Simon Says by William Poe

Author:William Poe [Poe, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780615559575
Publisher: Createspace
Published: 2012-05-17T22:00:00+00:00

The next day, when I should have been on a plane to Milan, I awoke to find the house empty. Axl wasn’t there and the car was gone.

“It’s no big deal,” I said to Cicero, who’d come from upstairs the moment I opened the basement door. “They’re probably shopping.”

Yet a vague memory lingered, of Axl stirring about while I was passed out, and the faint image of him stuffing clothes into a bag. I rushed upstairs to the bedroom closet. Axl’s guitar was gone.

Where was Charlotte? Had she gone with him?

A car drove into the garage. I opened the front door to find Charlotte carrying bags of groceries.

“Where’s Axl?” I asked.

Cicero burst out the door behind me. I grabbed him before he made it to the street and put him in the house. I helped Charlotte with a bag that was starting to slip from her arms.

“I haven’t seen Axl.”

“Would Rudy know anything?”

“Rudy would call me if he’d gone to the Oban.”

“I can’t lose Axl,” I said. “I just can’t.”

Charlotte began putting away the groceries. I went to the basement to look for clues. There was no note. He hadn’t taken the remaining cocaine. I found his pipe in the garbage.

I went back upstairs.

“Charlotte, have you used the phone today?”

“No. It’s been ringing, but I let the machine pick up. This is one day I can’t face your clients.”

I went to the office phone and dialed the Oban. Rudy picked up.

“Rudy, have you heard from Axl?”

“Hello to you too, Simon. Good to hear from you.”

“I’m sorry, Rudy. You know how it is.”

“All too well,” Rudy said.

“I can’t find Axl. I thought you might have heard something.”

“Nothing, dearest. Not a word.”

“Then, I’m afraid Axl has taken off.”

Rudy called out to Lane and asked if he knew anything.

“Lane says that Axl mentioned something about going to see his dad if things didn’t work out.”

“I’ve spoken to his mother before,” I said, “but he never mentioned his father. Anyway, thanks for the lead.”

If Axl made a call before leaving, he would have used the kitchen phone. I hit redial. An eleven-digit long distance tone sounded. After several rings, a man answered.

“Hello?” I said. “I’m calling from Los Angeles. I’m trying to find information on Axl. Is this a number where he can be reached?”

“Who is this?” the man demanded.

“I’m a friend. Axl’s been staying at my house, but he seems to have left without a note.”

“So! You’re the one.”

“I’m concerned about Axl,” I said, ignoring the accusatory tone of voice. “He didn’t say he was leaving.”

“I told him not to,” the man said. “I wanted him to get away from Hollywood as fast as he could. My boy has been trying to recover from drugs since he was eleven years old. He’s coming here, and I’m putting him back in rehab. You ought to be thrown in jail for encouraging him! Don’t bother my son again!”

A loud clack shot into my ear as the man slammed down the receiver.

I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.