The Ring of Fire & Serpents

Chapter Fifteen - Gut Feeling

After I pull up in the parking lot of the police station, I follow the detective inside the building and he leads me down a hallway to the right of the entrance, straight to his office. As I enter, I notice photos on his desk of a beautiful little brown-haired, blue-eyed girl, probably close to three or four years of age. There’s also a photo of that same little girl being held by a stunning woman with similar features.

As I have a seat at the chair in front of his desk, he shuts the door and walks around to have a seat in front of me. He leans back in his chair, eyeing me intently, crossing his arms in front of his chest. A feeling of anxiety sweeps over me. I lower my gaze to avoid the intensity of his eyes and begin to c***k my knuckles. I’m feeling as though I’m being interrogated and I’m not sure why. I need to say something so that I can break this awkward silence, “Detective, I would like to apologize about the scene between my ex-husband and myself back at the house. It hasn’t been that long since he and I finalized the divorce, so tensions are still high between us.”

He reaches up to rub his chin with his thumb and pointer finger, “Ms. Carmichael, I am no stranger to the dynamics between divorced couples. I deal with that sort of thing quite often in my profession. I brought you here in hopes to get a little more clarity about something you mentioned while I was there. I figured that you would feel more comfortable sharing your insight without any…distractions.”

A chill runs down my neck as the vent above me begins to blow out cold air, “About what I mentioned with Charlie Vance? I just have a gut feeling... Something in my gut tells me that he’s involved. I have nothing to back it up.”

“What did he do to make you feel this way?” he asks curiously.

I begin to fidget in my seat, “Well, I work at Schumacher Insurance Group as the Office Manager. My boss, Frank is an acquaintance of Charlie’s. Charlie would come to the office and say and do things to make me feel very uncomfortable.”

He reaches into his desk draw to the right and pulls out a notebook and pen, “Like what kind of things?”

“This may be nothing, but he would make unwelcomed advances towards me that made me very uncomfortable. One day when he stopped in unannounced, he made a comment to me about my daughters’ picture that I had placed on my desk. He said something along the lines of I had better hope that his son doesn’t see them. That alone was enough to set the alarms off in my brain, but it doesn’t end there…” I begin to tell him.

As he writes down the information, he stops and looks up at me with anticipation. I proceed, “My boss, Frank, knew that Charlie made me feel very uncomfortable. Frank warned him that he’s not to stop by the office unexpectedly anymore. He was to make an appointment if he needed to meet with him.  I think this upset Charlie and that night after work when I left, Charlie was across the street at the parking lot watching me. He didn’t follow me home to my knowledge, but it was very suspicious.”

He nods, “Hmm… interesting. I will need to look into this a bit further.”

“Also, I am curious as to why Wyatt Vance at the same party as my kids? That is very suspicious! They aren’t even in the same school district. He lives in Laurel. I mean my oldest daughter was even hanging out with Wyatt. Am I the only one who finds this odd?” I ask, my voice is raspy as I work hard to fight back tears.

He begins to tap his pen on the notebook anxiously, “I agree this is very suspicious. Here’s the thing, Ms. Carmichael. I spoke with Wyatt personally about his. Charlie and his wife, Suzy were at Tito’s Bar in Laurel around the same time that your daughters attended the party. After Wyatt dropped your oldest daughter off at your house, his parents called him for a ride home. Apparently, Charlie and Suzy were removed from the bar after having an altercation with another couple inside. Wyatt went to pick them up and took them directly home.”

I sit and contemplate for a moment of what he informed me before answering, “Why was Wyatt even there? Around my daughter?”

“Wyatt had stated that his friend, Clayton, moved from Laurel to Ellisville. He lives down the road from where the party was held, and he was the one that invited Wyatt to the party.”

I do my best to hide my frustrations, but I can’t help but feel like he’s brought me here because he’s hell bent on proving me wrong, “Listen, Detective, I told you, I have this gut feeling about Charlie. I mean what even made you question Charlie in the first place? My feelings are obviously valid if you guys questioned him already, right?”

He nods, “Ms. Carmichael, I’m not doubting your feelings towards Charlie. He seems to be the one that everyone blames around here when something happens. He has a reputation that follows him, so I get it, I really do. He’s a mean ol son of a gun and because of his record alone, we always question him initially to rule him out as a suspect. Now I will say that what you told me is very suspicious and I will be following up.”

Tears begin to well in my eyes, “Detective, I’m tired…I’m so tired and I’m scared. My baby girl is missing. I just need answers. I want her home with me, now!” I reach up and wipe the tears from my cheeks before continuing. I pick up the photo of the little girl on his desk and show it to him, “Imagine if this beautiful little girl, who I assume is your daughter, was missing. How do you suppose this would affect you? Wouldn’t you be looking at the world differently? What if I never see her again? What if someone has hurt her? I don’t think you can even begin to understand what I’m going through right now!” I cry out in frustration.

He reaches out for the picture from my hands, “Ms. Carmichael, I assure you that I can understand your situation better than you may think.” He mumbles quietly.

I cross my arms in front of me defensively, “Oh I can assure you that you can’t!”

His nostrils flare as he points at the woman in the picture, “Okay, off the record, this is my wife Calista and that little girl she is holding is my only daughter, Avery. They were killed three years ago yesterday by a drunk driver while visiting a relative in Jackson.  I had no idea the morning they left would be the last time I’d ever see them again. My world was and still is completely shattered. Trust me, I know all about being tired.”

I swallow hard as I am taken back by his confession. My stomach turns as I am riddled with remorse, “Oh my God. I am so sorry for your loss.” I choke out.

He sets the picture back down on his desk, “Ms. Carmichael, do you know of anyone else that may want to harm your daughter? Anyone that may have a bone to pick with her? Maybe at her former school? A neighbor? A friend?”

I shake my head, “No…nobody. Sophia is a friendly girl. To my knowledge, she never had any enemies.”

He continues to pick up the pen from his desk, “So I know you have heard about the disappearances of teenagers in the area over the last two years…” He begins…

Tears begin streaming down my cheeks. He grabs a tissue from his desk and hands it to me, “Yes, I have heard about it on the news…” I respond as I blot my eyes.

“I have to discuss the possibility with you. As painful as this may be to hear, this is kind of where we are with it. We recently discovered a few common similarities in each case that your daughter matches the description of.” He mentions.

I rub my nose with the tissue, “Oh? What similarities?” I ask.

“All of the teenagers who went missing are from broken homes, living with single mothers. All of them that went missing were also sixteen and blonde.  It’s almost as if you all were being targeted.”

My entire body trembles in fear, “Oh my God. This can’t be!”

He leans towards me and pats my hand, “I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to bring your daughter back home to you. There’s nothing higher on my list of priorities right now than to find out what is happening to these kids.”

I lay my head on the desk and sob uncontrollably for a moment. I slowly raise my head to meet his gaze, my eyes wet with tears, “Is there anything I can do to help?” I ask.

He nods, “Yes, you can start by monitoring your surroundings. If you see anything or hear anything, come to me about it, don’t say a word to anyone else. Also, please don’t go taking it upon yourself to investigate anything you may come across, as bad as you may want to. It could potentially be very dangerous.” He responds.

I gather myself and quickly jump up, “Please let me know if you hear anything.” I tell him.

He looks at me with apologetic eyes, “Will do Ms. Carmichael.”

I spin around and dart out the door as quickly as I can and head towards my car. I knew what I needed to do at that moment. Question is, would I be able to do it without falling apart?