Chapter Nine: "Free and Frantic"
The scenery was breathtaking, though I didn't look at it. The speed limit was 55 mph, though I never checked the car's speedometer. The only thing that kept my attention was the road ahead of me and the road behind me. I was afraid the Fort Bracken police were going to apprehend me before I could make it to the next town.
Hill after hill disappeared behind me but a sign indicating I'd entered a new county was the only thing that slowed my pulse. There was a map in the glove box. I had navigated with it on our way down here, but I didn't have time to stop and retrieve it. Surely, a new place would appear soon. It felt like I had been driving for miles, although it had only been around twelve minutes according to my watch. Quick math done in my head told me I had only driven eleven miles. How was that possible?
Now that I was away from Fort Bracken, I decided to increase my speed a little at a time until I saw what I was looking for. There was a normal-appearing town just ahead. I'd always believed power lines were an eyesore, but I'd never been happier to see them.
I pulled the Nash into the police station and quickly ran inside. The older woman behind the counter looked like someone's grandmother more than a police officer.
"I need help!" I anxiously told her. "My boyfriend's been kidnapped and I don't know for sure where they've taken him. Perhaps to Asa's castle, but I'm not positive about that."
I was frantic, angry, and scared, which raised the level of my voice. A white-bearded man with a star on his uniform stepped out of another room. He had concern on his face – probably due to all the noise I was making, although I noticed a change in his attitude as soon as I'd mentioned the castle.
"Asa?" The woman repeated. She too had changed her patronizing features. "Do you mean Asa Voss over in Fort Bracken? Sheriff? Are you hearing this?"
"I heard." The man cinched up his suspenders and limped his way over to the counter. He wasn't wearing a cast or brace of any sort, so one had to assume it was an old wound. From the war maybe.
"Were you in Fort Bracken when the kidnapping took place?"
"Yes, I was. Ben and I traveled there from the city to look for a co-worker of ours; a friend whom we hadn't heard from in a while."
The two officers looked at one another strangely before the woman placed her hand on his arm. I was confused. What did they know that I didn't?
"My name is Martha and this is my husband, Tom. Tom Abernathy. We keep the peace here. Would you care for some coffee? Perhaps a soda?"
My first reaction was to scream at them. I didn't have time for niceties and manners! I needed to save Ben! But I could tell by the look on their faces that they were only being kind and wanted me to settle down first so that I could speak more plainly and not so loudly.
"A glass of water would suit me. Thank you," I said, which brought a sweet grin to Martha's face.
"Good. Come back here with me and have a seat. Tom? Would you get this young lady a glass of ice water?"
The sheriff considered me for another few seconds before he obeyed his wife. I smiled and then stepped through the painted wooden gate at the end of the counter Martha had opened for me. After I sat down in a metal chair painted bright pink, Tom handed me the drink and the questions began.
"This man you and your boyfriend are looking for, his name wouldn't happen to be Quinn, would it? Matthew Quinn?"
I nearly choked on my drink. "Yes!" I answered the Sheriff. "How did you know that?"
Again, the two officers exchanged glances and I took a deep breath to calm my raw nerves.
"Please, just tell me. I don't have a lot of time."
Martha took a seat behind the nearby desk while Tom sat on the corner of it and began speaking slowly to me as if I were a child.
"Matthew Quinn is a personal friend of mine and a fishing buddy. I invited him down to do a little deep sea fishing but then caught wind of a missing person who had recently visited the town of Fort Bracken. This wasn't the first time something like that has been reported. I'd done some investigating myself, but...well, let's just say my hands were tied. It is my opinion, though, that Miss Voss is a con artist and a master manipulator. I asked Matt if he would mind heading over there to see what he could find out. I had no idea anything would happen to him."
I had been listening to the man this entire time with great interest and no interruptions. It made perfect sense to me that Asa was under suspicion, and his description of her character was exactly the same one I'd already formed. There was one thing that stood out, however.
"Mr. Quinn is all right. I saw him myself taking part in some sort of lunar ritual last night on the beach."
"Was your boyfriend with you at the time?"
"Yes," I answered Mrs. Abernathy. "We were both there and snuck back to our car to get some sleep. This morning, we were invited to a friend's home in town to shower and change."
"Who was this friend?" the Sheriff asked.
"Agnes is her name although she goes by Aggi. I'm sorry, I don't believe I ever learned her last name. Do you know her?"
Martha shook her head. "She doesn't sound familiar, although there are very few we've met in Fort Bracken. They aren't the friendliest people."
No kidding.
"Anyway, while I was showering, someone came into the house and took Ben away."
"Your boyfriend." Sheriff Abernathy specified.
"Right. I found lines across the lawn and I figured someone dragged him to their car."
"The citizens in that town aren't allowed to own vehicles."
I realized that. "The police have them," I confirmed.
"You believe he was arrested then?"
"I do," I explained to the Sheriff. "But when I went to speak with the constable, they denied having Ben in their custody."
"You believe the police had something to do with Ben's disappearance then?"
"Yes. Aggi told me she saw the constable put Ben into his car."
Sheriff Abernathy rubbed his beard, then stood and walked over to another bright pink chair. "I'm afraid we can't help you."
As soon as he sat down and looked at me, my mouth opened in disbelief. "What do you mean? Why not?"
"Listen, honey, I'm afraid Fort Bracken is out of our reach. The District Attorney has...Let's just say Asa Voss can afford some very powerful attorneys. Our last investigation there didn't turn out so well," Mrs. Abernathy told me.
"But Ben's life could be in danger! As well as Mr. Quinn's! You do realize that once people who have visited that town disappear, they seem to stay that way?"
"Calm down, darlin'," the Sheriff told me.
My jaw tightened. I'll show him darlin'!
"We might not be able to help you, but I know someone who will. Just allow me a few minutes to give him a call and inform him of the situation."
The Sheriff stood and walked to his office, smiling at me before he closed the door.
I spun around to look for help from Martha, who was giving me the same patronizing look as before. It reminded me of my grandmother who always expected great things from me. What she did next, however, was something my grandmother never would have even considered.
The older woman reached over to retrieve my nearly full glass of water. "Let's replace this with something a little stronger, shall we?"
