Missing Emma by E. H. McEachern

Author:E. H. McEachern [McEachern, E. H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781477260272
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2012-08-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The ‘96 Chevy pickup hit a pothole and jarred Emma into a semi-conscious state. “What’s….” she began to speak, but her voice cracked and ceased to make any noise.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’ll feel better pretty soon. Here, drink some water,” John fumbled in the cooler behind her seat and handed her a plastic water bottle. Emma couldn’t make her hands open the screw top and John smiled. With an almost parental sigh, John pulled over to the side of the road and uncapped the bottle for Emma, held it to her lips and allowed her to drink. “Now, Jenna. Just a little bit. We don’t want you to be sick again, do we?”

Emma didn’t remember being sick. As a matter of fact, she didn’t remember much of anything at all. She barely registered that her ankles were bound by a chain and attached to an eyebolt screwed into the floorboard.

“Oh well. It doesn’t really matter,” she thought, as she slumped over and drifted back into sleep.

**********

Matt paced back and forth behind Emma’s little red Ford. He knew better than to touch anything before his brother got there, but it seemed like he had been waiting an eternity before he saw the familiar SUV turn into the parking lot.

Caleb alighted from his side of the car and Jenny burst from the passenger side. Jesse, too, seemed anxious to help. She smelled all four tires almost as an affirmation that the car did, indeed, belong to their missing Emma. She also had the good sense not to mark any of them.

Caleb verified it was Emma’s car and noted her purse and car keys still in the front seat. He called Fred Johnson to let him know they had found Emma’s car. Then he called the Edmond police department and requested assistance.

It was just a few minutes before two City of Edmond police cars wheeled into the parking lot, followed closely by Chief Bauman’s black and white SUV. His good friend and colleague, Fred Johnson, had alerted him to Emma’s disappearance, and the chief wanted to see this new development for himself.

Caleb, Matt and Jenny shared what information they had learned from Emma’s professors with Chief Mike Bauman. Even though the chief knew a missing person’s report was generally not filed until a person had been gone for more than 48 hours, he recognized that Caleb, as a professional law enforcement officer, would be more clear-headed than most in his analysis of the situation. That, and the fact, Emma’s purse and keys remained in the Ford, led him to move forward quickly. Sometimes 48 hours was too long to wait – and something told him that might be the case now.

“Caleb, I want you and Jenny to fill out a missing persons report right now,” he said. “You can follow me to the station. In the meantime,” he gestured to the patrolmen, “you two secure the site and wait for the forensics team to get here.”

Since they knew practically nothing, it didn’t take too long to complete the report.

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