Wounded Animals

by Jim Heskett

  “Hey there, neighbor,” he said. “I’m still waiting for your wife to come over and check out my worm bin. Any chance you can ask her to stop by later?”

  I broke out in tears. No idea why. The accumulation of everything that had happened over the last few days welled up inside me and exploded out all at once.

  “I can’t,” I said.

  Alan went white. “Oh shit. What did I say? Did I say something wrong?”

  “Grace isn’t here. I don’t know where she is.”

  He crossed the yard between us. “Oh wow, man. I’ve never seen you upset like this before. Do you mean you don’t know where she is like… she took off?”

  “I think she might have.”

  “No note or anything like that?”

  I shook my head as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

  “Did you call her mom? I had an ex that used to run off all the time, and she always went to stay with her mom. Got to be predictable, you know, somewhere around the beginning of each season. Kinda funny, now that I think about it.”

  “Of course I called her mom,” I said, and I heard vindictiveness in my voice. I hadn’t wanted it to be there, but it had burst from my lips without any effort on my part.

  I took a step back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

  “Totally cool, Candle. Don’t even worry about it. If there’s anything I can do to help, give me a shout. You know where to find me.”

  There wasn’t anything more to say, so he left me there in my front yard. I clicked the remote button on my car, then slid in the driver’s seat. Had Alan peeked and noticed the missing fabric in the back seat? If so, at least he hadn’t put me in a position where I’d have to stumble through some lie to explain it.

  As I drove to work, it seemed like the image of Detective Shelton’s business card hung suspended on the windshield. The notion of calling the number and surrendering loomed large, bordering on irresistible. My hope of finding my wife on my own had dwindled from a fire to a tiny spark. Whatever they wanted from me, they were willing to kill more than once to send me a message.

  No. First help Martin, then report Grace missing. I would do the right thing and keep all of this above-board. But then I thought about the kidnappers, and how they kept telling me not to contact the police.

  Maybe I could focus on locating them instead. They’d said they didn’t know where Grace was, but that was probably bullshit. Find them and force them to tell me where she was.

  There were too many unknowns. Too many things swimming around my head.

  I parked outside my office building and raced inside. Had to get to my desk and look up Martin in the company directory.

  As I lumbered up the concrete steps of the stairway, my phone rang. I slipped it from my pocket and checked the number. My Aunt Judy. I let it ring out and waited for the voicemail prompt to appear.

  “Tucker, it’s your Aunt Judy again. I’ve left you a couple messages already. I don’t know if you’re out of town or maybe you’re on one of your camping trips and you can’t get to your phone, but if you hear this, we need to talk. It’s about your dad. I don’t want to discuss it on an answering machine, so please just call me as soon as you get a chance.”

  Why was she so insistent that I talk to her about that asshole? With everything else going on in my life, the last thing I needed was more of that drama. Judy could wait until I’d gotten Grace back and settled the rest of this mess.

  Swiped my card, hustled up the stairs, and entered the third-floor cubicle zoo. It occurred to me I hadn’t talked to anyone yet today, so the people glancing at me over the cubicles probably thought I was late. I held my head high and kept my face forward, not wanting to make eye contact with any of them.

  I punched the power button on my laptop and it whirred to life. Would take at least two minutes to get into Windows, so I thought I’d grab some coffee. Shake the cobwebs from my head. Since I hadn’t slept well last night and had already almost been mauled by a coyote, this day wasn’t exactly starting off any better than the last few.

  My mug had a little coffee stain on the bottom, so I stopped in the bathroom to grab a paper towel and wipe it out. Wasn’t going to bother with cleaning it in the kitchen.

  I was so focused on walking and wiping that I barely looked up as I passed the Aspen conference room. But when I did, I saw something that made me drop my coffee mug.

  My boss Alison sitting with two men in suits, who happened to be the same two men who had kidnapped me in front of the police station.

  Chapter Fifteen

  MY HEART THUMPED against my ribcage so hard I felt it in my throat. I was staring at the two men who had forced me into a car the day before, taken me to the edge of a cliff and grilled me about Kareem Haddadi.

  I must have stood there, paralyzed, for a half minute or more before Alison noticed me. When she lifted a hand and waved me inside, a voice in my head screamed run, Candle, run. Get out of this building and don’t ever come back.

  But I couldn’t do it. Whatever else might occur, these men had answers. And like everything else that had happened, it couldn’t be a coincidence they were here today. I needed to find out what information they had for me.

  I had beaten them once before, maybe I could do it again if I had to. As I opened the conference door, the two men smiled at me.

  “And this is Tucker Candle,” Alison said, “who does most of our training. You might have seen him wandering around the Dallas office before, but he’s been based out of this office since his hire date. Candle, do you know Frank Thomason and Stephen Glenning, the director and executive VP of sales?”

  Thomason was the one name I knew, and Glenning was the younger man. The driver. I cleared my throat to unlock speech. “I don’t believe so.”

  Thomason straightened his tie and clasped his hands over the table. “We haven’t met, but I did see you at our office recently, out there among the cubicles. So many people coming and going because of all the new hires, but it was last week, maybe?”

  “It’s a big office,” Glenning said. “I get lost trying to find the bathroom sometimes.” Glenning was keeping his arm below the table. I had broken his wrist less than twenty-four hours ago. His eyes looked a bit glassy, and I wondered if that was from some pain meds. I had sprained my ankle in a judo tournament six years before, and it hurt like hell for weeks. I hoped a broken wrist hurt just as bad.

  Alison laughed at Glenning’s joke, with a little too much enthusiasm. She wanted to impress these people. I checked her shoes, and she was wearing the serious heels. Was this who she was running late to meet with the other day when she gave me the assignment to go to Dallas?

  “Oh, yes,” I said, “I’ve been to the Dallas office quite a few times. It’s such an interesting place. Lots of nooks and crannies.”

  Thomason smiled and stared me down. “Nooks and crannies, eh? Never heard that assessment before. I suppose maybe I’ll have to explore some more when I get back home. You can join us at the table if you like.” Thomason turned to Alison. “We’re also looking at expanding into a new space in Plano because we’re nearing capacity.”

  “What are you doing here?” I said.

  Alison glared at me. Naturally, I was supposed to want to impress them too, but I didn’t give a shit about that. Maybe she had no idea who these people were, or maybe she did. I’d never trusted her.

  “Are you going to sit with us, or just stand there?” Alison said.

  I dropped into a chair at the table, never taking my eyes off Thomason. He peered back at me with a self-satisfied look on his face. He could be smug all he wanted because yesterday, I’d kicked his ass and slammed him against a tree so hard I knocked him out. I longed for the chance to do it again.

  Glenning lifted his hand from underneath the table, and his lower arm was wrapped in a flesh-colored soft cast.

  “Wow, that looks painful,” I said. “What happened to your wrist, Mr. Glenning?”

 
; Without missing a beat, Glenning chuckled. “Got a little over-zealous on the racquetball court couple days ago. I went scrambling after a ball and ended up punching the wall because I hadn’t realized how close I was to it. My wife kept telling me I was going to hurt myself, the way I played. Turns out, she was right. Always listen to the better half, right, Candle?”

  I stared at him, and his bemused look fell to neutral. I didn’t know if Alison was picking up on all this, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Is there some reason I’m here, Alison?”

  She seemed to have been lost in thought, and caught herself. “Yes, of course. The whole IT department is off-site for training, so I was hoping you could get Glenning and Thomason set up at some workstations. They’ll need display port adapters, keyboards, mouses, and whatever else. I thought you could put them in the empty cubes near yours.”

  “We’d appreciate it,” Thomason said, then he pointed at his chest. “Not a tech guy here. I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but I always have to have my son set up my computers and phones for me.”

  I stood up, still with my eyes on Thomason. “Sure, whatever you want. Follow me.”

  Alison stood first, throwing the meanest glare in her arsenal at me. I wasn’t kissing the asses of the big-wigs the way I was supposed to. Well, she could forget about that. I would ram pencils in their necks before I’d cower to these thugs dressed up in Italian suits and shiny loafers.

  We all walked out of the conference room together, then Alison left us, glowering at me one last time for good measure. I walked them through the cubicles until we had reached my area, where I knew no one would be.

  I spun on my heels, teeth clenched, ready to take a swing. “What the hell is going on here?”

  “We just need you to set up workstations for us,” Glenning said. “I thought we already explained that in the conference room.”

  “That little dance in there was cute, but you can cut the shit right now. You want me to break your other wrist?”

  Thomason leaned against a cube wall and started picking dirt from his fingernails. “Your attitude seriously needs some work.”

  “And you thought taking me to the top of Eldo Canyon for some hiking against my will would fix that?”

  “No,” Thomason said. “We needed to chat, and I wanted to go for a hike. You’re so conspiratorial.”

  “No more games. Where is my wife?”

  “We keep telling you, Candle, your wife is not our concern.”

  The ire grew inside me. My hands reached out and grabbed the first thing I could find, which happened to be a stapler. Wouldn’t do enough damage, but I didn’t have access to firearms in the office. I felt silly holding it, but it was too late to back out on that now. “I don’t even know what you people want from me. Tell me why you’re here.”

  Thomason glanced at the stapler, then stepped closer to me. “Okay, it sounds like we need to clear the air. You want to know why we’re here? We have a meeting with the Director of Support, and the company thought it was significant enough to fly us out here. But, also, we’re wondering why you came in the office today.”

  I stammered, unable to come up with a good reason.

  “First Paul shows up dead, then Keisha mysteriously vanishes, so we’re wondering if maybe you came in to access the company directory? Perhaps you were thinking of getting in contact with the rest of your training class and having a chat with them about their travel plans? You know, as in, trying to warn Martin or Darren?”

  “Something tells me Darren isn’t in too much danger,” I said.

  Thomason smiled and shared a look with Glenning. “Tucker Candle, always the smart one. Okay, we’ll break this whole thing down to its most simple elements. Stop looking for your wife. Stop trying to contact police or anyone else. Stop attempting to communicate with the rest of the trainees from boot camp.”

  Glenning stepped in front of me. “I understand when you gave your statement about Paul’s murder, you claimed to have not known him. That seems like an awfully foolish thing to say to the cops.”

  I’d said it to Shelton, who certainly wasn’t a real cop, but Glenning was right. If there were an official record of that conversation in some police database, that would not reflect well at all on me.

  Glenning dug in his pocket and passed me a business card. Shelton’s. Another for my collection.

  “You want answers? Talk to Shelton, and stop making trouble for everyone. Keisha was your fault. We didn’t want to do that.”

  “I met Keisha during her boot camp,” Thomason said. “Such a bright young lady.”

  “Her death wasn’t on me,” I said, but wasn’t sure if I believed it.

  “Just call Shelton. Stop resisting and listen to what the man has to say.”

  I glanced at the card. “And what if I say no?”

  “Then,” Thomason said, “things are going to get a lot worse for you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  I DIDN’T FIND Martin in the company directory. Still couldn’t remember his last name, and I searched through my emails but couldn’t find any trace of his existence. If there was a way to get in touch with him, I had no idea what it was.

  I gave up in the afternoon and left the office. As I slid into the driver’s seat of my car, my body felt heavy. That was probably the weight of despair replacing the buoyancy of hope, or that’s how my college philosophy professor might have phrased it. I was defeated. Opportunities kept springing up, but Shelton and his flunkies countered every move I made.

  “If you’ve got any brilliant ideas, brain, now’s the time to let me know,” I said to my reflection in the rearview.

  My brain had nothing to say for itself.

  I left the parking lot and headed toward the highway, on the long commute up from the Denver Tech Center to my house. Light traffic slowed me enough that I had plenty of time to think. Still, nothing great came to mind. Only that my stubbornness was becoming problematic for me.

  Then I saw the exit sign for Englewood. That was where Grace’s boss Rodrick lived. Something came over me and I exited the highway and started driving toward his house. The feeling was like a churning compulsion telling me to get to Rodrick’s house and see him. Maybe he would know what to do.

  I navigated through his neighborhood until I pulled up in front of his house. Didn’t see his car out front. My heart sank. It was still mid-afternoon, he was probably at work and wouldn’t be home for hours.

  I walked to the front door and stopped just short of ringing the bell, then stood there like an idiot for a couple minutes, greeted only by silence. This was possibly the dumbest idea I’d had yet. What would I do if his wife came out here?

  But when I turned to leave, I saw his car turn the corner. He gave me an odd look. Not surprising, since the last time I’d seen him, I’d embarrassed both myself and him in front of his whole office.

  What a stupid idea it had been to come here. No idea what I was thinking. I had to get out of here before I said or did anything else I’d regret.

  He pulled into the driveway, blocking me in. Quickly, he jumped out of his car, with a massive grin. He didn’t seem upset. “This is a surprise.”

  “Rodrick, I’m so sorry, I made a terrible mistake.”

  Genuine worry crossed his face. “Something wrong? If you don’t mind my saying, you look like hell.”

  The tears threatened to pour. “I know, I know. I shouldn’t have come here. Do you think you could back out so I can leave?”

  I pressed the unlock button on my remote, but he eliminated the distance between us and stood with his hands on his hips. “Candle, you got to tell me what’s going on with you. Yesterday morning, you show up at my office all bent out of shape, and now you’re at my house, looking like you’re on the verge of crying. Is this about Grace?”

  I nodded.

  “Something’s going on with you two. I knew it. If you need to talk, just let it out. You can tell me anything.”

  Rodrick wasn
’t a stranger, but we weren’t friends, either. Polite conversation at backyard social gatherings and the occasional beer at Grace’s work events, but that was the extent of our relationship.

  I didn’t know where to begin. And it dawned on me I had probably put Rodrick’s life in danger by coming here. The people watching me knew I had called the cops, knew I’d gone to the bar to look for Kareem, they must have known I was here now.

  “I don’t know if I should tell you.”

  “If Grace is gone, it’s not too late to get her back. I’m guessing that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?”

  I leaned against the hood of my car as the pressure in the back of my neck turned into a throbbing pinch. “Sort of. It’s a lot more complicated than that.”

  “You want to come inside and have a beer? You can meet my son.”

  He seemed so friendly, which baffled me after what a jerk I’d been to him yesterday at his office. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  He chewed on his lower lip. “You’re scaring me, buddy.”

  “I’m sorry to have troubled you. I really should go home and be alone for a while.”

  “Do you want me to come check on you later? Maybe tomorrow?”

  The thought of him showing up at my house unannounced nearly sent me into a panic. “No, please don’t do that. I’ll be okay. I just need to get a good night’s sleep.”

  He didn’t look convinced, but he took a step away from me anyway. “Alright, buddy. If that’s what you want. Maybe you’ll feel better after you get some rest.”

  I lingered, hoping that he would demand the truth out of me, but I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t put his life in danger, if coming here hadn’t already.

  He backed his car out into the street. Without a goodbye, I got in my car and drove home, slamming my fist against the steering wheel until it went numb. I was defeated, and I knew it. The situation was not going to get better. Might as well give up.