Delta, page 2
“But it’s none of your business,” she pointed out briskly, as she took several steps back.
“Then I’ll go to the sheriff’s office,” he stated.
She pivoted toward him, as she had been in the process of walking back to the building. “Do you know Rebecca?”
He nodded. “Yes, I know her.” Honestly, he didn’t really know her well at all. Days ago he’d left a message to introduce himself to her, and she’d called back, followed by a little more phone tag and a few text messages in between. He had even checked out her online presence. Yet, without any personal face-to-face interaction, he had felt … a connection. Just thinking about something happening to her already hurt him in his soul.
“I don’t know what to say to you because we don’t know what happened.”
“Well, you’re certainly not making things any clearer with your cryptic responses. Did anybody go to her apartment?”
“No, as a company representative, I don’t think so, but she wasn’t answering her phone. We contacted the cops about it, and they offered to do a welfare check.”
“Did they get back to you?”
She shook her head. “No, they didn’t. I tried to follow up, but apparently there was some other incident.”
“So, you haven’t had anybody go to her place and check if she’s there?” he asked incredulously. “You’re all just sitting here, waiting for somebody to do something?”
“You don’t understand. … Well, maybe you do. If you know Rebecca at all, she doesn’t like people in her space. She’s … different.”
“We’re all different,” he replied, staring at her. “That’s no excuse for not following up to ensure she’s okay.”
The other woman flushed in anger. “That’s why I called the cops,” she snapped. “I don’t know what else you expect me to do. If something’s happened to her, I really don’t want to be the one who finds her.”
“Finally some honesty.” He had to give her points for that. And, if there was a problem, nobody wanted to get involved to begin with. Not him though. That just made him feel more concern for the poor woman. “Does she drive to work?” he asked. “Any chance that she’s been involved in an accident?”
The other woman shrugged. “We don’t know, and that’s why I called the sheriff.”
“The fact that nobody’s gotten back to you is interesting,” he murmured. He tapped his hand on the steering wheel. “I’ll talk to the sheriff.”
“Yeah, you do that,” she muttered, taking several steps backward. “I just don’t know what else to tell you.”
He nodded and turned on the engine again. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
She gave him a tentative smile and then called out, “If you could let us know something?”
He frowned. “Do you have a card?”
She pulled something from her back pocket and handed it to him. “Yes. Contact me here.”
He took it and then watched as she quickly walked away. It seemed she was almost escaping. She was an older woman, mid-fifties maybe, which nowadays was surely the new thirties. She was well-preserved, wore minimal makeup, but was well-dressed. It went along with the massive building behind her—older but well-maintained. She certainly was a little friendlier compared to the first woman he’d met, but not by much.
As soon as he pulled out onto the main road, he hit the GPS, looking for the local sheriff’s department for this small town. It took him a few minutes to navigate through the myriad of left and right turns, before he pulled up into a small parking lot.
As he parked his vehicle, he saw two deputy cars alongside the small building. He hopped out and walked slowly, worrying about the ankle joint more than he should, but reminding himself that Kat was on it. Meanwhile, once he got back in town, he would have her at least adjust this one, while he awaited his final product.
As he walked into the building, two deputies stood off to one side, each with a cup of coffee in hand, just chatting. They looked over at him, and the younger one raised an eyebrow. Delta frowned and announced, “I’m Delta Granger, and I’m here looking for Rebecca Postal.”
The two men just stared at him.
Delta tilted his head ever-so-slightly. “I believe you were contacted because she didn’t show up for work and has been reported as missing.”
The younger deputy shrugged. “She’s an adult, and she has the right to leave and to not show up for work.”
“Did anybody do a welfare check at her home?” Delta asked, trying to control his muscles, already tightening with each passing moment, due to that internal knowing that something was wrong.
The same deputy nodded. “We did, and no one answered the door. We aren’t allowed to go in just because she didn’t show up for work a few hours ago.”
Delta pondered that. “I see. So, when is it that you’ll take action?”
“Tomorrow,” the younger deputy replied curtly.
“So, you don’t check up on her phone or GPS on her vehicle or anything like that in the meantime? By tomorrow, when you can do something, you could discover that she’s dead. Is that your procedure here?” Again that same old fury was building up inside, yet Delta knew it wasn’t fair because they were supposedly following the rules, and it wasn’t personal.
Both men stared at him, but now the older deputy asked suspiciously, “Who are you?”
“I already told you who I am. I drove here to meet Rebecca this morning, and she didn’t show up for that meeting.”
“Maybe that’s why she went missing,” the younger deputy muttered under his breath.
Delta shot him a glance, pulled out his phone, and brought up his Notes app. “What did you say your names were?”
Both deputies frowned, as one stood a bit straighter, and asked, “What are you talking about?”
Delta eyed him and repeated, “I’m asking for your names.” Delta read the name tag on the nearest guy’s uniform. “Are you Deputy Halvorson? And you are Deputy Sal Patton?” Delta quickly wrote down the two names and turned and made his way outside.
It took a little bit to coordinate the failing ankle joint on the front steps. Delta would have to grab his screwdriver and adjust it again. Back in his car, he left the driver’s side door open, while he grabbed the screwdriver and quickly adjusted the joint. When he sat back up again, Deputy Halvorson glared at him. Delta raised an eyebrow. “You got a problem?”
“Yeah, we got a problem,” Halvorson snapped, his tone hard. “We don’t want no strangers around here causing trouble.”
“No, you probably don’t,” Delta agreed in a smooth tone. “I would think you also wouldn’t want a well-respected woman to go missing or have something bad happen to her, simply because you guys were too lazy to put down your coffee cups and look for her.”
The deputy shook his head. “That’s not fair.”
“If you haven’t done a welfare check, if you haven’t done anything to see whether her vehicle is missing or there at her home—”
“We didn’t look,” he admitted.
“Exactly. You followed the rules you are required to work under but completely ignored all the other things you could have done to locate her or to gather data that would be invaluable, should she still be missing come tomorrow. You must know that the first twenty-four hours are crucial. So I will go over there and have a look myself.”
Delta didn’t have her address, but he was hoping that he might bluff somebody into revealing where she lived. He would also need the license plate and the make and model of her car, but he wasn’t past asking Badger for that kind of help either.
Halvorson shoved his hands in his pockets, as he looked around, frowning. “Maybe I’ll take another drive over there,” he said reluctantly.
“You probably should,” Delta agreed. “You don’t want anything bad to happen, only to have it come back later as being uncaring and incompetent.”
At that, Halvorson glared at him again but then turned and stormed back inside and came out a few minutes later, his hat on and keys in his hand. Delta sat here, as if still working on his ankle joint, waiting until the deputy hopped into a vehicle and pulled out. Right behind him, Delta followed the patrol car to Rebecca’s home.
When he pulled up to a small townhome in a small complex, the deputy parked out front and hopped out. He was talking on his comm system for a minute and then quickly hung up and walked to the front door of unit 3. Immediately Delta walked up behind him.
Deputy Halvorson glared at him, as he knocked on the door. “I told you that we already checked.”
“Yeah, you did, but how much did you check? Did you go around back?” Delta noted the unit number, and, while the deputy was knocking at the front door, Delta headed around to the back, where he found more parking and a vehicle in her numbered spot, but that didn’t mean it was her car. He walked up to the back door and knocked, hard. The door wasn’t even latched and readily slid open.
He walked through and called out for her, “Rebecca, are you here?” He gingerly opened the front door—not wanting to disturb any existing fingerprints—and faced the deputy, who once more glared at him. Delta shrugged. “The back door was open.”
“Why would you do that? He snapped. “If something was wrong, you’ll have your fingerprints all over the place.”
“The back door was barely even latched,” he shared. “All I did was knock, and it popped open. Also I came straight through, calling out for her. The only set of prints for me will be on the inside of this front door.”
The deputy shook his head and sighed.
Together, the two of them did a full search but found no sign of her.
“A vehicle is parked in her allotted slot, but I can’t guarantee it’s her car.” Delta frowned. “I don’t remember what she drove.”
The deputy headed out to the car, walked around to the back of it, and wrote down the license plate. He then proceeded to call somebody. He came back a few minutes later and told Delta, “It’s her car.”
Delta nodded. “So, she either left with someone, voluntarily or has been taken. I’ll search her home again and see if anything’s missing.”
“How will you know if anything’s missing?” the deputy asked in a hard tone.
“Not so much what’s missing but whether she left in a hurry. I’ll look for a suitcase, a purse, makeup, things out of place like that.” Delta shrugged, as he walked back to her unit.
The deputy called out behind him, “You realize we shouldn’t even be in there.”
“Her door was ajar. She didn’t show up for work, and she missed a meeting. She’s not here, yet her car remains here. That’s suspicious circumstances to cover you,” Delta explained, shooting him a look. “I would rather err on the side of trying to help a woman in trouble than have nobody know or care.” That just earned him another dirty look.
With the two of them going through Rebecca’s bathroom and her bedroom, taking a closer look, Delta pointed out to the deputy, “Look. Her makeup’s here, her toothbrush, her hairbrush. … It’s all here.”
The deputy nodded and added, “Her purse, with her driver’s license and her charge cards, are all here too.”
At that, Delta muttered, “Which means she didn’t pack and didn’t have a chance to take anything important with her.”
They opened closets, which were all stuffed with clothing. “So, we can’t tell if she took anything from here either.” Delta frowned, as he looked at the bed, which was made. “It’s all very clean, neat and tidy,” he noted, “and my concern now is that she didn’t sleep in her bed at all last night.”
Deputy Halvorson swore at that and nodded. “I think you’re right. In which case did she leave work on time yesterday? Where did she go after that?”
“Nothing like the present to find out,” Delta replied, as he pulled out his phone. He quickly phoned the company where Rebecca worked and spoke with the receptionist, once again identifying himself. “We’re at her townhome. When did Rebecca leave work yesterday? And, if you’re wondering if this is an official request, Deputy Halvorson is right here with me.”
The woman’s tone changed after that. “I can check when she logged out,” she muttered.
In the background, Delta heard keys clicking. “Does she have any pets?” he asked her.
“No, but she was pretty partial to the one dog here at work.”
“Right. We’re talking about Gracie, aren’t we?”
“Yes.” Then she asked, “How do you know that?”
Having to blend the lies he’d already told this rude woman and the deputy and the unknown woman in the parking lot earlier, he replied, “Rebecca told me when we were discussing Gracie.”
“That sounds like her. According to the security system, she logged out at ten minutes after six o’clock last night.” But an odd note filled her tone.
“And what’s wrong with that?”
“Well, she’s off at five. She does stay and work late quite often, but the system also says that her security key logged in again at seven, then left at seven-thirty.”
“So, it’s possible she left something at work and came back for it?” Delta looked over at Deputy Halvorson, who was writing down notes.
“Well, it’s possible,” the receptionist replied, “but it would be unusual.”
“Is anything missing?” he asked.
The deputy looked at him sharply, and an audible inhale of breath could be heard over the phone. “You need to talk to my boss,” she stated. “Just a minute. Hold on please.” He looked over at Deputy Halvorson. “So, something is wrong.”
The deputy frowned and nodded, reluctantly adding, “Something’s not right, let’s put it that way.”
When another woman came on the phone, Delta realized it was the one he’d spoken to earlier in the parking lot. She asked sharply, “There’s no sign of Rebecca?”
“Not at her townhome. Her car is here, and it doesn’t look like she even slept in her bed last night,” he shared. “Now, I understand from the receptionist I just spoke to, that there are some concerns over her coming and going last night, after logging out.”
“Not necessarily. For instance, if she had forgotten something and had to come back for it, that wouldn’t be a concern. Maybe she just left her phone here or something,” she explained, yet sounded doubtful. Then she added in a brisk tone, “I can’t really help you. We don’t have any issues here.”
“So, no break-ins, no security leaks, and nothing’s been stolen? I am here with the deputy, so please remember you’re on the record.”
At that came a sharp sucking in of breath, much like her coworker. Then her tone turned completely sour. “Now you’re making it sound like I might need a lawyer.”
The deputy’s eyebrows shot straight up, and he reached out a hand for Delta’s phone. Delta handed it over. “This is Deputy Halvorson here. Are you telling me that you feel you need a lawyer because there’s been some criminal activity you’re afraid of being accused of?”
Dead silence followed.
Delta hid a smile, as he waited to hear what the woman would say.
“There have been no issues here at all,” she snapped. “There’s no reason for any concern except for the fact that she didn’t show up for work today.”
The deputy replied, “I’ll need a list of all known associates, a list of any work issues and current cases. You should know that I am prepared to go through appropriate legal channels with the district attorney, should there be any resistance to supplying us with the requested information. This is now officially considered a missing person’s case. She was last seen at work and, in an unusual move, left her workplace, but then her security card was used to enter the facility again, but that doesn’t mean that she reentered that building,” he snapped.
The older woman added, “No, hang on, hang on. We have no reason to suspect it wasn’t her.”
Delta leaned forward and stated, “Therefore, we’ll also need immediate access to the security camera video at your facility. Do we need to get a search warrant for that, or will you cooperate? And you should know we can easily expand the parameters of the search warrant, if need be.”
With the older woman blustering, the deputy declared, “We’ll expect a timely response as to when and how we can access the videos.”
“Since time is clearly of the essence,” Delta quickly added, “we’ll need to see them within the next hour.”
And, with that, the deputy hung up and handed Delta’s phone back. “You’re pretty good at that stuff.”
Delta nodded. “I did two tours in the military and then came back due to an injury, but, before that, I was in law enforcement.”
“Why the hell did you go from law enforcement to the military?” he asked, shaking his head.
Delta had heard that comment before.
Halvorson shrugged and added, “You know you can’t go with me to see the video camera footage, right?” Delta glared at him, but the deputy shook his head. “We can’t allow that.”
“Maybe I presently can’t go with you to see the video,” he noted. “However, are you fully staffed? Unless you’re full up on deputies and have the manpower to do this, I suggest you deputize me to assist in this case to help you find her.”
The deputy studied him, one eyebrow raised.
Delta continued. “Look. I have experience, and right now you’re obviously short-staffed. And, if word gets out that this kidnapping got missed already and that we have a lack of cooperation on the search for this poor woman, things are bound to get ugly.”
Rebecca sat curled up in the corner of a ten-by-twelve bedroom. A blanket and a flat mattress sat off to the side, along with her ever-present companion, Gracie. Rebecca smiled, as she placed a hand over Gracie’s hip. Immediately the dog’s partial tail thumped on the floor.
“At least you’re with me,” she murmured. “Although I don’t think the guy we were supposed to meet will appreciate that we didn’t show up.”
Not that she’d told anybody about him. She was hoping for some sort of compromise as to Gracie’s future. Gracie was family. Gracie had been her special pet. Rebecca was a little worried what Delta would think, once he heard how this special dog had gone missing earlier, with no sign of her since.
