The Edgewater Stargate

by Richard Allan

  Just then the police plus two paramedics showed up at the door. The two cops took a quick look around with their pistols out and at the ready to secure the scene for the EMT’s safety. They immediately started working on Justin and Brent find out what class of “Roofie” they were given to knock them out.

  Jackie filled the police in on the missing woman, Jan Marie, plus her car’s license plate number, so they quickly called in an “All Points Bulletin” on her plus her vehicle. Next they asked Brent what had transpired in his case plus what was stolen.

  “So the motive seems to be robbery, but why would they kidnap a woman who is seven months pregnant?” The lead officer told Jackie.

  Jackie immediately called Janice to inform her of her daughter’s disappearance. Sonny went ballistic and made a few phone calls back east to the “Family” who were sending a couple of men out on the next plane to meet up with him in Big Sur, to try to help get his daughter back. Jackie knew what the possibilities could be, like some crazed satanic cult, a good example being the Manson Family. Or some crazies wanting to perform a ritual or just maybe the kidnappers had known that her family was rich and they just wanted to collect a sizeable ransom in return for her safe release… But she kept her thoughts to herself and especially away from the heartbroken and completely devastated Justin.

  Chapter Five

  One Month Later…

  It was an unusually warm, sunny early morning spring day in La Jolla. The norm for that time of year was foggy conditions until around mid day when the unwanted fog would be burned off at some point in the early afternoon. The tide was due to reach its low point at eleven fifty seven that morning. There were already a handful of local surfers on the beach at Windansea, in La Jolla, and were getting primed up for the perfect surf conditions. The weakening of the Santa Ana winds blowing in from off of the distant desert floor was a good thing. Although the welcome dry breeze was still blowing offshore with enough steam to help shape the hollow waves, while sending spectacular sprays of blow back, off from the lips of the six to eight foot swells…Justin’s younger brother Bradley was missing his brother’s company but managed to keep the construction business alive through his sibling’s dark period. But today he would go surfing nonetheless and just try to forget about all of the negative going on around them…

  Justin had been going back and forth to Big Sur along with Sonny to meet with Jackie, who was coordinating things pertaining to the kidnapping and had hired the best private detective in the area to take Jan Marie’s case. But after month the case was dry with absolutely no leads whatsoever. Mr. Jensen, the Private Investigator, said in all of his twenty five years as a Detective on the San Francisco Police Department plus his five years as a private dick, he has never come across a cold case like this one before. It is almost like she disappeared into thin air…

  Then the big break came in the case when Jensen was at ‘Jackie’s upstairs apartment one afternoon looking for some answers that could lead them closer to solving the case. Justin just happened to be there with Jackie on that Sunday afternoon when he noticed a camera out over her balcony that was aimed to scan the parking lot. She didn’t know it but it had been recording too, just as the recorder in her office but they were not even connected to the same recording device. That camera plus the one mounted above the balcony, on the room directly over room seven, were sent directly to the Tech Force security alarm company’s main office, where it was safely being recorded on tape twenty four / seven. Jackie gave Mr. Jensen the alarm company’s business card and he called and asked to speak to the owner.

  “Hello, this is Drake Salvetti, owner and CEO of Tech Force Security Systems LLC. How may I be of service to you?” He said cordially.

  “Good day Drake, this Mr. Jensen, I’m a private investigator on the missing person’s case involving a female named Jan Marie Martin, she vanished from the Edgewater Inn a month ago. I was wondering how you set up the surveillance cameras, let me ask you a question sir, where do you feed the visual from the two cameras mounted over the balconies upstairs?”

  “Okay Mr. Jensen, those relay the video feed directly here to our main office for security reasons so a bad guy just can’t remove the tape at the scene of a crime to hide the evidence. We offer this service for no extra charge.” Drake replied.

  “Hallelujah! . . . Mr. Salvetti, Sir I will be at your office in forty minutes and maybe sooner, please stay put until I get there!” Mr. Jensen said having maybe just broken the most difficult case of his entire career wide open. Justin and Jackie rode along as Mr. Jensen was whistling a happy tune the whole way. They rushed into the “Tech Force Security & Alarms” main headquarters entrance and they were met by Drake Salvetti in person.

  “You must be Mr. Jensen the P. I.?” Drake Salvetti queried as he lead them down a hallway to the control room full of monitor screens and security tech’s studying them closely.

  “Now Jackie as in your case we gave you the basic one time installation fee only and with no active twenty four monitoring. But we do include the free service of down loading and saving the scanned videos here on a hard drive, now what was the date of her disappearance?” Drake inquired as Jackie and Justin both answered at the same time, “The early morning hours on the twenty second of September a month ago.”

  “Okay, let’s begin rolling the video starting at midnight.” Drake said as he geared the device up. But when it started playing they could see that the two cameras did not cover the downstairs walkway in front of the rooms or the office area either but the one on Jackie’s balcony scanned the western half of the parking lot and had the arch way dead nuts in the center of its sights. The other panned to the right in case somebody tried to break in from that side of the building. The van and Jan Marie’s BMW were just out of the camera’s line of sight, Justin was thinking, “That if only they had parked just a little bit more to the right!” Mr. Jensen yelled out “BINGO!” as he clapped his hands together in joy, because when the video reached the fourth hour they were shocked down to their bones to see that a little girl wearing a white dress, was leading Jan Marie slowly across the parking lot towards the oval shaped arch way...

  “This is incredible . . . Oh My God! That is the same little spooky girl that was hovering over our bed before, just two nights before this tape was filmed.” Justin was floored, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as Jackie turned to give him a big hug whispering to him that Jan Marie and his baby would be alright and also that she would soon return back to him… He began praying out loud repeatedly and unashamed - right in front of everybody.

  The video further showed the little girl passing through the stargate while positioning the sleep walking Jan Marie smack dab in the middle in the oval arch’s center point, where she began slowly fading away until there was nothing left of her… They were all blown away by this incredible event, plus the four other computer security tech’s in the room with them who were mesmerized by that documented paranormal spectacle and were blown completely away… Drake mentioned to the others that so many videos of paranormal activities posted on YouTube are so ridiculously fraudulent and fictitious, but they were now in the presence of the real deal. Justin was flipping out and panicking as he began to cry thinking about his poor helpless unborn son…

  “Jackie . . . please call Jan Marie’s friend Ashley to tell her the strange news we just found out…” Justin asked softly while he physically was coming apart at the seams… This was too much for him to handle and Jackie was well aware of the situation, plus knew that she would have to prepare him mentally for what surprises they may face just up ahead of them.

  “You do know Jackie I will need that video for the police investigation and I know of one lousy douche bag punk, with a brightly colored Mohawk that has now just escaped the death penalty. You guys do know who I’m talking about right? That freaking piece of shit that was caught red handed on the same morning of the twenty second of September, while driving her stolen car around the streets near Fres
no and he was even wearing her sunglasses when he was picked up by Fresno Police Department and hey Drake can one of your guys make this nice lady up a copy of it, because I know she would definitely want one because after all, it is her property and her line of work as well?” Mr. Jensen inquired as Jackie stepped over to give him a hug and a peck on his cheek, then sincerely thanked him for the fine job he had done in solving the case.

  “Johnny, can you please come over here for a minute and make Ms. Pike a copy of the fourth hour…” Drake ordered his employee.

  “She will return Justin . . . I had a premonition last night where I saw her and your son together, sitting in a peaceful garden, near a flowing stream…” Jackie consoled.

  They all left the office and walked outside into the bright daylight, maybe a little bit more on the positive side than before . . . but Justin still had his doubts about his missing soul mate and son’s nefarious disappearance and of their possible whereabouts...

  The End