Avery reached out and knocked on Alison's front door three times, tacking step back until he stood on the last step before the porch. The distant rumble of thunder caused him to look up at the melancholy grey clouds that had filled the sky. A storm was brewing.
He looked back at the front door with a raised brow of anticipation as he heard the door handle twist. Alison pulled open the front door and gazed out of the screen. She give a small smile and opened the screen, seeing Avery more clearly. The door whined as it opened.
"Good mornin' to ya." Avery said with a smile, ringing a red bandanna in his hands.
Alison glanced up at the sky and back down at Avery. "Doesn't seem like it'll be a good one, but morning all the same. Is there something you needed, Avery?"
He shrugged softly and stepped carefully up onto the wooden porch. "Just wondering where you wanted me today. If I need to...you know, fill in for Elias?"
Alison glanced back over her shoulder into the house, then back at Avery as she leaned on the frame of the doorway. "Avery...we've talked about this."
"It's been Three. Days. People need him and-."
"And nothing." She cut him off with no small amount of attitude. "He needs the rest, and people needing his help to save cat's in trees are going to have to just wait. Besides, you ain't his shoe size."
"No, I'm not. No one can stand in the position The Lone-Star Ranger."
She paused and looked at him curiously, her eyes squinting slightly and her brow wrinkling. "I'm not an idiot." Avery replied to her after she shot him the look. "A man in black, faster then sin at a brothel when it comes to a gun, carries two silver revolvers. Past he won't talk about. Like he was a ghost."
"You won't tell anyone." She demanded of him.
He scoffed. "I won't tell anyone who doesn't already know." Her brow flattened and she closed her eyes for a minuet, sighing. "People gossip, figure shit out. They also think you're sleeping together, if you were wondering."
"I bet they do." she mumbled, staring at the ground of the porch.
"Look," Avery step forward again, holding a hand out and moving it as he talked. "I'm not Elias, no man or woman in this town can claim to be half as fast or a shot. I don't pretend to know him, or you, and you'd both be fools to pretend to know me. I've had education and training-rare things in this world. Add that to life time of training and I'm as good of a replacement as you're going to get. Whatever's plaguing Elias, it's not going away any time soon. And I can help when he's down."
She shook her head softly as she stared off at the ground. "That is not the way this works." Avery raised his head, looking at the cloudy sky before closing his eyes and sighing in exasperation.
He threw his head back forward with a gleam of frustration setting bright in his eyes. "You need to understand some, mayor." he started up with a slight snarl. "This town is falling apart. Without you to lead it and Elias to protect it, it's buckling in on it's self. People have problems that they can NOT solve by themselves.
There's two caravan's offering to trade with us, and another one from Rollinsville. Sam's cat house has had five bar-fights, five. The doc is running out of supplies that those caravan's may or may not have. And the icing on the shit cake; a missing person. Female, teenagers."
They argued. Not like children arguing over toy cars in a sand box, but like adults. Both with that kinda tone that suggested only the truth; that something needed to be done, but it was a complicated matter of what.
Avery wasn't wrong to be worried for this town. In the short few days that Alison had become a recluse trying to tend to Elias, the whole place had fallen into the dirt. But the knowledge of how worse for ware Elias was clouded her mind. She knew the town needed help, but she knew Elias needed it more. That the entire Lone Star Wasteland needed it.
"Your back and forth continuous cycle of never ending shit as officially began to descend down hill, Alison." Avery snapped at her, becoming overly fed-up with seeing everything happen around him. "I'm going to ask you one last time, because none of us can afford for me to wait to ask later. Give me official sanction to act as your Peace Keeper and help these people, before they drowned in their own problems."
Alison looked up and over at Avery. First time she'd really given him a solid look that wasn't anger or distrust. And looking into his eyes, she saw fear. Perhaps it was fear for her, for Elias. Perhaps it was for himself. Or perhaps he was really as noble as his intentions claimed, and he truly feared for this town.
But what did Avery see when he looked into her eyes? That she was pale, and her eyes were dark. Just like the last time he had seen Elias. But her physical symptoms were more caused by being physically tired and stressing about Elias all day. Elias' were more of a mental melt-down in the process. If he hadn't already hit his peek.
She blinked slowly. Lethargically. When her eyes opened, they searched and found Avery's once more. "No."
Her answer was simple, blunt. It crushed something within Avery. The hope that maybe he could resolve this without taking matters into his own hands, perhaps. He wanted to leave this life behind, to find what he was searching for. And maybe he was a fool for believing that he could find it without getting his hands dirty. But he did believe it. Right up until this point.
"Fine." he growled through his teeth at her. "To hell with you and your goddamned rules. I'll do it myself, and if you try to stop me...don't." He turned away, shoving his hands into his pockets and storming off down the hill towards the grey and overcast sky.
Alison didn't have the energy to retort, she'd wasted it with the argument. Now she felt heavy and drained. She closed the door, and retreated back to her bedroom. She closed the door, and looked over at Elias' two silver .357's on her dresser. She'd taken them from him, just in case.
He knocked heavily three times on the faded green door. Waiting a moment, he took a step back and analyzed the house. It was a building made of scrap-metal, and was dented, rusted and warped from years of basking in the elements. It was tucked up against the western most wall, along with several more buildings, and another row directly behind him. This one, though, held great interest to him.
Avery could see a faint orange glow from inside the building. An oil lamp, most likely. Quick and heavy footsteps rushed to the door mere moments after he knocked. The handle twisted and the door flung open, a large burly man now stood in the dark doorway.
Faded red flannel shirt, tucked into his dark blue jeans. Sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His light brown hair was slicked back, and he had a full beard that suited his husky demeanor. Avery could see the expression of hope fade in his blue eyes, and worry set in. "Can I help you?"
Avery shook his head gently. "No sir. But as matter of fact, I was wondering if I could help you."
The husky man carefully analyzed Avery, scanning over every inch of him. His large hand reached out, and Avery grasped it, shaking it as the large man said "Gregory Hill."
"Avery Malcolm." Gregory's hand was rough and his grip was tight. Working man's hands, worked for ever damned thing he owned. Worked hard to keep it too. "Pleasure."
Gregory's expression turned mournful as his head bowed lightly and he spoke. "I don't suppose...you have information about my daughter?"
Avery noted the pain mixed with the glint of hope in his voice. It broke his heart, causing Avery to look down at the ground and draw in a deep breath. "I'm...afraid not. But I hope to have some soon, I just need to know a few things first."
Gregory looked over his shoulder into his house, seeming to check if there was someone behind him. He turned back around and nudged his head forward, causing Avery to take two steps back into the dirt street as Gregory stepped out of his home and closed the door behind him. His large arms crossed over his broad chest. "What do you need to know?"
Avery raised his head and addressed the man properly. "Everything. Tell me about your daughter, what she likes doing, who she knows and where she was last."
Gregory gave a nod. "Anna is...she's my everything. Me and Rachel wed young to get away from New Vegas together. And we tried for a kid two years after we finally settled down on a homestead." He paused mournfully, as if a sinking feeling had set in. The weight of it seeming to slump and buckle him. "Seven."
Avery turned his head slightly, not taking his eyes off of Gregory. "Seven...?"
"Miscarriages." Avery's expression flattened as his heart sunk further. "The first two..we thought we were doing it wrong. The next two we figured it couldn't keep happening. The next one was a painful haze, we had a fucking cemetery behind our house at that point. Rachel was beyond heart broken...the one after that was accident. Then finally we prayed about it, and sure enough...we were blessed with our little Anna."
Avery nodded. "Is Anna religious as well?"
He smiled softly and chuckled deep within his chest. "Yeah. We raised her the best we could, instilled the morals and steered her right..." He paused, his eyes becoming teary. "she's got her mothers looks." He chuckled this time, tightening his arms on his chest. "And her father's winning personality."
"Tell me about how she looks." Avery said, putting one hand into his pocket and taking out a small notepad and a pencil. He began to write down notes about Anna as Gregory went along.
"She's got long dirty blonde hair, a tad curly. She's got a fair face, soft cheeks and a small nose. Baby blue eyes. Small scar on her chin from when she showed all the boys in town she was tougher then them and jumped a creek-bed. Landed on her face, but she was damned proud.
Native Texan accent. Broad shoulders and hips. She's around five foot eight inches tall, give or take an inch. When I...last saw her. She was wearing a button up blue plaid shirt and an old pair of jeans with her cowboy boots. She was hanging out with her friends from Silver Ridge who were up with a caravan."
Avery wrote the last bit of information down and looked up at Gregory. "Is it possible she hopped in with the caravan?"
"No." Gregory sighed. "She wouldn't have done that, she's no that kind of girl. She always tells us when she's going out, always is back before sundown...my Anna wouldn't do such a thing."
Avery paused, not quite sure how to handle the situation. He wanted to ask himself 'what would Elias do?' but then he recalled Elias was the one who had left his town in such a miserable state, cooped up in the big house. It started to boil Avery's blood, and he had to keep his mind on the interview to avoid any more anger. "I hate to say it, Mr. Hill, but your daughter may not have had a choice in the matter. Have you sen anyone up there to look for her?"
"Can't." Gregory said in a blatantly obvious tone of worry. "Not without the mayor's say so. Towns got a load of caravan's just sitting in port waiting to sign off on their cargo or to leave with more."
Avery sighed and muttered 'Dammit Alison' under his breath as he looked up towards the mayor's house. "Then I reckon I'll ask around a little here then head for Silver Ridge." he looked back at Gregory who had a look in his eyes. A hard look of sudden destine for the powers that be.
He nodded slowly in agreement. "You do what you have ta' to bring my daughter back."
Avery finished one last note in his note pad then tucked it away in his pocket. Knowing that the mother was ill with grief and worry, and hadn't been speaking, he simply raised his hand once more. Gregory took it in his and shook it hard with a vice like grip. Avery figured if someone took his daughter, they'd be safer shot and or dead then in the working-man's-hands of Mr. Hill.
Avery's first stop in town was the whorehouse. He questioned each worker, all of whom said they'd either never met Anna or they hadn't seen her days prior to her disappearance. Apparently Mr. Hill didn't want his little jewel around such company. Most turned their nose up at the family, but some of the younger one's said Anna was always trying to talk to them. Whether to make friendly or for other reasons, they couldn't be certain.
He then turned to Sam herself, who tended behind the bar, watching and listening to Avery's every step and breath. Before he could even take a seat and ask her if she'd seen Anna, Same spoke first. "Anna Hill isn't welcome in here. She knows it, her father damn well knows and he makes sure that we both do. I've never seen someone get escorted away from me faster then papa Hill does Anna."
Avery wrinkled his brow. "Has he threatened you?"
She giggled and blew a red strand of hair out of her eyes. "Oh sure. But he's 'holier then the' type of fella', so his threats mean about as much as a child's. He doesn't scare me, or my girls. Just an old man, set in his ways."
Avery grunted and looked over at Sam's workers, gathered around and whispering, giggling to each-other about how 'cute' the new detective was. "He guards Anna well, then?"
"Like a poor man guards a brick of gold." she leaned forward against the bar, showing off her copious amounts of cleavage that hung down in her loose T-shirt. Avery couldn't help but to notice the absence of a bra. He looked away and up into her eyes almost instantly. "Can't say I blame him. What, with all the raiders and psychopath's just roaming about. But come on, I'm just trying to make a living here. With what god gave me."
Avery nodded his head and Sam stood up straight, stretching her back out. "And I can't say I blame you. Your body, you do what you want with it. But I'm not here for that."
She giggled almost cutely. "I know, sugar. But I haven't seen young Anna, or spoken more then a 'howdy' to her before she was whisked away by a hissing couple."
Avery wrote down what he learned in his note-book. He was filling the pages, and it made him somewhat pleased. Pleased to be doing something worth a damn again.
Apparently Mr. Hill was the dominate force of the house, and kept Anna away from what he considered to be filth. Perhaps he even secluded her from the world. Kept her sheltered, and secretly fed the flames for her sense of adventure. Happens to all children.
His next stop was to the good doctor's clinic up near the hill. The inside of it smelled like medicine, a smell that Avery found comforting. His assistant, who was also Vic's daughter and worked at the diner, said she'd let the doc know he was here. Then disappeared around the corner into the hallway.
A moment later, the doctor came around the corner and smiled. "Howdy, Mr. Malcolm. What can I do ya for?"
"Sorry doc, didn't mean to pull you away from your work." Avery reached out and shook the old man's hand.
"Nah," he replied with the shake of his head as he took a seat on a waiting room bench. "just a check up with the lad who beat that poor girl."
Avery nodded with a smirk. "The one Elias beat the hell out of?"
"Yep. We, uhm...we haven't talked about that. Seeing his his jaw his wired and he won't be doing much talking for the next several months. But believe you me, I've given him a ear-full about how if he'd never laid a hand on that girl, this would never have happened. He deserved it, if I'm being honest."
Avery chuckled and crossed his arms, leaning back against the metal desk that had been set up for a checking-in procedure. "A little harsh, but then again he did have it coming. That's not what I came here for, though. I'm following up on a missing persons case, Anna Hill."
"Oh, yes, I heard about the Hill's misfortune. It's a shame, a real shame. But you should never keep your children so cloistered, so...chained. Eventually, with or without your key, they'll set themselves free. That's how a lot of Raider's crop up, or small gangs. Just kids tired of living by the rules, slowly slipping into this disgusting pit they can't get out of. Soon, they like it."
Avery wrote down another note with a wrinkled brow. "And this is what you think happened to Anna? That she ran away?"
"I believe so, yes, but I don't have any evidence to support that. All I can say is that I've been treating Anna for nearly all of her life. The Hill's arrived here not long after the town made a name for it's self, but I didn't formerly meet them until years later. They distrusted everyone, lived out in the barrens for so long it's like they forgot how to be civil. Anna moved here when she was four, I didn't meet her officially until she was seven. Though I did have a passing glance at her when her father escorted her around.
Anyway, all I can say is that Anna has always been curious about what she can't have. And by that, I mean what her father tells her she can't have. Always adventurous. Her father had to bring her in here when she climbed up a section of walling and fell off, fractured her arm. I had to wrap it and give her a low dosage pain medicine, but the next time I saw her and asked I they were working, she said 'Daddy threw them away'. Good meds that man wasted."
Avery scribbled down another note and cleared his throat. "Odd that the man would do that. Did he distrust you so much?"
"He must of!" The good doctor said, all riled up. "I can't think of a reason why, and it's not like he's opened up any more over the years! Just keeps to himself in that house, petitions the Mayor every year to build a damned church like they grow on trees!"
Avery wrinkled his brow, a thought suddenly occurring in his mind. "What about the wife? I hear how strict the father is, but nothing about dearest mother."
The doc sighed and took his glasses of, pinching the bridge of his crooked nose and rubbing it. "Quiet as a church mouse. She's even more of a recluse then Mr. Hill is, and whether or not it's because of him I can't say. You see her out every now in then, wearing some old fashion garb with a head dress and all, perusing the market isles. Doesn't say anything to anyone, if you say hello she smiles and nods back at you, then pretends you ain't even there."
"Does he beat her?" Avery asked, feeling concern for her well being in his chest.
The doctor shrugged and put his glassed back on. "Can't say that either. She wears long sleeves, a high collar and a skirt. I couldn't see bruises on her of they were obvious or not. He's a very religious man, so I doubt he'd abuse his wife or daughter. He just...smothers them. And keeps them very isolated."
Suddenly the doctor's assistant came around the corner, hand leaning on the wall as she sighed. "Doc, your patient is getting antsy."
He looked at the girl. "You tell that yella' belly sumbitch to wait his gosh damned turn or I'll break the other side of his jaw!"
Avery broke out in a laughter, a broad smile sweeping across his face as he stood from the desk and uncrossed his arms. "I actually have all I need, but you've been a great help, doc. If there's ever anything you need, holler and I'll com'a runnin'." He reached his hand out and shook the doc's who said "Always a pleasure, Mr. Malcolm, always a pleasure." then departed.
Avery made his way to Vic's Diner, and before he even got to the door he could hear and smell and see that the place was hoppin'. The jukebox was blaring, the greasy smell of fried brahmin burgers was lingering in the air, and laughter could be heard from inside.
Avery pulled open the door and the sound of 'High-school Confidential' by Jerry Lee Lewis filled his ears. Kids in the back of the place near the jukebox danced like there was no tomorrow. And even Vic, who had a chefs hat on, an apron, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a spatula in his hand, was moving his hips and bobbing his head to the beat. It had been a good night for him, and it made Avery happy to see it.
Vic looked over at the ringing of the diner's door bell. "Eh-hey! Avery, buddy, it's good to see ya!"
Avery chuckled and took a seat at the bar. "Good to see you too, Vic." he reached out and quickly shook the man's hand before Vic went back and flipped his burgers. "What can I get ya, huh? Beer? Nuka Cola? Some grub, maybe?"
"Nah, not today Vic, but thank ya kindly. I'm actually here to ask you some questions. You see, I took up the Anna Hill case."
Vic pulled the cigarette from his lips and put it out in the glass ash-tray filled with butts on the counter. "Yeah, some kids told me about that. Hope you find her, Malcolm, I really do."
"Maybe you can help me." Avery replied, pulling out his note-pad. "What can you tell me about Anna?"
Vic put the last of the burgers on buns and put the tray on the counter. "ORDER UP! Ya animals." he turned back to Avery and took his hat off, leaning forward against the counter. "Anna, she uh...she was a lonely, lonely heart. You know about that?"
Avery wrinkled his brow and tilted his head a little. "No, I didn't. Knew her father kept her isolated if that's what you mean."
"Probably what caused it, but no. She had a few friends in this town, but not many. Few of the kids, but only the ones her daddy said were cool. Play date session shit, ya know? So she'd come in here once a week with a group of three, maybe four, all girls. It'd be all giggles and fun until they started talking about men."
Avery wrote it down and looked back up at Vic. "Was there a problem?"
"Yeah, " Vic's eyes widened with a nod of his head. "A few big ones. For starters, and my main offender, I ended up being that girls fuckin' confidant. Sure, she'd come in here once a week with a group. But she'd come in once every other day alone, crying usually. Always before closing time, when no one but me was here. I got so used to it, I ended up making her a milk-shake and waiting for her.
She told me everything. About how her dad controlled every tiny aspect of her life, how she was forced to have these friends that she didn't even really know. Then there was the boys. When it came to men? Rules were in like radiation during the great war. And the basic theme was, no men allowed. Her dad was so over protective of his little girl that, god bless her, she started to look at women and think about them."
Avery wrinkled his brow even further. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Anna was a lesbian?"
"Anna was Bisexual from what I can tell." Vic replied. "Because she'd never had a real, honest to god conversation with a boy her age, she had to get her kicks from somewhere. And hell, when you're that lonely, any touch or affection is better then none.
That's where a lot of the tears came from. She'd come to me crying about her thinking of a woman touching her, and that it was immoral and sinful and she was going to hell. Like this isn't hell already."
"Jesus..." Avery remarked in a stunned tone. "And what did you tell her?"
"I told her what I believed, what I thought was right. That god has a hell of a lot more to worry about then who sleeps with who. I ain't gay, Avery, but for some reason when that girl talked about how lonely she was, I could understand just wanting to feel something rather then nothing."
"I can't even imagine being that way..."
Vic chuckled and nodded his head. "Neither could I, until she started talking."
Avery wrote down every bit of information, then looked up at Vic. "Did you ever...touch Anna?"
"No!" He replied in a offended tone. "I got a daughter her age, I couldn't do that! But I did warn her that sometimes wanting something so bad isn't good for you. I dunno if she heard me or not, though."
"So, Anna didn't have any relationships? Was she a virgin?"
Vid nodded. "Yeah, she's still got her cherry as far as I know. And I know a lot, sadly. And no, no boyfriends or girlfriends."
Avery reached up and scratched the side of his head as he thought back to the doctor. "Did she ever say anything about her dad being physically abusive?"
"I actually asked her about that. She said no, he never touched her or her mother. It seems like it was just unintentional emotional abuse towards Anna, keeping her locked up like that."
Avery fished his notes and tucked away the note-pad into his pocket. "Opinion of the town seems to be she ran away. You agree with that?"
Vic stood up straight with a sigh and gently shrugged his broad shoulders. "I dunno, Avery. I just don't know. All I know is I'm scared for her. She's a good, sweet girl. Too good and too sweet for this world. If she did run away. . .I can't blame her, but I pray to god she's just hiding somewhere in town. But I dunno. . .I got a bad feeling that she wanted it too much."
Avery sighed, now sharing the same worry that Victor felt. "I got to find her. . ." he muttered then stood up. Vic reached out, and Avery sincearly shook his hand. "Thank you for your help, Vic. You did good listening to her. If you hadn't been here for her...well, wanting a way out leads to more options then just running away."
Victor nodded and patted the back of Avery's hand while it was in his. "I know. . .I think about it every day. Maybe god put me here to help her. I just pray I did. Until I know the truth, you get your ass out there and you find that little girl."
Avery nodded once and slipped his hand out of Vic's.
He left the diner, thoughts of Anna swirling through his mind. Trying to make the connection that he knew was there, but was unsure if he had all the pieces of the puzzle. He'd spent hours walking and interviewing. And hours more sitting at Sam's bar after his conversation with Vic, thinking about all that was happening. He knew that he needed to get out of this town and head for Silver Ridge. But there wasn't a soul to leave until Alison gave the say-so. He'd need to go to her next.
But it'd have to be tomorrow. He prayed that Anna would be okay for one more night. And with nothing left for him to do tonight, he ordered some shots and began to drink the case down into the depths his dark, swirling mind.
"Please, Anna. Make it one more night."