Cliffhanger Theater!

Highway Patrolman Dale Roberts blinked rapidly as he snapped back to reality.  Water was dripping down his face, and he was still trying to blink his way back to consciousness.  The last thing he remembered was looking at Laura Dell’s driver’s licence and noticing two wires.  He remembered a sensation akin to being tasered, but stronger and…different.

“Wake up…Dale.”

Dale sputtered water out of his mouth and looked up.  Laura was now out of her car, and she was in a catcher’s crouch in front of him.  She was holding an empty water bottle, and strands of her black hair had broken free of her pony tail holder.  Her stray hair blew in the South Dakota breeze, as she stared at Dale with a look Dale couldn’t even describe.  She slowly stood up, and Dale tried to do the same.  His attempt didn’t even get off the ground, as he realized his legs had been zip stripped, and his hands were cuffed behind him.  He looked up and over his shoulder, realizing his hands were cuffed behind a mile marker he couldn’t quite read.  When he looked forward again, Laura had disappeared.  He saw his squad car about 150 feed away, with all of the lights still on.  Laura walked in front of him again, and walked slowly towards his car.

“Ma’am…you’re in a lot of tr-”

BLAM

Dale’s head lurched back as the shotgun blast rang out across the empty stretch of interestate.  Laura fired several more times at his car, and then hammered at the windshield with the gun’s stock until the bulletproof glass gave-way in one spot, leaving a hole no bigger than a bowling ball.  Laura slowly walked back with a slight smirk, and one finger across her lips.  Dale frantically looked around his body.  His gun and belt were gone, his badge was gone, and so were his keys.  Dale bent his knees and tried to stand, using the mile marker sign as leverage.  His body moved up a few inches and stopped, once he felt the handcuffs snug up.  He sank back down as he heard footsteps.

“I zip stripped the cuffs to the marker.  Those holes in sign posts come in handy.”  Dale took a deep breath as he heard her voice, and approaching footsteps.  She suddenly crouched down right in front of him, and her smile had only grown.  “Now Dale, I need to ask you something, and be honest.  When help comes, and they find you here, are you going to tell them about me?”

“Of course!  You are in big troub-”

Laura placed one finger on his lips.  She used the other hand to pull out a revolver.  Slowly and deliberately, she loaded one bullet.  She looked him in the eye again.  “Are you going to tell them about me?”

“Yes.”

Laura loaded a second bullet into the gun.  “Are you going to tell them about me?”

Dale hesitated for a second.  “No.”

“You’re lying” Laura said.  She loaded a third bullet.  “Are you going to tell them about me?”

Dale looked at the gun, and looked up to Laura’s eyes.  “Maybe.”

Laura slowly loaded a fourth bullet.  She shook her head, then asked again, “Are you going to tell them about me?”  Dale’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.  “That’s a yes.  Oh Dale, I’m running out of chambers here.”  Laura pulled out a fifth bullet, and slowly slid it into the chamber.  She held the gun up and locked her eyes with Dale’s.  “Last time I’m going to ask Dale.  When they find you out here, and they ask you who did this, what are you going to tell them?”

Dale looked at the gun, then at Laura.  She had the gun in one hand, and a single bullet in the other.  Her smile was gone.  “I don’t remember who did this.  It’s all fuzzy” Dale said, almost not believing he was saying it.  He noticed his breathing had accelerated, and he had an overwhelming feeling of doom.  Laura slowly placed the bullet in her pocket.  She stood up and smiled.

“I believe you, but I wish you’d said that earlier.”  She spun the cylinder of the revolver, then with a flick of the wrist she locked one of the chambers in place.  She cocked the hammer and pointed the gun at Dale’s head.

Felix swung open the Captain’s door. Hale was sitting behind his desk, filling out a form. Eli Elson was sitting off to the side. He had a soda that was mostly empty, but he was sucking on the straw anyway, in hopes of catching a few stray drops of soda. The sound was annoying, but Felix paid it little mind. “Sir, we just got word from Aberdeen police. They got their warrant and are going into the hotel room soon.” The chief looked up and sighed.

“I suppose I should call up the feds and let them know.” Hale reached for the phone, as Eli kept trying to suck every last bit of soda out of his Z’kota glass. Felix was having a harder time tuning him out the longer Hale waited on the phone. “Voice mail. I’ll try Lewis.” Eli shook his glass a bit, then started on the straw again. Felix looked down, hoping to tune him out entirely. “Voice mail again. They must be in a dead spot. Felix, get on the phone and tell them to wait for the feds, or for the word. If they need to talk to me, patch me through.”

“Can do.” Felix walked out and slammed the door just a bit harder than he normally would. Eli sat his glass on the armrest.

“How soon are you going to let me go? I’ve told you everything about Bob that I know.”

“Not quite.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I did.”

“What about the summer between freshman and sophomore year?”

Eli smiled and shook his head. “That’s an interesting question itself. If I knew I’d tell you, but most of us that he hung out with freshman year would love to know the answer. He came back from Spearfish…different.”

“Does the name…Holly Kearns mean anything to you?”

Eli stood up and walked over. Hale was looking at some printouts from the Rapid City Journal’s archives. “Holly was a girl Bob mentioned once in a while. They were never serious, more like friends with benefits. He talked about her freshman year, and I think he went to see her once or twice. Now that you mention it, I don’t remember her name coming up much after he got back.”

“There’s a pretty good reason” Hale said, as he flipped to another page. The story was about a young woman being mauled by a mountain lion.

“Damn” Eli said as he read the story. “She was killed by a mountain lion?”

“Not quite” Hale said.

***

“Here is an abandoned pawn shop. It closed about a year ago, but the building sits empty, and we happen to have a set of keys.”

Michelle stared at her gun, which was currently pointed between Phil and Bob. Bob was looking around, and Phil’s eyes were a vacant, dead stare into nothing. Michelle was thinking over her self defense classes in her head, and was trying to remember where her pepper spray was in her purse. Bob, Michelle and Mokoto looked to the left, as a motorcycle pulled in behind them. Their heads craned the other way as another car pulled in and parked in front of Michelle’s car. Michelle cleared her throat and asked “Friends of yours?”

“Wait here” Mokoto said.

Michelle turned the car and proceeded down Aberdeen’s main street.  She kept glancing in the backseat, but didn’t look Mokoto’s way too often.  She glanced at Mokoto’s face again and frowned.  “Weren’t  you in Herberger’s earlier today?”

“I was.”

“Have you been following me all day?”

“Mostly.  It’s hard to lose somebody in a town this size.”  Mokoto adjusted herself in her seat slightly, and the gun was briefly not fixed on Michelle’s location.

“If I agree to cooperate, will you stop pointing that gun at me?”

“I’ve heard that one a few times” Mokoto said, as she kept the gun pointing towards the car radio.  “Sometimes I believe it.”

“Are you going to kill Phil and Bob?”

Mokoto didn’t answer her question instantly.  She looked ahead to a red light and simply stated “Keep going straight, I’ll tell you when to turn right.”  She lifted up the gun and once again pointed it at Michelle, keeping it lower than the windows.  After glancing at Phil and Bob, she again looked forward and spoke.  “I don’t want to kill them.  I don’t plan to kill them.  I shouldn’t have to kill them.”

“You didn’t answer my question” Michelle said as she shifted to the right lane.

***

Dale Roberts slowly opened his car door, but decided to try his on-board computer one more time.  For the third time, his computer read “ERROR” when he typed in the black Jetta’s plate.  He shook his head and got out of his Highway Patrol cruiser.  The sun had mostly set, and he could see a handful of stars in the sky.  The Jetta’s window slowly came down, revealing a smiling brunette, whose hands were still on the wheel.  Dale flashed his light inside the car, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, with the exception that the car was unusually messy for a female driver.  “What seems to be the problem officer?” she said, her smile not breaking for a moment.

“Well ma’am, you were speeding just a bit, and by just a bit I mean you were going 113 miles per hour in a 75 mile per hour zone.”

“I’m sorry officer.  I’m meeting some friends up North and I got a bit carried away.  But, I want you to know I’m not trying to talk my way out of a ticket.”

“I need your l-”

“License, registration and insurance?” the woman said, cutting him off in mid sentence.  She slowly lowered her sun visor and handed Dale a license, along with some other folded paper under it.  Dale lowered his flashlight slightly and took the papers.  The name on the license read ‘Laura Dell’ and it indicated she lived in Sioux Falls.  He unfolded what he thought was the registration paperwork, but the paper felt really odd.  He noticed what looked like two threads coming off of it, that almost looked like wires.  His eyes followed the threads and noticed they were really long.  In fact, it looked like they went all the way back to Laura’s front seat.  Laura smiled as Dale heard some kind of click…

Eli Elson kept writing.

He had been in the police station since this morning.  He’d gone from interrogation room to interrogation room, with a few stops at various desks to tell officers the same information over and over again.  He was without a computer, but he had managed to get his hands on a lot of paper, and a decent pen.  He was scrawling everything that was happening, everything he was feeling, and how the Sioux Falls Police Department was going to be a frequent target of his news blog.  He glanced up at a clock, realizing his Twitter account hadn’t been updated in almost ten hours.  He heard a door open, and he quickly started massing his many sheets of paper together.  He looked up again and saw Captain Hale walking over.  He dropped a Z’kota bag in front of Eli as Eli kept gathering his papers.  “Relax…I’m not taking your notes” Hale said as he sat down.  Eli looked up and at the Z’kota bag.

“What is this, good cop, bad cop?”

“That depends on if you’re hungry or watching your figure.”

Eli chuckled.  “What’s in the bag?”

“Bacon double cheeseburger, with waffle fries and a few packets of ketchup and mayo.”

Eli sat his pen and papers down, and cautiously opened the bag.  “I’ll be damned.  It’s like you read my mind.”

“More like your blog.  At least three different entries talk about this being your guilty pleasure, and how Z’kota is your favorite burger joint.  I’d have to agree to an extent.”

“You…you read my blog?”

“Well, just today, but my daughter filled me in on where to find it.  Now, why don’t you finally eat something and then we can talk about who brought you here, and how we can maybe fill in some blank spots on our end about Phil and Bob.”

***

Phil’s life was flashing before his eyes.  At least, his life with Michelle.

He remembered going out to meet up with an old girlfriend who never made it, and somehow winding up sitting at a table with another old college friend.  Michelle was a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, but they wound up sitting by each other.  Phil could still remember the way Michelle offered up some of her fries that night.  He thought about their first “date” which consisted of ordering pizza and watching a marathon of “Family Guy” on Cartoon Network.  Their first kiss was that night, and Phil could almost feel her lips and taste her strawberry lip gloss for a flickering moment.  They were inseparable for those early days, and soon moved in together.  He thought back to the three hours he spent at Riddles looking for the perfect ring, and the look on her face that told him it was three hours well spent.  Happiness was finally with him…

…then it left.  He now saw signs that there was trouble, or maybe he was rationalizing that night he came home to a half empty apartment.  He read the note she had left, and he cried all night long.  The pain was so unbareable to him then, and now he was starting to feel it over again as she started to stand up.

“Michelle, just hang on” Bob said, snapping Phil all the way back to the here and now.

Felix drummed his pen nervously on his desk.  He had only been on hold for a minute, but every second that ticked by felt like another icy stare from the Captain Hale.  Finally, he heard the telltale click that relieved some of his stress.  He didn’t even notice Officer Bucholz walk up behind him.

“Officer Moore, this is Derrick Warren.”

“Yes, yes…this is Felix Moore…is this the chief?”

“It’s as close as you’re getting right now.  Our chief is on vacation.  Dispatch was telling me you think those two men I saw on KELO are in our city?”

“Yes, we have reason to believe they’re staying at the Super 8.”

“Well, that’s great.  Which one?”

“Excuse me?”

“We have several Super 8’s in this town Officer Moore.”

Felix started shuffling papers around on his desk.  “Just a moment, I have that here somewhere…”  Paper began flying off his desk, and he held the phone tightly against his chest to keep his disorganization a secret from Warren.  While Felix shuffled papers, Bucholz crossed his arms and cleared his throat.  Felix paid him no mind.

“FELIX!”

Felix jumped in his chair for a moment.  He spun around, winding the phone cord around his chest.  “Bucholz, I’m a little high strung today.  Jeez.  I’m trying to find that Super 8 info about the Elson check in.”

Bucholz walked over to the back of Felix’s desk.  “You mean this stuff you sat on your monitor?”  Felix took the paper and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Thanks.”

Bucholz smiled as Felix put the phone back up to his ear.

***

“Thick?  I honestly didn’t think there was a way for you to know.”

“Listen to yourself.  I can’t believe I’ve been thinking about you lately.”

Bob glanced at her.  She had a fiery look in her eyes and he could almost see a vein starting to pop out of her head.  It was becoming clear that the longer he stood by and did nothing, the closer Phil was to finally closing this chapter of his life.

The problem was, Bob was no good at standing by and doing nothing.  He remembered taking the blame on more than one occasion for a brother or sister when he was a kid.  He thought back to the times in High School he was a shoulder to cry on (and to a lesser extent, how he sometimes used that to his advantage).  He kept friends safe and jail free during college, and even kept a few of them from failing.  He had only stood by and done nothing once that he could remember, but the memories were not ones he cared to revisit.  Besides, this time was different.  Wasn’t it?

Bob snapped his focus back to the conversation, which was getting hard to ignore due to the volume.

“YOU are MAKING no SENSE Michelle.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t think you’d know.”

“STOP SAYING THAT.  YOU’RE the one not making any sense.  This little chat is reminding me why I left in the first place.  You’re just too damn DENSE sometimes.”  Michelle slid out of the booth and started to stand up.

Agent Garrett said nothing.

He hadn’t said anything since they had left the police station.  He spent five minutes yelling back and forth with Clayton Iron-Horse, until the F.B.I. agent finally backed down.  He stormed out of the Sioux Falls police headquarters, and agent Lewis was right behind him.  She had been on the phone since they’d left Sioux Falls, and now they were zipping up Interstate 29 at eighty miles per hour.  He shifted his eyes to her for a moment.  She was leaning back in her seat, and she was drumming her fingers on her laptop over and over.  “Anything” was the first word Garrett had spoken in almost a half hour, and Lewis just started at him for a moment.

“No.”

Garrett looked forward once again.  “What’s the hold up?”

“I’m trying to get in touch with their chief or sheriff.  I get the impression that unless we’re the F.B.I. or C.I.A. we have to wait a bit longer.”

“In their defense, the N.R.O. and N.G.A. aren’t agencies that often work with law enforcement around here.”

Lewis arched her body forward.  Her free hand supported her head as she looked Garrett up and down.  “You of all people are going to cut these people some slack?  After how you treated the Sioux Falls police?”

“I gave them the benefit of the doubt.  They didn’t live up to m-”

“Garrett, they’re a town of less than 200,000.  I think they did very well, all things considered.  The death of one of their own, missing people, a pile up and an explosion is a lot to take in.”

“You’re right.  I’m just…that F.B.I. agent…I don’t know.”

“Relax.  His record indicates he’ll refocus on this Dinkley person and that will be that.  Phil and Bob and whoever else we find isn’t his concern.

Garrett frowned and flipped on his blinker.  “I’m going to exit here.  We have a long way to go, and I need some caffeine.”

***

Phil had thought about this day more times that he could remember.  He’d daydreamed about meeting Michelle by random chance at the mall, at a restaurant, at a bar, and even at the Storybook Land park.  He’d thought about what he’d say if he called her, if she called him, or if one of them was working in a call center and called the other.  Phil even had thought of how to break the ice if they’d wandered into a chat room at the same time.  He had not thought of what to say in the event of running into her while saving Bob from choking.  His only comfort was that she looked as genuinely surprised as he felt and probably looked.

“What are you doing in Aberdeen?”

Phil froze for a moment.  He had looked at her number in Kmart for ten minutes, but he’d never considered that he’d have to come up with a reason that he was in town once he talked to her.  “Uh…we were just…passing through.  I thought about calling…but…number…uh…”

“Michelle, come sit with us” Bob croaked from the floor.

Will walked slowly through the hospital corridors.  Tina had fallen asleep, and Doctor Henriquez had advised him to go home and get some rest.  He wasn’t sure who to call for a ride.  The doctor told him not to drive for a few days, and Hale had left him a voice mail telling him he was off the Stevens case and that he had at least a week of paid leave to recover from the explosion.  Tina was his only close friend on the force, and she was in much worse shape.  He walked out of the doors into the night air.  A light breeze blew past him, and he stood outside, holding his phone, unsure of what to do.  His mind was still fuzzy from the explosion, and his few coherent thoughts were still with Tina.  His cell phone rang loudly and suddenly.  Without even looking at the number, he lifted the phone to his hear and flipped it open.  “Hetfield?” he said, unsure if he should be answering and unsure of himself.

“Will?”

“Clayton?”

“Where are you?”

“I just walked out of the hospital.”

“Don’t go far, I’m almost there.  I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay.  I could use a ride.”

“I could use a road trip friend.  Have you ever been to Aberdeen?”

“Once or twice?” Will was again unsure of both how much he’d been to Aberdeen, and of how much he wanted to go.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes, and I’ll fill you in.”

***

Bob’s face contorted in pain and fear.  He was desperate to draw a breath, but no air was reaching his lungs.  He was making a horrible sound with what air he could move around his throat.  Phil lunged up and grabbed his arm.  Bob thought about fighting for a moment, but let Phil pull him out of the booth.  Phil wrapped his arms around Bob’s torso and his hands clenched just below Bob’s sternum.  He pulled up and back hard on Bob’s chest, and Bob felt his fee leave the ground.  “C’mon, don’t you choke to death on me now.”  Phil tugged again, but Bob was still choking.  Everyone around the restaurant was starting to turn towards Phil and his efforts.  “Dammit Bob, dammit dammit dammit!”  Phil gave one big heave and Bob felt his feet lift off the floor once more.  He felt the chewed up burger dislodge from his esophagus and launch onto the table.  Bob drew a long breath.  He saw pops of light dancing about wherever he looked.  His legs were like jelly and his heart was racing, partly because of almost choking and partly because everyone in the Millstone was now looking at them.  Phil was doing his best to hold him up, but Bob wasn’t helping at all. 

“Phil?”

Bob heard her voice, and closed his eyes.  For the faintest of moments, Bob gave death a second thought.  He could hope his luck would save him from the explaining that would test their friendship, but that seemed like a false hope.  He wasn’t going to ask for a sign for guidance, but he soon had one anyway.

“Michelle?” Phil said, dropping his jaw and Bob at the same time.

Bob stared at the salt shaker.  He glanced around the restaurant to a gaggle of unfamiliar faces.  His mind wandered to thoughts of Jer, then Mokoto, then the girl he met at Kmart earlier.  He looked outside and saw a blue Toyota.  His mind started wandering to the letter that Phil didn’t know he’d ever received.  He remembered Michelle driving a blue Toyota just like that one.  He started thinking about Michelle.  She had made Phil happier than Bob had ever seen him, and she’d also made Phil more depressed than Bob had ever seen him.  His mind started thinking more about Michelle.  She was always nice to him, and he’d never thought about her in any other way than as Phil’s girlfriend.  He normally wasn’t into the short blond hair and glasses look, but the more he sat and thought about her, the more he could see what Phil might have seen in her.  He suddenly thought about her voice.

Then he realized he wasn’t thinking.  His head ratcheted to the left and he saw her talking to their waitress.  He grabbed the Aberdeen paper and opened it up to hide behind.  Did she see me?  Why is she here?  Of all the places in this town to eat, she picks right here right now?

“Will this be fine?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Bob lowered the paper and saw Michelle taking a seat almost diagonally from his table.  Her back was to their table, and there was a half wall with frosted glass going for another foot upward.  He slowly folded the paper and decided it was time to go.  Before he could scoot, a plate appeared before him.

“Here’s your cheeseburger with bacon, and the pancakes with sausage and hash browns for your friend.”

The server smiled and walked away.  Food, now?  Bob started to lift his arm to ask for a to-go box, when Phil sat down.

“Isn’t it great to come back and have your food waiting?”

***

Felix stood smiling behind the captain.  Clayton looked at Felix, while Garrett and Lewis looked at the speaker phone.

“So, let me get this straight.  We have proof that one of the people we’re looking for was in a boxcar?”

“That’s correct” Felix replied.

“…and we’re holding one of his friends for questioning about his whereabouts?”

“Yes sir.”

“…and you found this man’s name as registered for a hotel in Aberdeen?”

“Yes sir.”

“So, has anyone contacted the police in Aberdeen to check it out?”

Felix opened his mouth, but no words came out.  Captain Hale cleared his throat and began speaking.  “Well, Felix just found this out sir, and we wanted to get you the latest.  I told him to bring me anything before he did anything.”

“Well Felix, good work.  Now, get out there and get Aberdeen on the horn!”

“Yes sir!”  Felix ran out of the door, forgetting to shut it on his way through.  Garrett and Lewis turned to Clayton.

“Agent Iron-Horse” Garrett said, “we’ll be leaving for Aberdeen A.S.A.P.  You can head back to Minneapolis.”

“Oh no” Clayton said, standing up.  “I am heading to Aberdeen myself.”

Garrett stood up.  “No, you are not.  We’re taking over this investigation.  This has nothing to do with why you’re here.”

Clayton stared at Garrett, and Garrett stared right back at him.

“I have a question Justin.  How is it every call we get to an apartment building involves stairs?”  Mike’s face tried to hide the hint of a grimace as he trudged up the stairs.

“I thought you were just complaining about sitting in the car for the past four hours?”  Justin was already to the top of the steps while Mike made his way up.

“The squad car seats aren’t good for my old coccyx injury.  The stairs aggravate my knee injuries.”

“Well, maybe high school football was a bad choice.  How many injuries did you suffer?”

“Enough to help our team win state.”

“And enough to give me a cranky partner.”

“Say, did you ever work with Laura Black?”

Justin glanced over his shoulder as he spoke.  “Well, one time we were both at a domestic call.  Another time she was helping with a sobriety checkpoint.  You?”

Mike shrugged his shoulders.  “I just saw her around the office a lot.  I don’t think I ever spoke to her.”

“Do you think she went nuts, or what?”

“I have no idea man.  No idea.  I mean, a scream rings out and she falls forward and takes a hostage?”

“I heard she was pushed.”

“Jenkins was telling me the F.B.I. agent shot her gun out of her hand.”

“Pah.  No way.  No way that happened.  Jenkins likes to exaggerate.”

“You’re probably right.  Well, 207 is right here.  Do we knock?”

“Knock?  Are you mental?  We’ve been here watching for the past four hours.  She’s not in there.  They told us the warrant was in, and we’re supposed to check for evidence before the detectives get here. “  Mike pulled out the key the apartment manager had given them, and unlocked the door.  The door swung open, and Mike was greeted by a cool breeze.  Justin saw the shattered patio door, sighed, and reached for his radio.

***

“Hi mom.”  Michelle let go of the phone and did her best to keep it jammed between her shoulder and ear.

“Michelle, you should pull over.  I know you’re driving.”

“Mom, please.  I’ve done this a few times.”

“Well you don’t want to drive off the road like your Aunt Mildred.”

“I’ll be fine.  How are things in Wahpeton?”

“Things are fine.  You father is putting off his retirement again this year.  I swear he spends more and more time managing that Pamida than at home.  Are you liking Aberdeen?”

“Yes.”

“I can get you in to N.D.S.C.S. if you want to come up for culinary studies.”

“Mom, I’m not coming home to become a chef.  Why do you always want me to do that?”

“Honey, I miss you so much.  Can’t a mother want to keep her daughter around a bit, especially with a workaholic husband?”

“Mom…do you think dad takes you for granted?”

“What?”

“Does dad take you for granted?”

“I know it might seem that way, but sometimes I take him for granted too.  He’s not perfect by any means, but he makes me laugh, he’s a good provider, and I’ve loved him for thirty years.  Are you thinking about that Phil fellow?”

“Maybe.”

“He hasn’t called in a long time.  I thought you were done with him?”

“I’m starting to wonder…anyway, I’ve gotta go.  Suppertime.”

“Well don’t be a stranger honey.  We love you.”

“Love you too mom.”  Michelle closed the phone, then turned her blinker on.  The Millstone waited to her right.

“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.”