The Night Monster

CHAPTER 45

The town of Chatham was pitch dark when we arrived on its narrow streets. Like many small towns in Florida, it had seen better days. The main street was lined with potholes, and many of the storefronts needed a face-lift. The info on the web had said there were several cheap motels, but I couldn’t find any of them.

I drove back to the highway, and found a place to stay. It was called The Florida Inn, and was built to resemble a log cabin. A light shone inside the manager’s office.

My car’s tires crunched the pebble driveway. Linderman put down his pencil and looked up from his notebook. He carried the notebook with him whenever he went on a trip. It was small and black, and had a pencil stuck in the spiral binding. I didn’t know if it was for work, or if he kept a journal. I didn’t think it was my place to ask.

I took Buster for a quick walk around the grounds. Only two cars were parked in front of the rental units. I put my dog back in the car and went inside.

The night manager was watching TV behind the counter. He sprang out of his swivel chair, his watery eyes filled with suspicion. He wore his hair long, and had a metal hook sticking out of the sleeve of his shirt that made him look like a pirate.

“Didn’t hear you come in. Can I help ya?” the manager asked.

“I need a room. My buddy and I have been driving all night,” I said.

He flipped open the register. “Where you from?”

“I’m from Fort Lauderdale. My buddy’s from Miami.”

“You don’t say. What brings you to Chatham?”

“We heard the fishing’s good up here.”

“Depends who you ask. Some people think it’s better in the next county.”

It was the worst damn sales pitch I’d ever heard. I said, “We’ll have to check it out tomorrow, and see where they’re biting. You have any rooms?”

“Yeah, we got rooms. But we don’t take dogs.”

I looked at his chair behind the counter. There was no way he could have seen me walking Buster from his vantage point. Which meant he’d been watching me from the window, then slipped back into his chair when he’d realized I was coming inside.

“My dog isn’t staying in the room,” I said.

“Then where’s he gonna stay?” the manager asked.

“In my car.”

“I don’t know about that.”

I took out my wallet, and let him see the cash I was carrying. Money had a way of solving most problems, and I saw his resolve slip away.

“Well, I guess it will be all right.” His finger ran down the open register, then stopped. “You can stay in Room Twelve. Two double beds, hot shower. Cable TV is extra. Fifty bucks a night. No smoking. Pay up front.”

I counted the money for two nights onto the counter. The manager held each bill up to the light to make sure it wasn’t counterfeit. Satisfied, he put the money into the register, then gave me the key.

“Don’t want no trouble out of you and your friend,” the manager said.

“No, sir.”

“No getting drunk and busting up the furniture.”

“Of course not.”

“Or bringing in girls from the strip clubs and having sleepovers.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Don’t get smart with me, boy, or I’ll toss you out of here.”

It had been a long time since someone had called me boy. I shut my mouth and backed away from the counter. The manager slipped back into his chair, and resumed watching TV. People called Florida the Sunshine State because of the great weather and friendly people. The manager wasn’t going to be a goodwill ambassador for us anytime soon.

I found Linderman where I’d left him, Buster in his lap. The dog eyed me and slipped into the back. I started the Legend and drove down the line of rooms until my headlights were resting on the door to #12. It looked small and depressing.

“You were in there awhile,” Linderman said.

I killed the engine. “It was quite the welcome wagon. The manager asked me more questions than my first job interview. He wasn’t friendly.”

“Think he was checking you out?”

“I sure do. He was way too suspicious.”

“Did you give him a credit card?”

“I paid in cash.”

“Good. He can’t put a trace on your card, and do a background check. Of course he could have a check done on your car’s license plates.”

“The car’s in my wife’s name.”

“So our cover is still intact.”

“So far.”

I lowered my windows and got out. Buster tried to join me, and I made him lie down in the backseat. He curled up into a ball but didn’t shut his eyes. I retrieved our bags from the trunk while looking over my shoulder at the front office. I spotted the surly manager standing by the window, spying on us.

“We’re being watched,” I said.

“Think he treats all his customers this way?” Linderman asked.

“It bothered him that we were out-of-towners.”

“Who else is going to stay here?”

I unlocked the door to #12 and switched on the lights. I’d never been in the army, but the room reminded me of what a barracks might look like, with a pair of lumpy beds, a scuffed dresser with a washbowl, and walls painted a sickly green. The promise of a television set was nowhere to be found. I decided not to complain.

Linderman used the bathroom first. His flush of the toilet sent a thunderous roar through the paper-thin walls. I went next. When I came out, he was gone.

I found him outside, kneeling on the ground beside the car.

“Lose something?” I asked.

“Yes. I can’t find my journal. I had it a few minutes ago.”

There was a hint of desperation in his voice. I got on the ground and helped him look. The journal was hidden beneath the car. Linderman wiped it clean on his shirt, then checked the pages to make sure none were torn. Satisfied, he went back inside.

I got to my feet, and saw Buster sitting behind the wheel. His ears were sticking up, and he looked mad as hell at being left behind. I ignored my best friend, and went inside.

I lay on one of the beds in my clothes. I was dead tired, and needed to catch a few hours sleep if I was going to be sharp tomorrow. Linderman stripped down to his boxers, got into the other bed, and killed the lights. For a long moment neither of us spoke.

“I’ve had that journal for five years,” he said when I thought he was asleep.

I rolled onto my side to face him. “What do you write in it?”

“I write things that I want to tell my daughter.”

There was pain in his voice. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I saw him lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

“I have a special relationship with Danielle,” he went on. “When she was in first grade, she fell off the jungle gym on the playground and broke her arm. I was at work, and felt this sudden jolt of anxiety. I called Muriel, who called the school, and was told Danny had gotten hurt.”

“You’re on the same wavelength,” I said.

“That’s it. Is it that way with your daughter?”

“Sometimes.”

“After Danny disappeared, I had a hard time adjusting. Even though she was gone, something in my psyche told me that she was still alive. I know this sounds crazy, but I could still feel her emotions, like that day on the playground.”

“Is that why you keep the journal?”

“Yes. I write down all the things that I think Danny would want to know about. Like friends from high school who’ve gotten married, and relatives who’ve passed away. I want to make it easier for her when she comes back.”

Over the years, the parents of missing children had told me the special things they’d done for their kids in their absence. I’d always assumed it was a way of coping.

“Sometimes, I feel like I’m flogging myself,” he said.

“You have to follow your heart.”

“Not your conscience?”

“No, your heart. It will always tell you the right thing to do.”

“Is that what guides you?”

“Yes.”

I heard a scratching sound on the door. Linderman heard it, too.

“I wonder who that is,” he said.

I rolled out of bed. Out of habit, I grabbed my Colt off the dresser, then threw open the door. Buster lay on the stoop, his tail thumping the ground. I glanced at the manager’s office. The light was off, and I let Buster in.