Into Darkness (The Guardian Book 2)

by Jason Davis

  Two missing people within a day of each other. Could they be related? Both had possibly been around the coal dump when they disappeared. Why was the chief there? And the boy had been told to never go near the area.

  “Here you go.”

  He looked down to see the slender, shaking hands of Wendy Taylor handing him the cup of coffee. When he had first showed up, she had been worse, but giving her something to do, talking to her, seemed to bring her back a little.

  “Thank you,” he said, nodding, turning to sit at the table. His eyelids felt like they had started to sag. His whole face, what he felt of it, was numb, and his head felt heavy. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay awake.

  Looking at the clock, he saw it was nearly five. He had now been up for twenty-four hours. He could go for a little longer. He had done it before. They had to find the boy.

  “You don’t think he went to the coal dump? You’re sure of that?” he asked, enjoying the bitter taste of the coffee. It was hot and strong enough to shock him awake. He hoped the cobwebs stayed away a little longer this time so he could think this through.

  “He knew not to go through there. We told him about the hobos that live up there and the mineshafts he could fall into. He’s a smart kid. He wouldn’t have gone up there. Not at night,” the boy’s grandma said. She looked so much like her daughter, her eyes piercing into him. She blamed him for not finding her grandson. The disappointment was evident in that glare.

  “Okay, but we haven’t found him anywhere else,” Rob said. “Could he be there?”

  Wendy looked at him, her lip quivering. The tears started flowing as she nodded. Her mother moved to put a hand on her shoulder. Wendy reached up, grasping it.

  “He might have. I have caught him going through there before. He always complained that, if he went the other way, the big kids picked on him.”

  “If he was being picked on, why didn’t you pick him up…” He looked at the older woman, “or you bring him home?”

  Rob knew his voice had grown cold. He tried to keep the edge out of it, but it was hard. The tired cop in him came out and he knew why. It dug at the back of his thoughts, pushing this line of reasoning. He didn’t want to face the ugly truth. There was a strong chance this could be a domestic kidnapping, an abduction, or other more terrifying possibilities. They might not be looking for a missing boy. They might be looking for a body.

  “He liked to ride his bike home,” Wendy said.

  “But he walked last night.”

  “He’s grounded from his bike.”

  “Could he have run away?” Rob was grasping at anything.

  Wendy shook her head emphatically. “No. Wecalled all his friends, and there’s nowhere else to go. His dad… His dad couldn’t care two shits about him. He’s gone, not even paying the child support.”

  Rob nodded, looking down at his notes. He had asked them most of this earlier, but wanted to go back over it, checking for any inconsistencies.

  He had searched most of the town last night. The county planned to send out an officer to help with the search, but Rob still hadn’t seen him. He was getting agitated. Last time he had talked to county, they just said he was on his way. No ETA, no other information. Where was he coming from? Mars?

  Rob was so glad to know that if he had been shot or was in danger, county could be counted on to get there quickly to back him up.

  That’s being too harsh. There have been many times when I’ve needed them and they were right there. When I pulled over speeders or was in pursuit, they were always there to give backup. I have no idea what’s causing his delay. That doesn’t change the fact he should have been here five hours ago.

  He took another long pull on his coffee and felt an odd sensation, as though his face were sliding down. It wasn’t getting any better.

  Looking into the front room, he saw a young man sitting in there, dozing. When there was a knock on the door, the teen jerked awake. Rob had seen the boy walking the streets a few times and figured him to be a friend of the family or a relative. It was hard to tell in the small town. It seemed like everybody knew each other or were related. It was often hard for Rob to keep up with everyone.

  The kid was quick out of the chair and to the door. Outside, the early morning light touched the tall figure taking up most of the doorway. Rob heard the two women behind him shift to look at the door, feeling their disappointment when it wasn’t Bobby. For Rob, seeing the county officer standing out on the front porch was a relief.

  He couldn’t help himself as he thought, Good. Maybe I can go home and get some sleep. In truth, he doubted he’d be able to. Not until the boy and the chief were found. However, if he did go home, Jake would be up soon. He could ask him if he knew Bobby, maybe find out more about him and the family. Rob had noticed the scars on Wendy’s arm. There had to be more to the story than what he was told.

  “Officer Alletto?” the newcomer asked.

  Rob walked over and held his out his hand, amazed at how tall the man was. He towered over Rob’s six feet. He motioned for him to come in. When the officer removed his hat, Rob wasn’t surprised to see the buzz haircut.

  “That’s me,” he said, trying to imagine how he must look to the officer. Rob could feel the roughness of his unshaven face, and with his habit of running his hands through his hair when stressed, it had to be a mess.

  “Sorry for the delay. There was a pileup over in Ottawa. A semi jackknifed on 80, causing a backup for five miles. Two dead, five rushed to St. Margaret’s, one airlifted to St. Francis.”

  Rob nodded, figuring there had to have been a reason. Why the hell someone didn’t tell him, though, he didn’t know. If he had the squad car, he would have heard it on the radio. None of that made a bit of difference. Their main focus was finding Bobby.

  With the officer finally here, it meant an Amber Alert could be put out for the missing boy. As just a local officer, Rob didn’t have the authority. He had to wait on county to do it, which meant they had wasted half the night before they could let anyone outside town know. If the boy were indeed taken by someone, they could be in the next state by now.

  The man pulled his notebook from his chest pocket, then nodded to the mother and grandmother.

  “I am sorry I couldn’t get here earlier. We’ll find your son.” He turned back to Rob. “You want to fill me in, then get your day officer to check in with me.”

  Rob smiled sadly. The day on-call officer used to be him until budget cuts made the chief have to take those responsibilities, as well as patrolling weeknights. Sure, Rob was the backup, but that was the problem. He had worked yesterday, been up all night, and now the officer assumed there was someone available to come in and relieve him. There wasn’t. Rob’s backup was a full-time Peoria officer who helped out when someone needed the night off. Rob was it. There was no one else.

  “There’s no day officer. I’m it.”

  The county officer looked at him, his eyebrow raised slightly. “You? You look like you’ve been up all night and are about to fall over.”

  “Yeah, well, we can’t find our chief, and my backup is a full-time officer elsewhere.”

  “Well, you need to get some sleep. Give me what you got, then get some rest.”

  Rob nodded and started going over his notes.

  * * * *

  Rob stepped into the cool morning air, enjoying the breeze as it trickled across his skin. Eyes closed, he leaned his head back and let a brief smile cross his lips. He wasn’t happy, but the chill creeping in allowed him to wake up a little bit and push some of the grogginess away.

  Hurrying down the porch steps, he walked toward his car. His bed was calling. It wouldn’t be a long sleep, not like the kind he’d normally get after working all night, but he was exhausted enough to salvage as much as he could.

  He made it to the car before he stopped and looked toward the mound of trees and shale that looked like a black hole in the early morning.

  The coal dump really wasn’t
that far from the house. If he crossed the yard of the neighbor behind the house, he would be right where the exit was for the side path. It really was more convenient for Bobby to take that as his way home rather than walking uptown and working his way back.

  If he were a kid, Rob knew he wouldn’t have gone around. He would have gone straight through. He wouldn’t have listened to what his mom and grandmother said about the dangers, thinking it would have been safe to go through there.

  And where was all this insight when I talked to Jake lately. Seems like I can never get into the boy’s head. He has just become so distant lately, always playing those damn games on his tablet thingy.

  Bobby would have gone through there. Rob was sure of it. They probably wouldn’t find him until there was more light. There wouldn’t be any point in him going there to look around, but he still felt like he should check it out. They had searched everywhere else.

  “Hey, Officer?”

  Rob turned to see the kid hurrying up to him.

  “Yeah?” Rob hoped he didn’t sound as tired as he felt. To him, his words sounded like a slurred garble, similar to that of a drunk.

  “Hey, I’m David. I’m a friend of the family and well.. ” David looked uncomfortable, and Rob understood. This was hard for all of them. Tragedy always was that bind that brought people together, but somehow made it hard for people to talk to one another. “Do you think he’s up there?” David asked, nodding toward the coal dump. He must have seen Rob looking at it.

  “Might be. Once it gets light out, we’ll search.”

  “I went up there…” David paused, letting his voice trail off.

  “You went up there looking for him?” David nodded. “Probably not too smart. You know, I can give you a ticket for trespassing.”

  “Yeah, but I was looking for Bobby.”

  “I know. Don’t sweat it.”

  David nodded again. Rob was certain the kid was hiding something.

  “Got something to tell me?”

  “I..I saw something up there. At least, I thinkI saw something.” The kid got a faraway look, his eyes getting glassy. Then he blinked rapidly, quickly changing the subject. “And I found a car up there. It was parked on the other side on the maintenance path.”

  “A car? Wait… What else did you see?”

  “It was nothing.”

  Rob grabbed David’s arm. “Show me.”

  * * * *

  They entered the woods around the coal dump. The sun had started rising, making it easier to follow David as he quickly lead him to a fallen tree off to the side of the path.

  “It’s over here,” David said, climbing over the tree. Rob turned in the direction he pointed.

  He tried to follow as best he could. The faster they moved, the more his back felt like it was going to lock up on him. It wouldn’t be the first time he tried to push himself, the pain nearly paralyzing him.

  “Hey, kid, slow down,” he called, not thinking he could take much more. His right side felt like there were little needles stabbing down his leg. He had to slow down.

  “It’s just over here, past those trees.” David looked back, seeing how far Rob had fallen back.

  “Yeah, well, another minute longer won’t make it magically disappear.” That is, if it was there to begin with. For all Rob knew, maybe the kid liked dragging him around on a wild goose chase. It wouldn’t be the first time the kids in town played games with an officer. He remembered they had played a little game of tag with him a few times, driving around after curfew, then hiding when they knew they had gotten his attention.

  Rob followed David around a group of trees, then stopped.

  The squad car. David hurried over to it, but Rob had to stop. He felt his leg threatening to give out from under him. Damn, he had pushed himself too hard. Thankfully, he had just passed a tree, so he reached out, leaning onto it.

  David turned back around to look at him. “Are you okay?”

  Rob nodded. He couldn’t really speak. He was winded. It felt like something had ahold of him, like a hand grabbing his insides and squeezing. He fought against it, forcing himself to pull in deep breaths.

  David ran around to the driver’s side of the car. “The door’s open. Battery’s probably dead.”

  Rob pushed himself away from the tree and limped his way over. That was probably why the GPS didn’t work. The door being open meant what? That the chief had been taken? If he had a heart attack or something like that, David would see him there.

  No, the open door meant someone had to have pulled him out of the car.

  He needed to call this in. They weren’t just looking for a missing boy now. It was official. The chief was also missing. If somebody had taken him, it made sense that they had taken the boy, as well. Maybe Bobby had seen somebody attacking the chief. If that were the case, it didn’t bode well for either one of them still being alive.

  They needed to get county out there in force. They needed forensics and more officers. This was about to get very messy.

  And it looked like he wasn’t going to get sleep anytime soon.

  CHAPTER 6

  “We have two more officers coming in. Have you reached your other guy to help with the search?” the county officer asked as he walked up to Rob, who leaned against one of the trees closest to the police tape. Although Rob had already been near the car, he wanted to keep his distance until the lab guys were done.

  It was strange to be doing this type of investigation here because so much was different from when he had been Chicago PD. There, local CSI would process the scene. They didn’t have an in-house lab, but it was close enough to the various precincts that worked with them. Everything was at the detectives’ fingertips, information could be called upon, and labs worked with each other.

  Here, it was just him. When there was a crime that actually needed investigating, he had to call the county. They then called lab techs other counties shared. Thankfully, they were in an area where the three counties were large enough that it was only the three. Still, it was a process to get them there, wasting most of the morning just arranging it.

  Just before eleven, the first lab tech had arrived, actually beating the person who had been at the lab when they called. However, he didn’t have any equipment with him, so they still had to wait. In the meantime, the tech told them how he wanted the scene closed down and how much of it cordoned off. Rob had closed off half the coal dump, which frustrated many of the townspeople who had come to walk the woods, looking for the missing boy.

  “Yeah, finally got ahold of him. He’s getting with his dispatcher now to get off duty there and come here.”

  “Good.” The officer nodded, continuing to look at Rob. “You need sleep. You look like a zombie.”

  Rob winced, not liking the memory. If this officer only knew what a real zombie looked like, he wouldn’t joke about it. Rob had seen many of them, and continues to in his nightmares.

  “I’m fine.” And it was the truth. The sun was up. He didn’t think he could get more than an hour’s sleep if he tried anyway.

  The officer nodded and turned back to the scene. There really wasn’t anything exciting happening right now. One tech was going over the car, dusting for prints. Getting the car washed would be hell, but the town council could worry about that. The other tech studied the ground in the area, looking at the dirt, tree limbs, and leaves. Amazed at what these guys could do, Rob realized he’d never want their job. There was too much that could be overlooked, especially out in the middle of the woods. Would they be this thorough if it weren’t another officer missing? He didn’t know if they knew the chief. One of the techs was a younger woman who didn’t look like she had been at the job too long, but maybe the older man with silver hair knew the chief.

  “Have you checked on the search for the boy?” the officer asked, nodding toward the sound of yelling they could both hear in the distance.

  Ten people had arrived, David calling his friends, who brought their parents. With ho
w red David’s eyes were and how he seemed to twitch, Rob wasn’t going to ask what he had taken. He just hoped it was an energy drink and not something like Adderall. All they needed was for the kid to OD on them.

  None of them were worried about school or work, for which Rob was glad. He was certain the school would understand. Once word spread, there would probably be kids and parents all over the place.

  They couldn’t all search the coal dump, though. It was not that large an area. They would have to start searching the rest of the town, then work their way out to the cornfields. Most of the corn and beans were being harvested, so there was activity out there. It was going to be difficult to coordinate a search out there. He hoped it didn’t get that far.

  Maybe he was the only oneobsessed with the coal dump now that the chief’s car had been found there. They hadn’t been good friends, barely knowing each other outside work. Hehad remembered Jake’s birthday, but had gotten the age wrong, getting him a little stuffed toy.

  He guessed they knew each other without really knowing one another, but when Rob had needed a job, Dan gave it to him. When he needed to make extra money on the side, even though it was sure to be against some rules and regulations, Dan had looked the other way. He had given Rob a chance. Now it was up to him to repay that.

  “Not in the last half-hour. I’m about to go check in with them.” He hadn’t really planned on it, but knew he should.

  “Yeah. Why don’t you go do that.”

  Rob nodded and turned away, feeling his hip pop. It had been doing that a bit more since last night, and his lower back kept up a constant stream of uneasy reminders telling himhe couldn’t run like that anymore. He chose to ignore it as he limped toward the voices.