Ernie pressed the toe of his left runner against the heal of his right. Somehow, a pebble had hitched a ride inside his shoe.
He balanced on one foot. Scout pulled. He ended up on his knees next to a red mini van with tinted glass.
“Scout!” Ernie pulled on the leash. “Sit!” He did the same. Lifting the running shoe, he turned it upside down and watched the pebble fall out. “Now, where were we going?” he said while pulling his runner on.
The van’s fan whirred.
Why is its engine running? Ernie thought.
The van’s side door slid open.
Scout’s hair rose up. She growled and backed away.
“Wait.” The voice came from inside the van. The man seemed to fill the interior.
Ernie felt his mouth fall open and the sweat on his back chilled the length of his spine. It couldn’t be Uncle Bob, he thought. “No way.”
The van’s front door opened. A woman stepped out. Her hair was blonde, gelled and cut short. She wore a yellow tank top and a pair of black shorts with bulky military pockets. She opened the rear hatch.
There were goose bumps all along Ernie’s arms and he started to shiver. His mind reeled with memories of Uncle Bob.
Scout barked a warning as the man stepped onto the sidewalk. His white shirt stuck to his flesh. He had black hair and a salt and pepper beard.
Ernie thought, If it weren’t for the beard, he’d look just like, “Uncle Bob?” Ernie choked on the words.
The big man stood. His fly was open. One white shirt tail peeked out.
Big man took a step closer.
Scout barked.
The man stepped back. “Hey, Annie, grab some cheese outta my bag!”
Ernie’s wrist and elbow ached from the strain of holding Scout’s leash. “Uncle Bob?”
“I’m Ralph Devine,” Big man said.
“Here it is,” Annie said. She hefted the camera to her shoulder and tossed a bag of cheese.
Ernie couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen.
“You’re Ernie Rapozo.” Ralph fumbled with the bag, pulled out a piece of cheese and broke it in half. He offered it to Scout.
She sniffed the treat.
Ernie saw the shirt tail retract from Ralph’s fly. “How do you know my name?”
Ralph smiled. “It’s our job to know. We just want to ask you some questions. No harm in that?”
Ernie couldn’t stop shivering.
Scout growled as Ralph took a half step forward.
“You gettin’ this?” Ralph said to his partner.
“Rolling,” Annie crouched for a lower angle of the boy and the dog.
“Have you seen Bob Swatsky recently?” Ralph said. He opened his hand. Scout inched forward, then retreated without taking the cheese. Ralph closed his fist. “Come on baby.” With his other hand, he motioned Annie closer.
Ernie said, “How come it’s so cold?”
“You gotta be kiddin’,” Ralph said.
Ernie watched sweat form along Ralph’s hairline.
Annie moved onto the grass. Ralph moved toward Scout.
He revealed the cheese. Scout turned toward Annie.
Ernie blinked. In that instant, he imagined a knife. Ernie opened his eyes.
“Hey, stop it!” Annie said.
“What’s wrong?” Ralph kept his eyes on Ernie.
“Dog stuck his nose in my crotch.” Annie pointed the camera at Scout.
“Her,” Ernie said.
“What?” Ralph said.
“Scout’s a she, not a he,” Ernie said.
“Whatever.” Annie pointed the camera at Ernie. “Tell ‘her’ to stop.”
“You tell her,” Beth said.
Ralph looked past Ernie. Annie pointed the camera at Beth striding up the sidewalk in a pink nightshirt.
“Mom, you aren’t wearing a bra,” Ernie said.
“Where’d you go? I woke up and you were gone.” Beth leaned to help Ernie to his feet.
“Took the dog for a walk. Lisa was snoring. I couldn’t sleep.” Ernie swayed and Beth caught him around the shoulders. “Do you know where Bob Swatsky is?” Ralph said. Annie moved in for a close-up.
“Who are you?” Beth said.
“Ralph Devine. V-Channel. Do you know where Bob Swatsky is?”
“No.” Then Beth said to Ernie, “What’s the matter?”
“It’s cold out here.” Saliva collected at the back of his throat.
“Ernie, you on somethin’?” Devine said.
“Shit! Get your nose outta there!” Scout yelped and backed away. Annie tripped over a crack in the sidewalk.
The camera fell. Annie reached. It rolled away from her.
“Ow!” The lens hit her toe before the camera toppled onto its side and scattered bits of plastic onto the sidewalk. “Stupid dog!”
Ernie leaned forward and heaved. Vomit spilled onto the sidewalk.
Devine stepped back, “My shoes!”
Ernie shivered uncontrollably.
“Ernie!” Beth said as she held him by the shoulders. She shifted a hand to his forehead.
Ernie heaved.
“Ernie!” Beth looked around, searching for help.
Devine picked up bits of the camera, “Think it’ll still work?”
Annie said, “I’m callin’ an ambulance, lady.”
Beth said, “I don’t want to leave a message. I want to talk with Detective Lane. Don’t put me on hold. I don’t want to talk with anyone else. I left his pager number at home in my purse. I left in a hurry. I’m in my nightshirt at the Foothills Hospital Emergency and I’m in no mood for any double talk.” She repeated the doctor’s questions in her mind, ‘Is your son depressed? Have his sleeping patterns altered? Is he eating? Has he lost weight? Any problems at home?’ She looked above the phone. The sign read HAVE YOU BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED? Below the sign was a list of numbers.
“We’re trying to locate him,” the male voice said.
“Thank you.” Beth leaned forward. Tears rolled off the tip of her nose.
“All I’m saying is I’m considering it,” Lane said. They sat at the back of the coffee shop. The walls were a forest green.
Green and white checkered table cloths matched green and white floor tiles. Lane sipped a black Colombian. Harper stirred a latte. The window at the other end of the shop overlooked the Stephen Avenue Mall.
Harper said, “It goes against everything we’ve been taught.”
“Yes, everything we’re trained to do.”
“Not just that. Look what’s happened as a result of it,”
Harper said.
“The whole problem is my theory’s based on a maximum of three witnesses. Two are dead. Now, there may only be one person who knows the whole story and he’s not talking. If we threaten him or get tough, he’ll clam up and we’ll end up with less than we’ve got now.”
“The theory matches the facts.” Harper leaned back in his chair.
“Then, how do we prove it?”
“The location of the body seems the obvious place to start. And it’s the location that makes it all so damned complicated. How’d you think of it?”
“Went to Hawaii when I was a kid. Took a guided tour of Oahu. The Vietnam War was still going on and there was a military cemetery. The army came up with a way to save space when the cemetery started to fill up.” His cell phone rang. “Lane here. She still on the line? Give her my cell number and ask her to call.” Lane looked at Harper. “It’s Beth.”
The cell phone rang. “Beth?”
Beth said, “Yes. Ernie’s in emergency. He’s still having flashbacks. He’s not eating. This morning some reporters tried to talk to him and we ended up here.”
Lane reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a notebook. “Slow down. Are the doctors with him now?”
“They’re waiting for the results of some more blood tests. They say it looks like his electrolytes are out of whack. Whatever that means.”
“Is he going to be admitted?” Lane said.
“They haven’t decided yet, besides, I don’t think it’s about his blood.”
You’re wrong there, this is all about blood and relatives, Lane thought. “How can I help?”