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“Not a problem. I’ll expect a call back with news that Levi’s on the trail. Please don’t make me drag the police into it.”
“Okay, I understand. I’ll call him right now,” she says apologetically before hangin up.
I cannot even believe what I’m dealin with here. I’m sure Fiona’s best friend is a great gal and all that, but I wouldn’t want her in my trench either. Fiona, on the other hand, is a fighter…and I trust she’s in no danger tonight. In all probability she’s chewin Quade out for once and for all, layin down the law.
If I make my gas stops quick and keep the pedal down through the night, without sleep, I should roll into Fairfield, IA at about eight in the mornin. I’m sure Holly will call back any moment and put my mind at ease, but I have no need for sleep. Pure, raw adrenaline is pumping through my veins, drivin me toward the goal like a bear to a hive.
An hour later I’m pressing, pressing, pressing toward the Midwest, when finally my phone rings. I can feel that it ain’t Fiona…somethin’s still wrong.
“Hey Bo, this is Levi. I have scoured this town for Quade’s car and I have not seen it. It’s a Royce too, real easy to spot. Quade recently confided he’d bought Fiona a new house, and admonished me to keep it a surprise at the time. He wouldn’t tell me the address, but Holly keeps track of every house on the market and somebody just purchased a great big brick Victorian…I highly suspect it was Quade. I’ve cased the place and all the lights are off, no car in the driveway. If it’s in the garage I’ve got no way to tell, but the place looks dark and empty to me. I’m afraid I just don’t have any other leads.”
Once Levi finally stops for a breath, panic overtakes me. Fiona’s literally a missing person. At least Levi’s on the ball, not to mention he has some efficiency at doling out information.
“Well damnit Levi, call the police?”
“You bet. Doin it right now. Over and out.”
I like this guy. I trust him. There has to be a simple explanation for this, and Levi sounds like he’s ready to get to the bottom of it. In ten minutes, when I haven’t heard anything, I ring Levi back.
“You’re not going to like this Bo,” he tells me in a downtrodden tone, “but the cops don’t take a report about a missing adult out with her ex husband very seriously. I tried to explain that Quade’s exhibited abusive behavior toward her and the guy actually laughed into the phone. When I raised my voice to cut back in, he told me I was out of line. Said they’d do a drive around and search for his car, which I told him I’ve already done.”
“Did you tell them he’s got her in that house?!”
“I did tell him about the house and he said they can’t break and enter without real cause. He told me to call in if she doesn’t show up tomorrow.”
I’m so angry, I fear I’m in serious danger of running off the road. I look at my speedometer and it reads 105. It’s all I can do not to stop and find something to pound my fists into, a sign, a tree, the side of my own truck…but it’s imperative I get to Fiona without interruption.
“Levi,” I say with measured steadiness, “you promise me you’ll go find a way to get into that house. Jimmy a lock, open a window…if it’s an old Victorian I’m confident you’ll figure it out.”
“Okay Bo,” Levi heaves out with a sigh. “Fiona’s her own woman and I’m sure she’s having some kind of heart to heart with Quade that she doesn’t want to interrupt, and she just hasn’t thought to call home. She gets caught up in the moment like that, you know? She’s used to living independently, not feeling obligated to report her whereabouts to—”
“Levi! Focus! You know better than me that somethin ain’t right between her and that weirdo she used to be married to. I don’t care how independent she is…somebody better get in that house and find her, pronto. I’ve got a sixth sense about this stuff and there’s a real bad feelin in my gut tonight. Understood?”
“Well I sure hope you’re wrong about that Bo, but I do understand. Let me go tinker around with the windows over there and I’ll call you back,” Levi says before abruptly hangin up.
Out of nowhere, my vision takes focus in a conscious way and I notice signs for Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The last time I had any comprehension of my surroundings, I must have still been in Florida. At the rate I’m drivin, I’ll be in Iowa in seven or eight hours…incredible timing. I’m very lucky the state troopers are asleep tonight; some guardian angels surely are on my side.
“I checked everything and that house is tight as a drum,” Levi reports an excruciating twenty minutes later.
“Well break a window, damnit!” I say with immediate regret. I don’t wanna piss off the one guy that can possibly help Fiona.
“I don’t know, Bo. If I break into that house tonight, the cops will obviously know who—”
“Are you tryin to tell me you’re gonna leave your own friend at the mercy of a deranged man because you’re afraid of gettin a slap on the wrist from local law enforcement?!” Silence. “That ain’t cool Levi. I know you believe everything’s probably okay and there’s an easy explanation and Fiona don’t wanna be bothered and all that, but what if you’re wrong? And if you’re not willing to bust into the only location we have reason to suspect she might be, then what exactly would you suggest doing instead?”
“No, you’re right. You’re right. Shit…I don’t even have tools in my car.”
I roll my eyes, wonderin what kind of man I’m dealin with here.
“There’s a stack of old firewood in the back. Maybe I could break a window with one of these logs.”
By this point I’m fuming, wishin to God I was there so I could just ram my fist through a pane of glass and be done with it. I swear nothin would feel better to me at this point. I hear the garbled scratching of bark against bark, followed shortly by a sharp bang. Then another one.
“Dang, these old glass panes are sturdy,” Levi mutters between heavy breaths before a final clang rings deafening through my phone speaker.
“You okay there buddy?” I ask out of politeness.
“Yeah, I’m alright. Wow…when it finally broke, the glass shattered all over the place. I’ve gotta pick a few giant shards out of the frame before I can squeeze in. Should I call you back after I’m in?”
