After Missy’s hunting expedition, they resumed their trek toward the east. Around 1:30 they bypassed the south edge of Lincoln. To the east and north stood two familiar landmarks. The first was the Nebraska State Capitol building, considered to be one of the most beautiful in the nation. The acoustics inside the rotunda were reported to be stunning for the occasional musical performances held there. The second was Memorial Stadium, the home of Nebraska Cornhusker football. On a football Saturday at home, the typical sell-out crowd qualified as the third largest city in the state. Bert wasn’t stopping to enjoy the attractions, though, and the city was soon in the rearview mirror as he guided the doghouse east on Nebraska Highway 2.
Bert cast more glances toward his spirit wife and marveled again at her beauty and grace. He wondered if her shoulder length red hair was getting longer. It wasn’t but gave that impression right then. Even with her spirit, the love he always felt for her was hard to describe.
“Sweetheart,” he said, “I’m very anxious to know what kind of signs or visions you pick up once we meet up with this young man.”
“I know, Honey, I’m curious about that also. The one overriding feeling I get from this case so far is that of intense sadness. I feel that this lad has suffered emotionally more than we know.” Her face was devoid of happiness.
He knew she was feeling a pain that she didn’t understand; feeling it deeply. During some of these cases, he felt sorry for his wife. She experienced on some level what the victim’s lived through, but without the understanding which they may have had. It was tough on her.
Bert called Robert to update their arrival time, which looked to be just a few minutes before 3:00. Robert asked if they could meet downtown at the Buck Snort café, a place well known locally for its American cuisine, especially hamburgers. Bert couldn’t help but chuckle at some of the other connotations for the name, one of which involved flatulence. His chuckle turned into an outright laugh, which Norah was soon repeating. They alternately laughed and tried to get serious for several miles before getting past the humor. Bert couldn’t help but wonder why their client chose this place to meet. They nevertheless drove into downtown Nebraska City and parked near the front of the restaurant.
After meeting Robert Sturdevant outside the café, however, it quickly became apparent why he chose that place to meet. On Thursday, July 8th, 2010, Robert had lunch there with his mother, Vicki. When they left about 1:00 PM, it would prove to be the last time he saw her. He hadn’t been back to the place since then, until meeting Bert there.
Bert suggested that they go inside and see if the setting could trigger latent memories which might be helpful. Norah would sit unseen near them and quietly listen and read the hidden messages which Robert might divulge. Missy hunkered down in the back of the doghouse, dividing her time between watching the street and napping.
The former Army officer studied this 23-year-old young man as he removed his dark brown, hooded parka. Wearing tan slacks and a light blue dress shirt, he looked to be about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with slender build, thick and somewhat unruly dark hair, brown eyes and a slightly narrow face which seemed incapable of smiling. He spoke quietly, almost timidly, in a halting and seemingly unsure manner. He immediately gave Bert the impression of someone who lacked self-confidence. He felt a sense of sadness come over him for this lad. Robert was the first client for whom he felt pity.
Robert described how he had taken a lunch break that hot day in July from his fast food job to meet his mother for lunch. He was sixteen at the time, in high school and very devoted to his mother. She was equally devoted to him, her only child. His father had died years earlier in a vehicle accident. Robert was five at the time he lost his Dad, so Vicki essentially raised him by herself. She was a bookkeeper and did office work at several local places in order to provide for herself and her son. Because of the long hours she worked, usually six days a week, he didn’t get to spend much time with her. Not nearly as much time as he wanted.
“What did you talk about with your mother that day, Robert?” Bert asked.
Robert thought for what seemed like several minutes. “I think she mostly kept telling me how much she loved me and wished she had more time with me,” he replied. “She seemed to be sad that day. And was upset about something, I think.”
“Did she say why she was upset?” Bert inquired.
Robert said, “No sir. She told me she had to do something after lunch, though. It seemed to be hard for her. She seemed kinda mad.”
“It must not have been a very good lunch meeting, then, if your mom was angry,” Bert suggested.
“You’re right about that, sir, Bert. She seemed to be distracted. She went to the bathroom once. I think she also made a phone call.”
“Was she working that day?” Bert asked.
“No, sir,” Robert responded. “It was her day off that week. I do remember that. But she said she had to go do something. She didn’t say what.”
“Do you have any idea who she called? Or who she was going to meet?”
“No, sir,” Robert said.
Bert asked, “where was your mother working at that time, Robert?”
Robert wasn’t sure but thought she might have been working for an insurance company that week.
The police report would provide most of the details that he wanted, so Bert continued to probe Robert’s memories about that day and his mother’s state of mind. He found out that Vicki did temporary bookkeeping and office work for the insurance company, two real estate firms and one church. With the four employers, she worked nearly sixty-hour weeks, often six days a week. On the side, she pursued her own business in real estate investment. Robert didn’t realize until after his mother’s disappearance that her net worth was almost a million dollars. She had become wealthy and almost nobody knew it. Yet, she had become very unhappy in the months leading up to her disappearance and nobody seemed to know why.
The police report about his mother’s disappearance was in Robert’s possession, and he handed his copy over to Bert. As Bert had requested earlier, he also brought along his mother’s favorite silver hairbrush. The few intertwined hairs should provide enough scent for Missy, Bert hoped. His mother was a bit of a loner. However, Robert had located one of her old friends who was willing to talk with him. Patricia Domenica and Vicki had met in church and were friends for about ten years before Vicki vanished.
“Do you still go to the same church as before when your mother was here?” he asked Robert.
“Yes,” Robert said, “I’ve been going to the same church with mom for a long time; at least the same one as when she was here.”
“What church is that?” Bert asked.
“We were going to the Calvary Community Church at the south edge of town,” answered Robert.
“Is that the church she did books for?” asked Bert.
“No,” Robert said. “She did books for another church, a Catholic church.”
“Oh, okay. I guess that’s a big church that needed her services.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” said Robert. “She worked there for many years; I think. I don’t remember much about that period.”
The next day was Sunday, and Robert invited Bert to go to the morning service with him. At first Bert was about to decline, but he decided to go and see what else might be learned.
The strain on the young man’s face told Bert it was time to wrap up the interview. Now that he had the police report and the name of a friend to talk with, there were things he could do without his client being present. As he walked with Robert back to his car, he knew the fellow was fighting back tears. Bert knew he shouldn’t let his own emotions get in the way of the investigation, but it could be difficult sometimes. This was probably going to be one of those times. He waved as Robert drove away and then he returned to his own vehicle. Norah was already there, along with Missy.
“Well, Sweetheart,” he asked, “what do you think of the talk with Robert?”
She answered in a
quiet voice. “Honey, I’m getting a dark vision; dark emotionally. As he talked, I began to see him standing looking through an open door into another room. That room was empty and totally dark, as if it’s a void. I think it represents the pain of a very dark side of him or maybe the past.”
Bert took that in. “Umm, that’s interesting. So, is he hiding something from us; or is there a part of his past that has been shut out? A memory too painful to accept into his consciousness. Could it be both?”
“What if he did something to cause his mother’s disappearance?” Norah asked. “He’s suffered for a long time and he still suffers.”
“Wow,” Bert replied. “Could he have done something to his mother, and then be hiding behind the shame and guilt to the point that his mind denies the reality?”
They pondered these questions as they drove in silence to a motel on the edge of town. Missy needed some nearby open space in which to run for a while and maybe find another mouse. After that, it would be time to call Becky and the friend of the missing woman and then begin to read the police report. It was already a long day; they needed some down time.
Chapter Six: Other Things
After closing her phone following the morning call with Bert and Norah, Becky leaned back in the comfortable easy chair and enjoyed the small but cozy wood stove in the Hayden’s cabin. She had decided to have a breakfast of fruit and cereal by herself on this Saturday morning and plan her pursuit of the truth regarding the principals in this case. The first person she wanted to look more closely at was daycare worker, Jeremy Hinderman.
A call to Jeremy’s aunt, who worked at Honeybee Daycare for about fifteen years, didn’t tell her much. According to this lady, Jeremy had always been a nice kid, never got into trouble and was generally liked by everyone. She didn’t know much about his college years other than he graduated with a degree in a child-related discipline. The boy’s parents had both died some years earlier, so this aunt was his family in Red Lodge.
Becky searched online to see what she could find out about Jeremy via his University of Wyoming public records and his social media use. She eventually found out that he had worked as an intern at a local Laramie elementary school and part-time at a daycare facility. It took a couple of hours of calls to finally get in touch with someone at both places with some knowledge of Jeremy.
A teacher named Karen told Becky that Jeremy did a lot of his assistant teaching in her second and third grade classes. She didn’t see anything that she considered a problem, although she did finally admit that he seemed to show a little favoritism toward the girls in the classes. Karen didn’t perceive any real issues with that, though, because everyone has their favorites.
The daycare was cautious about giving any information over the phone, so Becky arranged to drive to Laramie on Monday and meet with an assistant director who claimed to know about Jeremy’s work there. They set aside two hours at a nearby coffee shop to meet and talk. By the end of the call, it was nearly 1:00 in the afternoon and she still hadn’t talked with Lizzie. Becky called her.
Lizzie was starting her Saturday at a slow pace, cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry. She told Becky that Summer was going out with her grandparents soon for a couple of hours that afternoon and said they’d probably not mind if she went with them. It’d be another opportunity to be around Summer as well as pick their brains about her. Becky was excited about that, so Lizzie called them to arrange it. They’d be at Lizzie’s house to get Summer in about fifteen minutes. Becky scurried around the cabin getting herself ready to go.
Becky greeted Summer with a warm hug and a brief talk, kneeling to the child’s level. Then she stood up to introduce herself to John and Sandy Hayden, Guy’s parents. Both were moderately tall and good looking, like their son, and their dark hair was greying. John was the talkative one, while Sandy was quiet but warm and friendly. An obvious gentleman, John opened the door of their Jeep wagon and held it for Becky.
“How about one of those great pizza’s and a shake, sweetie, then we can check out that new rock-climbing place?” John said to Summer.
“Oh, yes, yes, Grandpa. I’d like that,” replied his granddaughter.
“You up for some pizza, Miss Becky?” asked John.
“Well, I’m up for it, if my waistline will agree,” Becky said with a chuckle. “That’d give me the chance to get to know you and your family better.”
“That would be great,” said Sandy. “We love to talk about our family. Right Summer?”
Summer nodded her agreement without saying anything.
They drove down to main street and back to their favorite pizza diner. Over pizza, Becky found out that the grandparents also knew about Summer’s frequent and mysterious drawings. Sandy told Becky that Summer would draw one or the other, sometimes both, nearly every time she stayed with them. She admitted that this might be partly because they usually encouraged Summer to work on her artistic talents. Neither grandparent had an explanation for the two odd drawings. They both said that Summer couldn’t explain why she drew them. It would upset her if they pressed her for an explanation.
Becky turned the conversation to their son, Guy, and asked about his background. Sandy described a son, normal by most standards, but did admit that he was a little wild as a teenager. He fancied himself a lady’s man, she said.
“I understand that Guy went to college at Oregon State University,” Becky said, “was he a good boy in college?” She laughed.
“Oh my, how does a mother know the answer to that?” Sandy said. “All I can tell you is that he graduated with a B average and got a good job back home. And we now have a beautiful little granddaughter.” She stroked Summer’s dark brunette hair.
Becky then asked, “was Guy always interested in the airport business?”
“Yes,” his mother answered, “he even got hired as an airline steward and did that for the first couple years after graduating.”
“I bet a good looking’ guy like him was a thrill to work with for the female flight attendants,” Becky said with a smile.
Sandy laughed. “Oh yes, he loved the work. We were very surprised when he suddenly quit after two years and applied for the airport job here.”
Becky answered, “Oh, yeah, that would have been a big surprise. Did he say why he left such a cushy job for so much responsibility?”
“I think he got tired of all those beautiful women hitting on him,” laughed his dad. “Us guys in this family get tired of being sex symbols.”
They all laughed at that. Sandy chimed back, “Well, I wouldn’t get too tired of it, Honey, because you might lose the title if you don’t behave.”
John laughed. “Yes, babe, I’m very aware of that. You’ve tamed me, just like Lizzie tamed our son. We’re now under control of our gals and glad to be.”
Sandy looked at Becky and gave a wink. “Well, just keep the bridle on, Sweetheart, and you’ll be fine. How about we go see how well Summer can climb. I’m very curious about that new wall climbing business.”
Becky listened intently to the talk. She perceived more than was being said between John and Sandy. It felt like there was an undercurrent of friction hidden beneath the words. Was Guy more like his father than had been let on? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, they say. Are there secrets inside the walls of these seemingly perfect families? If so, to what extent do they touch Summer?
When she looked at Summer, Becky felt a feeling of anxiety and uncertainty. Was this feeling emanating from Summer? Or was it really Becky’s own insecurities about the case? Was she qualified to be working a case like this? She knew she could not allow such a thought to dominate her thinking. Like it or not, she was working this case and she just had to keep her head clear, think with logic and reasoning and press on.
Becky closed her eyes and cleared her mind for just a couple of seconds, focusing on the child. Yes, she thought, the anxiety is coming from Summer. The question is “why?”
“Hey, let’s go see that new cl
imbing wall, ladies,” John said enthusiastically. “I want to see our granddaughter scale that thing like a pro.” He stood up, took Summer’s hand and headed for the car. Becky and Sandy followed in close pursuit.
A short drive later, they arrived at the tall metal buildings which now housed the rock-climbing wall that was the buzz of the town. The old building had formerly been a grain storage facility but had gone out of business several years earlier before a local partnership bought it and developed it into the climbing wall. Now, all the local climbers had a place to tune up their skills before tackling the real mountain walls just a few miles out of town. The kiddy wall was becoming popular with the young future climbers. With their safety harnesses on the kids had as much fun losing their grip as making it to the top. This would be Summer’s first trip to try this new adventure.
Into the Light Page 7
