Detective Will Hetfield’s life snapped back into focus. He was halfway into an intersection with cars honking all around him. A few were stopped only inches away from colliding with his. Will balled up his fist and pounded the dash as hard as he could. C’mon Will get it together. He flipped his in-grill lights on and hit the gas, leaving an intersection of confused motorists behind him.
***
“Are you finding everything all right?”
Mokoto looked over the blue-smocked worker. She looked all of twenty, and about seven months pregnant. “Isn’t it a bit late to be working when you’ve got a baby on board?”
“Diapers don’t pay for themselves” the worker quipped, with a slight giggle.
“Tell me something…Ashley. Is there anyplace else open in this town to buy clothing? I need a good heavy duty jacket.”
“There’s a truck stop on Cliff that used to carry a few biker jackets. They’re open twenty-four hours. Were you in a fight?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re all bruised up in the arms and your skirt’s ripped.”
“Oh, well…I kinda fell out of a tree.”
“For real?”
Mokoto smiled. “Last dare I take tonight. My laundry basket is overflowing, so I decided to get a few days worth here. Hey, guys do it all the time, right?”
“It’s like you know my brother.” Ashley said, putting her hand on Mokoto’s shoulder. “He is totally that way.”
Mokoto held up a pair of black jeans. “I’m guessing your fitting rooms aren’t open at this hour.”
“They sure are. Follow me.”
Mokoto breathed a sigh of relief. Now her only worry was hoping that Wal-mart jeans weren’t as uncomfortable as they looked.
***
Clayton had waited long enough. He took a deep breath and slowly inched closer to the door opening. He didn’t see anything. He began standing up. His knees made small cracking noises that seemed ten times louder tonight. He counted to three in his head and spun around into the doorway. His trigger finger was in place and his gun was leveled at the doorway all the shots had been fired from. He was ready for anything. However, he wasn’t ready for absolutely nothing. No one popped out, no one fired shots, and he didn’t hear anyone move. There were two bodies in the other room, and Clayton slowly walked towards them. No one spun into the doorway to greet him. Clayton swung his body into the doorway, and leveled his gun to the right and then quickly to the left. His aim found no one, as the room was empty, save for the two lying on the floor. Gene and Ruth were lying on the floor, and as Clayton stared, he could see them both breathing. A door swung open in the hallway with such force that the knob hitting the wall almost sounded like a gunshot itself. Four policemen rushed out with their guns drawn. Clayton knelt by Gene. “We need to get…”
“FREEZE. ON THE FLOOR NOW!”
Clayton put his hands up, and calmly spoke. “I’m F.B.I. My ID is in my jacket pocket. Darlene in the other room can confirm.”
“ON THE GROUND OR I’LL SHOOT!”
Clayton laid on the cold tile floor, really wishing he’d remembered his lanyard.
***
Police cars continued to rush to the hospital. Police were running into the doorway, not noticing a black Cadillac pulling away into the night. Jebediah sat patiently with his laptop out as Jeremiah scrolled through his contacts. “With Gerrard’s body missing and possibly not dead, our next best bet is this Frank. Do you have a location?”
“I found him. Who are you calling?”
“With this development, we need a new forecast. Gerrard is good, but if he’s alive we’ll find him soon.”
