Lilah sat behind George’s desk. She leaned back in the chair, propping her feet on the surface of his desk, and swiveled back and forth. She pouted her lips together deep in thought at the meeting they just had with Richard Wiley. His wife, Beth, had been acting strangely for a few weeks before she disappeared without a trace only taking her keys and car with her. What was really strange was that she had called George the week before but never gave any information on what was bothering her.
“What are you doing? Get your feet off my desk.” George said exasperated. He broke Lilah out of her thoughts as he entered the office once more.
Lilah put her feet back to the floor and sat forward propping her elbows on the desk now. “Did Richard have anything else to say?”
George sat down in the client’s chair, much to Lilah’s surprise. She had expected him to kick her out of his seat.
“Well,” he said, “we’ve officially been hired for a case.”
Lilah didn’t smile. “That’s good, I guess.”
George scratched the top of his head. “I’m glad we have work to do, but I feel so uneasy about this particular case. Things aren’t adding up.”
“They’re not supposed to add up. Not right now, anyway.” Lilah stated. She shivered. She was beginning to sound like George. Maybe she shouldn’t have been sitting in his chair after all.
“I know, but usually cases are odd. This one seems more so. I don’t know, I just have a bad feeling.” George answered.
Lilah sighed. “I know what you mean. This is certainly a strange one with both of them calling us… I wonder what Beth wanted from us.”
“She most likely wanted help about whatever is spooking her. Though it was enough for her to run away.” George said.
“Or maybe she took matters into her own hands.” Lilah suggested.
George looked up at her and she shrugged in response. She could tell by the raised eyebrows that George hadn’t thought of that possibility, but he certainly was now.
“Did Richard call the police?” Lilah asked. When George walked their new client to the front door, they stood in the hallway talking for some time. Lilah realized they had forgotten to ask him one of the most important questions – did he call the police already?
George nodded. “I asked him. He called 24 hours after he had no contact from his wife and still had no idea about her whereabouts. He knew the police would give him the run around so he waited until the time was right to call. Also, he was just holding out hoping that Beth would come home. He said he thought she might have just needed some space and went to the spa or something.”
“There are spas around here?” Lilah asked. She wanted one.
“Not that I know of, no.”
“Oh,”
“So, the police are on the case. They’re looking for Beth Wiley and her bright blue Honda.” George rattled off the license plate number he had written down on the sticky note beside her name.
Lilah perked up. “Barney must know then, right? Can we give him a call?”
George scrunched up his face and shook his head. “I don’t want to call my brother about this. Not now, anyway. We’ve barely begun the investigation.”
“Maybe Barney is the beginning of our investigation though. He might know more about Richard than we do. Richard might have given the police more information than he gave us.” Lilah explained.
“I doubt that. Richard wouldn’t have hired us if he didn’t include all the information. I don’t believe so, at least. Besides, Barney isn’t going to share any information with us about it now. Maybe not ever.” George countered.
Lilah sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Lilah watched George carefully as he picked at a loose thread in the upholstery of the chair. Lilah remained deep in thought about the case. She certainly wanted to know more about Beth and also this Richard guy. Even though he was their client, she wondered if they were able to truth him. She glanced back at George again. She also wanted to know what was going on in his mind.
Then the phone rang.
Lilah leaned forward to look at the caller ID. She stood up from her chair and motioned for George to sit in his own seat. “Speak of the devil.”
George stood taking her offer. He switched seats with Lilah picking up the phone as he sat down. “Barney?”
“Speaker,” Lilah whispered. There was no way she was going to be left out of this conversation.
George, for once, obeyed. He pushed the speaker button on the phone and set it down on the receiver.
“George, how are you?” Barney asked.
“I’m fine, how are you?” George replied. He gave Lilah a strange look. She felt just as weirded out as he did. What were the odds of Barney calling them when they were just talking about him?
“I’m on a case, so I’m as fine as I can be.” Barney replied. “Listen,” he continued before George could respond, “I need to talk to you. Are you free to come down to the station sometime today?”
Lilah raised both her eyebrows. Barney’s tone was different. He had his cop voice on that was for sure. Usually he was a little different with George though.
“I guess so, if you really need me to. What’s going on?” George asked.
“I’m at Simmond’s Park in the woods. We got a call from a concerned parent. There’s a car parked in the woods with branches and tarp covering it. The parent who called it in thought someone was sitting in the car watching the kids on the playground. There’s no one in the car though. The owner definitely wanted to hide it, but we’re not sure if it’s been abandoned or if they’ll be back.” Barney explained.
Lilah pressed her lips together. She suddenly felt warm and had a very good feeling as to what was about to happen next. Why Barney needed to talk to them about it, she wasn’t sure. It didn’t seem like they had found Beth, so how did Barney know they were connected somehow?
“Let me guess… blue Honda?” George asked before he mentioned the license plate.
“So, you do know the car.” Barney replied his tone hinting confirmation.
“I have knowledge of the car’s existence. I don’t know it though. Why did you call me about this?” George asked.
“George, your business card was in the front cup holder.” Barney stated.
Lilah’s eyes grew and she looked at George who stared back at her in confusion.
“We ran the plates,” Barney continued, “and this vehicle is registered to a Bethany Wiley. Whether she was the one who drove the car here and hid it, is a mystery, but there’s no report of it being stolen. Do you know Bethany?”
“Not personally,”
“What does that mean?”
George pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve never met the woman, though I spoke to her over the phone once last week. I have no idea how she got my business card.”
“Do you know that her husband, Richard Wiley, had reported her missing?” Barney asked.
“Lilah and I have just had the pleasure of meeting Richard.” George answered.
“Where is he?”
“He just left my office about ten minutes before you called.”
Barney sighed. “I’ll have to call him soon…”
Lilah piped up. “This is more about the car, isn’t it? What else is going on?”
“Am I on speaker?” Barney asked.
“Of course,” Lilah grinned.
Barney grunted before explaining further. “There was a body of an adult male in the trunk.”
Words: 1,304
Sunday Morning
An abandoned house. A heist. A new puppy. Lost Love. From unbelievable to true-to-life, this flash fiction collection will take you to many places and get to know various characters. With no two stories alike each is thought-provoking, emotional,...
