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I SHOULD HAVE GONE INSIDE with her. I feel like I’ve been sitting here chewing on my thumb nail nervously for an hour already. Looking down at the clock on the dash, I see it’s only been twenty minutes. I don’t understand why I’m so on edge. She just went in to talk to Ralph, the owner of Freedom Diner, to get her last paycheck.
I resign myself to giving her a few more minutes before I go in looking for her. Reaching out, I turn on the radio to a soft rock station and lean my head back against the seat.
A car pulls up and parks beside me and I watch as a family of four gets out and walks into the diner. They sit at a table by the front window and a waitress that I haven’t seen before walks over with glasses of water and menus. They’ve obviously been to the diner before since they order right away without looking over the menu first and the waitress walks over to the order window and hands the ticket directly to Ralph. Still, Emi doesn’t come back out of the kitchen.
I should have paid more attention. If she came out of the kitchen already then, I must have missed her, but where else would she have gone? “Maybe she’s in the bathroom,” I say to myself. Several minutes later, I’m tapping my fingers on the steering wheel impatiently when Ralph sets the orders on the counter and Emi still hasn’t emerged from wherever she’s hiding. Pressing the button, I turn off the car and throw my door open to get out.
Pushing my way into the diner, I walk past the counter where the new waitress is standing and watching me with an expression of surprise. I step around the end of the counter and push open the swinging door to the kitchen where Ralph is standing at the sink washing a large boiling pot. “Where is Emi?”
He turns around after dropping the pot back into the water and dries his hands on the towel that was hanging over his shoulder. His brows furrow in confusion as he tilts his head. “She left already. Did she not come back outside?”
“How long ago did she finish talking to you?”
He looks at the clock hanging over the refrigerator on the opposite side of the kitchen. “Probably thirty minutes ago.”
What the fuck?
“Well, where did she go?” My skin crawls with suspicion. Something is going on here and I’d bet everything I have that her stepfather is involved somehow. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him hurt her again.
Tossing the towel onto the counter beside the sink, Ralph walks over to the swinging door and pushes his way into the dining room. I step out behind him as he places his hands on his hips and looks around the area. “Alicia, where’s Amber? She should have been back from her break minutes ago.”
“She hasn’t come back yet,” the waitress I now know as Alicia says.
“Did Emi go with her?” I ask.
“Emi?” She looks at me with a confused expression. I guess she’s the only person in this small town that doesn’t know who Emi is. “Oh her. Yes. They walked out the back door together.”
“She’s probably in the alley then.” Ralph exclaims as he turns back to look at me. “They may have lost track of time talking.”
My shoulders lower slightly from around my ears as I realize I may have been overreacting. I nod my head at Ralph as he pushes back into the kitchen before turning toward the back exit. Only, as I approach the back door, a feeling of unease settles over me. It just doesn’t feel right.
Opening the door, I step out into the alley to find it completely deserted. There’s no trace of anyone having been back here within the last half hour. I don’t understand where she could be. Why would she leave with Amber and not tell me? Walking to the end of the alley, I look around the side of the building to see if she’s standing there talking to her, but I don’t see anyone.
Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I call her. I don’t want to come across as over possessive, she has the right to catch up with a former co-worker and it would be wrong of me to stop her. But I just can’t see her going somewhere with her without reaching out to me first. Walking back toward the back entrance of the diner, I listen to the phone ringing in my ear. Only, it’s echoing strangely. The phone goes to Emi’s voicemail, and I immediately hang up and call back. It echoes again and I stop walking. Pulling the phone from my ear, I listen closely to the empty space surrounding me, thinking I’m losing my mind. Only I’m not. Stepping closer to the dumpster, I lean over the edge and hear the phone ringing clear as day inside the metal container.
What the fuck is going on here?
Sitting right there, on top of a black trash bag, is Emi’s phone. It sits face up within arm’s reach as if just tossed haphazardly into the dumpster in passing. Reaching my arm over top of the thick metal, I grab the phone in my fist tight enough that I’m afraid I may crack the screen.
Turning back toward the diner, I look closer at my surroundings thinking I may be missing something. It doesn’t appear that there is regular traffic through the alley, other than the occasional garbage truck to empty the dumpster. My eyes are drawn to an oil stain in the center of the alley, standing out brightly in its rainbow reflection against the sun. Kneeling next to the stain, I run my finger through the multi-colored puddle and feel the warmth radiating from it. It’s warm enough to still be somewhat fresh and too shimmery to have been sitting long enough to soak into the asphalt. But it’s the other spots I notice not far from when I’m kneeling that catch my attention. Standing and walking closer, I kneel again and rub a finger through the dark stain.
Blood.
The backdoor of the diner swings open hard enough to bounce off the wall inside and part of me hopes that it leaves a hole in the drywall. My steps echo through the hallway as I storm back into the dining room and through the swinging door to the kitchen. The way Ralph’s eyes widen at my appearance, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were smoke coming out of my ears. I’m absolutely fuming at the thought of where Emi might be right now – who may be putting their hands on her.
Guilt eats away at me knowing that I never should have brought her back here. I promised to keep her safe from her stepfather and get her away from this fucking town. And the first time coming back, for a paycheck that probably won’t even buy her a decent dinner, and this is what happens.
“She’s gone,” I breathe out between my teeth. “Her phone was in the fucking dumpster.”
“What?” he asks as he steps closer to me.
“We need to call the police.”
“How do you know she didn’t leave with Amber on her own? Not saying anything against you, but I don’t know you. Are you sure she wouldn’t find a way to leave you?”
“Are you serious right now?” I growl, puffing my chest to make me appear bigger, more aggressive, against his accusations.
“I’m just saying. Let me try to call Amber and see what’s going on.”
He steps away as he pulls a cell phone from his back pocket. I watch as he holds it to his ear for several seconds before pulling it away and putting it back in his pocket. “No answer.”
“Of course not. Look, you need to call the police. I’m pretty sure there was a car back there waiting for them when they walked into the alley. And I found blood on the asphalt. And it looked fresh.” Holding my hand up, I let him see the blood still staining the tip of my finger.
He doesn’t ask any more questions before pulling his phone back out and calling the Sheriff’s office to get a deputy to the diner. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”
“You’re something else. You know that? You’re the one being all combative with me thinking I’ve done something that she needs to get away from.” The volume of my voice is increasing as I continue. “If you really gave a shit about her, you would have seen that she’s healthier now than she ever was while she was here working for you. Getting her out of this town was the best thing I could have ever done for her.” Threading my fingers through my hair, I pull against the strands and relish in the pain in my scalp. “I should have never brought her back here.”
Ralph and I are practically in a face-off when the police finally arrive thirty minutes later. For such a small town, their response time is certainly lacking. If this would have happened in the city, they would have made it here within five minutes, I have no doubt about that.
I give the officer my information, as do Ralph and Alicia. He had Alicia close the diner after the one family that was eating here before paid and left. It seems like it was a slow day anyway, so I don’t think it’s going to hurt him to be closed the rest of the day. This is more important than cooking and serving up the daily meatloaf special anyway. Now, I’m sitting in a booth in the middle of the dining room while Ralph answers questions. I have the perfect location to be able to hear everything that’s said.
“She’d been gone for a while,” Ralph tells Officer Santos. I keep my gaze focused on my hands fisted together on the table, so they don’t know I’m listening. “She walked out during her shift just almost two months ago and didn’t come back. I knew she had quit, expected it actually. She hadn’t been happy here since her mother passed away a few years ago.”
“Do you know where she went?” Santos asks him.
“Not specifically. I assume she left with Mister Strong over there.” He points at me with his thumb over his shoulder. “She came back in today to pick up her last check. We talked for a few minutes. She said everything was good with her and she was happy. Then she walked out of the kitchen. I assumed she was going to be leaving with Mister Strong again.”
“Thank you, Ralph.”
I hadn’t heard his conversation with Alicia, but I don’t expect that I missed anything. She seems a little flakey honestly. I doubt she had anything to say to them that would help with the investigation.
I sense the officer approaching my table before I look up and see him. He sits across from me, placing his notepad on the table in front of him. “Mister Strong?” He addresses me as he clicks the end of the pen before placing the tip on his paper.
“Officer Santos?” I look up as he tilts his head to the side curiously.
“Do I know you?” His brows furrow in question and I bite back a chuckle.
“You should,” I admit. “We went to school together since third grade.” About the time I moved in with my grandparents after my mom and dad died. I’m not surprised he doesn’t remember me though. Santos was one of the popular guys once we got to high school. Captain of the football team and everything. While he was mister goody two shoes, I was busy causing trouble and chasing girls. I’m not surprised that he followed in his old man’s footsteps though, joining the police force probably right out of school.
“Landon?” He sits back in the booth, an almost shocked expression on his face. “Holy shit, dude.” He laughs loudly and my eyes narrow at him in response. This isn’t the time to reminisce. “Didn’t you open that big design firm in the city?”
“That’s me.” My fingers begin tapping against the Formica tabletop impatiently.
“I’ll be damned.” Leaning forward, he picks up his pen again and prepares to take notes on our conversation. “So, you want to tell me what’s going on?”
I tell him about how Emi and I met two months ago here in the diner. I don’t leave anything out – telling him about how I ended up getting her to my apartment and seeing her bruises the next day. I tell him about her stepfather a little louder than needed and notice Ralph standing against the counter with a guilty look on his face having obviously heard everything. Then I tell him about today, “I looked in the alley for her since that’s where she went with Amber. I found her phone in the dumpster, warm oil leaked on the asphalt obviously recently, and found blood spots not far from it. I came back inside and told Ralph to call you and here we are.”
“You could be a detective,” he laughs. “You’re quite observant.”
“Not really. But I know when something looks suspicious. Has anyone looked into her stepfather yet? Or found Amber?”
“We have officers going over to Charlie’s house and we’re trying to get a trace on Amber’s phone. If she’s still with either of them, we’ll find her.” That’s the problem, isn’t it? What if she’s no longer with them? What if they already hurt her and dumped her off somewhere?
I nod my head once and he stands and walks across the diner where his partner stands with his hands on his belt.
“I had no idea,” Ralph admits as he walks over to my table.
“You never wondered why she was wearing a sweater?” He looks guilty as he rests his elbows on the table and lowers his gaze. I’ll admit, I should probably shut up. He feels guilty enough without me rubbing it in. “She wore the sweater to cover the bruises on her arms. She would grab something to eat here any chance she got because she was weak with hunger. It was the only thing she would eat all day.”
“I swear to God I had no idea.”
“I made her go to a doctor to get checked out. She was malnourished and had lost so much weight you could see her bones. She was covered with bruises all over her body from the abuse she was suffering at home. She had cuts all over her upper arms where Charlie attacked her with a steak knife.” My head shakes slowly side to side in disgust. She told me so many times that no one ever noticed her. She thought she was invisible and I’m beginning to believe her now. “She just wanted one person to see her and help her. Everyone in this town turned their backs on her when she needed them the most.”
“I thought she was just depressed because her mom had died.”
“How long ago did her mom die, Ralph?” I slump against the peeling vinyl seat and hang my head. “You let her suffer with that loss for how many years without doing anything to help her out of it?”
“Couple years ago.”
“A couple years.” My voice trails off in disappointment. “Two months, Ralph.” He looks up at me, his brows lifting in question. “I’ve known her two months and I’ve seen more of her than anyone in this town has in the twenty years she’s been alive. She’s been here her whole fucking life and not a damn one of you ever noticed her.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare waste your apology on me, Ralph. I’m not the one you owe an apology to.”
“You’re right.”