Down Among The Bones

by Vickie McKeehan

  He noted how distracted she seemed as he swung the pickup out of the lot and headed toward 148th Avenue. Turning north at the light, it occurred to him why she wanted to talk. It wouldn’t be the first time someone reached out to him for help. “You’re afraid something’s happened to your cousin. Am I right?”

  A nervous laugh skittered out of her. “Easy to talk to and perceptive. I knew you’d understand why I’m beginning to freak out. But I’d rather wait to get to the restaurant to go over all of it.” Trying to think of conversation to fill the void, Daniela fidgeted with the strap on her bookbag.

  To Brayden, she seemed skittish and nervous. He decided to toss caution to the wind and help her out with small talk. “Does anyone ever call you Dani?”

  She smiled. “Just my dad and brothers. Sometimes I still hear my mother screaming at me in Spanish using my entire name.” She made a face and mimicked her mom’s stern delivery, “Daniela Michelle Torres, limpia tu cuarto ahora. In other words, clean your room now! Does your family live in the area? You don’t talk about them much. At least you didn’t mention them when we got together that one time at the first of the semester to decide which kind of app we wanted to present to Duplinsky.”

  Brayden’s heart lurched with pangs of regret as it always did whenever anyone asked that question. He’d learned from experience that no one ever really wanted to hear his sob story. Not all of it anyway. That’s the main reason he kept his answer light and brief. “I’m close to the people at work. Nowadays, I consider them my family.”

  Daniela turned in her seat to face him. “I should own up to why I really wanted to talk. It’s bound to sound weird, but I want you to hear me out before you pass judgment and think I’m making a big deal out of nothing.”

  “I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Sure, you would. The police do. And I discovered tonight that some of the people I called my friends do. Even my mom thinks I’m overreacting. Before I start, though, you need to know that I looked you up on the Internet.”

  Brayden’s jaw clenched, resentment built in his chest, and just a glimmer of annoyance. “I see. So why did you ask about my family if you already knew what happened to them?”

  “Don’t be mad. Look, because of what you went through, you’re the only person right now that will understand how I feel. I already know that in your downtime, you work with the Artemis Foundation and Skye Cree. You’ve worked with her finding people who’ve disappeared. I’ve known you for several weeks now, and I feel that I can trust you more than anyone else right now to hear me out. I want you to introduce me to Skye. Tonight.”

  Brayden took his eyes off the road long enough to glance in her direction. “You want to meet with Skye? Why?”

  “Because I’m pretty sure Emelia’s gone missing. And I need you and Skye Cree to look for her.”

  ****

  Over crispy garlic chicken and rice, Daniela went into a more detailed explanation. “Last spring, my cousin and I agreed to take classes this summer so we could graduate sooner, hopefully in three years instead of four. That was our goal. Summer classes were supposed to give us an edge come fall. You remember that I mentioned my cousin at the first of the term, right?”

  “I remember. Emelia took Clarkson’s programming course next door to ours.”

  “Yeah, well, Emelia didn’t end up with a computer whiz for a project partner like I did. She got a slacker.”

  Amused, Brayden picked up his soda, eyed her the entire time he sipped his soft drink. “You don’t have to keep doing that.”

  “What?”

  “Flattering me.”

  “I’m not. You deserve it. You know you carried me through the whole class. No need to deny it. Without you, I would’ve flunked for sure.”

  Brayden shook his head. “You’re smarter than you know. Now, tell me why you’re so concerned about Emelia.”

  “We share an apartment over at Woodbridge Terrace. Even though I have a car, we mostly get around town by riding the bus or getting rides from friends. I don’t like putting unnecessary mileage on my Nissan when I can ride the bus. Anyway, this afternoon when I left work, I rode the bus home like normal, but when I got there, Emelia wasn’t there. She should’ve beaten me home. The thing is she gets off work at the copy center thirty minutes before I do at the landscape nursery where I work. I called the copy center just before I left for class. They stay open until eight. Her boss said she left at her usual four o’clock. In fact, she clocked out at 3.57. He pulled her timecard and checked it for me. I’ve called around everywhere I know, and no one’s heard from her since around four.”

  Brayden glanced at his watch. “Dani, it’s not even five hours yet. Maybe she got sidetracked with a friend and forgot about class.”

  Daniela huffed out a sigh. “You don’t get it. Her friends are my friends. I’ve called everyone in my contact list. Everyone. And besides that, she needed to show up for Clarkson’s class. You know she did. We all did. It was mandatory, just like it was with Duplinsky. Since the summer term is over tonight, Emelia couldn’t afford to blow off turning in the last project about basic control structure. Let’s just say programming didn’t come easy for her. She hoped the project would pull her up to at least a passing grade. But tonight, she was a no-show, Brayden. I know Emelia. She wouldn’t have blown off that class.”

  “And if you go to the police now, they’ll likely remind you that Emelia’s an adult, and she hasn’t been missing long enough to start a search.”

  “Exactly. Emelia’s mom is my aunt. She’s also beginning to freak out, especially when I told her Emelia didn’t show up tonight.” Daniela held up her phone to show Brayden a text. “See. Twenty minutes ago, before we ever left the parking lot, my aunt already tried calling the police, only to be told to wait and see until tomorrow morning. But we all know that might be too late. Emelia wouldn’t do this, Brayden, she wouldn’t.”

  Brayden had heard this familiar song and dance before from law enforcement, especially if the disappearance involved an adult. It was a typical response. He shoved his plate away and leaned forward. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. I need a recent photo of her and her full name. And I’ll need the exact location of the copy center where Emelia worked. I’ll call Leo and see if he can pull any CCTV from nearby, and we’ll get ahead of the curve.”

  Daniela’s hand reached across the table to squeeze Brayden’s. Her eyes misted over with big tears rolling down her cheeks. “Thank you. I knew you’d help.”

  “No big deal. But you probably want to save the thanks for when we locate her movements this afternoon or at least find out if she ever got on the bus.”

  “I’m grateful because what you’re doing is a big deal to me.” After dabbing her eyes with a napkin, Daniela flipped through her cell phone to find the address of the copy center. “Here. This is it at the corner of 38th Street, the copy center in Keystone Plaza.”

  “Perfect. There are lots of store security cameras in the area. Unfortunately, those are more difficult to crack, not impossible, just harder to access.”

  “You mean hack?”

  Brayden’s lips barely turned up. The word hacking wasn’t something he talked about to just anybody. “I mean access. Let’s hope we don’t have to do that, though, because it could take days. We’ll start with something simple like the city traffic cams in the area and target her route from work to the bus stop and then move to where she usually gets off near her apartment.”

  Daniela had pulled up the location for Woodbridge Terrace on the map she’d accessed from the Internet. “We live here. And the bus drops off across the street.”

  Brayden could see hope swell in Dani’s face as he studied the map before picking up his phone and hitting the contact button for co-worker Leo Martin.

  When Leo answered, Brayden explained the situation and read off the address for the shopping plaza. “Surely we can get footage from the cameras somewhere along 38th Street and Factoria Boulevard. We’re talking about Bellevue
all the way north to the neighborhood called Woodbridge. That’s where she lives, so home in on all the bus stops between the shopping center and the girl’s apartment building.”

  On the other end of the phone, Leo was used to getting calls like this from Josh or Skye. But Brayden had never requested such a search on his own. It made him wonder.

  In the middle of a Desolation Zone layer of code for the next upgrade, Leo closed out of one screen and logged into another browser, pulled up a map of Bellevue for detail, and zeroed in on the section of town in question. “I take it you need this ASAP. Be honest, are you trying to impress a girl or what?”

  “I’m trying to make sure nothing has happened to my lab partner’s cousin,” Brayden replied, looking over at Daniela as she slid a photo of Emelia and the cousin’s full name across the table. “Can you do it or not?”

  “I can do it. But it may take me an hour or so. Who are we looking for?”

  Brayden read the name off the napkin Daniela provided. “Emelia Navarro. I’ll upload the photo via text with the name. I need the footage from four this afternoon and beyond that timeframe. If you need help going through the CCTV, I don’t mind coming in. I just need to drop off…”

  Across the table, Daniela shook her head. “No. I want to be involved in this. I want to help any way I can.”

  Brayden’s lips curved. “Okay. Change of plans, Leo. Give us half an hour to get there, and we’ll help you out.”

  Leo didn’t really need the help, but he decided that it might benefit the cause to have extra pairs of eyes go over the footage. “You do know I’m still at work, right?”

  “I figured. Want us to pick you up anything to eat? I’m at a Thai food place now.”

  “Sure. That’d be great. Get me the Panang Curry with chicken and fried rice.”

  “You got it. See you in thirty.”

  Before Brayden could place Leo’s order, Daniela stood up to clean the table. “If he wants something from here, I’ll buy it.”

  “You don’t have to do that. We’re used to covering for each other.”

  “I want to. Next time I’ll buy yours, too.”

  That there might be a next time made Brayden’s smile widen. “You know, there may be a perfectly good reason why your cousin decided to skip class.”

  “I’m hoping that’s what she did. But then I keep thinking there are ten reasons to be concerned.”

  “Either way, we’ll find out tonight if she caught the bus, then hopped off at her stop or another one along the way.”

  By the time they reached the downtown offices of Ander All Games, Daniela had tried calling Emelia’s cell phone at least five times without success. The phone went to voicemail every time.

  “See? That’s what I mean. She might have decided to ditch class, but Emelia would never ignore my calls like this. Something’s wrong. I can feel it in my bones.”

  As they got off the elevator on the seventh floor, Brayden found that hard to believe. “She’s never ignored your calls before this? Not ever? Not in all the years you’ve each had a cell phone?”

  “Well, sure. Maybe if she went off with a guy back in high school and didn’t tell me, or she was mad about something. But she doesn’t have a steady boyfriend now. And we haven’t been arguing. Now that we’re in college, we’re more mature than that. Things are different.”

  Brayden used his card key to access the main office entrance after hours, yelling out into the cubicles where the programmers worked. “Food’s here.”

  When Leo popped his head up, Brayden motioned for Daniela to follow. “It’s this way.”

  Leo sat at his workstation in front of two huge monitors, going over footage from the various traffic cams along the bus route. “Okay, we might have a problem. Take a look at the woman I spotted getting off the bus. I need confirmation that this is our target.”

  Brayden made way for Daniela to get closer to the monitor. She squinted when Leo brought up the image. “Yeah, that’s Emelia.”

  “Okay,” Leo muttered, tapping the laptop’s keyboard again. “But here’s the problem. Your cousin does get off the bus across the street from the apartment building entrance. See right there. She waits at the light to cross the street. Meantime, the bus has stopped at the same light. But watch what happens when the light turns, allowing her to walk across traffic to the other side. It happens fast. See that white delivery van pull up? It pulls up close to the bus and blocks our view of Emelia. As soon as the light turns green, the bus pulls away, and so does the van. But by this time, the van is gone, and so is any image of your cousin. Emelia is completely out of range in the last frame. Nowhere to be found anywhere.”

  Brayden frowned. “And you’re sure that nothing in the footage was doctored, like the time stamp?”

  “I’m sure. It’s clear the girl started across the intersection. Let’s assume she reached the other side without incident. The angle of the traffic cam only shows the right side of the street and a partial view of the other side. But since she didn’t make it into her apartment, we can assume someone intervened somewhere else along the way. At this juncture, it might help to get on the horn and notify Skye. We’re still within the early stages of what could be an abduction.”

  Leo angled toward Daniela. “Sorry, I couldn’t be more helpful.” He held out his hand. “By the way, I’m Leo Martin.”

  When Daniela remained quiet, Brayden took in the disappointment on her face. “Daniela Torres. Emelia’s cousin.”

  Daniela finally stuck out her hand to Leo. “Sorry. It’s just that…I can’t believe this is happening. But there’s something about that van that seems familiar. I’ve seen it before cruising around our apartment complex.”

  Brayden traded looks with Leo before edging closer to Daniela. “It’s a regular delivery van. See the logo on the side. The driver of the truck didn’t take Emelia if that’s what you’re thinking. For one, the van’s not in the right position to have made a U-turn because of the median. Plus, it’s in full view the entire frame. The driver, on the other hand, could be a valuable witness to what happened to Emelia once she reached the other side. Maybe he saw something. If he was paying attention, that is. Leo could zero in on the plate number, and maybe we could track the driver down that way and interview him.”

  Daniela’s shoulders slumped, and she swallowed hard. “It’s true then. Someone abducted Emelia and we don’t know who took her.”

  Brayden cleared his throat. “Look, let’s not jump to the wrong conclusion here. Leo, why don’t you put in the call to Skye and Josh, and I’ll get Daniela settled downstairs in the breakroom at the Foundation.”

  Leo nodded as if he understood the tactic. “Good idea, meanwhile, I’ll save the CCTV footage off onto a flash drive for a later look-see and send it to Skye, give her a heads up. Should I round up the rest of the team?”

  “Let’s run it by Skye first. If she says it’s a go, then we go full tilt.”

  Two

  More than six years into married life, Skye Cree and Josh Ander had learned how to navigate the day to day grind with a sense of humor and a certain amount of panache. Toss in parenting, and it soon became clear they had to find a way to handle their daughter’s boundless energy while juggling several projects in the air at the same time. An active four-year-old no longer required naps. A fact that should’ve come with an instruction booklet or, at the very least, an adjustment period. And taking care of three energetic dogs was not for the faint of heart.

  Managing two careers didn’t come easy, either. Nor did the additional burden of locating missing children or solving kidnappings and abductions. Because serial offenders never took a day off, the Artemis Foundation seemed as busy as the ever-growing Ander All Games.

  From their other life, they might yearn for that pop of excitement, the feeling of a job well done, the euphoria of accomplishment whenever they brought home a child to the welcoming arms of the waiting parents. But when it entailed hunting down, and at times, confronting col
d-blooded killers, that reality came with a price, a price they both had come to accept as part of life.

  Whenever anyone asked about their rate of success, neither felt the need to expound on their lucky charm, their spirit guide, their shared embodied energy that appeared in the form of a white wolf known as Kiya.

  The wolf had been part of Skye’s world since the age of four. But never a true partner until saving her from the clutches of a pedophile at twelve. Kiya had saved Josh from certain death, leading the couple to a spiritual side neither thought they would ever achieve together.

  They might be on call twenty-four-seven, but they compared that fact to an ER doctor responding to a medical emergency, or a firefighter who got the call in the middle of the night to put out a fire. It was all part of the life they’d chosen. No wonder they coveted their downtime and considered it a precious commodity.

  They carved out what free time they could in their fifty-year-old Craftsman. Two acres that looked out on Puget Sound, and considered it a win when they had an evening all to themselves.

  When the house was quiet, they liked to huddle together on the sofa watching Netflix or listening to music. Since moving back to the mainland, they’d started collecting old vinyl records from garage sales and thrift stores, getting a peek inside at another era, another generation’s taste in music.

  Tonight, it was Aaron Copland’s grand masterpiece on the stereo, his mouth-watering third symphony in woodwinds and strings soaring to the rafters before leveling off into brassy fanfare.

  Stretched out on the sofa, Skye closed her eyes. At the fringes of a pastoral piccolo solo in between the impressive flutes, she groaned when her cell phone interrupted her relaxed mood.

  Rolling to a sitting position and then reaching across Josh to the coffee table, she picked up her mobile phone. She spotted Leo’s familiar number on the digital readout. Receiving a call from any member of her team at ten-fifteen on a Thursday night was not a good sign that the evening would end the way they’d planned—getting to bed early.