Wes and the others were gathered in a meeting room just off the motel lobby. Monroe was the only one sitting. Everyone else was either leaning against a wall or standing.
All, that is, except for Wes. He couldn’t stop pacing.
“That’s really annoying,” Monroe said as he walked past her chair for the third time.
“Shut up, Monroe,” Alison said.
Monroe sat up. “What did you say?”
“I said shut up.”
“You shut up!” Monroe yelled.
“Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”
“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but-”
“For God’s sakes, Monroe, listen to yourself,” Dione said. “You’re acting like a jackass. There are two people missing, friends of ours. This isn’t about you.”
That quieted everyone.
Wes continued, undeterred, his mind going a million miles a second. The only thing he was sure of was that Commander Forman was behind Anna’s disappearance.
He must have thought he could use her as leverage to keep Wes quiet.
But what about Tony?
That was a piece that didn’t fit.
Unfortunately, Wes was sure telling the police about Forman’s involvement would hamper the search more than help. They were already leaning toward the possibility that Wes had something to do with the other events. So it was doubtful any theory he put forward would be believed, especially a theory that centered on a Navy commander kidnapping citizens in order to cover up the identity of the person who had died in a fighter crash. No, if he wanted the police to believe him, he would have to bring them stronger evidence than he currently had. Irrefutable evidence. Evidence that started with the papers Lars had given him the night before. Unfortunately, those were still in his room. He needed to retrieve them, examine them, then work out what to do from there.
The door opened, and a uniformed officer ushered Dori inside.
“Got here as soon as I could,” she said.
Danny walked over to her. “It’s okay. They haven’t talked to any of us yet.”
Dione was looking at them, one brow raised.
“She was the last one to see Tony,” Danny said. “I thought the police would want to talk to her. So I gave her a call.”
Dione nodded. “Good thinking.”
“I’m not sure how much help I’m going to be,” Dori said.
“Did you see the people he was with?” Alison asked, hopeful.
“No … I don’t know, maybe. It’s possible they were there, too. But he didn’t introduce me to anyone. And I was at the counter when he left, so I didn’t see who he walked out with.”
“Maybe there was a security camera,” Alison suggested. “Maybe they have footage of Tony and the others.”
Dori’s face brightened. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
As Wes walked by Danny and Dori, Dori reached out and touched his arm. “I can tell how important Anna is to you. I’m sure she’s okay.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
The door opened again. This time Detectives Stevens and Andrews came in. One by one they began taking people into another room for questioning. They saved Wes for last, but just before they walked him out, Stevens said to the rest of the group, “You can all return to your rooms. But for at least the next couple of days, you’re to remain in town.”
“Hey,” Monroe said, “I wasn’t even here this weekend. There’s no reason I need to stay.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Banks. There are no exceptions.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Can it, Monroe,” Dione said.
“Mr. Stewart,” Stevens said, “if you’ll come with us.”
Dione caught Wes’s eye. “We’ll be in my room when you’re done.”
The cops led Wes through the motel lobby and into a staff break room. Inside, there were two small tables with three chairs each. They took the table nearest the door.
“So here we are again,” Andrews said, sitting across from Wes.
Stevens flipped through some pages on the legal pad. “According to Officer Rockwell, you didn’t realize that Miss Mendes was gone until the police were already here to investigate Mr. Hall’s disappearance.”
“Yes.”
“He also says that you and Miss Mendes are an item.”
An item. The term sounded ridiculous to Wes. “Yes.”
“And though you had separate rooms, you’ve stated you often shared the same room.”
Wes nodded. “Everything I told the officer earlier is accurate.”
“I’m sure it is,” Stevens said. “We’re just trying to be thorough. You understand.”
Wes looked around the room, and tried to relax.
“It says here that you went out for a little bit last night while Miss Mendes remained in your room. But when you got back, she was no longer there.”
“Again, correct.”
“Is there a reason you didn’t check her room at that time?”
“It was late. We had an early start this morning, so I thought I’d let her sleep.”
“So the first time you realized something was wrong was when she didn’t show up this morning?”
“Not exactly,” Wes said. “At first I just thought that maybe she’d overslept. I didn’t realize something was wrong until I went into her room.”
“With the spare key she’d given you.”
“Yes.”
Stevens nodded. “And where did you go last night?”
“I’m sorry?”
“When you left Miss Mendes here at the motel. Where did you go?”
“I wasn’t tired,” Wes said. He’d prepped for this question. “So I decided to go for a walk.”
“Do you do that often?”
“Sometimes.”
“Once a week? Twice a week? Every other night?”
“Just when I feel like it.”
Stevens eyed him for a moment. “All right. So you just went for a walk. How long?”
“Ended up being a few hours,” he said. Alison’s mention of security cameras earlier made him want to keep things close to reality time-wise in case the motel had them, too.
“That’s some walk. Where did you go?”
Wes shrugged. “Just around. Looking for places I used to know when I lived here.” He paused. “Ended up at a friend’s house, but he wasn’t there. Waited around for a while, but he didn’t show up.”
“So no one saw you?”
“Could have,” Wes said. “But if you’re asking me if I spoke to anyone, then no.”
“Who was the friend?” Detective Andrews asked. “Lars Andersen. We grew up together.”
“And his address?”
“It’s west of here. On Randall. I don’t remember the street number.”
“It is kind of curious, isn’t it?” Stevens said.
“What is?”
Stevens leaned back. “Just one more thing where you’re the common denominator.”
Wes looked from one detective to the other. “I told you before, the only thing I have to do with any of this is that I’m one of the victims. It’s asinine to be wasting time on this. Anna and Tony are in trouble. They need our help.”
“We don’t know for sure if they’re in trouble or not,” Andrews said. “If you had nothing to do with it, maybe they ran off together?”
Wes was momentarily speechless. “Are you kidding me?”
“It’s another possibility, isn’t it?”
“No. It’s not.”
“Mr. Stewart,” Stevens said, “there’s no reason to get upset.”
Wes almost said something more, but cut himself off. It was clear the police weren’t going to be any help. He needed to get this over with so he could find Anna and Tony himself.
“I’m sorry,” Wes said, then took a deep breath. “As far as I know, there was absolutely nothing between Anna and Tony. She and I have a very good relationship. She’s not the kind of person who would have been messing around with someone else behind my back. She’s the kind of person who would have just told me.”
“If that’s the case, then you’re a lucky man,” Stevens said.
“Yes. I am,” Wes said, not feeling lucky at all.