Where Are You Now?

42

G regg Andrews had set out a pattern for himself, and he stuck to it. After he left the hospital, he went straight home, grabbed something to eat, and went straight to bed. His alarm was set for one A.M. By two A.M., he was nursing a beer at the bar of the Woodshed and stayed there until closing time. Then, sitting in his car down the street, he watched to see the pattern of how the waiters, bartenders, and band members exited the building, checking to see that they all left within a few minutes of one another, and that no one came out alone, as they’d all claimed about the night Leesey disappeared.

For the last three nights, he had then walked the mile distance between the club and Leesey’s apartment, stopping to talk to anyone he saw on the street and asking if by any chance they had been around at the time Leesey vanished and perhaps had seen her. The answer was always negative. The fourth and fifth nights, he drove back and forth covering other streets, just in case she might not have taken the most direct route.

On Saturday morning, at 3:30, after watching the employees lock the door of the Woodshed, he was about to start driving around the neighborhood when there was a rap at the window. A man with streaks of dirt on his face and unkempt hair was staring in at him. Sure it was a request for money, Gregg rolled the car window down only a few inches.

“You’re the brother,” the man said, his voice hoarse, his alcohol-laden breath sour. Instinctively, Gregg pulled his head back. “Yes, I am.”

“I saw her. Will you promise I get the reward?”

“If you can help me find my sister, yes.”

“Take my name down.”

Gregg reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a pad.

“It’s Zach Winters. I live at the shelter on Mott Street.”

“You think you saw my sister?”

“I saw her the night she disappeared.”

“Why didn’t you come forward at once?”

“Nobody believes people like me. I tell them I saw her, next thing they’ll be saying I did something to her. That’s what happens.” Winters put a grimy hand on the car to steady himself.

“If whatever you tell me helps us find my sister, I will personally hand the reward to you. What do you know?”

“She was the last customer out. She started to walk that way.” He pointed. “Then a big SUV pulled up and stopped.”

Gregg felt his insides twist. “Was she forced into it?”

“No way. I heard the driver call, ‘Hey, Leesey,’ and she jumped right in the SUV herself.”

“Could you tell what kind it was?”

“Sure. It was a black Mercedes.”