Cliffhanger Theater!

“Excuse me sir.”

Jon turned around and saw a woman in her fifties, along with a man who looked to be in his sixties or so.  He wasn’t used to visitors at the rail yard.  “You’re not supposed to be this close you know.”

“Well…yes…we know.  We’re just hoping you can help us.”

“Help you?”

“Our grandson.  He’s a troubled kid.  We’re supposed to be watching over him while his parents are away.”  The old man was talking loudly, but just loud enough to be heard over the occasional loud clanging of train cars.  “He’s been in jail for freight hopping before, and we had an argument and were hoping if you could tell us if you’ve turned anybody in.”

“Turned anybody in?  No way.  We barely find any freight hoppers anymore.”

“Maybe you saw something suspicous, like a car with a door open oddly or something?”  The woman spoke the words, but she didn’t seem as sold on them as the man.

“Ma’am, if I find a door that’s open and shouldn’t be, I close it and latch it.  If your grandson was in one of those cars, he’s having a hard time getting out until he gets to where that car is going.”

“Latch the doors?  Don’t you worry about the chance there’s somebody in there?”

“Sir, if they hop onto railroad property, they need to learn the consequences.  Besides, it’s company policy to make sure all doors are securly closed and latched.”

“Let’s go Mabel, we’re wasting our time here.”  B grabbed her arm and turned around.

“Fancy meeting you here” Julio said as B almost ran into him.

***

Michelle’s jaw dropped.  Phil was now twisted towards Bob, but his body was backing away.  Bob started taking a drink of his water.

“Wait, wait.  You’re just covering for his ass, aren’t you?”  Michelle’s eyes shifted from Bob to Phil and back again.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about Michelle, you have to believe me.”

“I don’t know if I do.”

“You should” Bob said as his water glass came down onto the table.  “The letter came to Phil’s apartment, but he never knew it arrived.  I made sure of that.”

“You…you threw away a letter from Michelle?”  Phil was starting to get angry, but he also carried a burden of sadness that was making his voice creaky and breathy.

“I didn’t throw it away.  I hid it from you.  I didn’t want you to read it.”

“You hid it.”  Michelle seemed very skeptical, but she was also starting to get an angry tone in her voice.

“I put it someplace so only I knew where it was, so I could give it to Phil later.  I didn’t open it, in case you’re wondering.  I could tell what it said by the way you were acting.”

“Why?” Phil’s voice was an angry, hurt whisper.

“I thought she was writing to just be friends.  Phil, don’t you remember how depressed you were?  You lost your job, you almost got evicted.  I thought this would open up a new can of worms, and I didn’t want to see you go through the whole thing again.”

Michelle’s face was bright red.  Bob braced himself for the verbal barrage he had invited.

“How many?”

Phil paused for a moment, then turned to see Bob looking through the rack of newspapers. Phil rolled his eyes and said “Two for non-smoking please.” The waitress looked and saw Bob lower his sunglasses after finding a recent copy of the Aberdeen American News. She took them to a booth, and then disappeared. Phil sat with his back straight and his elbows on the table, while Bob eased back in the booth, so his back was too the wall and his feet were kicked up on the rest of the booth. “I wonder how they feel about customers sitting that way.”

“Hey, I won’t eat like this. That would just be rude.”

Phil shook his head as a glass of water appeared in front of him. The waitress handed them each a menu. She had blond hair that was in a rough bun in back, and her name-tag was peeling a bit on all the corners. “My name’s Abbie…would you like to start your meal off with any appetizers or a salad?”

“No thanks Abbie” Bob said while barely looking up from the paper.

“Water is fine, thanks.” Phil said. “We should be ready in a few minutes.” Abbie smiled a half-hearted smile and walked away. Phil leaned towards Bob tried to see what he was looking at. “What is it?’ Phil’s voice was a loud whisper that barely got Bob’s attention.

“Just seeing if we’re news in this town yet. We got a mention but no pictures, thank goodness.”

“I’m sure they get KELO and KSFY up here.”

“Relax. No one is expecting to see us out in public. Hiding in plain sight my friend.”

“You’re just saying that because you want a burger.”

“Your words wound me, both with their bite and their accuracy.”

Phil smirked and started to slouch in his chair. He knew Bob all too well, and he knew that Bob’s mood was not what it seemed.

***

“Anything?” Julio’s eyes were still closed. He was getting closer to sleep every minute.

“Got it! The ATM receipt does go back to one Robert Fulton of Sioux Falls! We know they were on that train! The captain is going to want to hear this.”

“That’s not all he’ll want to hear” came a voice from behind Julio’s ear. Julio opened his eyes and looked up. Another officer was now standing across from Bucholz. The new officer beamed confidence, and he had a grin that a kid gets before telling on someone.

“Felix? I thought you were told to take the rest of the day off.”

“I was told to, but they didn’t make me. I came back in to run a few more checks, and check this out.”

Bucholz looked at the printout. “Big whoop. It’s a list of people who’ve checked into hotels in South Dakota tonight. So what?”

“Check the name I’ve highlighted.”

Bucholz moved his finger along the page until he found the right line. “Super 8 Aberdeen, this afternoon. Eli Elson of Dell Rapids. Big whoop.”

Phil sighed and grabbed another menu. He had looked through them twice already, but he was in no mood to hear Bob flirting with the front desk girl again. He especially wasn’t in the mood to hear Bob refer to himself as “Eli” on more than one occasion. He took a menu from a place called the Millstone. He flipped open the menu and looked again. He looked over the menu and lingered on the breakfast items. His mind started drifting to omelets, waffles and pancakes. He thought about the early days with Michelle, and how he’d make pancakes every morning after she had spent the night. At least, that’s how he had done it in the early days. Pancakes and eggs gave way to cereal and toast, then orange juice and pop tarts, then coffee, and eventually he didn’t do anything special. He wanted so bad to do it again, to never stop making breakfast. He knew deep down that not making breakfast wasn’t the reason she left, but it would have been something, anything to try differently. He started going over everything in his head that he’d have done differently, when suddenly his world shifted focus back to the present. His hands were empty, and Bob was standing by him. His sunglasses were balanced on his nose, and he was looking at the menu with one hand. In the other hand, he had a Super 8 business card with a number scrawled in pen on the back. “Looks good, and it’s close. Let’s go.” Bob tossed the menu back into the wooden magazine/menu rack on the wall and swung open the door. He pushed his sunglasses up and looked at Phil. “Are ya comin’ or what.”

“Right behind you.”

***

Julio Perez rubbed his eyes and looked across the desk at officer Bucholz. “Do you need something to drink Mr. Perez?”

“No thanks. I’ve had enough coffee today. I just need some sleep eventually.”

“It has been a long day Mr. Perez, but we should hear something from the Minnesota Highway Patrol soon.”

“Do you ever get the feeling something more is going on?”

“Mr. Perez?”

“Please, call me Julio. I’ve heard Mr. Perez more today than I have in the past year.”

“Okay…Julio. What do you mean by something more?”

“This explosion, the boxcars, the officer who was shot, the government agents in your captain’s office. I heard one of your officers looking up something called the N.G.A. on a search engine…did I forget anything?”

“I…I can’t comment…officially. But, yeah, I think that’s most of it, or most of what I know about.”

Bucholz’s mind drifted for a moment, and he jumped slightly when his phone rang. “No more coffee for you either” Julio remarked.

“Bucholz.” Julio watched as Bucholz started scribbling on a notepad. “Uh-huh. Yep. No. Yes. Thanks for the tip, and give Mr. Simon our thanks for his quick action. Okay. Thank you.” Bucholz hung up the phone and started typing with one hand, as he sipped coffee with the other. He noticed Julio staring, and put down the coffee. “They found an old ATM receipt. Once I put in this number, we should know who was in the car.”

“I think we already know who, don’t we?” Julio slouched in his chair, in a vain attempt to get some sleep.

The door to interrogation room three opened very slowly.  Clayton Iron-Horse walked in, carrying only a notepad.  He kicked the door closed and took a look at Laura Black.  She was handcuffed, but she still had a killer’s look in her eyes.  Her black hair was tussled, messy and falling around her eyes.  She jutted her lower lip out, pursed her top lip on the center of the lower, and tried to blow some of her hair out of her eyes.  Clayton walked over to the seat across from her, and threw the notepad on the table.  He sat slowly, and didn’t take his eyes off of her.  She again tried to blow her hair out of her eyes.  She was still wearing her police uniform, badge and all.  A few buttons had popped off, and part of her undershirt was showing very clearly.  Clayton leaned back in his seat, and started staring at her.  Laura stared right back at him, taking breaks only to try to blow her hair up out of her face with an audible PFFFT.

“So, is Laura Black your real name?  At least Laura?”

PFFFT

“Why did that woman scream?”

PFFFT

“Who was in the elevator with you?”

PFFFT

“Do you have anything to say?”

“I could really use a hair tie.”

Clayton frowned.

***

Eli took a deep breath and walked into the police station.  Agent Garrett and agent Lewis were right behind him.  Captain Hale met them near the entrance.  “Who’s this?”

“Eli Elson.  We think he might know where Fulton might be.”  Eli rolled his eyes when he heard Garrett speak.

“Is he under arrest?”

“No” Lewis said.  “He…agreed to come here and answer some questions willingly.”

“We need an interrogation room.”

“Listen Garrett, if he’s here of his own free will, I don’t think an interrogation room is a good idea.  We can process him anywhere.”

“I have to insist.  We need to question him in private.”

Hale looked over to one of the nearby officers.  Take our guest to room four.  Get him something to drink.”

“Thank you.  We’ll be with him shortly.  We both need to check in with our people.”

“You can use my office.”  Garrett and Lewis started walking towards the stairs.  “By the way, F.B.I. agent Clayton Iron-Horse is interrogating our fake officer right now.  He’s in room three.”

“Thank you captain” Lewis said, offering a slight smile before turning and heading up the stairs again.  Hale shook his head and walked towards the elevator.

“Captain Hale?  I think you want to take line three.”

Hale stopped and walked to a nearby desk.  “This is captain Hale.”

“Captain, my name is Julio Perez, I work security for the rail yard here in Sioux Falls.”

“Yes Mr. Perez.  I’m sorry that you had to wait this morning.  I’ve spoken with my detective about that.”

“I’m not calling because I had to wait, I’m calling because I think I found your boxcar.”

“Come again?”

“One of our trains stopped in Ortonville, Minnesota because a boxcar had a wide open door.  There’s a lot of evidence to suggest it was occupied by at least two men, and the train left Sioux Falls last night.”

“Julio, I realize you’ve had a long night, but could you come down to the station?  This could be the break we’ve been looking for.”

Julio Perez looked at the clock on the wall.  His boss was always reminding him to put up the new BNSF clock, but he found the faded Burlington Northern logo comforting.  The clock was one of his first gifts from the railroad company, back when Julio had started working here after coming to America a few decades ago.  Julio had that clock with him at every rail yard he’d worked at, and he was content to have it here, where he was hoping to retire.  Right now, the clock was telling him to get some sleep.  He dug into his pocket for the keys to his truck.  He stopped at the door, and flicked the light.

*RING*

Julio froze for a moment.  He was so very tired, but the phone ring called to him like the voice of an abusive partner, who just wanted a little more time together.  He threw his keys onto his desk and picked up the receiver.  “Railroad security, this is Perez.”

“Julio?”

“Yes?”

“This is Mitch Hanson.  I think we’ve talked a few times in Sioux Falls?”

Julio sat down in his chair.  He waited for it to stop creaking before he continued.  “Yes, I remember you.  What can I do for you?”

“I heard you were looking for some odd boxcars?”

“Excuse me?”

“I made an unscheduled stop in Ortonville because we had a call come in that one of our boxcars was wide open.  Sure enough, the roof hatch has been pried open, and the boxes were moved all around.  There was definitely somebody in there.”

Julio sat up and started jotting down notes.  “Where did you leave from?”

“We went down to Canton last night, but we haven’t stopped since.”

“Did you slow down anywhere for someone to jump out?”

“Not really.  Well, we did slow for the usual towns, but jumping out at that speed is usually too fast for the freight hoppers that we usually have.”

“How long can you stay in Ortonville?”

“Not long.  I’m at the town elevator right now.”

“Can you get that boxcar off your train?”

“I think so?”

“You’d better know so, so get to it.  I have to call the police.”

***

The doors swung open into the afternoon air.  Tina Vig looked all around, but she didn’t see B or Mabel anywhere.  Will was right behind her, but didn’t know what to look for.  “How did she get here?  Wouldn’t we have to give her a ride back to her place?”

“The officers last night let her drive in.  She was in willingly to answer questions and get protection.”

“Protection?”

“According to the report from the officers on the scene, she said two men held her at gunpoint and proceeded to steal all the CDs and DVDs and such from an apartment rented by Phillip Anderton and Robert Fulton, then left her there to lock up.  Oddly, Laura Black’s report doesn’t mention them at all, and adds a note that she thinks it was all made up.”

“That must have been who she saw in the elevator.”

“And they were in the police station, right under our noses.”

“I’ll be honest Tina.  We’re not doing our best work this weekend.”

“Well, she drives a blue Toyota, but I don’t see one anywhere in the lot.”

“No” Will said, as he walked towards the side of the building.  “None here.”

Tina walked to the other corner.  “Hey Will, come take a look at this.”

Will walked over and looked around the corner, and saw a black Cadillac  parked in a loading zone.

Phil came back to the table with a full glass in each hand.  “You are officially Coke’d.”

“Thanks.  That was quite a scare for a second there.  For a moment I thought you’d turned your phone back on.”

“Oh, well…yeah.  I mean, I had it on before, but now would be a bad time.”

Bob took a bite of his sandwich and chewed very slowly.  Phil ravenously devoured the rest of his sandwich.  Bob sipped a bit of his drink.  “So, you’ve had it on since we got to Aberdeen?”

“Er, no.  That’s crazy.  If it’s on they could…probably…track us or something.”

Liar.  I saw you turn it off Bob thought to himself.  “Yeah, we wouldn’t want that.  Any ideas on where to go next?”

“Well, I thought we could walk down to the Super 8.  That’s where the team used to stay when we had tournaments up here.  It’s pretty nice and I’m sure we have the cash for a night.”

“Do we want to use our limited finances here on a motel?  Are we going to stay in this town or move on?  Have we even decided yet?”

“We can always get more money.”

Bob leaned back in his booth.  “Oh, this should be good.”

“All we need to do his hit up an A.T.M.”

Bob shook his head.  “Sure, they won’t track that or anything.”  He took another bite of his sandwich.

“No silly, we make a withdrawal before we leave town, then while they look around town for us, we head out to the next town.”

Bob put his sandwich down.  “You want us to keep running?”

“I…I don’t know.  Maybe.  I’m just worried we’ll end up like that po-”

Bob put his finger to his lips quickly and interrupted.  “Like that poor guy who quit eating these healthy sandwiches.  Heart attack.  What a shame.  What.  A.  Shame.”  Bob darted his eyes to various people who had started glancing their way.  Phil’s face had the look of someone who knew he was saying something stupid at the wrong place and time.  Bob’s face didn’t change once.

“You have got to teach me your poker face.”

“Maybe later.”  Bob finished his sandwich.  “Hurry up.  I want to get to this Super 8.  I need a shower.”

***

“This better be good.”  Steve Simon said as he waddled out of his truck.  He was a large man, and he didn’t seem to care who knew.  His shirt was about a half size too small, and his suspenders clashed with both his shirt and his pants.  He took another bite from the bear claw he was working on.  “I don’t like coming out on a Saturday.”

“I thought you’d want to see this.”

Steve looked at the stopped train.  “Yeah, it’s a boxcar Clint.  So what?  Why’d you open the door?”

“The door was open.  And before you ask, I didn’t move the cargo.”

Steve slowly walked up to the boxcar.  He shoved the rest of the pastry in his mouth.  He put his hands on the floor of the car and looked around.  “Hoppers.  Dammit.  I didn’t think anybody did that anymore.  Did anybody here at the elevator see anyone leave the train.”

“No sir.  I did get a call from my neighbor Rick.  He lives out of town, and he was driving to Milbank and he saw the door was open.  I radioed the train, and it stopped here.  There wasn’t a stop scheduled in Ortonville today.”

“Why did it stop?”

“The head engineer told me he’d tell me, but he had to call Sioux Falls first.”

Jebediah pulled out his Glock, and Jeremiah did the same. The elevator doors opened and Jebediah walked with purpose into the garage. Jeremiah stayed close, but behind him. “Let’s not kill too many people today. That draws too much attention.”

“Attention isn’t my goal, but escape is.” Jebediah walked towards an unmarked car. There was an officer inside, talking on his radio. He opened the door and ran towards the elevator.

“Hey, don’t you two know? There’s a hostage situation upstairs! Get out and get to safety!” The officer ran past, not even noticing the guns they were holding behind their backs. Jebediah looked inside the car.

“Keys, let’s go and get another car before they lowjack this one.”

Jebediah got into the passenger seat while Jeremiah gunned the engine. Soon, they were in daylight and on the move. “Maybe we owe Laura one. She allowed us to escape relatively easy” Jeremiah said.

“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t her intent.” Jebediah deadpanned, as he accelerated away from the police station.

“Why don’t we double back and get the Caddy?”

“That” Jebediah said, as he looked right at Jeremiah “is not part of fall back alpha.” He again looked straight ahead and flipped on the radio

***

Julio Perez handed Officer Bucholz the list. “That’s all the train times, departures, and destinations from last night between midnight and six AM. I included all the trains that came through town, and their destinations as well.”

“Thanks for your cooperation.” Bucholz started walking to the door. He stopped and turned around. “You really don’t think they’re in Dell Rapids, do you?”

“I’d almost bet my reputation on it.”

“Well, I don’t know your reputation, but I’ll take your word that it’s worth risking.”

Julio nodded as the officer left. He logged into his email account and checked. He didn’t have any replies yet to his mass email about mysteriously open boxcars at other rail yards.

***

“Laura…you don’t have to do this. I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding…” Will kept his hands up and took a small step towards Laura. She had her back to the middle wall between the elevator doors.

“There’s no misunderstanding. I need to get out, and Mr. Moore here is going to help me get out.”

“Laura…please…you’re in a police station.” Felix was able to speak the words clearly for the most part, but Laura’s arm tightened on his neck after he spoke.

“I know I’m at a police station, but my brief time in Sioux Falls hasn’t really made me a believer in your town’s hostage negotiating skills. I’d rather just get a car and get out of town.” Laura locked eyes with Will. “I’ll drop him off in the next town once I’m away.”

“Look, just let Felix go, and we can talk. Nobody else here has a gun drawn.”

The down arrow on the elevator illuminated. “Sorry Will. I’d like to say I’d love to stick around and see if you all sort it out, but I need to get out of here. Trust me, it will be the best for everyone.”

The elevator doors began to open. Will took another step forward. “Don’t do this. We can talk it out.”

“Sorry Will. No more talking.” Laura took a step back to the open doors.

***BLAM***

Laura pushed the button of the elevator.  “Well, that was a waste of time.”

***

Will shoved open the Captain’s door, and Clayton followed close behind.  “Well, that was a waste of time.”

***

Mabel walked down the hall, and spotted old man B.  “Cops.  Total waste of my time.”

***

Felix Moore flipped the screen.  His search for Clayton Iron-Horse turned up yet another spotless record.  “What a time waster.”

***

Agent Garrett nodded.  Agent Lewis sipped a coffee as the Sheriff’s men circled the house.  “This better not be a waste of our time” Garrett quipped.

***

Jeremiah and Jebediah stood together while the elevator made its slow ascent.  “It wasn’t a total waste of time.  Now we just need to start on places Gerrard worked and hung out.  We’ll make it work.  The weatherman is fairly patient.”

“I realize that Jeremiah, but I don’t know how much longer I can be here before somebody digs too deep into Laura Black’s past.  I’m on borrowed time.”

“In another week, you’ll be someplace else.  I promise.”

“Good.  This town is just too…small town for me.”

***

Will started down the stairs.  Clayton was right behind him.  “I didn’t think you ever took the stairs.”

“I take them when I need to blow off steam.”

“Will, things will work out.  You’ll find your man, I’ll find some leads and we’ll call it a good weekend.”

“Something doesn’t add up here Iron-Horse, and you know it.”

“Maybe so, but you have your task, and I have mine.  I’d rather not have your captain call my director.”

“If you want to play it safe, fine, but I need…ah hell, I don’t even know where to go on this case.  It has my brain all screwy.  I’ve been making one mistake after another.”

“You’re a good cop Will.  Don’t beat yourself up over this.  Chances are it’s something over both our heads.  That poison patch…”

“Yeah yeah, the poison patch.  Now I have to go find Moore and spend the day reading up on anyone who might have had a beef with Stevens.”

***

Mabel walked up to B.  “How are you otherwise?”

“Me, I’ve been better, but I’m not ready to call it a day or night yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“I need a ride to my car.  I have to find out where those two tools are that I loaded on the train.”

“But I th-”

“Shhhhhhhh!” said B as he put one finger over her lips and his other arm around her, turning her around as they kept walking.

Mabel whispered “but I thought you told them where they were.”

“I told them one possible place to look.  If Julio checks his schedule he might tip them off that I lied…I think.”

“You think?”

“Listen, what I told them…might be true.  I honestly don’t know.  But I want to start looking and maybe do my own poking around.”

***

Felix bounced from window to window, tab to tab.  Google searching was getting old, and he was near the end of all the results for everyone he was looking for.  He flipped the screen and saw something that made him sit up quickly.  The link read: In Memorial-Officer Laura Black.

*CLICK*

Officer Baker took another picture of the fence. Julio was watching him while he waited on hold.

“Sorry about that Perez. Are the police still around?”

“I’m afraid so. I might need a half day to catch up on sleep. I’m way past my bedtime.”

“You’ve got it. In fact, take the whole weekend off. I think Litz and Tavarez can handle things this weekend. They each have been asking about more hours.”

“Sounds good to me.” Julio was rubbing his eyes as Officer Bucholz walked towards him with a notepad. “Listen, it looks like question time. I’d better go. I’ll call you back.” Julio lowered the phone and glared at Bucholz, who had the look of a man who was trying not to be intimidated, with moderate success.

“I just got word that the old man you brought in caved. He claims he got the two men we’re looking for on a train going North.”

“North?”

“Yep, I just had a call from the interrogating officer. She said he confessed to putting two men in a boxcar. Then he mentioned one of them had a friend in Dell Rapids. Do you know when that train left and when it got there.”

“Yeah, hang on.” Julio pulled out his Blackberry and started looking through the train schedule. “I have all the times here, but hang on. Are you sure that’s what the old man said?”

“Yes indeed. So, you have the time the train left and when it would have gotten to Dell Rapids?”

“I do, but I find it unlikely that they would have been on that train.”

“How come?”

“That train was loading pretty far away from where I found him, compared to when it departed.”

“Well, the man insists it was a train heading North to Dell Rapids.”

Then that’s where they are, because Dell Rapids is the end of the line on that track.”

***

“So…Lancelot Drive? At least it’s a starting point.” Phil started walking down the street. Bob looked around, but didn’t find anything familiar.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?”

“South.”

Bob shook his head. “Fair enough.” He pulled out his cell phone. “Dead. How about yours?”

“Probably around half or so.” Phil pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. Three of the four battery bars were showing. “Maybe more. Like it helps us. We can’t even use them.”

“Well, we don’t know that for sure.”

“So, do you want me to call a cab?”

“Does Aberdeen even have cabs?”

“Probably not.”

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

“Well, to the North was a lot of nothing, and we’re walking by houses here. This has to be the way.”

“Have we figured out what we’re doing next?”

“I didn’t know I was in charge.”

“You picked a direction?”

“Well, a navigator and a leader aren’t always the same.”

“Here’s your chance to be both. Do we stay on Lancelot or take 1st Avenue Southeast?”

Phil looked left and right. He honestly didn’t know what to do.

Officer Travis Bucholz took a deep breath, and reached for his radio. Julio Perez was looking him over as he turned around. Travis pulled his radio out halfway, then slid it back into place. He dug in his pocket for a cell phone. He found Detective Hetfield’s number on a scrap of paper and punched in the numbers. Travis thought about using the radio after the first three rings.

“Hetfield. Who is this?” Travis hesitated for a moment, as he was already reaching for his radio with his free hand.

“Detective, this is officer Travis Bucholz. I’m here at the rail yard with Julio Perez.”

“Who?”

“Julio Perez.”

“I heard the name Bucholz, who the hell is he?”

“He’s…he’s from railroad security. The captain wanted you to interview him about a lead.”

“What? When?”

“Officer Black told me to call. She said the Captain called you.”

“Black? Robby Black? I thought he transferred out.”

“Is Robby a girl?”

“What?”

“I mean, the officer Black I talked to was female.”

“Look, I have a lead here at the airport. Tell the railroad rent a cop I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Travis opened his mouth to protest, but Hetfield had hung up. He turned to Julio, who was staring at him with his arms folded, and an angry posture. “Detective Hetfield has a new lead, so he’s a bit hung up, but he’ll be here as soon as he can.”

Julio nodded and walked towards the wall. He pulled out a cell phone of his own as Travis paced nervously.

***

“Do you really think I’d pull Michelle into this?” Phil was angry now, and Bob was back on his heels.

“Whoa, wait. I was just making sure.” Bob was using hand gestures, and that told Phil that Bob was lying.

“Just making sure of what? That I wasn’t going to go scouring a town of 30,000 while the police and some nutball assassin are looking for us? Then what?” Phil was yelling louder with each passing word as Bob backed away. “YOU HONESTLY THINK I WOULD DRAG HER INTO THIS MESS YOU’VE GOTTEN US INTO?” Bob raised his hands up, almost as if to stop Phil from getting to close. Phil spun around and slapped his hands on the side of his head. He walked towards the door and looked out at the farms, fields and cars flying by. The houses and cars seemed to be appearing with greater frequency now. Phil briefly thought about jumping out. He could still remember the day he came home. He could see the empty drawers. The words on the note she left behind jumped out in his mind. Phil wanted to scream, cry, and punch Bob all at the same time. He heard Bob pacing behind him, and he rocked his body forward slightly. He thought he could survive jumping out of the train, but he just couldn’t do it. Maybe Bob was right about Phil’s motivation to jump out in Aberdeen. Phil had done his best to bury his feelings for Michelle, but he could feel them clawing out of his stomach the closer the train rolled to Aberdeen. He lowered his hands as Bob crouched beside him.

“I’m sorry” Bob said.