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First Edition Design Publishing - Mike Smitley

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212 pages

English

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Jon Lowe is one of those parents who is living the hell that we all dread. His son, Tommy, is taken from his mother in a crowded mall, thrusting both parents into a nightmare that never seems to end.

Informations

Publié par	First Edition Design Publishing
Date de parution	05 décembre 2011
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781937520465
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

OUR MISSING
LEST WE FORGET

A Novel
By

Mike Smitley
Thanks to Darlene Kenaga for her outstanding editing services.
Special thanks to my wife, Jana, for her patience and support.
ISBN 978-1-937520-46-5
Published by First Edition Design eBook Publishing
December 2011
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

Copyright, 2011 by Mike Smitley

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other – except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without prior written permission of the publisher and author.

The author, Mike Smitley, can be contacted at:

www.mike@fatherspress.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

First printing, Feb 2010
© 2008 Mike Smitley
Printed in the United States. All rights reserved.

For additional mystery and suspense, read Mike Smitley’s other novels, IMPLIED CONTRACT (ISBN: 978-0-9779407-2-1), GHOST HUNT: The Sequel (ISBN: 978-0-9779407-7-6), PREY (ISBN: 978-0-9779407-5-2) and DEAD FILES (ISBN: 978-0-9779407-1-4) all available through Father’s Press.

Father’s Press, L.L.C.
Lee’s Summit, MO
(816) 600-6288
www.fatherspress.com
E-Mail: mike@ fatherspress.com
Chapter One

STUART LEVINE GRIMACED with pain as he slowly folded his files and placed them in his briefcase. He clumsily manipulated his one good arm to close the case and snap the latches. He pushed the transmit button on the intercom and yelled at his secretary, “Ms. Turnbow! Get in here!”
Shirley Turnbow nervously hurried in. “Yes, Mr. Levine! What can I do to help?”
“You can get your mind on your job instead of off in the clouds somewhere, and do what I’m paying you to do! You know I’ve only got one good arm! Get my coat and close up the office! If you want a pay raise, start showing a little more initiative around here!”
Thoroughly humiliated, Shirley hurried to the closet and removed Levine’s coat. She held it high while he slid his good arm in, then draped it over his other shoulder. Levine grabbed his briefcase and eased gingerly toward the door. He bellowed out a list of final instructions. “Ms. Turnbow, before you leave, I want those monthly expenditure and balance spread sheets updated and printed out. File those employee transaction reports in their personnel files and water all the plants.” He then slapped his full coffee cup off his desk and knocked it across the floor. “And clean up this mess before you go! I don’t want to see a stain on this carpet in the morning!”
Levine slammed the door on his way out. Shirley burned with anger as she stared at the door. She took a deep breath and looked around the office. Levine had just given her another hour of work to do; work that could wait until tomorrow. It was 5:00 and her seven-year-old son would be home alone until she got there.
She labored over the coffee stains, guilt ridden for hating Levine so. She would quit, but she was a single parent and needed the job desperately. Levine was fully aware of her predicament and took every opportunity to make her life miserable.
He was a foul-smelling, small-framed man with greasy hair and a big nose. Ever since she had refused his sexual advance, he’d made her life miserable. He knew she needed to leave at 5:00.
He was a whining, sniveling waste of skin, but he was even worse with a broken arm. Shirley tried to take time off to interview with other employers, but he kept her so busy that she was having no success. She had to get away from him before she lost her temper and broke his other arm.
Levine slammed the stairwell door and shuffled painfully toward his car. He held his brief case in his teeth while he used his good hand to fumble in his pocket for his keys. He hadn’t heard the echo of approaching footsteps in the underground garage, so he was shocked when a man’s arm encircled his neck from behind and a voice softly said, “Here, let me help you, Mr. Levine.”
He was stunned when he felt the sharp sting of a syringe in his neck. He instantly felt weak and almost lost consciousness. He dropped his briefcase and slumped, but the man held him up by his neck. The man opened the rear door of the car parked next to Levine’s and stuffed him in the back seat. After picking up Levine keys and briefcase, the man got behind the wheel and drove away with Levine semi-conscious in the back seat.

Mrs. Levine was worried sick. Since it was bedtime and her husband had not yet arrived home, she called the police. The responding officer, Tim Collier, was young and inexperienced. He immediately called his sergeant. Mrs. Levine had him convinced that Mr. Levine had met with foul play.
The sergeant was busy in a disciplinary interview with another officer, so the dispatcher transferred Tim’s call to the missing persons unit. Detective Jon Lowe answered the phone. “Lowe, can I help you?”
“Detective Lowe? Tim Collier here. Listen, I hate to bother you, but I’m taking a missing person report from a lady who says that it’s not at all like her husband to not come home from work. If he has to work late, he always calls. She’s called his office and he’s not there. She’s called his secretary at home. She said he left the office at five. She’s absolutely sure that something has happened to him. I know we’re supposed to take the report and send it up to you guys the next day, but I don’t think we should wait all night to look for this guy.”
Jon rubbed his eyes and asked, “Where did her husband work?”
“Future-Tech. It’s a software company out at the Metro-Plex Business Park.”
“Okay, Tim, tell her I’ll run out there and see if he’s still in his office. He may have returned there after the secretary went home. I’ll come talk to her after I check his office.”
Jon hung up the phone and slowly put on his coat. Bill Stovall had overheard the conversation. He leaned back in his chair and asked, “Can’t give it twenty-four hours, Jon? You know the boss gets mad when we run out and chase our tails like this. Let the patrol guys run by his office. You’ve got other cases to work.”
Jon sighed. “I know, Bill, but I’m tired of looking at your ugly face. I need some fresh air. Want to come?”
“Nope, I ain’t getting my butt chewed. Come on, Jon, you know these business types. He’s out somewhere getting his brains screwed out. He’ll show up tomorrow with some lame excuse to pacify his old lady. You think every missing person is a crime. How many times do you have to be proven wrong before you’ll quit overreacting?”
Jon stood silent at the door. Bill realized that he’d struck a nerve. He rolled his eyes in shame and apologized. “I’m sorry, Jon, I didn’t mean it that way. I know your boy is still missing, but that’s different. If this were a kid, I’d jump up and go with you. This is an adult. They always show up. Most of them disappear on purpose.”
Jon didn’t answer and gently closed the door behind him. As he drove to the Metro-Plex, he relived the pain of the last three years. His son, Tommy, had been kidnapped. His body was never found. Jon secretly held hopes that he was still alive and being raised by other people. He hoped Tommy would contact him someday.
Jon functioned each day as a man with a giant hole in his chest where his heart used to be. Every day without Tommy was hell. He could barely function well enough to keep his job.

Jon found Levine’s car in its designated parking space. He asked the dispatcher to run the license registration. He tried to enter the office building, but the door was locked. He had the dispatcher call the building security guard and ask him to meet Jon at the garage door.
Once inside, Jon made his way to Levine’s office. The security guard let him in, but Jon found nothing of interest. He rummaged through Levine’s desk and trash, but nothing provided a clue as to why Levine had disappeared. For Mrs. Levine’s sake Jon hoped Bill Stovall was right. He hoped Levine would show up at home soon.
Jon drove immediately to the Levine residence where Tim Collier was trying to comfort Mrs. Levine. By now her family had arrived to lend support. Jon wanted to talk to Mrs. Levine alone, so they went to the study and shut the door. “Mrs. Levine, I know you’ve told the officer everything you know, but would you repeat it for me?”
She ran her trembling fingers through her hair and shook her head. “I can’t think right now, Detective. I’m lost.”
Jon patted her hand sympathetically. “I know. Listen, you and I are going to be working closely until we find your husband. Call me Jon.”
Mrs. Levine nodded and collected her thoughts. She took a deep breath and began. “Well, he has no enemies. He’s received no threats and is never late. He always calls me if he’s going to be late. What did you find?”
“His car is still there. I looked around his office and didn’t see anything that would help. I’ll interview his secretary tonight. I’m sorry to have to ask you this, but are you and Mr. Levine having marital problems?”
Mrs. Levine looked at Jon with righteous indignation. “No, not at all! As a matter of fact, we’re getting along better than ever. I know what you’re getting at, Detective, but Stuart is completely faithful to me. He’s the last person who would run off with another woman.”
Further conversation produced nothing useful. Jon was aware of the national statistics confirming that most adults who disappear do so voluntarily. Bill’s assumption that Mr. Levine would turn up unharmed was probably right, but Jon had a bad feeling about this case.
Jon had long ago stopped trusting his gut instincts. The loss of Tommy had clouded his judgment to the point that he reacted out of emotion rather than reason. He left Mrs. Levin