The Missing by Roger Hayden

Author:Roger Hayden [Hayden, Roger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-13T22:00:00+00:00

13

Bus Stop

Five Years Later

Melville County, Florida

Tuesday, October 23

Quaint suburban homes sat serenely along the neighborhood street. It was late afternoon, and school had let out. As always, children would soon populate the yards and nearby park, riding their bikes or playing sports as they always did. Drivers had to be alert in case one of those same kids darted out into the road, as they were known to do. For the time being, things were quiet.

A long yellow school bus drove down Anderson Street and stopped at the bottom of a hill, opening its doors. Several children stepped off the bus, eager to be free. The ten or so of them dispersed in different directions and groups. Some continued past the front of the bus and down the road of the next adjacent street.

Twelve-year-old Crystal Parker hopped off the bus and followed her two friends, Erin and Amy, going the opposite way from the others. They walked toward the rear of the bus as its doors closed and it shifted to drive on. Their stop was one of the last ones on its route. Crystal’s house was right down the street from her bus stop and she had no problem getting there in just a few minutes. Her friends lived on the next street over. They usually got together later in the day, ideally when homework was completed. Crystal walked beside her friends, recapping the day.

They laughed together as the bus drove off, exhaust trailing in its wake. Crystal looked up and saw the slow, steady advance of an old car in the opposite lane. At first glance, she thought it was somebody’s parent, come to pick them up. The idling car neared them. The other girls didn’t seem to notice it, but it was on Crystal’s radar.

“Who’s that?” she said, trying not to stare.

Erin and Amy looked up, noticing without much care.

“I don’t know,” Amy said with a shrug. “Just some weirdo.”

A glare across the windshield blocked Crystal’s view of the driver. The windows on all four doors were tinted enough to conceal whoever was inside. It soon rolled beside them to a stop as the driver’s side window came down. Crystal and her friends continued without acknowledgment. She felt vindicated in her earlier concern that had been so easily dismissed. A sudden chill passed as the driver called out to them, asking for directions.

“You girls seen an Irish Terrier around here?” a man asked. He had a calm, friendly tone that Crystal found suspicious. The girls waved him off and veered onto the sidewalk off the road where they felt safer. The man turned his head, calling to them. “His name is Buster. He loves children. Thought you might have seen him.”

The girls slowed and turned to look at the man, shifting the backpacks strapped over their shoulders.

“No, mister. Sorry,” Erin began.

“We haven’t seen any dog,” Amy added, finishing her sentence.

The man watched them from behind the wheel. He wore sunglasses and a ball cap. He had a thick mustache and the collar of his jacket reached up to his chin.

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