A Quiet Man (Victor Book 9)

by Tom Wood

  The boyfriend was the most obvious candidate.

  Which didn’t explain the need to depart with such urgency that it had overridden Michelle’s typical behavioural pattern.

  What had happened in the morning to make her leave?

  Whatever it was, it meant she still hadn’t returned, hadn’t gone to work, hadn’t let anyone know what she was doing.

  Victor thought of Abe, his shotgun, his meth lab. Perhaps the new boyfriend was cut from the same cloth. Perhaps Michelle had not left willingly.

  The front door had two locks, a deadbolt and a conventional one. Both locks were engaged. Which meant she was careful about security. Maybe someone knew the back door was left unlocked while Michelle and Joshua were home. But then why take the longer route around the house to get to the street instead of using the front door?

  Victor knew he was missing something but had no idea what that something might be.

  He heard a car stop outside. The street was quiet and there was little through traffic. He moved to a window at the front of the house and peered out between the curtains.

  A police cruiser.

  Officer Linette was climbing out.

  Victor backtracked and left the house through the back door. He circled around to the front in time to see Linette cupping her hands at the window in an attempt to peer inside.

  ‘No one’s home,’ Victor said.

  Linette, startled, took a sudden step back and slapped a palm to her chest.

  She glared at him. ‘Why did you sneak up on me like that?’

  ‘I didn’t,’ Victor said.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘You know what I’m doing. I’m looking for Joshua and his mother.’

  Linette said, ‘You were supposed to call if they didn’t show up.’

  ‘Would you have done anything if I had? You told me to call tomorrow.’

  ‘I know, but I’m doing something now, aren’t I?’ Linette stepped down from the porch, which took her a little effort, and he met her on the driveway. ‘What were you doing?’

  ‘I went around the back,’ Victor said.

  ‘You thought they might be in the back yard and couldn’t hear the bell?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  ‘I checked the hospital just in case,’ Linette said and shrugged to say there was nothing else to add on this matter.

  ‘They’ve been missing all day now.’

  Linette said, ‘Still not technically missing. Have you tried the neighbours?’

  ‘I spoke to them this morning,’ Victor said. ‘They hadn’t seen them leave nor anyone arrive.’

  ‘I’m thinking back to our conversation earlier and I don’t recall why you’re so concerned about them.’

  ‘Does there need to be a reason?’

  ‘There’s always a reason,’ Linette said.

  Victor remained silent.

  ‘Wilson Murdoch,’ Linette said. ‘Thirty-five years old. Resident of Las Vegas, Nevada.’

  ‘You checked me out.’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘Why?’

  Linette said, ‘Because you don’t make sense, Mr Murdoch.’

  ‘I don’t?’

  ‘You tell me you’re a tourist on a fishing trip. You’ve been in town all of four days. Yet here you are looking for a single mother you don’t really know.’

  ‘And her son,’ Victor said.

  ‘You don’t know them by your own admission but they don’t show up to a scheduled meeting, and this tells you she’s not simply impolite but missing.’

  ‘Not alone,’ Victor said. ‘That combined with the untidied breakfast crockery.’

  Linette snapped her fingers. ‘Oh yes, we mustn’t forget the impossible-to-explain mess on the kitchen table. Such a thing has never happened before in the entirety of human history.’

  ‘People aren’t complicated,’ Victor said.

  ‘I remember you saying that too,’ Linette said.

  ‘And here you are.’

  ‘Here I am, as a cop. Here you are, as … ’

  She looked at him as he looked at her. Linette expected a reaction. She didn’t know what, but she needed a sign from him – to believe him or affirm her suspicions about him.

  He didn’t blink. He didn’t look away. He didn’t shift his weight. He didn’t flex his jaw. He didn’t swallow.

  She clicked her tongue and opened her mouth to say something but a car slowing took her attention from him, and she frowned.

  When the car stopped and four men climbed out, she said, ‘Ah, shit.’

  TWENTY-ONE

  The motel manager was a big, heavy guy with a red face and a white shirt. Welch didn’t have to try hard with him because he was the kind of man who wasn’t used to anyone smiling in his direction, least of all a woman half his age. It was almost unfair. Almost cruel.

  She enjoyed cruelty.

  ‘A very good afternoon,’ she said. ‘How’s today treating you?’

  He was rubbing at his neck like it was itchy, like he had the worst kind of razor burn.

  ‘I’ve been better, but I feel better now,’ he said, dazzled by Welch’s smile.

  ‘Well isn’t that terrific?’ she said. ‘There was me thinking you were going to be like the other place.’

  ‘Other place?’

  ‘Further west,’ she said. ‘They were not exactly what I’d call cordial. Not in the least little bit.’

  ‘You’ll find we have better manners here,’ he told her in a reassuring, eager-to-help tone. ‘How might I assist you this fine p.m.?’

  ‘I have this friend,’ Welch began. ‘He has … Let’s just say he has emotional issues. Sometimes he likes to get away from it all. And, well, this time he’s been gone longer than usual and we’re all real worried about him. I don’t know where he’s staying but I’m pretty sure he’s near here. I say “near here” yet he’s almost certainly moved on by now. It’s a long shot but I think he might have been a guest of yours. I tried the other place and they were most unhelpful.’

  ‘Helpful is my middle name.’

  The manager stood a little taller, set his shoulders a little squarer. He was not only going to rush to the distress of a maiden but said maiden had already been let down by his competitors. Welch was sure this was the most alive he had felt, the most of a man he had felt, in a very long time.

  ‘Here’s the thing,’ she said. ‘I don’t have his name.’

  ‘You don’t know your friend’s name?’

  ‘Did I say he had emotional issues? Paranoia is just one of many, so he likes to travel incognito. He doesn’t use his real name. But I can describe him to you.’

  The manager said, ‘I’m sorry to tell you that I don’t really deal with our guests all that often so I’m not sure how much help I can really be to you. I’m covering the front desk today because I was let down by an employee.’

  Welch hid her disappointment and smiled through her frustration. ‘Perhaps I can come back when this employee of yours returns.’

  ‘I have no idea when that will be,’ he said. ‘I can’t get through to her right now.’

  ‘Then would you be willing to pass on my enquiries to her when she returns? I would be ever so grateful. I’m very keen to find my friend before he gets too far.’

  ‘Sure,’ he said, sliding a pen and paper closer to him so he could write down details. ‘Hit me.’

  ‘My friend is tall, dark-haired. Mid-thirties. He’s on a fishing trip. Keeps to himself but can be real intense.’ Welch paused. ‘You’re not going to write this down?’

  The manager sighed and shook his head, maybe muttering something under his breath too.

  He said, ‘I don’t need to write down anything because I know exactly who you’re talking about.’

  Welch fought hard to hide her rising excitement. ‘You do? He was here?’

  The manager shook his head. ‘Not was. Is.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Really. I mean, not right this
moment, but he’s still staying at the motel.’ He pointed. ‘Room 110.’

  Welch said, ‘You don’t know how happy you’ve just made me.’

  ‘Then perhaps you wouldn’t mind giving your friend a little of that happiness because he’s one prickly individual.’

  ‘I’m sure once I’ve talked to him you won’t have any more trouble. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he left immediately afterwards without even saying goodbye.’

  ‘Long as he’s paid up he can disappear off the face of the earth for all I care.’

  Welch took out a money clip and peeled off bills. ‘Why don’t I just take care of that? Then you don’t have to worry.’

  ‘Suits me.’

  ‘Do you know when he’ll be back?’

  ‘Nuh-uh,’ the manager answered. ‘Far as I know he just fishes on the lake and drinks in the bar.’

  Welch couldn’t stop smiling. ‘Terrific. Let me have a room with a couple of twin beds,’ she said. ‘We’re pretty beat after a night driving around looking for him so could use a rest while we wait for him to show.’

  ‘Happy to have you,’ the manager said, grinning.

  ‘But if my friend returns,’ Welch said with a frown, ‘can you do me a solid and not tell him we’re here? Given his issues, I don’t want him to freak out and split before I can talk to him.’

  The manager nodded. ‘I got your back, don’t worry.’

  Welch smiled at him, then glanced over her shoulder. ‘Say, I don’t suppose room 109 is free, is it?’

  TWENTY-TWO

  Victor had no opportunity to ask Linette if she minded not swearing because she seemed to forget he was even there. She headed along the driveway towards the four men. Though Victor had seen none of them before, he had seen their type many times.

  Three were large guys, all well over two hundred pounds. Two because they were tall and the third because he was as wide as a phone booth. They had inexpressive faces because they weren’t employed to interact any more than they were employed to think. One had scars above both eye sockets, another had an off-centre nose, the third had cauliflower ears.

  The fourth man was their boss. He was better groomed and better dressed and a decade older than the eldest henchman. He was almost as big but his heft was almost all around his midriff. It was the weight of leadership and success.

  ‘Fine afternoon,’ he said.

  Linette glanced up at the grey sky. ‘Is it?’

  ‘Who’s your friend, Lucy?’

  Victor stepped forward and introduced himself. ‘Wilson Murdoch.’

  A thick hand was extended Victor’s way. ‘Robert McAllan.’

  Victor shook the hand.

  Linette said to McAllan, ‘What are you doing here, Robert?’ Her tone was impatient, almost aggressive.

  If he noticed, McAllan ignored it. ‘I’m told one of my employees and her son are missing.’

  ‘You own the motel,’ Victor said.

  He pretended not to notice the three big guys staring at him. He didn’t react as they moved through the conversation, slowly surrounding him. There was no pre-determined plan in action, he knew, yet they had a natural synergy. They were dealing with an unknown, a situation that might go any number of ways, and they were instinctively preparing for the worst.

  Victor let them because none of the three were going to do anything without McAllan’s express permission and he was never going to give that to them with Officer Linette here.

  McAllan nodded. ‘I own a share, yes. I understand you’re a guest there.’

  ‘For the moment.’

  ‘On a fishing trip,’ McAllan added.

  Victor saw where this was going. ‘I had arranged to take Joshua and Michelle out on the lake.’

  ‘And now you’re going around looking for them. How come?’

  ‘Because they’re missing. That’s why you’re here too,’ Victor said. ‘Isn’t it?’

  McAllan said to Linette, ‘If there’s anything I can do … ’

  ‘Sure,’ she said, sharp. ‘I’ll let you know.’

  McAllan backed away a step. ‘A pleasure to meet you, Mr Murdoch. It’s uncommonly kind of you to go out of your way like this to help two strangers.’

  ‘It’s not out of my way,’ Victor said. ‘And how nice of you to interrupt your busy day just to swing by an employee’s house to check on her wellbeing.’

  McAllan hesitated. ‘We were passing by. Least I could do.’

  Victor remained silent.

  McAllan gestured for his men to get back in the car and one held open a door so he could climb on to the backseat.

  ‘How did you know Michelle and Joshua were missing?’ Victor asked.

  McAllan said, ‘How wouldn’t I know?’

  When all four men were in, McAllan gestured again and the car pulled away.

  It was a nice vehicle, an expensive Chevrolet. Showy but not excessive. McAllan didn’t feel the need to show off, to advertise his success.

  Linette exhaled. She shook her head, thinking of something she didn’t share.

  ‘Who was that?’ Victor said.

  ‘Local entrepreneur,’ Linette said, emphasising and drawing out the syllables of the second word. ‘He has several businesses in the town and the rest of the county. Mostly construction. The motel being part of his little empire.’

  ‘And the quarry?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Why do I get the impression not all of his capitalist endeavours are strictly legal?’

  ‘You’re free to hold whatever opinion you like,’ Linette said in a careful tone.

  ‘Let me guess,’ Victor said back. ‘McAllan’s name has come up in several investigations yet he’s never been charged with breaking any law.’

  She said, ‘You don’t expect me to confirm or deny, do you?’

  He shook his head. ‘No need. I could see plain enough you’re sick of dealing with him.’

  Victor had encountered men like McAllan many times. They might be head of the only outfit in a town and as such acted like kings. They kept their crown only because no one had come along to take it from them. That didn’t mean McAllan wasn’t dangerous. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t be a problem.

  Especially because Victor would be turning his attention McAllan’s way.

  If the local crime kingpin owned part of the motel then Victor needed to know more about his businesses because maybe Michelle had seen something she wasn’t supposed to have seen.

  Maybe the little plastic lure wasn’t the only thing Joshua had taken that didn’t belong to him.

  ‘He won’t be involved,’ Linette said.

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘If something has happened to Michelle and Joshua it won’t have anything to do with Robert McAllan.’

  There was certainty in her tone. It wasn’t just a hunch based on knowing a little of the man and how he operated. She knew a lot more than she had said.

  Victor asked, ‘How can you be so sure?’ because he had an idea.

  ‘You can take my word for it, all right?’

  He saw her agitation. Heard her discomfort.

  ‘No, not really,’ he said. ‘You’re going to have to give me more than that.’

  She didn’t want to give him anything else. That was enough to tell him his idea had been right.

  ‘Who is he?’ Victor asked.

  ‘I already told you.’

  ‘That’s not what I mean,’ he said. ‘Who is he to you?’

  By now she knew that he knew but she still couldn’t say the words. The admission was too great, the embarrassment too acute.

  ‘He’s your father, isn’t he?’

  Linette said, ‘He’s not a kidnapper. And he wouldn’t hurt either of them. Ever.’

  ‘Are you saying that as a cop or as a daughter?’

  She glared at him. ‘I don’t have to justify myself to you. In fact, I don’t owe you anything at all.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Victor said with a nod. ‘You d
on’t owe me anything at all.’

  ‘Good. I’m glad we’re in agreement on that little fact.’

  ‘But while you wear that badge,’ he said, ‘you owe Michelle and Joshua plenty.’

  She took it on the chin. Didn’t try and argue. She gazed into the distance for a long moment, then said, ‘How long are you sticking around? You told me earlier you needed to get going.’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Victor answered with honesty.

  ‘You’re staying until Michelle and Joshua show up, aren’t you?’

  He thought about this for a second. ‘Maybe I will.’

  ‘How come? I mean, I figure you for a persistent SOB, but still.’

  ‘They’re missing,’ he said.

  ‘You can head home,’ she said. ‘I’ll let you know if I find them. I’m on this.’

  ‘For how long?’

  She stood straighter. ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘You said “if” – if you find them.’

  ‘Again: what does that mean?’

  ‘Are you going to keep looking until you find them or until you run out of leads?’

  ‘If I run out of leads,’ she said in a measured tone, ‘the investigation will remain open until there are new leads.’

  ‘Then I’m staying.’

  ‘You think I’m a quitter?’

  He shook his head. ‘I think you’ve just worked a double shift because you don’t have enough warm bodies to handle every single case that comes into the precinct. I think you’re going to speak to all of Michelle’s known associates and check her finances and see if she’s withdrawn cash anywhere. When neither of those results in finding them you’re going to get some missing posters printed and stick them up around town. And then you’ll check out the handful of calls you get as a result, and then when none of those leads you to finding them you’re going to move on to a more pressing investigation.’

  Linette said nothing.

  ‘Meanwhile Michelle and Joshua stay missing and every day they’re not found halves the chances they’ll be found alive, and that chance is already hurtling towards fifty per cent.’

  ‘Why are you so convinced something has happened to them?’

  ‘I told you already.’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, I remember. Something about people not being complicated.’