The next day, Tess spent the morning at the Sentinel, and met with Kate to discuss her series of articles. When the meeting was over, she went to Mickey's before lunch to see if he or his staff would speak with her about Rachel. Michael got quite a lot out of the man and Tess hoped to tweak his memory or that of his staff even more if possible. He seemed like a really nice person. Someone who had seriously turned his life around and was now trying to give back and make up for all the harm he did when he was younger.
She walked into the bar, which was pretty slow considering it was almost lunch hour. There were a few customers, but otherwise the place was empty. She walked over to the bar and took a stool.
Landon, the bartender, came over and placed a coaster in front of her. "What can I get for you?" he asked.
"I knew Rachel," she said and showed him her press credentials. "I work as a reporter with the Sentinel and was hoping to speak with staff about her disappearance."
"You knew Rachel?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.
"I'm a friend of Craig, her boyfriend. I interviewed her for an article I was working on."
Landon gave her a once-over and pushed the coaster towards her. "I'd be happy to talk to you, but if you want to sit at the bar, you have to buy something."
"Will a soda qualify?"
"I suppose," he said with a shrug.
She ordered a diet soda and took out her notebook and pen.
"What can you tell me about Rachel? What were your general impressions of her as a person?"
"I thought you knew her," he said, sounding skeptical.
"Yes, but just as an acquaintance. Like I said, we talked about my work on missing and murdered women and girls in Washington State. It was after Rose Clarke was murdered."
"Oh, yeah. Rose. Rachel knew her." He glanced off into the distance, leaning against the bar. "Rachel was someone who seemed like she could break in half at any time and was fighting hard to keep it all together."
Tess nodded and wrote down a few notes on what Landon said. It jibed with what Tess had thought herself when interviewing the younger woman for her articles on street kids who had gone missing as part of her overall work.
"Go on," Tess said, hoping to encourage him.
"She was a hard worker," he said and took a bar wipe and wiped the chrome along the bar top. "She always took an extra shift if she could get a babysitter. She told me she was saving up for a trip to California so she could take her daughter to see the redwoods and then maybe to Mexico."
Tess wrote that down because she figured that might be a good way to personalize her article on the woman so readers could get a good mental image of her as a person and a mother.
"She told me she fantasized about working on a cruise ship, and traveling around the world, but because she had Sadie, she couldn't do that but she still wanted to take Sadie traveling. Make up for her own childhood."
"Was she a good mother?" Tess asked.
"She was. She was determined to give Sadie the best childhood she could. Rachel used to say she missed having a childhood and so she wanted to make sure Sadie had a good one. Rachel never went to public school and was home schooled, so she missed the social life other kids experienced. She said she always felt like an outsider as a result."
That confirmed what Tess already knew about Rachel, and she wrote as much of it down as she could, glad that he was painting a more personal picture of Rachel that corresponded with her own. Landon seemed to know quite a lot about Rachel, and even talked of her time at the Sisters of Mercy shelter.
All in all, the picture he painted was of a girl who survived a personal hell, rose above it, and was thriving -- all things considered. Why would she just up and leave?
"Did she ever complain about her relationship with Craig? Mention any problems?"
"No," Landon said, shaking his head. "She seemed really happy with him. He's kinda strange, but she said he was just shy."
"Do you have any staff photos of her?" she asked.
"I think so," Landon said, frowning. "We had a few staff nights on Sundays. We'd cook dinner for everyone and party. There might be some in the staff room. I can go look, if you like. It's pretty dead."
"Sure," Tess said and waited while he left the bar and disappeared into the back. She sipped her soda and listened to the music, which was old gold from the 70's. Listen to the Music by the Doobie Brothers was currently playing. Her father's music era.
The door to the back opened up and instead of Landon, Mickey himself came marching towards her.
"Hello, Tess," he said and stood beside her, his hands on his hips. "You here for more background?"
"Yes," Tess said. "I hope you don't mind. I just popped in when I was driving by and thought I might ask the other staff a few questions about Rachel. We really don't have much on her past."
"She ran away from her past and started a new life," he said. "She didn't want to talk about her past. She didn't tell us much about it."
"I was hoping for impressions of her as a person and what she's like."
"You met her. She's a very sweet lady, and a hard worker," Mickey said and he almost seemed angry at Tess for being there.
"Yes, that's what Landon said, and it confirms my own impressions."
Some more patrons entered the bar, and Tess glanced at her watch. It was almost noon. Landon came back behind the bar and placed a sheet of paper on the bar top in front of Tess. "That's a picture of Rachel when she won Staff Member of the Month. I thought you might like it. I could scan it with the printer in the back, if it's okay with Mickey."
Mickey shrugged. "I'll do it. Looks like the lunch crowd is coming. You better get back to work." With that, he took the photo and went to the back through the staff door.
Landon nodded and gave Tess a wide-eyed expression before he went over to a couple who sat at the far end of the bar.
When Mickey returned a few moments later, Tess accepted the scan of the staff photo. "Thanks," she said. "I didn't mean to intrude."
"No, you picked a good time. We start getting busy at noon and then stay busy all afternoon. Now, unfortunately, I have to get back to work, too. Rachel was one of my lunch staff and I'm short today because she's not here. Hope you got what you needed."
He gave her a quick forced smile and she took that as a broad hint she should leave.
"Thanks," she said and held up the scan. "I'll let myself out."
Mickey disappeared out the back of the bar, through the staff door. Tess finished her diet soda and then got up from the bar to leave, with the distinct impression Mickey wasn't happy that she'd been there. She would have liked to get more from Landon, but he was now busy serving customers and she didn't want to make Mickey angry with the man.
Landon waved at her as she passed him and before she was able to leave, he came around the bar and met her at the front door.
"Before you go, I wanted to make sure you knew she came in the night she left town," Landon said, his voice soft.
Tess frowned. "Mickey said she called. She wanted to tell him that she was going out of town."
"No, she came in. She must have come in the back entrance. I saw them in the office when I went to get some beer from the cooler. I think he left with her," Landon said, almost whispering. "When I came back, they were both gone."
"Really?" She frowned at that. According to what Tess knew, Rachel had called to tell Mickey she wouldn't be in for a few days because she was taking a short vacation.
"He didn't come back for a long time. Just before closing."
"Did you tell police?"
"No one asked," he said with a shrug. "I assumed Mickey told police what happened when they came by. You're the first person to talk to me or any of the staff. They talked to Mickey, but not us."
"Thanks." She reached into her bag and pulled out a business card with her work number. "If you can think of anything else, call me." She turned to the door. "Leave a message on the answering service if you don't get me."
"I will," he said.
She watched as he went back to the bar and continued serving customers.
So, Mickey left the bar after speaking with Rachel. He was gone for hours and didn't return until just before closing...
Michael would be very interested in hearing that.