THIRTY-SEVEN

TONI WAS BUSY GETTING EMILY’S SCHEDULE CONFIRMED FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WHEN SHERIFF MCNEIL CALLED.

“Law office of Emily Bridges. How can I help you?” answered Toni cheerfully.

“Good afternoon, Toni. I was hoping your boss had some free time this afternoon,” Mac quickly responded. He could hear Toni riffling through papers as she spoke on the phone.

“Hang on a sec, and I’ll ask her. I think she was planning to stay late tonight to get caught up on a few things.”

Without waiting for the sheriff’s response, Toni put him on hold and quickly walked to Emily’s office, poking her head inside the door. “Emily, the sheriff is on hold. He wants to know if you have any free time this afternoon.”

Puzzled, Emily asked, “Did he say what he wanted?”

“Uh, no, he just asked if you were free. I told him you might be staying late tonight.”

“Great, thanks,” Emily muttered. “He is literally the last person I would want to see tonight—or any night, for that matter!”

Toni gave her a quick, apologetic frown and asked, “Do you want me to tell him you have plans? I don’t mind. I am really sorry I told him you were going to stay late. I can tell him you changed your plans.”

“No, it’s OK, probably best to get this over with anyway. Something about him… I don’t know. I don’t get a warm, fuzzy feeling from him. But then again, he is a cop. You’ve known him a while, right?”

Laughing at her, Toni replied, “Oh, yeah, a soft, warm, fuzzy teddy bear! That one is not! I don’t think I have ever seen him outside of work. In fact, I don’t recall ever seeing him smile!” Toni turned to go to her desk, calling back to Emily, “I will patch him through to you.”

Picking up the phone, she said, “Sheriff, I am patching you through to Emily.” She could hear the irritation in Emily’s voice as she picked up the call just before Toni hung up.

Emily didn’t try to hide her dislike of the sheriff. “Sheriff, what I can do for you?” she asked dryly.

“Counselor, we had a few new developments in the detective’s death. I was wondering if I could either meet with you after hours at your office or at my office. I know it’s getting late in the day, but this is too important to wait.” Mac waited for her to respond. He knew she would not readily agree to meeting at the station, and she probably wouldn’t want to meet him alone in her office either. Just as he expected, she offered an alternative.

“Uh, Sheriff, I am going to be busy tonight at the office, but I could meet you for coffee afterward if that works for you. I should be done by eight or so.” Emily was quietly praying he would forgo the meeting. To her dismay, he took her up on her offer.

“Sure, Counselor. Most places close early around here on a weeknight, but I know of a small family café not too far away where we could have a coffee, maybe dinner if you’re hungry.”

“Sure, OK, sounds good. Just text me the address and I will be there,” Emily stammered.

This was one dinner she wasn’t looking forward to having. She glanced at Toni, who was packing up her things and getting ready to go home. She envied her; she seemed to be happy most days, and she had a supportive, loving family. The last thing Emily wanted was for Toni to think she was upset that she had told the sheriff she was going to be working late. “Toni,” she called out.

Toni turned around at the desk and shouted back to her, “I am still here! I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.” She walked back over to Emily’s office.

“I just wanted to thank you for all you have been doing for me. I know I am not always the easiest person to work with, and I didn’t want you to think I was upset over the sheriff.”

“No worries. I know him well enough to know it’s best to just get the meeting with him over with. I have to pick up my daughter, so I will see you tomorrow morning!” Toni waited for Emily to say something, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw her eyes tear up.

Clearing her throat, Emily nodded her head, saying, “Yes, go get your daughter, and thanks again! I will see you in the morning!”

Emily finished up her last case, turned off the lights, locked up the office, and checked her text messages. Sure enough, there was an address for her to meet the sheriff. Reluctantly, she got into her car and programmed the navigator with the address. It wasn’t one she recognized, and as dark as it was outside, she was hoping the street was well lit.

According to her navigator, the café was only about twelve miles from her office. It was overcast, and given it was late fall, it was already very dark. The navigator told her to take a left turn off the main road, which soon narrowed to a dirt-and-gravel road.

She hadn’t gone far when she started thinking maybe she had programmed the navigator incorrectly or maybe the address was wrong. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time her navigator had sent her the wrong way. She laughed at herself as she recalled the time she and Eric had been trying to find a pizza place, and the navigator had taken them to an empty parking lot in the middle of nowhere! “Well, let’s see where you are taking me. I can always turn the car around and tell the good sheriff I couldn’t find his café,” she said aloud to herself.

There didn’t seem to be any good areas to make a quick U-turn, but just as she was thinking of making her own path back toward the main road, the navigator told her to make a right turn on to County Road 205 and her destination was a hundred meters from the turn. She slowed for the turn and noticed there was no signage for the café. “Yep, wrong address,” she muttered. “I bet he won’t believe I even tried to meet him.”

She made the turn onto the narrow dirt road and stopped. The road was littered with large potholes. “Damn, this is not the right place!” she complained out loud. She put the car into reverse and set to back out when she noticed her rear lights were out and her backup camera wasn’t working. Slamming her hands on the steering wheel in frustration, she knew she had no other option but to pull forward into this narrow road and find a way to turn the car around. She slowly crept forward, trying to avoid the deep holes in the road.

She had driven roughly fifty meters when her headlights lit up a building or house at the end of the road. It was no more than an old shack. “Yeah, some café!” she muttered. This dump was definitely not a café! It was the remnants of a small, old house. The windows were broken, and tattered curtains blew in the wind from around the window frames. The shack didn’t look like it had ever been painted; it just had old wooden planks for the walls.

She cautiously continued the drive toward the shack and noticed something moving around the building. “Chickens!” she exclaimed. “How the hell did chickens get here? OK, just turn this car around and get the hell out of here!” she anxiously whispered to herself. She pulled up to the front of the shack, her headlights illuminating the way. In order to make the tight U-turn, she had to stop and back up a couple times, but she finally did it. Sighing in relief, she straightened her tires for the bumpy trip back down the road.

Blinding lights suddenly startled her, and she slammed on the brakes. Squinting, she tried to see who or what was blocking her path. When she heard a tap on her car window, she jumped in fear and surprise. Her heart was racing and pulsating loudly in her ears.

“Counselor!” she heard someone shout. For a brief moment she froze. “Emily, roll down the window!”

Stunned, she realized the sheriff was the one rapping on her window and scaring the hell out of her.

“Sheriff, you damn well better have a good reason for this!” Emily yelled at him as she rolled the window down.

Mac stepped back from her door and apologized. “Hey, I really am sorry. When you didn’t show up at the café, I checked the text and realized my phone sent you the wrong address. I was driving and text-talking into the phone. Anyway, the translation was the wrong address. I knew this place and didn’t want you to get stuck, so I came out here to find you. Again, I am real sorry.” Mac smiled as he explained the mistake.

Emily was still unnerved, and his smile was causing her even more concern. What was it Toni had said about him? She couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. “That’s OK, Sheriff,” she said carefully. “Can this wait until tomorrow afternoon? I just want to go home. Please move your car so I can get out,” she hesitantly requested.

“Of course, Emily,” he responded.

She didn’t see him walk away. She did notice his headlights dimming but not turning off. She felt herself turning slowly from scared to angry. Taking her foot off the brake, she inched her car forward. Surely he would back up and let her out; maybe he thought he was helping her by lighting up the road. She felt a sudden, strong jolt as her right front tire hit a pothole and her seat belt tightened its grip. The tires spun, but the car didn’t move forward. “Fuck!” she yelled as she struggled to release the seat belt and open the car door. She practically fell out of the car and was barely standing when she felt a sharp pain behind her temple. Instantly she crumpled to the ground.

Seth carried her limp body into the shanty. It was once an in-home pet parlor, complete with built-in tubs for washing the largest of dogs. But today it was simply a shack. He placed Emily into a solid wood chair, handcuffing her wrists to the back rail of the chair. Using zip ties and duct tape, he secured her ankles and calves to the legs of the chair, and lastly, he removed her shoes. Satisfied that she was going nowhere and could not get herself loose, he threw cold water on her face. Dazed, she lifted her head and looked around the dark room, her eyes finally settling on him. She tried to move but quickly came to the realization she wasn’t able to. Scrambling for words, she weakly asked, “Sheriff? What’s going on? Where am I? Who is here? Sheriff, is that you?”

Seth stood in the shadows of the room watching her, waiting, but not speaking. There was no reason to gag her; she could yell and scream all she wanted. There was no one, no building, no businesses, no homes for miles, and no one was going to hear her. All that was around the shanty was swampland. When he was certain she could not escape, he quietly stepped out of the room onto the broken-down front porch of the shanty. He had one more person to see tonight.