just might be right about that, son. But if I were you I wouldn’t tell him that.”
Chapter 30
Tony gave up on trying to deal with these two clowns on his own. It was obvious that no matter what he did, he’d be wrong.
He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why they had a vendetta against him. They seemed to mock him for having gone to college, as though it were an affront to those who chose not to.
Their implication was that Tony somehow felt himself better than they were. Yet he couldn’t understand how they’d think that of him. He’d certainly given no indication he felt that way. And, in fact, he didn’t.
The only thing he had against them was the way they dealt with him. And it went back much farther than his disclosure about being a college graduate. It seemed to start the moment they arrived at the motel, when they seemingly didn’t believe that his wife was missing.
Or even existed, for that matter.
Perhaps this was what all redneck cops behaved like in Missouri’s backward towns.
There was another possibility, of course. But not one which Tony wanted to dwell on.
Was it possible the federal government came in and kidnapped Hannah? And was it possible they’d coordinated with the local police to delay his search for her, to allow them to get her out of the area?
It was a chilling thought.
They pulled into the parking lot of a squat building with a blue neon sign announcing:
The Yellowstone Event: Book 1: Fire in the Sky Page 9