Bones
Ihated to cut our date short, especially after such an amazing night, but I didn’t have a choice.
Elsie’s comments about the movie started me thinking about the unknown still out there lurking in the shadows.
I knew in my gut there was something or someone waiting to be found, and my mind wouldn’t rest until I found it.
When we got to the clubhouse, I walked Elsie down to her room, and after one last kiss goodnight, I made my way to the computer room.
I grabbed the files in question and got to work.
I started with Jack Bivens, the owner of the first camera we’d found.
Big and Cotton both knew Jack. Hell, everyone in town knew him.
He was a retired pharmacist and owned just over six acres of property, all monitored through security cameras.
I ran a full background check on Jack, checking for anything that might be considered a red flag.
Big and I had already been through all this before.
We’d dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s, but this time, I wasn’t letting a personal connection to the club or community deter me from digging deeper.
I checked his full history, along with each member of his family, but found nothing. So, I moved on to Porter Davis, an industrial electrician who lived in a small cabin out by Olympic Park. He didn’t have much land or anything else for that matter, but his name was in the file.
One hour had rolled into the next and I was beyond exhausted, but I kept at it. I was determined to find something—anything. I was so lost in my research that I didn’t even notice that Big had walked in. He stepped over to my desk and peered over my shoulder as he asked, “What’s all this?”
“I’m just looking into a few things.”
“Jack Bivens?” Big picked up his file and sifted through it. “Why are you looking into him?”
“I’m looking into them all.” I ran my hand over my face, trying to wake myself up. “I think you were onto something with the cameras, so I’m double-checking a few things.”
“But we all know Jack. He and his family have been here since I was a kid.” Big’s eyes narrowed. “Why would you waste your time with him?”
“’Cause it’s always the ones with some shady background that no one thought to check out.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, brother?”
“We gotta just assume that everyone is guilty... including the people we’ve known for years.”
“So, what exactly are you looking for?”
“I’m not sure.” I leaned back in my chair as I told him, “Maybe one of them has spent some time in the pen or has a tie to the military.”
“O-kay.” He sat down at the table across from me, then studied me for a moment. “How long have you been at this?”
“Since about midnight.”
“That’s what I figured. You need to get your ass up and go get in the fucking bed.”
“But...”
“But nothing,” he scolded. “You’re no good to anyone like this. Get some sleep, and we’ll pick this back up in a few hours.”
I didn’t bother arguing. I knew he was right, so I got up and headed down to my room.
My head barely touched my pillow before I was out, and I was out for hours.
I probably would’ve slept for hours longer if I hadn’t heard Rooster shout, “I told you that seal wasn’t gonna work!
Now, I’m gonna have to replace the whole damn manifold. ”
“It would’ve worked if you hadn’t been in such a fucking rush!” Torch roared back. “You didn’t give the epoxy time to set.”
“Nobody’s got that kind of time.”
“It’s gonna take a hell of a lot longer to replace the manifold than it would’ve taken that epoxy to set.”
I was tempted to shout curses at them and tell them to shut the fuck up, but I just lay there and listened as they made their way down the hall.
I waited until I heard them go out the back door, then I got up and went to the bathroom.
I brushed my teeth and threw some cold water on my face; then I headed back down to the work room.
When I walked in, I expected to find Big working at his desk, but he was nowhere to be found.
I walked over to the desk, and everything was exactly the way I’d left it.
Big hadn’t added anything to it. As far as I could tell, he hadn’t even looked at the files I’d put together—which meant he thought it was all a waste of time.
While that stung, it wasn’t enough to keep me from continuing on with my investigation.
I took out Big’s original file and went down to the next name.
I did a complete scan of Daniel Marquis and everyone he was connected to, then moved on to the next name and the next.
I spent hours upon hours searching for something that might be worth mentioning to Big or Cotton, but sadly, I found nothing.
It was late and I was starting to feel the effects of my exhaustion, but I wasn’t ready to give up. I located the next name and was about to dive in when there was a tap at the door. When I looked up, I found my mother’s worried eyes staring back at me. “Hey, stranger. How’s it going?”
“It’s going.” I eased back from my desk as I asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Griffin had something to take care of, so I came with him. Thought it’d give me a chance to come by and check in with you.” She stepped into the room as she told me, “I know you think I’m silly, but I haven’t seen you in a few days and wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Just been busy.”
“I can see that.” She gave me one of her mothering looks. “Looks like you’ve been at this for a while.”
“I have been, and I’m gonna be at it for a while longer.”
“Well, can I get you something? A drink or a bite to eat?”
“Thanks, but I’m good.” I didn’t want her to worry, so I told her, “I’m gonna work another hour, and then, I’m gonna call it a night.”
“Okay, then I won’t keep you.” She walked over and gave me a tight hug, then kissed me on the forehead as she said, “I miss you, kiddo. I need to spend some time with you soon, okay?”
I nodded, then promised, “Soon.”
She studied me for a moment, then turned and started out of the room. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
“I know you will.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched her close the door behind her.
I was a grown man, fully capable of taking care of myself, but my wonderful mother would always be my mother.
It was in her nature to take care of the people she loved.
I felt a little guilty that I hadn’t told her about Elsie.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to know.
I did.
But with everything that was going on, I didn’t have the time or the patience to answer a million questions. So, I would wait and tell her all about it when things settled down. I just had to make sure I told her before someone else beat me to it.
I worked for another hour, then decided to call it a night and headed back to my room. I was tempted to stop by and check in with Elsie, but it was already after one. I figured she was already in bed, so I pulled out my phone and sent her a quick text.
Me:
Hey. Sorry I’ve been MIA.
It was a long night and even longer day.
Hope you had a good one.
Once I was done, I continued down to my room and straight into the bathroom.
I took a long, hot shower and put on some clean boxers, then crashed into bed.
I hadn’t been lying there long when my phone chimed with a message.
I quickly grabbed it from the side table and smiled when I looked down at the screen.
Elsie:
Hey-
Sorry to hear you had such a long day.
I hope everything’s okay.
Me:
I figured you’d be asleep.
Elsie:
I’m a little restless tonight.
Me:
Come down to my room.
Elsie:
That’s okay. I’ll be fine.
Me:
Elsie
Elsie:
Wyatt
I’d always loved that she’d never called me by my road name. It was either Wyatt or nothing. Chuckling under my breath, I sent her one final message.
Me:
My room.
Now.
I returned my phone to the bedside table, and it wasn’t long before my door crept open, and light flooded into the dark room. Elsie stepped into the room, then closed the door behind her. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I lifted the covers and that’s all it took for her to crawl in next to me. I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her close, and within a breath, my entire body started to relax. “That’s better.”
“Yes, it is.”
“You have a long day, too?”
“You could say that.”
“Something happen?”
“No, I just got in my head a little, and once the wheels get to turning, it’s hard to shut them off.”
“So, you had something on your mind.”
She nodded, then sighed. “Today would’ve been Brantley’s twenty-first birthday.”
“Oh, damn. I had no idea.”
“I know you didn’t. It’s fine.” Her voice trembled as she told me, “I went out to the cemetery for a while. I thought it would make me feel closer to him or whatever, but it only made me miss him more. My parents, too. I know it’s been a long time and I should be over it by now...
but I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing them. ”
“I’m sorry. I wish I could do something to make it better.”
“You already have.” She glanced up at me with a half-smile. “You’ve always been there when I needed you most.”
“And I always will be.”
Elsie didn’t respond. She simply rested her head on my chest and closed her eyes, and it wasn’t long before her body grew limp and her breaths shallow. I was beginning to think she’d drifted off to sleep until I heard her whisper, “Thank you, Wyatt. Thank you for everything.”
Without saying anything more, she drifted off to sleep, and with the sounds of her soft, soothing breaths, it didn’t take long for me to follow after.
The next morning, I woke up with Elsie sprawled across my bed, and she looked absolutely beautiful.
She was wearing a pair of pink knit shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt, and her lips were full and pouty from sleeping hard.
I wanted nothing more than to kiss her and fuck her long and hard, but she was sleeping so soundly, I hated to wake her.
Besides, I had work that needed to be done, so I eased out of bed and got dressed.
I left Elsie a note, then made my way to the kitchen for some coffee and a bite to eat.
It was still early. The sun was just starting to rise, so I was able to make my coffee and go without the hassle of talking to anyone.
When I got to my desk, I took out the list of names that we’d compiled, and I studied it for several moments, and for reasons I still don’t understand, my eyes fell on the name David Bruton. I passed by it several times, but I kept coming back to it. I don’t know why I became so fixated on it.
Bruton was a name I’d heard many times.
He was a retired history teacher in his late fifties.
He was widowed with two sons who both lived in the city, but he busied himself with the town council and church every Sunday.
He owned various properties throughout town, along with two large warehouses down at the dock—each with their own motion-censored security camera.
They monitored both the property and the road.
I had no reason not to believe that Bruton was an all-around good guy, but I followed my instincts and started digging into his history.
I started with the basics. His address, his phone number, and his social.
Everything panned out, so I moved on to his work history.
Everything looked legit until the summer of ‘98.
There was nothing before that.
No job. No address. No phone number. Nothing.
The trail had run dry, so I did the only thing I could.
I found an old picture of him and ran it through Bio-ID—our facial recognition software.
The first scan came up with nothing, so I searched online for a different image.
I sent it through, and after a lengthy search, the name Carl Davenport appeared on the screen.
I knew right then that I had found something big—something that made my hours and hours of research worthwhile.
I typed his name into the search engine, and within seconds, a long list of Carl Davenports popped up on the screen.
I started going through each of them until I spotted a photograph that looked similar to the original image I had for Bruton.
A few more clicks, and then, I saw the logo for Interpol.
I froze.
I simply couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Interpol is an international policing agency.
They tracked down the most wanted criminals and have connections all over the world.
My original theory was beginning to make sense, and then again, it wasn’t.
I couldn’t fathom how David Bruton, the high school history teacher, was actually Carl Davenport, an Interpol investigator.
I stared at the screen a moment longer, making sure I had it right, then stood and rushed to the door.
I opened it and stuck my head out into the hall. When I spotted Maverick, I shouted, “Yo, Mav!”
“Yeah?”
“I need you to find Big. Tell him to get his ass down here now!”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“I found him!”
“Found who?”
“Bruton!” He gave me a puzzled look, and I knew he had no idea what I was talking about. I didn’t have time to explain, so I shouted, “Get Big!”
He nodded, then disappeared down the hall.
I went back over to my desk and started looking back over everything I’d found.
I had no idea how Bruton would’ve gone from working for an international policing agency to teaching history at our local high school.
It seemed farfetched, and I was beginning to think that I had it all wrong—until my personal cell phone chimed with a message.
I took it out of my pocket, and I was shaken to the core when I read:
Unknown Caller:
I was wondering when you’d finally find me.