by Andrew Gruse
“The fire was already burning,” Julie added.
The sheriff nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I understand from other witnesses. It’s just a little odd that you two show up the day we have two fires.”
“That’s what’s odd?” Zack looked at the paramedic. “Are we done?”
“You should go to the clinic. But yeah, we are done.”
“You know where to send the bill?”
“Yep, got it.”
Zack rose from the seat and stepped out of the ambulance. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.” He turned back to Sheriff Orbison. “Was the man at the house dead before the fire?”
Orbison looked confused at the question. “What?”
“When is the autopsy?”
“The coroner is there now. Why are you asking me that?”
Because if I could have saved that man’s life but didn’t, I’ll never forgive myself. “We live in Baltimore, Maryland. We are on vacation looking for migrating birds. I’ve never heard of Clyde before, and right now wish I had never stopped at either fire, but sheriff, I can assure you we had nothing to do with either.”
Orbison stared at Zack with his lips pursed and nodded. “You both look tired. Why don’t you get yourself a room at the motel in town right on Main Street and spend the night.”
Zack smiled. “Sheriff, is that being hospitable, or a strong request?”
Sheriff Orbison smiled. “I like you, Stack. Look, you look like you could use a shower, a hot meal, and a warm bed. And this town is as good as it gets around here.”
Zack nodded. He’s probably right about that.
“I don’t think you did either. Just your presence demands some attention if you know what I mean. Hell, they think a bolt of lightning started the Johnston fire.”
“Lightning? It was clear all day,” Zack said.
Orbison chuckled. “Well, there was a little storm that came through before dawn. Probably hit the haybarn, and it slowly simmered until it caught some dry wood or something. But hey, I’m just the sheriff doing due diligence. And you told the county deputy you’re a private investigator. Maybe I’ll see if you’re any good. Let’s talk tomorrow morning. How about around nine? Tell you what, meet me at Ma and Pa’s Diner, across from the motel, and I’ll buy breakfast.”
Zack nudged Julie with a smile. “See? I told you.”
“He’s supposed to be on vacation,” Julie said, ignoring Zack’s comment.
“The high school wasn’t supposed to burn down when you showed up either,” the sheriff said. “Get some rest tonight. I’ll plan on seeing you tomorrow. Sound good?”
They watched the sheriff disappear before Zack and Julie headed to their car. A hot meal and a warm bed sounded useful to both.
“I’ll cancel our reservations,” Julie said.
They opened the doors, got inside, and Zack started his car. “Oh, I have plenty of reservations.”
Julie looked at him. “I don’t like seeing you seated in an ambulance being bandaged or breathing oxygen. It seems to happen far too often.”
Zack smiled. “I like breathing oxygen.”
“You know what I mean, smartass.” Julie shook her head. “I don’t think we’re gonna see that Eurasian thing today.”
His grin widened. “Eurasian Tree Sparrow.”
She stared at him with wet cerulean eyes and a sorrowful smile. She put a hand on his cheek, leaned forward and lightly kissed his lips. “Well, hopefully, we can find them tomorrow.”
Zack smiled. “I hope so, too.” But something told him that they were not leaving the town of Clyde anytime soon.
CHAPTER 5
After a night in the motel, Zack and Julie walked across the street to grab breakfast. They had a late dinner at the same restaurant the night before. They already felt like regulars. Zack opened the glass door for Julie, the two sat down in a small booth along the half-wall in the middle of the diner and waited for the waitress to take their order. She showed up quickly.
“You two the ones from the fires,” she asked. “I know everyone around these parts. You two ain’t from these parts.” She smiled a welcome smile.
“You are right,” Julie said.
“Well, what can I get’cha?”
Zack looked at Jules. “I’ll have some water, and she’d like a pot of black coffee.” Zack winked at Jules, the waitress nodded and left.
“What? No Pepsi this morning?” Julie asked while she pulled a thin napkin out of a dispenser on the edge of the table.
“I’m pacing myself,” he answered dryly.
The waitress came back and took their orders. He sipped the water and put it back down. “Yuck. This tastes like it came straight from the sewer.”
Julie laughed. “Want some coffee?”
“Thank you, but no,” he said. Their long feud over coffee still brewed. He sat silent and repeatedly looked out the window.
Julie sighed. “Honey, it wasn’t your fault.”
Zack knew what she meant. “I should have gone in.”
“You’d be dead. You would have been inside when that explosion happened. Then what? Would that make you feel better? I thought you died inside that school. Think of how I felt.”
Zack sighed. She made a good point. Maybe he couldn’t have saved the man in the house. “I’m sorry. Someone was in there, though.”
“I know.”
Zack tried another sip of the awful water and pushed the glass away. “I have a feeling we are not going anywhere today.”
“I told you to not go inside,” Julie said but immediately regretted saying that. “I’m sorry.”
I told you I didn’t want to stop and listen to fifteen-year-olds playing flutes. Zack looked at his watch. “Where the hell is Barney Fife?”
The food showed up at the table within ten minutes. Eggs, toast, and hash browns for Julie while Zack ordered the eggs benedict. They thanked the waitress, a middle-aged woman who looked like she was just plain tired.
Julie forked a piece of egg into her mouth. “If we can’t leave, what do you think we should do today?”
“Laying around in the motel room naked all day is probably the safest thing to do,” Zack said.
“Safe for who? Not me,” she joked and smiled at him with a wink.
“You’re on the pill. It’s safe.”
“Is it?” She buttered her toast and took a bite with a devilish smile.
People filed in and out of the restaurant like on any other Sunday morning, the talk of course about the fire at the high school. Some dressed up as they came from church and some like they just came from the farm. It was the place everyone went on weekend mornings to gossip and catch up and, in the meantime, get an average meal. The waitress came back and asked how everything was.
“Do you have anything to drink out of a can or bottle?” Zack asked.
“We have cans of Pepsi until we get the fountain machine fixed,” the waitress answered, taken aback by the oddness of the question.
“No alcohol, huh? I’ll have a Pepsi then,” he said. The waitress disappeared. Zack looked out the window and saw Sheriff Orbison of Clyde on the sidewalk. He stood with a tall, thin elderly woman with white hair. She dressed like she just came from a church, but the conversation with Orbison did not look very Christian-like. He turned back to Jules. Whatever that is, is not my problem. “I was up last night thinking after you fell asleep and snored in my ear.”
“Shut up, jerk, I don’t snore,” she objected.
He smiled. “Of course you don’t, sweetheart. Probably the mice in the walls. Anyway, how many times have you heard of a school burning down?” Julie shrugged, so Zack answered. “You don’t because schools are mostly brick and asbestos. That doesn’t burn. So, what are the odds we come into town and witness a raging inferno that destroyed the middle and high school?”
Julie knew where he was going. That attitude was part of the reason she loved Zack: it wasn’t about him. She loved that. But that had its downside. He couldn’t walk
away from anything it seemed. She wanted this to be one of those times he could. After their last fall and winter together, they needed time alone to rebound from everything that had happened. Julie also knew this wasn’t ending the way she wanted.
“Slim to none, but sometimes even you have to admit that pure blind, stupid chance is alive and well, wouldn’t you say?”
He agreed with a nod as he cut a piece of ham and muffin. “Ok, so state law mandates every school has fire drills. Makes sense, right? So why didn’t the fire alarm work?”
She shook her head as she followed his train of thought. “Maybe wherever the fire started, it took out the electricity or something, and that knocked out the alarm?”
“Maybe,” he said.
“Were there any lights on or anything? Maybe it was an electrical fire and knocked everything out.”
They sat in silence and ate while he thought. “I remember a light exploding on us, but no lights actually on.” He chewed and swallowed a bite. “I was inside that building. The fire moved too fast. It spread where it shouldn’t have spread, the explosions shouldn’t have happened. Nothing about it was right.”
Julie ate her breakfast and listened to him. “It was a fire, honey. Fires are unpredictable.”
“I wonder whose car was parked behind the school,” he said.
“You didn’t say anything about a car to the sheriff.”
Zack shrugged. “I didn’t say anything about Molly asking us about a hundred times if we saw anyone else leave the school either.” He sipped the soda. “Oh well. Probably nothing.”
Julie shook her head. “I know you better than that.”
“It was a nice car. A Camaro, just like Bumblebee in the Transformer movies.”
Julie rolled her eyes. “You watch too many movies.”
Zack smiled. “Too bad, though, it was a nice car. The owner is gonna be pissed.” He took a bite of the hash browns. “Molly was hiding in the bathroom. Why would she be hiding? Who else was inside that made her feel like she should hide?”
Julie grabbed her cup of black coffee and eyed Zack. “You already are in full detective mode.”
He chewed his food and stared intently at nothing. Julie knew that look.
“It was an old school, Zack. Probably hurting for funds and had to let renovations and improvements go by without ever updating, and this is the result. Maybe the people running the state should manage their money better.”
Zack agreed. “You’re probably right, honey. I’m sorry. I’ll shut down that mode.”
She knew otherwise. While she ate, she noticed the people in the diner and how they all saw her and Zack, the outsiders. Small quiet towns like this had nothing ever happen and rarely had visitors that weren’t family of residents. She couldn’t hear what the people were saying but knew the hushed murmurs were wondering who the couple was, and why were they there?
“How’s your breakfast?” Julie asked in a futile attempt to shift his mode.
“The ham is too thick, the muffin is tough, the hash browns are too greasy, and I’m not sure what this sauce is supposed to be, but it sure as hell isn’t hollandaise. But my Pepsi is good.” He wiped his mouth and smiled.
Julie stared at him. His blue eyes had that look of intensity, thoughtfulness, seriousness. She sighed. “There might be a story here, but that’s not why we are here. Remember?”
Zack looked out the window again. The sheriff disappeared, but the elderly lady remained. She looked through the windows into the restaurant, made eye contact with Zack, and went to the door.
“So, you do want to spend all day in the motel room naked.”
She winked at him. “I’m feeling kind of frisky. Like I have a lot of energy to expend.”
“What a coincidence. So do I,” Zack said and playfully licked his lips.
Julie paused for a moment and was about to open her mouth when a lady stopped at their table. “Excuse me,” she said with a sad apprehension in her voice. “I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you could spare me a moment?”
“Of course we can,” Julie answered.
“I understand that you are private investigators?”
Zack was about to correct the lady but didn’t. “Yes, that’s right.”
“I need your help.”
Julie motioned for her to sit down. The lady looked worried and nervous, and her hands trembled slightly. She slid into the booth next to Julie and spoke mostly to Zack.
“My grandson is missing,” she said. “He didn’t come home yesterday; he isn’t answering his phone. I’m worried and don’t know what to do.”
“Did you tell the police?” Zack asked. Of course, she did, Zack. She was just talking with him.
“I did, but Sheriff Orbison said he couldn’t do anything and that he probably just went away for the weekend,” the lady said.
“Is it possible that he did just go away for the weekend?”
“My Derek?” The woman sat straight, and her eyes widened. “Of course not,” she said. “He would never do that without telling me.”
“Where are his parents?” Zack asked.
“They died in a farming accident when he was little, so I’ve raised him.”
Zack looked at Julie. Please tell her we can’t help, Jules.
Julie eyed Zack briefly. “Tell us everything you can about him,” Julie said.
The grandmother spoke, a tear occasionally showed in her eyes, and she told about how handsome and smart he was and how he was going to graduate and go to college in the fall and make a life for himself. He was the quarterback of the high school football team and had a scholarship to go to the state school. Derek was his name, and she pulled out a picture of him. Julie looked at it and smiled, commented how handsome he was, and handed it to Zack.
Zack went cold. His heart stopped, and his mind flashed back to the spring when he watched a college girl die in his arms. Derek was handsome, decked out in his letter jacket, but it reminded Zack of the college girls that were murdered back in Maryland. He handed back the picture.
“Mrs.” He trailed off as he didn’t know her last name.
“Willows,” she finally said.
“Mrs. Willows, we are on vacation,” Zack said and wanted nothing to do with this, but Julie interrupted him.
“But we’ll be happy to see what we can find out,” she said. “Won’t we, honey?” She grabbed Zack’s hand, squeezed it, and stared at him.
Zack’s mind raced. I want nothing to do with this. I didn’t want to stop in this town. He took a deep breath. “You say he’s been missing since yesterday morning?” Mrs. Willows nodded, yes. Then time is working against us. “We’ll need some information about Derek.”
Mrs. Willows showed a hint of a smile, a semblance of hope to find her Derek. “I’d like to get home in case he calls,” she said.
“We can stop at your house,” Julie said.
“How about we finish our meal, and we’ll meet you there?” Zack said.
“I live on the corner of Maple and Lincoln,” she said. She gave them quick directions to her house and sat a moment longer. “Thank you, I’ll see you soon.”
Zack watched her leave and looked at Julie. “I thought you wanted to get away from work?”
“There is absolutely no way you can say no to her, Zack. She’s worried sick about her grandson. Have a heart,” she chastised him.
“I have a heart, and I have a bad feeling about this one. We should have kept driving.” He put his fork down. “Goddamnit.” He exhaled. “Let’s go.”
Julie looked at him and smiled. That was her Zack.
CHAPTER 6
Zack and Julie got in the car. “Is it fair to say that we need to find a new place to eat now that we have officially had everything on the menu in two days?”
Julie knew it wasn’t unusual for Zack to use humor as a coping mechanism. Julie smiled. “I think there’s an actual restaurant downtown. We should try that for dinner.”
“
I thought this is downtown.” He shook his head. “If the special tonight is fish, I’ll stick with the beef. Probably a lot safer.”
Julie glanced around. “The people here sure are inquisitive of strangers,” she said. “It’s almost like we’re movie stars.”
“What horror film are we stuck in the middle of now?”
“Oh stop, these people are no different than the people in Baltimore.”
“I think they’re a little different than the people in Baltimore,” Zack countered. “People in Baltimore don’t die in farming accidents.”
“Don’t be a jerk, Zack. Give them a chance. Maybe you’d like the slower pace of a small town like this.”
“About as much as I like getting tetanus shots.”
Julie rolled her eyes. “You need to open your mind. Your way or the highway isn’t very conducive to living happily ever after.” She grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry, honey. I know I made you stop. We can help this lady. That’s what you do. I promise I’ll make it up to you later.”
“Oh, there’s a lot to make up, too. But first, let’s see what’s going on here.”
She leaned over and quickly kissed Zack on the cheek. “I love you.”
* * * *
Zack looked at more pictures of Derek Willows while Julie paged through his yearbook, and Mrs. Willows talked about her grandson. After asking several questions, they asked to see his bedroom. They entered the bedroom alone.
Zack looked around as did Julie.
“Looks like every 18-year-old’s room,” Julie mentioned.
Zack was silent. Nothing seemed out of place. It didn’t appear any clothes were missing, his backpack hung on a hook on the wall, his computer on the desk. Shoes piled in front of the closet, and a small pile of dirty clothes in a hamper.
“This kid was a stud,” Julie said. “Three sports, star of the team. Looked like everyone liked him,” she said. “Good grades and a really nice car, too.” She showed Zack a picture of Derek standing beside his new Camaro, orange with black over the hood and roof.
