It’s now squatting in the rough just north of the fourth hole. He runs toward it, then thinks better of that, and walks briskly.
‘Come here, doggy,’ he says.
After putting the dog into the back of the car he slips in behind the wheel. He reaches to the glove box and flips it open. He fumbles around in there, finding and discarding pens and napkins and other shit he’s stored there, till his fingers find what they were feeling for. He pulls out a travel-size mouthwash he keeps for just these occasions, takes a swig, gargles, and spits out the window.
Then he’s on his way. His goal for the day is fifty bucks.
As he drives past College Avenue he sees Ian Hunt’s Mustang stopped at the intersection, waiting for traffic. They wave to one another, and then Diego is past and Ian’s Mustang is making a right onto Crockett behind him, presumably heading toward the police station, though that’s not where Diego is headed himself.
Now that most of the alcohol is out of his system he’s hungry again.
Ian pushes into the police station. Chief Davis is sitting at his desk flipping through paperwork. He looks up as Ian walks in and says, ‘Mornin’.’
‘Yup. What’s Diego working so early for?’
‘He’s not working.’
‘No?’
Chief Davis shakes his head. ‘Someone crashed into Pastor Warden’s fence and all his dogs got out. Came into Roberta’s last night and offered ten bucks a head for their return.’
Ian nods. ‘Any news about Maggie?’
Chief Davis was smiling when talking about the dogs, but the smile’s gone now. ‘No. Old man at the shoe shop didn’t recognize any pictures and the rendering Sizemore’s boys got from him looks like a bald John Goodman. Useless old fucker. We’re still waiting on prints from the phone, though. Hopefully that’ll lead to something. Also, Sizemore’s got Bill Finch and John Nance looking through records of any missing kids in the county, seeing if he can find a connection between them.’
‘Finch?’
Chief Davis shrugs. ‘Wasn’t my call.’
‘I know it.’ Ian turns toward the dispatch office, then turns back. ‘Think you could call Sizemore, see if we can’t get copies of those files they’re looking at? Maybe I can poke through them myself.’
Chief Davis nods. ‘I’ll do that. Maybe send Thompson over to pick them up. By the way, you see this?’ He holds up a copy of the Tonkawa County Democrat. Ian walks over and grabs it. On the first page of the twenty-page broadsheet, above the fold, this:
KIDNAPPED GIRL ONCE THOUGHT DEAD DISCOVERED ALIVE
Ian begins reading the opening paragraph thinking she was discovered alive the same way a man punched in the nose discovers a fist.
He reads about Maggie being kidnapped while her parents were ‘out of the house on a date’, about how she was declared dead, about how there was a funeral ‘despite a body never being discovered’. He reads a description of the kidnapper that could be a description of anybody of a certain age. He throws the paper onto Davis’s desk.
‘Did you call them?’
Chief Davis shakes his head. ‘Sizemore. He made a statement to local news channels too. It got her picture out, and a description of her kidnapper. And it put his number in people’s faces. “If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Magdalene Hunt or her kidnapper please call the Tonkawa County Sheriff’s Department.” You know the drill. We need it out there. Improves our odds.’
‘Kidnapped while both her parents were out of the house on a date.’ Ian shakes his head. ‘Makes it sound like we just left a seven-year-old alone to fend for herself.’
‘You weren’t there. It’s the truth, ain’t it?’
‘It’s the facts,’ Ian says. ‘It’s not the truth.’
‘It got her picture into the paper, anyway, and on the TV.’
Ian nods, then walks to the dispatch office. At the doorway he says, ‘Don’t forget to call the sheriff for those files, huh?’
‘I won’t.’
Ian walks to the coffee pot and gets it started, then to his desk where he falls into his chair. He exhales a heavy sigh and puts on his headset.
Doing this feels strange. Wrong. He should be out looking for Maggie. He should be out finding her. That’s what he should be doing and it’s what he wants to be doing. But until there are some fingerprint matches with known criminals, or until he gets those files from the sheriff’s office, or until some piece of evidence reveals itself, there’s really nothing to go on. Here, at least, he can accomplish something. It’s a small town and often his days are slow, but in his time in Bulls Mouth he’s helped save more than one life. If he can’t save Maggie’s yet, well, maybe he can save someone else’s. It might help to expend some of this sick energy building in his gut that comes from needing to move forward while being simultaneously locked into place by circumstance. Like trying to fire a live round through a leaded barrel, he’s afraid the whole thing might blow up. If he can feel useful in some way maybe he can relieve a bit of the pressure, making the wait tolerable.
‘Nine-one-one,’ he says. ‘What is your emergency?’
‘I can’t find my car keys.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘I’m late and I can’t find my car keys.’
Ian sighs. ‘What do you want me to do about it, Thompson?’
‘I don’t know, look around.’
‘They’re not here or you couldn’t have driven home.’
‘Well, shit.’
‘Did you check your pocket?’
‘Did I. .’ A startled laugh. ‘Well, I’ll be goddamned.’
Ian pours himself a cup of coffee and drinks it in near silence, the only sound the swamp cooler rattling in the window.
‘Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?’
‘Hello.’ A small girl’s small voice.
‘Hello. Are you playing with the phone?’
‘No.’
‘Who are you calling?’
‘I’m calling emburgancy.’
‘You are?’
‘Uh-huh. Are you emburgancy?’
‘Yes, I’m emergency. What’s your name?’
‘Thalia.’
‘Hi, Thalia, why are you calling emergency?’
‘My mommy.’
‘What’s wrong with your mommy?’
‘She won’t get up.’
‘What happened, Thalia?’
‘Daddy stopped her.’
‘Daddy stopped her?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘What did he stop her doing?’
‘Packing a suitcase.’
‘Was she trying to leave?’
There is silence from the other end of the line.
After a moment: ‘Thalia?’
‘Yes?’
‘Did you just nod your head?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘Mommy was trying to leave?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘Mommy was packing a suitcase and Daddy stopped her?’
‘Yes.’
‘How did he stop her?’
‘He hitted her.’
‘Where is he now?’
‘He went to gone.’
‘He’s not at home anymore?’
‘No.’
‘Where’s Mommy, Thalia?’
‘She’s tired.’
‘Where is she?’
‘In her bedroom.’
‘Is she asleep?’
‘Daddy hitted her and made her take a nap.’
‘When?’
‘Before he went to gone. She won’t wake up. I’m hungry.’
‘Is Mommy bleeding?’
‘Is it okay to call emburgancy to be hungry?’
‘It’s fine, Thalia. Is Mommy bleeding?’
‘She stopped.’
‘Okay. I’m going to send a policeman over to say hello, okay? I want you to stay on the phone till he arrives.’
‘Police man is the good guys.’
‘Will you stay on the phone with me, Thalia?’
‘Okay.’
Ian is looking through the files that the sheriff’s department photocopied for him when he hears Diego push into the station and mumble a greeting at Chief Davis. Ian takes off his headset, gets to his feet, and walks to the door connecting the dispatch office to the main department.
Diego falls onto the couch which sits against the front wall. An unlit hand-rolled cigarette hangs from his face. He pushes his sunglasses up onto his head, pinning back his wavy hair. He looks very tired and his eyes are red. When he sees Ian standing in the doorway he nods toward him and grunts a greeting.