Protecting Kendra

Chapter 7 - Paxton

The truck is silent as I drive along the edge of town. Kendra had not updated me yet on where we needed to go next, so I defaulted to our favorite drive overlooking the water. We are both lost in our thoughts. I know she is thinking of Emily, and I should be as well, but my mind will not stay on track. I keep picturing Kendra as the one missing. What if I fail to protect her and the world is looking for her next? The thought alone invokes anxiety and anger at once. I gripped the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles turned white. Thankfully, Kendra is staring out her window completely unaware of me losing it. There better be some updates on Daniel soon. The threat feels so much greater when you don't know what direction it's coming from. I know if I keep on this path Kendra will notice whether she's facing me or not.

A ping from her phone brought us both down to earth again. "Wow, that was really quick." Kendra said. "It's the video footage that Kasey said she would send over. Do you want to pull over and watch them?" I answered her question by taking the next exit that leads to a small rest stop. The entrance has a curve that slopes down, leading to a secluded area. I'm surprised that the area is not already occupied. I park my truck but we both stay seated inside. Instead, Kendra unbuckles her seat belt and raises the console to slide closer to me. Her perfume is intoxicating. I make a mental note to find which perfume it is and ensure she never runs out of it. She clicks on the first attachment and the video expands to fill the screen. There is a man waiting at the checkout counter. I could tell from his posture that he was already upset. He's hunched over with his head in his arms shaking back and forth. He then straightens up and turns around to look at Emily and then Lilly. He seems to be judging which one will be done with their customer first. Unless there are other video clips of this guy making more angry trips to the store, I feel safe saying he's a dead end. We finished watching the video just in case. I admit the guy was a real tool at times, but I did not see anything that made me think this guy was dangerous. He just looked like a customer that was hoping to make a scene in attempt to get money back.

Kendra doesn't say anything about the interaction. She just closed it out and went to pull up the next one. There were only a total of five videos that stretched out over the course of three years. They all gave me the same impression. None of the men came close to matching the description of the kidnapper either. Kendra pushes the side button of her phone to turn the screen off and sighs. "Well, at least it helped pass a little time before we needed to meet Margaret. Or did any of them stand out to you?” She turned her head to me as she asked the question. There’s so much hope in her eyes I wish I could give the answer she wanted. “No, but there’s still a lot to cover.” She nodded her head, but I could tell that the light in her eyes had dimmed. “I’m going to step out and try to call a few of her friends again.” Kendra grabbed her notepad and pen and began to scoot to her door to get out.

I took this opportunity to text my boss and Noah. I know they would have contacted me if there were any updates, but the silence is bothering me. I looked up at Kendra while I waited for a response. She’s pacing back and forth while twirling the pen around her fingers. I can tell someone answered because she does a little hop she always does when she’s happy. She regained her composure and sat down on the ground. She steadied her notepad on her leg and began writing. A big smile crossed her face before she hung up and began dialing another number. My head snapped towards my phone when I felt it buzz. The answer was what I anticipated it to be. There is still no evidence of where Daniel was or what he had been doing. I put my phone back in my pocket without replying. I focused my attention on Kendra again. I focus on the fact that she’s here, and he is not.

I got restless, so I got out of the truck and walked around the rest stop. It’s small enough that I can reach her within a few big strides if needed. After a few minutes, she stood up and began to brush off her clothes. She waved her notepad at me and nudged her head to the truck for us to go.

As soon as we were inside the truck she began to fill me in on her calls. “All three of the friends I was interested in agreed to meet this evening after they’re back from work! Two of them are Emily’s roommates and the third usually spends her free time over there. They said we could meet at their place and take a look around. The police have already been there and cleared it.” She added the last part quickly when I started to open my mouth. She knew I was about to tell her we shouldn’t go through Emily’s things. “That sounds promising. If I learned anything from you and Tori, it’s that girls talk about everything.” I exaggerated the last word. There’s no counting how many conversations I overheard resulting in people I can never make eye contact with again. Kendra laughed, knowing exactly what I meant. Can’t help but to grin. Her laugh has always been the sweetest sound. “Where to now?” I asked, turning the truck on. “I don’t know about you, but tacos sound pretty good.” That is another thing I learned. Once she has her mind on tacos, there’s no deterring her. “Tacos it is.”