One Day Gone

by Luana Ehrlich

  “Yeah. He’s young, brash, and handsome.”

  “You wouldn’t want to expand on that, would you?”

  “No, I wouldn’t. I think that’s sufficient, but you can ask me again after he moves into his office.”

  “Did he have anything to say about his office?”

  “He said he loved it, especially Floyd’s old office chair.”

  Chapter 23

  Friday, October 12

  My first thought when I woke up Friday morning was that I needed a gun. I suppose that was because I’d been dreaming about being in a situation where I needed a gun.

  That was about all I could remember about the dream.

  At first, I told myself the dream had nothing to do with the fact I planned to confront Judge Woodard today, but since I knew most judges carried guns, I decided it probably did.

  At least half the people who worked on Capitol Hill carried guns. I seldom went anywhere without mine, and I even carried when I was in law school.

  From the time Curtis and I were teenagers, we knew how to handle a firearm. Our dad made sure of that.

  I’d considered bringing a gun with me before I left Washington on Tuesday afternoon, but at the last minute, I talked myself out of it.

  Since a firearm had to be in its own locked case, placed in checked baggage, and be declared during the check-in process, taking a gun on an airplane was a little bit of a hassle. And besides that, when I left Washington, I figured Lizzie’s disappearance would have a quick resolution, and the need for a gun wouldn’t even come up.

  Now, I wasn’t so sure about that, especially after I got a call from Detective Ross when I was leaving the Mizzou Diner after breakfast.

  I sat down in the lobby to take his call.

  “Good morning, Detective.”

  “Good morning, Mylas. Is this a good time to talk?”

  “I’ve just finished breakfast, and I’m sitting in the hotel lobby planning my day. I hope you have some good news for me.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t. According to the preliminary report on the campsite where Lizzie’s car was found, there were no signs of any female footprints around her car.”

  “None? What about male footprints?”

  “There were several of those, but there’s nothing unique about them. The person who drove Lizzie’s car to the campsite was a male who wore a size eleven athletic shoe.”

  “I see.”

  “Evidently, he drove the car up there and walked away. It’s impossible to tell whether he had an accomplice who picked him up down the road, or he simply left the area on foot.”

  “Thanks for updating me, Detective. What’s your next move?”

  “The CPD is working with the park police to canvass the area, and in light of this new development, Chief Cotton is considering bringing in the FBI. I don’t imagine Senator Allen would be opposed to that, do you?”

  “No, I don’t, but I’ll let you know.”

  “Our forensics people are going over the Lexus now, and I’ll let you know if anything turns up.”

  I waited until I returned to my room before calling Nathan Lockett. He was on his way into the office, and he put me on speakerphone.

  After I told him what I’d heard from the detective about not finding any sign Lizzie had been at the campsite, I said, “He also said the Police Chief is considering calling in the FBI. Shall I tell him the senator is in agreement with that move?”

  “Last night the senator said he’d wait until you met with Judge Woodard before making that decision, so let’s hold off on that.”

  “I’m picking Charlie up at the airport in Columbia at one-thirty, so we should be at the judge’s office by two-thirty. You can expect to hear from me sometime after that.”

  “You can approach Judge Woodard on the gambling issue however way you want, but as for accusing him of having something to do with Lizzie’s disappearance, I would urge you to use caution.”

  “I hear you.”

  “I’m not telling you not to follow your instincts, Mylas. I know that’s how you operate, but in this case, I’d prefer there be a little more evidence the judge made contact with Lizzie on Monday before you go for the jugular.”

  “I assure you, Nathan, I’ll be measured in my approach.”

  “Good to know.”

  Once I said goodbye to Lockett, I called my dad.

  After telling him I found out Judge Woodard owned a cabin in Finger Lakes, and I was driving down to Jefferson City today to pay him a visit, I said, “I was thinking about dropping by the house and picking up a gun before I saw the judge. I didn’t bring one with me.”

  “Sure, go ahead. Your mother’s there, and she’ll be glad to see you.”

  “Are you still using the same code for the gun safe?”

  “Yeah, it’s still the same. You remember it?”

  “My football number and Curtis’s baseball number.”

  “You got it. I’ll call your mother and tell her you’re coming by.”

  “I won’t have time to stay long. Be sure and tell her that.”

  “I will. She’ll understand.”

  We both knew that wasn’t true.

  However, I was a grown man; I could deal with it.

  * * * *

  The house I grew up in was located on Glenwood Drive in an older section of Columbia called The Oakwood Addition.

  My parents had bought the place with the inheritance money my mother had received after her father’s death. I was nine years old at the time, and the new house was a big deal to me.

  For one thing, I’d always shared a room with Curtis, so when I realized we were about to move into a four-bedroom, two-story house with two separate living areas, I was pretty excited.

  I remember asking if our house would be the biggest house in Columbia. Now, as I pulled into the driveway, I still thought the place had a certain grandeur about it, although I couldn’t ignore the fact the neighborhood around it was beginning to look a little shabby.

  When my mom met me at the front door, she looked ecstatic. “Mylas,” she said, as I walked in and gave her a hug, “it’s so good to see you. I couldn’t believe it when Kelvin said you were coming over.”

  Although Mom barely made it up to my shoulders, she was a force to be reckoned with. Granted, with her gray hair and her diminutive stature, she didn’t look that formidable, but that was a mistake anyone who crossed her didn’t make twice.

  “Did Dad tell you I couldn’t stay long?” I asked. “I’m actually working today.”

  “Yes, yes, he told me it would have to be a short visit, but surely you can stay for a few minutes and have lunch with me.”

  “Lunch? No, Mom, I just came over to pick up a gun.”

  “But look at you. You’re too skinny. I know that Paige woman was only feeding you rabbit food.”

  “Paige is out of my life now, Mom. Besides, Mrs. Higbee is a great cook, and I assure you she keeps me well fed. By the way, she wanted me to be sure and tell you hello.”

  By this time, we’d made our way into the kitchen, and when I noticed she’d set the table for two people, I realized she was serious about feeding me. She’d even put out cloth napkins.

  “Oh, yes,” she said, “Carolyn is an outstanding cook. She gave me her wonderful recipe for potato soup, and when I made it last week for the ladies’ luncheon at church, they all raved about it.”

  “I love Mrs. Higbee’s potato soup.”

  She pointed over at the stove. “No potato soup today, but I’m warming up the chili I made for your dad last night. Surely you have time to eat a bowl of chili.”

  She walked over and gave the chili a stir, and then she took out a spoonful and tasted it. “Mmm, I’m telling you. This is good stuff.”

  She looked over at me expectantly.

  Even though I recognized all her manipulative tricks, it was hard to resist her mischievous smile, so I finally relented and said, “Okay, I suppose I have time for one bowl of chili, but then I h
ave to go.”

  “That’s perfect.” She waved her hand in the direction of my dad’s study. “By the time you get your gun, I’ll have everything ready.”

  “I’ll be back in just a second.”

  I walked down the hall to Dad’s study, which had always been one of my favorite rooms in the house. The dark cherrywood bookshelves, along with the maroon draperies and my dad’s brown leather recliner, gave the room a traditional man-cave feel.

  I’d spent many a rainy afternoon curled up in Dad’s recliner reading a good mystery book or listening to music on my earphones.

  Even though I’d attempted to recreate that same kind of atmosphere in my own study, I hadn’t quite achieved it.

  Dad’s gun safe was in the study closet, and once I’d entered the electronic code and opened the door, I removed his S & W Chief’s Special, the firearm he’d carried when he was on the police force. You couldn’t beat it for reliability. It was one of my favorite guns.

  After making sure it was loaded, I grabbed a side holster out of the safe, put it on my belt, put the gun in the holster, and closed the safe.

  Once I’d put my sports coat back on, I returned to the kitchen.

  When I walked over to the kitchen table, instead of just a single bowl of chili, there was a plate of pimento cheese sandwiches, an avocado salad, a bowl of tortilla chips, and three varieties of pickles.

  “What’s all this?” I asked.

  Mom looked surprised. “It’s your lunch. If you’re going after the bad guys, you need to be well fortified.”

  * * * *

  I wasn’t sure how much my dad had told my mother about what I was doing in Columbia, but after she said a blessing over our food, she asked me if I had located the senator’s missing daughter, and if that was the reason I’d come by the house to get a weapon.

  “I haven’t found her yet, but I have a feeling I’m getting closer. After I’m finished here, I’m heading to Jefferson City. I’ll know more after I’ve had a meeting with someone there.”

  “I know you can’t tell me exactly what’s going on with you. Dad has certain things he can’t tell me about his investigative work too, so I understand that.”

  “I’m not sure it’s the same thing, Mom, but thanks for understanding.”

  “You can’t tell me about your work, but I know you can at least tell me what’s going on in your personal life.”

  I had a feeling I knew where this was headed, but I asked her anyway. “Sure, Mom. What do you want to know?”

  “I want to know about the date you had the other night. Dad said you went out with that photographer lady who took pictures of Curtis’s kids.”

  “Her name is Whitney Engel.”

  I must have smiled when I said Whitney’s name, because my mother said, “Well, it’s obvious you had a good time. You’re grinning from ear to ear.”

  Suddenly, I had a flashback to my high school days when I would come home from a date, sit down at the kitchen table, and she would start quizzing me about what we’d done, and where we’d gone, and especially about how I felt about the girl.

  I would usually ended up telling her everything because I knew she would keep hounding me until I did, but I would also do it because I knew I would feel better after talking things out with her.

  Today was no different.

  * * * *

  I told Mom how comfortable I felt with Whitney from the moment I first met her, how easy she was to talk to, and how much I enjoyed making her laugh.

  “She sounds perfectly delightful. Why don’t you bring her to our family dinner on Saturday night so your dad and I can meet her?”

  “I don’t know, Mom. I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it to dinner, and even if I’m able to come, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to get too involved with Whitney.”

  “Why would you say something like that?” she asked, pushing the plate of sandwiches closer to me.

  “For one thing, we come from two different worlds. She’s totally committed to her faith, and she’s always talking about what she believes. Most of the time, I don’t have a clue how to respond to the things she says to me.”

  “Like what does she say to you?”

  I reached over and put one of the sandwiches on my plate. “Well, just as an example, she told me she prayed for me yesterday morning during her quiet time.”

  “What’s so strange about that? I’m always telling you I’m praying for you.”

  “Yes, but she hardly knows me, and she said she was praying for my eyes to be opened. She was praying for me to become a believer.”

  She nodded. “Oh, I see, and I suppose that bothers you?”

  “No, that part doesn’t bother me. But then when I started giving it some thought, I realized I was only considering what it might mean to become a believer because I thought it might impress her. That’s what bothered me. I felt like I was looking into the question of faith as a means of getting closer to her.”

  “Or maybe you were considering it because God was answering her prayer.”

  “No, that wasn’t it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course, I’m sure. I’m telling you my motives were completely self-serving.”

  “You might want to reconsider that.”

  I changed the subject.

  Chapter 24

  After telling my mom I was too stuffed to have dessert, I was finally able to leave the house around one o’clock. From there, I drove over to Columbia Regional Airport to pick up Charlie Hayes.

  When I saw his plane had landed, I texted him to let him know I was waiting for him curbside in a white Lincoln SUV. Twenty minutes later, I saw a guy who looked like a detective coming out of the terminal rolling a suitcase, and I figured that was him.

  Nina had described Charlie as handsome, and I could see why.

  For one thing, he had thick brown hair. For another, he had a chiseled jawline and high cheekbones. The only similarities we shared were our clothes. He was also wearing a sports jacket.

  I rolled down my window and gave him a wave, and when he came over to the SUV, I popped open the trunk so he could put his suitcase inside. Before he closed it, he unzipped it and removed a small pistol case. When he got inside the vehicle, he placed the pistol case on the floorboard.

  “Charlie Hayes, I presume?”

  He smiled and nodded. “Mylas Grey, I presume?”

  I offered him my hand. “Welcome to the R & I Group. I’m glad to see you have your firearm with you.”

  “I’d be lost without it.”

  “I hear you,” I said, as I got in the lane of traffic exiting the terminal. “I had to stop by my dad’s place and borrow one of his. When I left Washington on Tuesday, I didn’t think I’d need one while I was here.”

  “Let’s hope we don’t. After reading through Judge Woodard’s casebook, I still find it hard to believe he has something to do with Lizzie’s disappearance.”

  “For what it’s worth, I’m not totally convinced about that either. That’s why I plan to bring up the gambling issue with him first.”

  “You want to give me a rundown on the role I should play in this meeting?”

  It was a thirty-minute drive from Columbia to Jefferson City down Highway 63, and by the time we’d reached the outskirts of the city, I’d gone over with Charlie how I planned to approach the judge about the gambling problem.

  Basically, I told him I’d take the lead, but I wasn’t opposed to him adding a few comments of his own.

  “As to the question about Lizzie,” I said, “I’m not sure how I’ll play it. More than likely, that’ll depend on how the judge responds to my questions about his gambling.”

  “Yeah, that should give you a pretty good idea of his temperament.”

  “I probably should tell you Nathan specifically asked me to use a low-key approach, so that will be my objective going in.”

  When I glanced over at Charlie to gauge his reaction to my statement, I noticed
he was smiling.

  “Did I say something funny?”

  “I’m amused because my dad told me Nathan was one of the calmest people he’d ever met, and he warned me I should tamp down my enthusiasm if I wanted to stay on his good side.”

  “Nathan’s a man of restraint, there’s no doubt about it, and I admit I’ve had my ups and downs with him, but if you’ll just be yourself, I think you’ll find he’s an open-minded guy and easy to work with.”

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  “One other thing. Nathan comes from a military background, which means he follows the rules. However, he sometimes looks the other way if I have to break a few to get the job done.”

  “Got it.”

  I remembered how quickly I’d grown tired of Lockett’s constant suggestions about how to work with people on Capitol Hill, so I decided to refrain from giving Charlie any more tips.

  Instead, I asked him about what kind of housing arrangements he’d made in Washington. When he told me the location of the townhouse he’d rented, I admit I was surprised to hear he was renting in such an expensive neighborhood.

  “Sounds like a nice place,” I said.

  He smiled. “My dad’s paying for half my rent. He wanted a nice place where he could crash when he comes to Washington to lobby for Hayes Energy.”

  I suddenly realized Malcolm Hayes might have had an ulterior motive for wanting his son to be on Senator Allen’s staff. After all, Charlie would be accumulating a Rolodex full of the movers and shakers on Capitol Hill, names which would surely prove beneficial when it came to his father’s lobbying efforts.

  However, I said nothing about this to Charlie.

  For one thing, it wasn’t any of my business.

  For another, we’d arrived at our destination, and I was concentrating on finding a parking spot in the lot next to the Supreme Court Building. While I was backing into a space, Charlie unlocked his pistol case and removed his handgun. After loading a magazine and inserting it into the pistol, he slipped the weapon inside his holster.

  Once I’d put the SUV in park, I said, “Ready?”

  “Let’s do this.”