CHAPTER 21

Buddy Briggs was used to getting phone calls in the middle of the night. It came with the job. But familiarity didn’t change the nature of the calls. He, like Lois Pence, knew that a telephone ringing in a darkened room was usually the harbinger of bad news. He knew as he picked up the phone this was something that would require him to get out of his warm bed and head into the snowy night, which only looked pretty from inside a cozy room.

“Yes?”

“Buddy?”

“Speaking.”

“This is Colleen Sandridge. I’m sorry to call you at this hour. But I’m worried about Milton. It’s eleven thirty, and he still isn’t home.”

Buddy propped himself up on his elbow and turned on the bedside lamp.

“Is he always home by this time?”

“Oh, most definitely. I just talked to him two hours ago and he said he was coming right home.”

“Where was he then?”

“At the store.”

“Has he ever stopped off at someplace to get a drink or a sandwich?”

“Never that I know of. I told him I was going to make him some tea. That was around nine thirty and he said he would be home by ten. I’ve called his assistant manager.…”

“Lois?”

“Yes, Lois Pence, and she said he was at his desk when she left.”

“And what time was that?”

“Shortly after nine. I don’t want to sound like an alarmist but this has never happened before, and I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry I woke you up but I didn’t know who else to call.”

“That’s okay. Listen, let me do a little checking and I’ll call you right back. Okay?”

“Thank you so much, Buddy.”

Buddy sat up on the edge of the bed and rubbed both hands across his eyes. He looked to see if the phone or the conversation had wakened Amanda. Her eyes were closed, but she asked, “Who was that?”

“Colleen Sandridge. She can’t find Milton.”

Amanda never said a word and never opened her eyes. Thoughts raced through her head that she couldn’t tell her husband. She was a faithful wife but she was also a loyal friend, and she hadn’t told Buddy the things Dove confided in her. Suddenly all those things, all those out-of-the-way meeting places and out-of-town day trips only she knew about, caused her imagination to explode. She might be able to solve this for Buddy. She could start by calling to see if Dove was home. But when she rolled over and looked at the clock and saw it was only twenty-five minutes until midnight, she scrapped that plan immediately. If Dove was there or if she wasn’t, what reason could she possibly give for calling? She closed her eyes again and lay there with her thoughts. The only thing she could think to do was pray, and she wasn’t sure quite how to pray about this situation.

Buddy was in the kitchen on the phone.

“Mt. Jefferson Police Department.”

“Lorrie, this is Briggs. Who’s got patrol duty downtown tonight?”

“That would be Officer Tolley.”

“Have him check on the parking lot behind Macalbee’s to see if a green ’56 Chevy is there. Two-door.”

“License number?”

“I have no idea. Just have him check and call me at home as quick as you can.”

“Will do, Lieutenant.”

Amanda walked in the kitchen as Buddy was attempting to make a pot of coffee. She had considered staying in bed but couldn’t justify inaction while hearing her husband banging around in the kitchen looking for a sugar bowl that had sat on the same shelf for the past eight years. She smiled at him and said, “Sit down. I’ll fix it.” A moment later she asked, “Where do you think he might be?”

“Beats me. Milton seldom drinks. There’s not much open anyway this time of night and especially on a night like this. I’m a little worried he might have slipped off the road somewhere. I was just trying to figure how many different ways he could have driven home. We’ll backtrack him that way and then if that doesn’t turn up anything …”

“What then?”

“I don’t know. We’ll see.”

The phone rang again. Buddy answered on the first ring.

“Lieutenant? Officer Tolley just radioed in. That car, green ’56 Chevy, is on the lot, covered with snow.”

“Thanks, Lorrie. Tell Tolley to meet me there in fifteen minutes.”

“On the lot?”

“On the lot. And, Lorrie, call Lois Pence. I don’t know the number or the address. Tell her we need the key to the store. She’s the assistant manager. Send Tolley over to her house to get it.”

“What if she won’t give him the key? You know how finicky some of these merchants are.”

“Then have Tolley bring her along with the key.” Buddy held the phone for a second before hanging it up. He looked at Amanda with a puzzled look.

“What?” she asked out of frustration.

“His car is still at the store. It hasn’t been moved. That means he’s still inside or left with someone else. Or someone is in the store with him.”

Amanda felt her breathing become irregular and was sure her color had drained. She was overcome with the feeling that if she withheld what she knew from her husband it would be as if she was being unfaithful. Where was her loyalty? To her husband, of course. She had already betrayed Dove once with that gaffe about Walter Selman. But she couldn’t let Buddy walk into such a sticky situation blind. Or maybe he already knew? Maybe he was thinking the same things.

Buddy was back in the bedroom dressing hurriedly in a pair of khakis and a crew neck sweater. He came through the kitchen putting his arm into his overcoat.

“Buddy, I have to tell you something”

“Can’t it wait, honey? I sort of have my hands full right now.”

“No, it can’t. It’s about this situation.”

“About this? About Milton?” Her words had stopped him cold.

“Yes. Oh, I don’t know how to tell you this. Promise me, Buddy, what I am about to say will never leave this room. Please promise you’ll never tell a soul.”

“What’s up, Amanda?” It was one of the few times she’d detected the policeman in his voice when addressing her. He looked her directly in the eye and held the stare until she spoke.

“I might know what’s going on with Milton. I might. I don’t know for sure. But you think he might have someone in the store with him, and if he does, I might know who it is.”

“Go on.” The policeman was gone. She was talking to Buddy again and that made it a little bit easier. But only a little bit.

“Dove Franklin and Buddy are old friends from years ago in Richmond.”

“I know that.”

“I mean real good friends, Buddy. And they see each other whenever they can. They sneak around and they swear nothing really bad happens but they still sneak around. And I’m the only one that knows about it.”

“How do you know about it?”

“Dove told me. If anyone is in that store, in that office with him tonight, I just know it’s her. I don’t want a bunch of policemen barging in there. This mess would be all over Main Street before Christmas morning. Please don’t hate me for keeping this from you. I was just trying to be a good friend to Dove. I’ve wanted to tell you so many times but I just didn’t know what to do.”

“Not your fault. I’ll just make sure I go in first. I’ll leave Tolley at the door.”

This news left Buddy numb, but with a lot of questions. Questions he didn’t have time to ask. It also left him relieved, because when Amanda began to tell him, a fear from down inside crept up in his stomach that she was going to reveal something about herself.

The phone rang and made them both jump.

“Yes.”

“Buddy, this is Colleen.”

“I was just getting ready to call you, Colleen,” Buddy lied. He had no intention of calling Colleen until he had found Milton. He looked at Amanda, who was sitting at the table with her head buried in her hands. “We’re going to check a few places out and then I’ll get back to you.”

“That’s what I’m calling you about. I’ve been out riding around looking for him since we talked. And I found his car. It’s still on the lot behind the store.”

Buddy’s face muscles tightened. “What? Where are you now?”

“I’m at that phone booth in front of the Jefferson Bank. I can see the back door of the store from here but I don’t have a key, of course. I banged on the door a few times but I don’t know if he’s in there.”

“Colleen, you need to go home and let me handle this. Will you do that?”

“I need to get in the store. It’s freezing out here. Can you get a key?”

“Colleen, go home.”

“I’ll wait here till you get a key. Certainly the police know how to get in a locked door.”

“Colleen—” but the rest of that sentence was lost to the dial tone from the other end of the line. Buddy slammed the phone down a little harder than he meant. It startled Amanda, who looked up with tears in her eyes. Shirley Ann was standing in the doorway in her pajamas.

“Mama. Daddy. What’s going on?”

“Your daddy has been called out tonight, that’s all.”

“Then why are you crying?”

Amanda sighed heavily. “It’s just life, Shirley Ann, life. Go back to bed.”