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Kenneth
Something’s not right.
I’ve made three calls to Tamara to check up on her and there’s been no answer to any of them. Deciding to go to her place to see if she is there, I hop on my bike. Fifteen minutes later, I’m in her driveway. No car, no answer at the door. Panic begins to crawl up my spine, causing the hairs on my neck to stand.
Maybe she’s still at work so I ride my bike to the office. Relief washes over me as I see her car come into view. But that still doesn’t answer the question of her not answering the phone. Driving into the lot, I park my bike next to Tamara’s car and check inside for anything amiss.
Since, nothing looks out of place, I scan the lot to see if anyone is lurking in the shadows. Nope. That’s a good sign. Tamara has been through so much lately that she could be having a nervous breakdown.
Heading across the lot to the door, another thought occurs to me that stops me cold. Maybe Jason’s theory is correct. She could very well be in that office throwing things and writing herself another huge check. Shaking my head, I wave off the doubt in my head. My gut says something very different as I approach the door and open it, which is surprising to me.
Recalling Jason earlier telling me about the fallout and how Charlotte’s actions towards Tamara were crazy, my senses lead me in a different direction. Now inside, I close the door behind me quietly and sneak around the corner to her office, keeping an eye out for anyone that could be here. Tamara’s light in her office is on.
As I step to the doorway, panic takes another step up the ladder. Her bag of work papers, her phone, and purse are still in here. A partially drunk cup of coffee has a lipstick mark on the rim. I’m nervous and I know something bad is happening.
I call Jason, to see if he might know where she is. While I’m waiting for him to pick up, I retrace my actions before I came here.
“This is Jason,” he answers his phone.
“Jason, it’s Ken,” I’m speaking quietly so that any person would have a difficult time hearing me.
Being the funny guy that he is, he jokingly mocks me. “Why are we whispering?”
“I’m at the office and unless Tamara’s a good actress, something’s wildly off,” I say, rubbing a hand through my hair. I sit down in her chair while I talk to him.
“Maybe she’s running an errand?” he says.
I look out the door to her office and back at her items that are still here. “No, I don’t think she’d leave her phone and purse here if she’s just running an errand, Jason. But, I suppose that’s reasonable. I have a terrible feeling about this.”
“Hmm,” he says on the other end. “You’re at the office, you say?”
“Yep, hanging out with bad mojo, man,” thinking about the Charlotte thing with Tamara earlier, I tell Jason,. “I’ve not touched or moved anything, because I know the ‘triple threat’ of officers will need to take a billion pics.”
He laughs on the other end, “Right? Just sit tight, I’ll be there momentarily.”
I hang up, taking note of all the possibilities this could turn into. Maybe someone kidnapped her. Perhaps she is hurt and has no way to talk to anyone. What if the person responsible for cutting her tires and that warning note has her or done something to her?
A couple minutes later, Jason is in the office doorway, staring at me. “Hey, man. Are you doing okay?”
“Just have a bad conviction regarding this whole thing,” I wave a hand around the office as I stand up. “We just need to search around here to see if anything is out of place or not the normal.”
“Gotcha,” he turns from the door, but then faces me again. “Together or do we split up?”
“I think searching together is better in this moment because we aren’t sure what we’re dealing with,” I state my opinion.
“Alright. Let’s go,” he says. We start checking the offices down her hall. Jason loudly whispers, “Nothing in here.”
“Same here,” I say as we circle back to the main room, checking corners and small places.
Finding nothing, Jason searches the kitchen and I look in the conference room. A smile crosses my face as I recall the hot sex we had in here the one day. Amazing… that’s a good day for anyone.
My smile fades as Jason returns. “Nothin’ doin’ in the kitchen.”
“Okay, the only place left is the outside,” I turn to go out the door with him following.
Looking through the garage and the trucks in there, we find nothing, not even in the lockers. Jason checks the supply room, just off to the edge of the garage. I search for a flashlight to help us see better in the field. Finding a large one, I test it to see if it’s working correctly.
Ow, bright light!
