by Rusty Ellis
Chase reached up to straighten the picture and looked again at his parents smiling faces. He took a deep breath and clenched his jaw to subdue the unwanted pang.
Turning to the closet he reached in and grabbed his coat off the hook just inside the door. Under the coat, leaning against the wall, was his father’s old 30-30 saddle rifle. Chase threaded the coat through the handles of his duffel bag to free up a hand. He reached back in the closet and grabbed the cold barrel of the rifle and then swung the closet door shut.
Stopping to look one last time at the picture, he recalled the last clear bit of advice his father had offered him.
“Take care of your sister. You’re all she’s got, Chase,” his father had struggled to say without coughing. He then reached up and grabbed Chase’s forearm, “And she’s all you’ve got, son.”
Chase took one last look around the living room and flipped on the porch light by the front door. Stepping out the front door onto the wooden deck, he pulled the door shut and headed to his truck and toward the long drive to Mountain Home.
5
As Chase neared town, he recognized the same general pace of the town and culture. A country rub to both places.
Chase texted Brett when he was about 15 minutes out of town and the two agreed to meet at a quick stop near where Highway 20 came into town. Chase found the store and pulled up to an empty pump. He began filling his truck while watching the cars come and go. At least three-quarters of the vehicles pulling up to the pumps were pickup trucks—same pace, same culture.
Chase topped off his tank and pulled to an empty spot on the side of the building and waited for Brett. He watched as a dark green truck rolled slowly by and then whipped toward him and the vacant opening next to him. He recognized Brett right away. Same hair cut. Same smile that had won his sister over a few years back.
Brett switched from his own truck over to the passenger seat of Chase’s truck.
“Been a long time,” Brett said and reached to meet Chase’s handshake.
Chase had nothing against Brett. He was another notch in his sister’s inability at a normal life and steady relationship. It was unfortunate. Chase had hoped his sister would figure out the relationship game and stick with Brett. But as was the case, she showed an inability to be corralled.
“Thanks for meeting me,” Chase said.
“No problem. Like I said, I still care about what happens to your sister and Haley, regardless of how we ended up.”
Chase appreciated what Brett was saying, but he wasn’t here to rehash Brett and Megan’s life. He was here to find his sister and niece.
“Did you find anything else out?”
“Not really. Like I said, her work had me down as her emergency contact. It’s not like her to bail on her job and just disappear like that. And the same for Haley. Like any other college kid, her phone is her life, but I haven’t been able to reach her.”
“What about their apartment?” Chase asked.
“I haven’t been back by there since the first time we talked. Both of their cars are gone from the parking lot. There were a bunch of advertisements stuck in their door for local businesses, so I don’t think anyone’s been in there for a while.”
“What about the police?”
Chase watched as Brett shifted his stare to the dashboard in front of him.
“This will sound stupid. Going to the police made me a little nervous. Maybe I watch a little too much Law and Order but I was afraid they would view me as their prime suspect.”
Chase couldn’t help letting out a humorous grunt. As absurd as the comment was, it made sense.
“Are you the reason they’re missing?” Chase watched to see Brett’s response.
Brett turned and locked eyes with Chase, “No, I have no idea what happened to them.”
Chase nodded, satisfied with Brett’s response, “Good enough for me. I appreciate you meeting me, Brett. I’ll take care of it from here.”
“Are you sure? I mean, I can help, just tell me what to do.”
“You’re right Brett, you would be suspect number one right now. I think you would just be a distraction, as tough as it is to hear that,” Chase said. “I’ll reach out if I need anything else.”
“Can you at least keep me in the loop if you find anything?”
“Sure. I’ll let you know when I find them.”
“I appreciate it, Chase. Good to see you again. I just wish it was under different circumstances.”
“Same here,” Chase answered.
Brett climbed out of his truck and waived as he pulled away. Chase looked at his watch and decided to find a hotel for the night to sleep off the long drive and get a fresh start in the morning. He’d start at the police department then go to Megan’s apartment to pick up her and Haley’s trail.
6
The smiling faces were taking their toll on her. Not that smiling faces were normally a bad thing, only that the smiles seemed hollow. Not necessarily disingenuous—just naïve. Megan finished drying off the last of the pans on the counter and stacked them along the center of a long wooden table.
“Thank you, sister,” the female voice startled her.
“You’re welcome, sister,” Megan turned and responded.
The woman had a pretty face. Her blonde hair was mostly hidden under a bandana covering the better part of her head. She was wearing blue jeans and a simple pink patterned button-up shirt. No frills, no makeup.
“You should get some sleep, sister,” the woman said. “The Community is growing and we have a lot of people to feed at breakfast in the morning.”
Megan nodded and dried her hands on her apron. She removed the apron and hung it on the nail next to the door frame next to the others and exited the large dining hall.
She walked from the dining hall to a series of smaller cabins and stepped onto the porch of her assigned sleeping quarters. She slowly opened the wooden door to lessen the squeaking of the hinges to keep from waking the other occupants in the room. The light from the porch seeped through the door opening and lit the path to her assigned bottom bunk in the far, right corner.
She had been told she was fortunate to have a bottom bunk, especially since she was the newest of the eight women in the cabin. Fortunately, her bunk mate had asked if it was okay to take the top bunk when she and Megan arrived together. Megan had been more than happy to oblige.
Megan shut the door and walked straight to her bed. The wooden floorboards creaked under her best efforts to tip-toe to her bunk. Reaching her bed, she changed from her jeans to pajama bottoms, opted to keep her t-shirt on, then slipped off her shoes and sat on her bed. She reached for her pillow and laid down as she tucked her feet under the welcomed covers.
“You’re late, sister,” her bunkmate’s voice sounded from the darkness above her bed.
“One of the other sisters wasn’t feeling well, so it took longer than normal, sister,” Megan answered.
“Thank you for your service, sister.”
“Your welcome, sister,” Megan said.
Megan closed her eyes and tried to picture Haley. She battled the urge to cry, not wanting to draw attention to herself in the room. Crying would startle the happy group of women in the cabin. Crying would betray the placid joy engulfing the quiet room. She allowed a single tear to slip from each eye and course down her cheeks in the dark. Crying was a small bandage on a gaping wound. It had no place and didn’t cure the problem.
She wiped the tears and rolled onto her side to face the wall. She needed rest for the next day’s work. She needed her energy to bolster her smile and blend in with the others in the Community. But more than anything, she needed the energy to believe Haley was okay.
Megan drifted off to sleep while replaying a memory of Haley smiling, running through the field in front of her parent’s home in Glasgow. She reached for her daughter’s hand as they laughed and enjoyed the warm summer sun…
7
Chase slept about as sound as he expected. Dreams
of Megan and Haley crept into his mind and intermingled with odd flashes of scenes from his military tours. The mashup of the two resulted in bouts of panic and action. The challenge wasn’t getting to sleep; it was what was waiting for him every time his body and mind disconnected and allowed his conscience the freedom to roam.
The sound of a car alarm in front of his hotel room door blasted Chase awake. He glanced over at the cheap electronic clock on the nightstand—6:15 AM. He climbed out of bed and made his way to the bathroom and the shower. He waited several seconds for the water to heat before climbing in and letting the hot stream run over his head.
He leaned against the wall and rehashed the previous night’s conversation with Brett. He wasn’t sure where to start, but at least he knew he needed to swing by the Mountain Home Police Department and also Megan’s apartment. He hoped that one or both would spur on his next course of action.
He finished showering and slipped on his jeans and a fresh T-shirt. He stuffed his dirty shirt into the duffel bag and finish dressing before opening the door and stepping the few feet to his truck. He tossed his bag inside the cab and looked up the address to the police department on his cell phone.
Chase located the police department behind the Walmart, just off the highway entering town. He then looked up his sister’s apartment address and saw that it was in the opposite direction on American Legion Blvd. He decided to swing by the police department first and then make his way to the apartment.
The police department parking lot had a car and three trucks parked in front of it. Chase parked his truck as close as he could to the main entrance and went inside. A plate-glass window greeted him, keeping the community on one side and the police department on the other. A chair and desk was on the police side of the barrier and was vacant. A note on the window explained: Need assistance? Push button on counter. Thank you.
Chase tapped the button and heard a loud chime sound beyond the glass.
A young police officer appeared from the back, his hands full of paperwork and folders. Chase had obviously interrupted the officer’s morning routine of shuffling paperwork into filing cabinets. The young officer approached the window and smiled, “Can I help you?”
“Yes. My sister and niece are missing and I’m trying to find out any information possible about them.”
“Do they live here in Mountain Home?” He asked.
Chase fought back a sarcastic response and answered, “Yes. They both live here.”
The young man set the folders on the desktop and stuck his hand into an accordion folder next to them. He pulled out a form and slid it through a half-circle hole in the glass.
“Have they been gone at least 24 hours?” the young man asked as he grabbed a pen from his desk and set it on top of the paperwork.
Chase said, “They’ve been gone for a couple weeks now.”
The young man tapped on the piece of paper and slid it a little closer to Chase, “Go ahead and fill out this form. Once you’re done, we will assign it to a detective and they will get back with you. Do you have a good number they can reach you at?”
Chase took the pen and lifted the paper to inspect the form. He nodded in response to the young officer’s question.
“Do I need a report for each one of them or can I put them both down on the same report?” Chase asked.
The officer reached back into the folder and grabbed a second form and slid it onto the counter.
Chase grabbed the second stack and asked, “Can I take these with me or do I have to fill them out here?”
“You can take them with you and just drop them off when you’re finished. Make sure they’re filled out completely,” he warned.
Chase set the pen back down on the counter and thanked the young officer before heading back out to his truck. He realized he probably didn’t have all the answers needed to fill out the forms. A failure on his part. He would probably need Brett’s help to fill them out.
Chase climbed into his truck and pulled out his cell phone. He sent a quick text to Brett asking if he would fill out the forms, if Chase agreed to sign and return them. Chase dropped the forms on the bench next to him and started his truck. He glanced back down at his phone and pulled up the map showing the directions to Megan’s apartment. He hit start and let the female voice on the phone guide him to his sister’s residence, in hopes of more answers.
The parking lot was on the backside of the apartment complex. Chase backed into an empty spot facing the buildings. Reading the numbers across the tops of the building, he could see his sister’s apartment building just to the right of where he’d parked. He could see the front doors of the apartments running at an angle from him down the face of the unit. The buildings were two-storied with each apartment occupying a vertical wedge of the building. He could see a total of four doors along the front of Megan’s building.
Chase couldn’t make out the numbers on the doors from inside his truck. Megan’s was in ‘Apartment 4’ which was either closest or furthest from him.
Turning off his truck, he reached for the door handle when a blur of movement caught his eye. The front door to the apartment closest to him swung open and revealed the number “4” tacked at eye level. Two burly men stepped from the apartment, both wearing black military style BDU pants and matching black polo shirts. The men had clean-shaved faces and close-cropped haircuts. They acted confident, as though they belonged in the apartment. They kept their movements fluid as their heads swiveled back and forth, processing their surroundings.
The first man out was carrying two backpacks. Nothing odd in its own right if it weren’t for the patches and stickers emblazoned across one backpack. Unless the man had a penchant for pink backpacks with colorful skeletons, the bag was more than likely Haley’s. The second backpack was more nondescript; dark shades of green, no skulls.
The second man out the door flipped it shut behind him and said something to the first man. Chase watched as they walked side-by-side toward the parking lot. Chase picked up his phone from the seat next to him and changed the screen from the map to a camera. He lifted the front lens of the phone just high enough to clear the top of the steering wheel and began tapping the red button on the screen—click, click, click—while he followed the two men’s movements.
As the men drew closer, Chase could make out a white insignia on their polo shirts. The design had no lettering but was a sunburst at the apex of a cross.
Chase watched as the two men climbed into a black Jeep near the building, three stalls over from where he parked. He tapped the screen of his phone with two fingers to pan in closer on the vehicle and get a clear picture of the license plate—click, click, click.
The Jeep backed out from its spot toward his truck’s front bumper. It stopped three feet from his truck and then pulled toward where he’d entered the parking lot. Chase wanted to see the condition of Megan’s apartment, how the men left it, what they disturbed and possibly what may be missing. But he was more interested in where the two men were headed with the backpacks they had retrieved.
Chase dropped his phone back on the seat next to him and started his truck. The apartment wasn’t going anywhere and chances were the men had more answers than the apartment did about Megan and Haley.
He put the truck in drive and waited for the men to pull out onto the street before easing out of his parking spot and falling into a comfortable distance behind them. Chase had questions for the men and was confident they had answers. For now, he was content to see where they led him, with a possibility of leading him directly to Megan and Haley.
8
The creak of the hinges on the wooden closet door caused Megan to stir. She rolled over to face the noise and opened her eyes to a steady whir of bodies shuffling about the cabin. The women were changing from their nightshirts into their work clothes.
“Sorry to have woken you, sister,” Megan heard Anna’s familiar voice.
Megan pushed up from her pillow and let her legs drop to the floor. An
na was sitting in a rickety chair at a small desk with a mirror attached to the wall just above the desktop surface. Anna was pulling a brush through her hair in an attempt to subdue the last unruly strands that were trying to remain free.
Megan stood and walked up behind her and took the brush from her hand. Anna gave in quickly, giving Megan a thankful smile in the mirror. After a few more strokes, Anna reached her hand back over her shoulder and gave Megan a hair band to tame her hair.
With a few twists, Anna’s hair was pulled back and held in place by the black band.
“Thank you, sister,” she said.
The word sister made Megan flinch, even though she had done her best to adopt the words into her own vocabulary. There was something about the tone that felt forced. Maybe not forced, but it had a certain feel of requirement. A way to keep them subdued somehow.
“Your welcome, sister,” Megan smiled back in the mirror and patted Anna on the shoulder. “What is your assignment today, sister?”
Anna turned to face her and smiled. Megan couldn’t help but look at the woman’s face and wonder what she’d looked like before she came to this place and became a member of the Community. How did she dress? Did she wear her hair in a ponytail or did she cut and style it? Did she apply heavy makeup or was she an eyeliner-and-go type of girl? What type of work did she do? And did she have a family she gave up for this?
“You look concerned, sister? Is everything okay?” Anna asked.
“I’m fine, sister. Just thinking about what I need to accomplish today to further the work.” Megan was grateful for inheriting her mother’s patience and her father’s quick wit—patience and adaptation.
