“Who is Leif Carlsson to you?” Dupree finally broke the silence.
“Who?”
“Leif Carlsson. He’s a vice president at Kanaal. The communications company.
“I know who they are.” Weston snapped. “He hit my car a while back. Totaled it.”
“And?”
“And messed up his Lamborghini. Tore a gash from end to end. Why?”
“He’s the one arrested for sending the pictures on your phone number. He and a friend hacked your phone carrier and sent the pictures through your number.”
“Because of a car wreck?”
“Evidently.” Dupree shook his head.
“That’s me on the left.” Weston pointed at his house.
“I remember,” Dupree said pulling in the driveway. “Anything you need me to do?”
Weston stepped out of the car and before closing it leaned in and said, “Sue the bastards.”
* * *
“Zoning department.”
“Hello, this is Adam Dupree, calling from White Owl. I need to talk to the commissioner regarding a property zoning question. There seems to be some confusion.”
“He’s on the other line, he won’t be a minute. Can you hold?”
“No problem.” Dupree was trying to be as friendly as he could. Nice gets a lot more done with civil servants than hostile. They deal with hostility all day, and a friendly voice is the exception rather than the rule.
“This is Dale, how can I help you?”
Hi, Mr. Commissioner, this is Adam Dupree from White Owl.”
“Oh, please call me Dale. We’re all trying to get by around here.” He sounded sincere.
“Ok, Dale. Here’s my problem. I’m an attorney.”
“Oh, that is a problem.” Dale laughed merrily.
“I can see we are going to get along.” Dupree joined in the laughing.
“Sorry, that was too easy.” Dale tried to get back on track. “What’s up?”
Dupree gave Dale the plot number for Peggy Grimes’ property. Has there been a re-zoning lately? Something isn’t jiving.”
“What’s with you guys out there in White Owl?”
“How do you mean?”
“You’re the second inquiry this month for this property.”
“Who else called?”
“Oh, no he didn’t call. He came in pushy as all hell. Big, fat Italian guy. He got all red in the face when I said the property was zoned farmland eighty years ago. It has taxes paid to the current year, and there was no request from the owners for a zone change.”
“Gino Bavaro?”
“Yeah, I got it right here. He said he represented the Grimes estate and he was making the request on their behalf, and he was mayor of White Owl, and he was friends of the County Board of Supervisors, and the Chairman is his Rotary brother and a bunch of other crap. His request wasn’t going to knock the earth off its axis so I added the industrial classification he asked for. The big dummy didn’t realize it was pretty much meaningless.”
“How do you mean?” Dupree asked.
“It wasn’t notarized or voted on. It made him happy, and I was glad to see his big fat backside leave my office.” Dale was not a fan of the mayor.
“So, just so I got this straight. The zoning he presented as industrial, was a nothing burger?”
“Exactly. You know what else? He tried to hint at some kind of favor he could do me if I played along. What a jerk.”
“Dale my friend, you’ve been a great help. Mrs. Grimes will not be happy to find out Bavaro is acting as her representative. Next time you’re in White Owl look me up, my wife owns a little café here with the best baked goods in the state. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee and a big chunk of her chocolate banana nut bread. Or is that considered a bribe?
“Not after the fact, and if it is, I’m willing to accept. Nice talking to you, Dupree. I hope I helped.”
“You made the sun shine. Thanks again.” Dupree hung up with a big grin on his face.
* * *
“Good afternoon, son, what can I do for you?”
“I’d like to file a missing person report.”
The deputy looked at the young man standing at the counter for a long moment. “How old are you?”
“Fourteen.”
“Okay, what’s your name?”
“Elijah Bowers.”
“Okay, Elijah, who seems to be missing?”
“My mom.”
The deputy looked at the big round clock in the lobby. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
“Yeah, but I thought this was more important.”
The deputy turned, pulled out a file drawer and retrieved a sheet of paper. “Alright, now, how long has your mom been missing?”
“Since last Thursday,” Elijah said.
“That’s six days ago.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why are you just now coming in?”
“Well, the honest truth is I’m running kind of low on food and the fun has kind of worn off living by myself.”
“So, your mom’s been missing for six days and you’ve been by yourself that whole time?”
“Not the whole time. I had friends do a sleepover on the weekend so I guess Friday night, Saturday and till Sunday afternoon I wasn’t by myself.”
“What’s your mother’s name?”
“Elaine Bowers.”
“What is your address?”
“1408 B Heritage Lane.”
“Is that a house, duplex or apartment?”
“I guess you’d say it’s a cottage. We live behind Mrs. Nelson. She rents it to us.”
“Okay, what’s your phone number?”
“We don’t have a phone anymore, it got disconnected. My mom has a cell phone.”
“Okay, that will do, what’s the number?”
Elijah thought for a moment before giving the deputy the number.
The deputy punched the numbers into his phone. After several rings, a voice came on the line and said, “This number is no longer in service. If you think you’ve reached this number in error, please hang up and dial again.”
“How old is your mom, do you know when her birthday is?”
“Uhh, thirty-something. I’m not sure. Her birthday is right around Thanksgiving.”
“Where’s your father?”
“They got a divorce when I was three. I don’t know where he is.”
“How tall is she?”
“Well, about this tall. Elijah lifted his hand flat just a little bit above his head.
“Okay, so about 5’6”?”
“I guess so.”
“Weight?”
“I don’t know, she’s really kind of big. I know she wears 4X t-shirts. I’ve seen the tag when I fold the laundry.”
“What color hair?”
“Last week it was kind of brown with blue streaks. So, I guess brown with blue streaks.”
“Eye color?”
“Brown.”
The deputy wrote a note in the margin of the paper. “Let me ask you something, Elijah. How has your mom been acting lately?”
“Fine, I guess. What do you mean?”
“Well, has she been depressed, sad, scared, or anything like that?”
“Happy. She’s been happier than I’ve seen her in ages. She kept getting calls and she giggled and laughed like a 6th grader. I’ve never seen her act like that before.”
“Happy is good. Do you have grandparents or aunts and uncles you can stay with?”
“My mom’s sister Yvonne lives in Spokane. They’re twins.”
“Does she know your mom’s missing?”
“No.”
“Maybe you could stay with her until we find your mom. Where does your mom work? Does she have any friends who might know where she is?”
“She doesn’t work. We’re kind of like on welfare. Disability. She’s too fat to work, it bothers her legs.”
“We can’t have you living by yourself, son. I want you to talk with o
ur family liaison officer.”
“Nobody has to know I’m by myself.”
“I know. And now that I do, it’s my responsibility to see that you’re taken care of.”
“I don’t want to stay anywhere. I like my house. Can you guys find her?”
“We’ll certainly do our best.”
“Let me see if I can get hold of Miss Larson for you to talk to. She’s a nice lady and I think you’ll like her.”
The deputy and Elijah chatted while they waited for Miss Larson to come to the front desk. After a few minutes, a blond woman with a pleasant smile approached the desk.
“And who do we have here?” Larson asked cheerfully.
“This is Elijah Bowers. His mom has been gone for a few days and I’m a little concerned he’s been staying by himself.”
Miss Larson smiled broadly and said, “Let’s go down to my office where we can have a chat.”
Elijah and Miss Larson started down the hall. As they went, the phone began to ring and the deputy was on to his next call.
“My name is Lynette. Miss Larson sounds so, I don’t know, like a teacher or something.”
“Are they going to find my mom?” Elijah was feeling trapped. He didn’t care what her name was, he was on a mission, and going to a shelter or foster home was not part of it.
“I’m sure they will. The question is really, when.”
Elijah didn’t answer.
“What we need to do is get you to school. It will help make the time go faster. When they find your mom, I’ll come pick you up. Deal?”
Elijah nodded his head.
* * *
“Anybody but me find this a bit of a coincidence?” Sergeant Bobby Platt took a sip of his coffee. He was the detective in charge of finding Elaine Bowers.
“How’s that?” Deputy Duncan looked up from his weekly calls summary.
“Two full-grown, law-abiding citizens disappear? I mean really? What are the odds?”
“Who besides the woman?” Duncan was surprised by the news.
“Mike Potter disappeared.” Deputy Ed Clifford replied.
“I didn’t see his name in missing persons. When was that?” Duncan shuffled his papers.
“Nobody filed one. His wife doesn’t seem to care if he comes back.”
“How do you know about this?” Duncan asked.
“Everybody at the Quarter Moon’s been talkin’ about it for a week or so.” Clifford acted like it was common knowledge.
“Serial kidnapper.” Someone said from the back of the room.
“When was the last time you heard of a three-hundred- and fifty-pound woman being carried off?”
“What if they ran off together?” Platt seemed to be thinking out loud.
“She has no car, and his truck and work van are both accounted for.” Clifford offered.
“Anybody want to take a drive?” Duncan asked without looking up from his summary sheet.
“Why?”
“We got a couple of calls from folks on Silver Falls. The gate at the Griffin place was open. They’re in Europe. When patrol went to check it out, it was closed. No answer at the house.”
“Any alarm reports?”
“Not with us,” Duncan replied.
“What’s that mean?”
“They switched to the cable company a couple of months ago. I took the call for the shut-off.”
“Better call, then go see,” Platt said.
Five minutes later Duncan and Clifford were heading out for Silver Falls Road. The cable company reported that the alarm was disarmed with a code last Thursday morning.
“The Alarm Supervisor said to call when we get to the gate and she’ll open it.” Duncan glanced at the GPS. “Mike Potter works for the cable company, but can he get an alarm password?”
“You got me. Stranger things have happened.” Clifford looked out the window. “Pretty up here.”
“Pretty expensive.”
As they rolled up to the gate Duncan called the cable company alarm number. A moment later the gate rolled back.
“Here we go.”
The driveway was nearly a quarter of a mile long. The cruiser rolled to a stop at the side of the house in front of the four garage doors.
“Back or front?” Clifford asked.
“I’ll take front.”
The two deputies got out of the car and made their way around the house.
As Duncan approached the front door, he was struck with the feeling the house was not empty. After twenty years of serving arrest warrants and being led on house searches, he possessed almost a sixth sense about houses.
His radio crackled. “In position.”
“Roger that. Me too.”
Duncan rapped the tall wooden door with a knock that would wake the dead. “Sheriff’s Department! Open Up!”
“Dunc’, I could use you back here.” Clifford’s radio keyed off.
Without hesitation, Duncan took off in a dead run to join his partner at the back of the house. The landscaping in the back was a broad expanse of swimming pool, concrete and aggregate walkways.
As he took the four steps to the raised back yard Duncan spotted Clifford. In front of him stood two people. The man wore work gloves and the very round woman held a rake, he stood next to a garden cart.
“Deputy Duncan, may I introduce Mike Potter and his friend, Elaine Bowers.”
“Hello,” Elaine said with a sheepish smile.
Potter gave a quick little wave from his wrist.
“Mind telling me what’s going on here?”
“We’ve been trying to clean up the yard. Spring will be here before you know it.” Potter was so matter of fact, it seemed reasonable. “Another couple hours and we’ll have it shipshape.”
“That’s fine, but not exactly what I meant. I meant, what the hell are you two doing here?”
“We needed to get away,” Elaine spoke for the first time. “Can we go in? I have a roast in the oven and I need to check on it. Would you like a cup of coffee? I made cinnamon rolls.”
Duncan shrugged, “Why not?” He looked at Clifford in disbelief.
They went through a wide sliding glass door into the house. Clifford tried not to gawk, but the house was the most amazing thing he ever saw. Words like majestic, or beautiful, palatial, grand or magnificent seemed small and almost insulting describing the house.
Elaine led the group to the kitchen. In the center sat a huge rough-hewn oak table, like something out of a Robin Hood movie. “Have a seat. I’ll get your coffee. One roll or two? Mikey always eats two.”
“One for me,” said Clifford playing along.
“I’m good for two.” Duncan gave Clifford a wink.
The two deputies sat and patiently waited for their hostess to join them. Mike Potter sat quietly.
“Here we are.” Elaine held a wide tray with three mugs of steaming coffee, three overlapping plates with gigantic cinnamon rolls dripping with icing, and napkins, spoons, and forks. The cream and sugar wouldn’t fit,” she said turning.
“I take mine black,” Duncan offered.
“Me too,” Clifford chimed in.
“Alrighty then.” Elaine struggled to seat her wide girth on the end of the bench next to Potter.
Potter took a mug and a plate with two rolls. “Pitch in.”
“Aren’t you joining us?” Clifford asked Elaine.
“Got to watch my girlish figure.” Elaine giggled like a teenager.
“Look, this is really nice.”
“But,” Potter injected.
“But, you two are living in someone else’s house. Did they give you permission?”
“No! Silly. It’s a surprise. We are taking care of the place while they’re away.” Elaine acted like the question was ridiculous.
“Mr. Potter, did you use the code to get into the house?”
“Yeah.”
“You know that’s breaking and entering, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You two
seem like nice people. You really do. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I just wanted to see what it would feel like to be rich for a while, and live with someone I love, and well, be happy for a change.” Potter’s sincerity was almost painful to hear. “Have you ever wanted to just run away?”
“We were high school sweethearts.” It was Elaine’s turn to be serious. “We both wound up with the wrong person.”
“You left your son alone.”
“We were going home on Saturday. I had a few more cleaning up projects to do. And well, we just didn’t want to have this fairy tale end. We’ve earned our keep.”
“Let me ask you something.” Clifford stopped eating, took a sip of coffee. “How did you get up here without a car?”
“I borrowed their Escalade. I hitched a ride from a Mexican gardener up here. Then went and got Elaine.”
“And left the gate open.”
“Had to. Otherwise, it would look suspicious with the alarm turning on and off.”
“This is kind of our honeymoon in reverse.” Elaine smiled and took Potter’s arm.
Duncan watched the two lovebirds gaze at each other like kids over the cafeteria lunch table. He couldn’t decide if Elaine was acting out her fantasy of high school or she was a couple of tacos short of a combo platter.
The deputies and Potter finished off their rolls and coffee. Elaine slipped away from the table, wrapped the remaining rolls in plastic wrap, washed the pan and put the rolls in a small paper bag.
“Should we get our things?” She asked.
“Probably a good idea,” Clifford said wiping his mouth. “I’ll wash these up.”
Potter and Elaine took each other’s hands and left the room. A few minutes later they returned, each with a small suitcase.
Let’s use the back door,” Potter offered. “I can set the alarm from there.”
Duncan looked at Clifford. He was about to ask if they needed to cuff the pair, and Clifford shook his head as if he read Duncan’s mind.
The pair got in the back of the patrol car without speaking.
As they approached the gate Potter said, “Hold up. I’ll open the gate. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving her.”
Once on the road, Duncan spoke. “You two have broken so many laws, I can’t quite figure out what to do. Now, listen. I get what you did. I really do. But, damn it, it was against the law. Here’s what I’m willing to do.”
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