CHAPTER 9: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF RISA

Justin returned to Brown Hall a little past 10pm. His teammates had returned thirty minutes earlier from the district meet. Everyone was waiting in the common room of their suite when Justin returned.

The mood was somber. Although everyone welcomed him back, Justin could tell something bad had happened.

“Come on guys, what’s up?” Justin asked.

Earl was the one that spoke up. “Buddy, I hate to tell you, but you’ve been kicked out of Brown Hall. You’re supposed to report tomorrow to the housing director. They’re going to put you back in Rowlison Hall.”

“Why?” Justin asked with a shocked look on his face.

“Karl Gholson told Coach Moffitt that because of your injury, you weren’t able to participate with the team, so you should not be in the athletic dorm. Coach was very upset. He argued for you. But Karl Gholson is the athletic director. His decision is the way it has to go.”

“That just doesn’t make sense, Earl. My foot is healing. I’ll be completely healthy for track practice next semester.”

“That’s not the only thing, Justin,” Earl said. “You’re no longer going to drive the team to our meets. We’re being assigned a new bus driver.”

“Damn, so I won’t be able to see you guys compete for the rest of the season.”

“Tell him the rest,” Bobby said to Earl.

“What else?” Justin asked.

“Coach was told that he could not allow you to run track or cross-country for S of O. He was also told that none of the members of our team are to have any contact with you. We’re not supposed to spend time with you. We can’t even talk to you,” Earl said.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Justin said. “Why would they do this to me?”

“It’s not them, Justin. It is Karl Gholson. You need to talk to him. He wants to see you first thing in the morning,” Earl replied.

That’s when Earl handed him a handwritten note. As he did, Earl put his index finger over his lips to indicate that he shouldn’t say a word. The note said:

The room is bugged. We are being listened to. Don’t say anything else. I’ll get a hold of you when it is safe to talk.

After showing Justin the note, Earl took it away. He went into the kitchen, turned the stove on and burned the note.

The next morning Justin woke and went straight to the athletic building. Coach Moffit was waiting for him outside the building.

“I’m sorry, Justin. I’m afraid that you have been cut from the cross-country and track teams. I want you to know that it wasn’t my decision, but there is nothing that I can do about it. I wish you the very best, son. You’re a good kid. Maybe, you’d be better off leaving S of O after this semester. A good friend of mine is the head coach of the track and cross-country teams at Missouri Western. He needs another good runner. He told me he has a scholarship waiting for you if you want it. They’ve got a young but very good program. I think it would be a good fit for you, Justin.”

“Thanks, coach,” Justin said with a tear in his eye.

Coach Moffit handed Justin a slip of paper with the Missouri Western coach’s contact information. They shook hands, and Coach Moffit walked away.

Justin put the piece of paper in his pants pocket and walked inside the athletic building. Karl Gholson was waiting for him in his office.

“Justin, come on in. We need to talk,” he said. Justin walked into the office and took a seat. “Welcome back, son,” he said with a smile. “We were all worried about you. Rattlesnakes in the Ozarks can be deadly. You’re very lucky.”

“Yes, sir,” Justin said.

“Well, I’ll cut to the chase, Justin. You’re being cut from the cross-country and track teams. In fact, I wouldn’t try out for any sports at S of O. I’ve got a feeling you wouldn’t make any of our teams.”

“Why are you doing this, Mr. Gholson?” Justin asked.

“Well, let’s just say that we’ve got very high standards for our athletes at S of O, and you just didn’t reach them.”

“I’m a strong runner, Mr. Gholson. I’ve done everything Coach Moffit has asked of me. I deserve to be on the team.”

Karl Gholson’s look changed. His face tightened. It turned red with anger. “Damn it, Justin. This has nothing to do with your running ability. You’ve broken our rules. We know what you were up to the night you got bit by the snake. Do you think we’re stupid? You were at the bus lot that night. You broke into the building. We know you went through the drawers. We know that you saw things that you shouldn’t have. You’re in deep shit, boy.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Mr. Gholson,” Justin said.

Karl Gholson smiled. “OK, I guess if I was in the same situation you’re in, I would deny being there too.” Then Karl Gholson’s tone softened. “You know, Justin, life can be a lot more pleasant for you at S of O if you’d just play ball. Hell, you might even be able to stay in Brown Hall. You might even be able to run track next semester. You’d find that if you befriend the right people on campus, life can be quite enjoyable here.”

“And what do I need to do to make that happen,” Justin asked.

“You need to tell me what you were looking for in that transportation building, you need to tell me exactly what you saw, and you need to give me everything you took from that building.”

“As I told you before, Mr. Gholson, I didn’t break into that building, and I have no idea who did.”

“Well, that’s too bad, Justin. I think we’re done here for now. You need to report to the housing director. I believe he has a new room assignment for you. Also, report to the employment office. I believe they have a new job assignment for you. Have you ever cleaned up in a slaughterhouse before? I understand it is not a very desirable job.” Then he waved his hand for Justin to leave.

That day he moved back to Rowlison Hall. He was assigned a room on the fifth floor, next to the freight elevator. He shared the room with a sophomore named Clay Robbins. Clay was a good old boy from Poplar Bluff, Mo. His previous roommate had quit school a week earlier.

Clay was a happy-go-lucky person. He didn’t seem to take anything very seriously, including his classwork. His grades didn’t seem to worry him, though. Clay was more interested in having a good time. The room was a mess. Clothes were laying everywhere, and food wrappers were on the beds. There were even several empty beer cans lying around.

“You know that if someone reports you for those beer cans, you get thrown out of school,” Justin told him.

“Nobody will,” Clay replied. “I don’t bother anybody, and they don’t bother me. You should know how things work around here by now. Mind your own business, and don’t embarrass the school, and they’ll leave you alone,” he said.

Clay was quite a character. He looked a lot like a young Jim Nabors, and he talked a lot like him too. His smile was contagious. He was a simple, good-hearted person that you couldn’t help but like. He wore a crew cut, a hairstyle that went out of style fifty years earlier. He adhered to the campus dress code when he went to classes and to church, but otherwise, he wore blue jean overalls with a white tee shirt and boots. He talked with a slow southern drawl that made him sound a bit dimwitted. But Justin learned quickly that Clay was very intelligent. Everything with him was an act. He acted the way he wanted people to perceive him. He found life to be more enjoyable when others didn’t expect much from him.

Justin and Clay came from two totally different backgrounds. They were nearly exact opposites. Yet, in a short time, they became best friends. Both were outcasts. Few students dared to talk to Justin. Few students had any interest in talking to Clay. They were trouble. They were going in a direction that no one else wanted to go. They were roommates for a purpose. Both were not expected to stay at S of O beyond that semester.

It was Clay that found the bug in their room. It was a sensitive listening device that was planted inside the lampshade on their desk. Clay didn’t remove it. Instead, he told Justin about it on their walk to work the day after discovering the device.

“We are being listened to, buddy,” he said. “I found a bug in our lamp. There may be more. I don’t know. What have you done, Justin? I know they aren’t listening to me. So, it must be something you’ve done.”

That’s when Justin told him about the night in the bus lot. Clay didn’t seem surprised.

“Describe the place you found in the woods,” Clay said to Justin. “It’s meth,” he said. “They’re operating a meth lab off campus. I’m sure of it,” he said. “Meth’s big in the Ozarks. When my granddad was young, he ran moonshine. That was the big thing during prohibition and for years afterward. Then it was marijuana. The Ozark dirt is prime for growing weed. Now it’s meth. We have some of the best cooks around. I guess it’s from our days of cooking moonshine. And the Ozarks are a great hiding place for the labs.

“Someone in the transportation department must be involved. That’s why they came after you, buddy. Hell, you’re lucky that you got away. But I don’t think you’re out of trouble. They must suspect you. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have kicked you off the team, sent you to room with me and given you the shittiest job on campus.”

“There’s more,” Justin said to Clay. “I know how they are moving the meth to their buyers. They’re using the buses that take the sports teams to their events.”

“How do you know that?” Clay asked.

“I was one of the bus drivers. I only made one delivery, and I didn’t know what I was carrying on the bus, but I am convinced that is the way they move the meth from campus to their sellers.”

“Then you must know who is involved?” Clay asked.

“I know two of them. One is Risa’s boyfriend, Richard. He was the one that gave me instructions for delivering the package and he was the one that paid me a $200 bonus for delivering it. The other person is Karl Gholson, the athletic director. He was the one that gave me the bus driving job, and he was the one that threatened me when I got out of the hospital. He wanted to know what I saw and what I took from the building.”

“What did you take?”

“Nothing, as far as I know. One of the guys took some pictures but as far as I know, that was all.”

“Well, they must think that you took something important,” Clay said. “Otherwise, I think you’d be dead, buddy, like those two boys they found in the pond on campus.”

Justin stopped walking. He had a shocked look on his face. “How do you know about those boys? I didn’t think anyone knew about those bodies.”

“I knew both those boys. They worked at the meth lab that you discovered in the woods. Hell, I used to party with them last summer. They were good old boys, grew up in the hills, a couple of fries short of a happy meal, but good guys. I met them at a party down by the lake. Damn, they liked to party. They could drink more than anyone that I ever knew. Trouble was when they were shit-faced, they talked too much. I assumed that was what got them murdered. They told me about the meth lab. They even took me there one night. We didn’t get close enough to be spotted, but we got close enough for me to tell that they weren’t full of shit.

“I was partying with them the night they disappeared. They were shit-faced as usual when they started talking about the meth lab again. But this time, I suspect, they were talking to the wrong people. Two guys asked the boys to show them the lab. That was the last time anyone saw them.”

“How’d you know they were in the pond?” Justin asked.

“I partied too late that night. The campus was locked down. I figured that I’d spend the night by the lake. I’d done it several times before. But that night, there was a hell of a storm. I was getting soaked outside in the woods. The thunder and lightning were terrible that night. One bolt of lightning stuck close by. I decided to sneak back on campus. By the time I got close to campus, the rain had stopped. That’s when the fog moved in. It was thick that night. I figured that I may as well continue back to campus. The chances of being spotted in that fog were slim, and besides, I needed a decent night’s sleep. I had a work assignment later that morning. So, I continued toward the campus. All the lights were out. I assumed the lightning must have knocked out the electricity on campus. I was close to the pond when the lights came back on. I heard an awful noise come from the fountain. Soon after, I saw the fountain water turn pink and then red. I started toward the fountain when I saw two campus security police cars arrive. I hid behind a tree line and watched. I saw more men come to the pond. I saw them launch two or three row boats into the water. I saw them pull up the two canvases. I knew immediately who those bodies were. Those two boys had told me once that they had been threatened with being drowned in that pond if they ever told anyone about the lab.”

“Who threatened them, Clay?”

“They didn’t say. Buddy, if I were you, I’d get a long way away from S of O. They’re not going to leave you alone until they get what they want.”

“Clay, why do you think they decided to room us together?”

“I’m not sure,” Clay said. “It could be completely by chance. My roommate had left school. I had an empty bed. Or, it could be,” Clay said with a smile, “that I’m working for Karl Gholson, and they roomed you with me so I could find out what you had taken.”

“That’s not funny, Clay.”

“No, but it is a possibility. You really don’t know who to trust, buddy.”

“I’ll tell you why I think they put us together, Clay. I think they suspect you of knowing about their operation, too. Have you noticed all the security cameras around campus, Clay? Not to mention the security cameras around the meth lab. Maybe they know that you know about the drugs. Maybe they know both of us were at the pond that night the boys were pulled from it. Maybe they put us together on purpose, hoping we would talk in our room and share what we knew. How long do you think that bug had been there?”

“I have no idea, Justin.”

“Don’t you find it strange that you can drink in your room, leave beer cans sitting around and not get caught? Hell, anyone else would have been thrown out of school. The floor monitors do regular, unannounced inspections of all the rooms. They would have surely reported you for the beer. That’s a clear violation of school rules. There is no way the administration would let that slide. I think they are using you to find out what both of us know.”

“Hell,” Justin said. “I think we’re both in the same boat, and that boat has a slow leak.”

“Not necessarily, buddy. We’ve got one big advantage. We know our room is bugged. Who is to say that we can’t use that listening device to our advantage?”

“What do you have in mind, Clay?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I think it’s a good idea to act like we never saw that bug, at least until we can find a way to use it to help us.”

“Clay, I don’t think they are just listening to us. I think they are watching us too. I don’t know that for sure, but I have a feeling we are being watched.”

“Me too, buddy.”

For days, the two roommates continued their normal routine. They ate meals together in the cafeteria. They went to class and went to work together. They were outcasts. Few students talked to them even Justin’s former teammates ignored him. Both had been assigned work in the slaughterhouse. They walked to work together and walked back together. If they needed to talk about something they couldn’t discuss in their room, they would do it during their walks to or from the slaughterhouse. Both were convinced that they were being followed. There was something else too. Someone had been in their room. Stuff had been moved. They were looking for something, or maybe they were just hoping to find something.

“I think it’s time we took advantage of the bug in our room. We need to feed them something,” Clay said on the walk back from the slaughterhouse. “We need to give them something that will show us they believe what we say and that we aren’t aware of the listening device.”

“Yeah, but what do we give them? What they really care about is who was with me when we broke into the transportation office, and I sure as hell can’t give them that,” Justin said.

“They also want to know what you saw when you were in that office,” Clay said. “Isn’t there something you can give them?”

Justin thought for a minute. Then he remembered. “The key to the hidden room in the office, I took it. We were in a hurry to get out of the office when the alarm went off, and I stuck the key into my pants pocket. It might still be in them. I brought the pants back from the hospital. They’re in my dorm room, in the closet. I haven’t checked them since I got back from the hospital.”

“Shit, buddy. If the key is still there, that’s what we can use to see if they’re still listening to us.”

“I’ll check inside the pants pocket when we get back,” Justin said.

“Yes, and if it’s there, you can tell me you found it inside the room. Then, say that you are going to put it in the desk drawer. Put it there, and if it’s gone tomorrow, we’ll know they are still listening to us,” Clay said.

When they got back to their dormitory room, Justin went directly to the closet. He found the pants he was wearing that night. He put his hand inside the right front pocket and pulled out the key. He lifted it and showed it to Clay then he spoke.

“Damn, look what I found, Clay,” Justin said loud enough for the listening device to pick it up.

“It’s a key. What’s it open?” Clay asked.

“It’s a key to the transportation building,” Justin said.

“How’d you get that?”

“I was in the office and found it. I completely forgot that I had it in my pocket the night I got bit by the snake.”

“You should take it back to the building. I’m sure they’re missing it,” Clay said.

“I can’t do that, Clay.”

“Why not?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“Then what are you going to do with the key, Justin?”

“Nothing right now. I’ll keep it in the desk drawer until I decide what to do with it.”

“It’s not something that will get me into trouble, is it?” Clay asked.

“No, besides, I’ll take care of it soon. I just need a day or two.”