Our customers start to gather outside as a police car pulls alongside the bar. Haverty has the keys to the Escalade in hand and disappears around the corner without saying another word.
He’s gone, along with my wife.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
My finger circles the rim of the coffee mug as I gaze out into the wet streets from the front window of the Scarlett. It’s a habit that appears whenever I’m nervous or distraught, and right now, that’s putting things mildly. To hold Sophia, to have her safe in my arms would be all I’d ever need for the rest of my life.
Rain started to fall and everyone gathered inside to speak to the cops. I went straight for the bar, only to throw the shot glass against the wall in frustration. It was my mother who sat me down with the coffee, and who is staying by my side, rubbing my back, offering comfort and strength to a man who’s nothing more than a helpless prick.
“I should’ve jumped over the balcony to stop him.”
“What, and break your leg? Be realistic,” she says.
“No, I didn’t act. I was my usual asinine self, and then I treated Haverty like a piece of shit.”
My parents and I have all tried calling Haverty’s cell, but haven’t had any luck. He’s never done this before, just walked away without telling me why, and now I have him on my mind, along with Sophia.
The police are still questioning a few of our customers, and most are saying they didn’t see or hear a thing. Everyone’s eyeing me as if I’ve gone mad. I’ve heard of this happening before... someone gets beat up, or kidnapped and people don’t do shit. They stand around like statues, watch, and then walk away as if it were an everyday occurrence. A desensitized generation of robots; deadened and numb.
When my father arrived, he immediately started shutting the place down for the night, and now he’s making sure the remaining people are on their way out.
The cops separated us for questioning, but I overheard Hollis say he didn’t react because he thought ‘the guy’ was just goofing around and didn’t perceive the situation as dangerous, that my wife never called out for help or screamed. What the fuck?
“Just find her, alright? She’s carrying our child.” I cut one of the officers off as I’m being asked the same questions I was twenty minutes ago.
“Mr. Everton, we’re treating this as a high-risk missing persons case, and we’re doing everything...”
“I already told you the guy could’ve killed David Rosen, and now he has my wife. You have the descriptions, isn’t that enough to get in your car and find them?”
The officer I’m speaking to is young and it’s clear he hasn’t been on the job for long. I’d say only a few months. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has to flip through a police procedures manual to figure out what to do next. Shouldn’t there be a crime scene investigator here, or a detective? Why is this so half-assed?
“Does your wife have a cell phone on her?”
“I already told you, she left it inside her purse, which is in my office. No, she doesn’t have her goddamn cell phone on her!”
“Cove, calm down. They’re trying their best to help us,” my mother frowns at my impatience. What does she expect? I can’t stand sitting on my ass doing nothing, but no one will let me leave. I’m trapped and suffocating in this room. “Cove, darling, breathe. Your face is turning red. Breathe.”
The cop raises his hand in the air as a warning that I need to calm down while my father walks over after hearing my disturbed tone.
“Cove, I still have Marcus’s number saved on my cell. The police are trying to contact him now and Detective Ferguson, who’s been working on David’s case, is on his way. If Marcus is the new head of Jameson Industries, he’ll be easy to find. He can’t just abandon the business and leave his house and everything else behind. He’ll have to go to Vegas at some point.”
“Not with Sophia.”
My father doesn’t respond. He stares straight ahead, his eyes on the city streets, thinking, perhaps trying to find the right words to console me, only nothing comes.
“I need to be searching for my wife and not playing the waiting game inside the bar. I’ve never felt so dependent on another person in my life. I need her, and I’m at the mercy of whatever it is that Marcus Wild wants,” I say to my parents.
My father understands, and I realize what I’m feeling must be close to how he felt when Paul would take me away. Only, I have no idea what’s happening to Sophia or where she is, and because of that, my imagination gets the best of me.
“The police should have his real name soon and it will be easier to track him... track them, down.”
I nod and close my eyes while my fingers massage my forehead. The afternoon and evening with Marcus repeats in my head. He asked what Soph was going to do with the money, then he followed us in the city, showed up at the restaurant, and then here. He wanted me, he touched me, asked me about my friendship with Hav, criticized my marriage and the way I treated my wife, and then he took her away. And whatever happened to that guy, Evan, the one that kept texting her. Was he here tonight?
“What?” my father asks. “You’re thinking about something.”
“Something’s off about Marcus. There’s no reason for him to take Sophia. He’s spent the past two days fucking with me, not her.”
“He wants the check, Cove.”
“He could’ve had it earlier. Last night as well. He’s not after the money.”
“Then what?”
Detective Ferguson walks through the door, his black raincoat dripping with water, and his skin’s cold and wet as he shakes my hand.
“I wasn’t serious last night when I asked you if I’d be back here again today, Mr. Everton.”
“This isn’t a joke,” I reply with a face of distress. His smile disappears as he takes a seat at the table and pulls his wet pants away from his skin.
“You’re right, I apologize. I didn’t mean to treat this subject lightheartedly,” he says. “Let me get to the reason for my visit. You mentioned to an officer earlier that you believe this man who exited with your wife may have killed David Rosen?”
“Marcus didn’t exit with my wife, he pulled her by her wrist out the door and yanked her into a car.”
“Well, we’re getting mixed reports on that scene.”
“I was the one who had my eyes on him the entire time, no one else. My wife pushed him away and he restrained her.”
The detective lifts his chin and scratches his neck with his lips puckered out as if he’s looking for a distraction from my words. It wouldn’t surprise me if his next move were to put his feet up and lean back in his chair.
“As I was saying,” he continues. “There’s no evidence of foul play relating to David’s death and I’m confident the autopsy results will affirm it was a suicide. ‘Marcus Wild’ was found in David’s list of contacts on his phone, and the two were supposed to have a meeting together the evening David took his life. That was also scheduled on David’s cell. We’ve already contacted him, questioned him, and he’s in the clear.”
“Why would he...” I exhale and shake my head. “Damn him, I can’t comprehend...”
My father scoots his chair closer to the table and takes my hand, giving it a tight squeeze. I know both my parents are just as concerned as me, but they’re keeping their wits about themselves for my sake. My emotions are teetering between an angry outburst, in which case I might use my fist to break this new window next to us, or curling into the fetal position under the table and wailing like a baby who’s unable to communicate his needs.
The Detective’s voice pulls me out of the violent and depressing images in my head and back into the conversation.
“Marcus arrived in St. Louis hours after David’s death. It’s all documented with the airlines and he’s on the airport security cameras getting off his flight. I don’t know why you believe he may have murdered David, but it’s not the case.”