front of Ma. Sitting on one of the four counter stools, a food service order form in front of her, she sported a red sweatshirt with a yellow rhinestone cat on the front. Spikes of white hair stood out at odd angles on her head and large-framed trifocals were perched on the bridge of her nose. She tilted her head up with her eyes cast down to the paper in front of her.
“So, why were you late, toots?” she asked.
“Sorry about that. Forgot to set my alarm.”
“Late night studying?” She put down her pen and took a sip of coffee.
“I should have been, but I was out looking for Ax. He’s in trouble, Ma.” I updated her on all things Axton. “I’m really worried about him.”
Roxy poured herself a cup of coffee and stood next to me. “What’s the big deal? This is Ax we’re talking about. I mean, where would he run off to?”
“It is a big deal, Rox. Giving me his backpack? A strange man lurking in the woods leaving cryptic messages? Something is off.”
As I spoke, Ray carried two plates out of the kitchen. He set a ham and cheese omelet in front of me and a cinnamon roll in front of Roxy.
“Thanks, Ray,” I said over my shoulder.
“Uhm.”
“You put too much pepper in the gravy this morning, son,” Ma said to his retreating back. “Boy always uses too much damn pepper. Anyway, call Axton’s office and see if he came in this morning.”
“I figured I would. I’ll call his brother, too.”
Roxy polished off the last of her cinnamon roll and stared at her empty plate. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“What do you mean, hon?” Ma asked.
“I want a cigarette. What do you people do after you finish eating? What is there to do besides smoke?”
Ma peered at her. “Your job?”
Scowling, Roxy picked up a rag and began wiping down tables.
I finished eating and went back to work. We had a steady flow of customers until one o’clock when Ma flipped the closed sign.
As soon as my last customer was out the door, I hustled to the pantry. I pulled the syrup box off the shelf and hauled out Ax’s backpack. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, I started with the outer pocket and found a disposable lighter and a small package of tissues. I shoved them back and unzipped the main compartment, drawing out each item and inspecting it thoroughly. Nothing had suddenly appeared overnight. It was still just ordinary Axton stuff.
I set the laptop on the floor and booted it up, but without his password, I didn’t get very far. I tried his birthday (January 13th), his favorite movie (
Frustrated, I stuck everything back in the bag, placed the bag back in the syrup box, then put the box back up on the shelf. There must be something on the laptop. But since I couldn’t even log on, that was a bit of a problem.
I walked to the dining room where Ma scrubbed down the counter and Roxy swept the floor. “I just checked Ax’s backpack again.”
Ma raised her penciled brows and Roxy stopped smacking her gum.
“Nothing. And I don’t know the password for his computer.”
“Bummer.” Roxy resumed her chomping.
“Go ahead and call his office, toots.”
Since my phone had limited minutes, I used the wall phone next to the kitchen and called Ax’s cell number first. His voicemail was full, so I tried his office number. It rang six times before someone answered. When I asked for Ax, I got a ‘No, he didn’t bother showing up today’ before the phone slammed down.
I dug under the counter for the phone book to find Packard Graystone’s number. Axton and Packard — okay seriously, what had their parents been thinking with those names? — were estranged. But I still wanted to talk to him in case he’d heard from Ax.
Packard’s home number wasn’t listed in the white pages, but his office was listed in the yellow ones. Pack was a dermatologist and the receptionist wouldn’t let me talk to him unless I made an appointment. I might have raised my voice when I told her Pack’s brother was missing, but she didn’t seem to care. I grrred at the receiver.
I finished helping Ma and Roxy with cleanup, then drove to Axton’s house to check in with Joe. Because he spent most of his life buzzed or better, I thought talking to Joe in person, rather than over the phone, would be the way to go. And maybe I could press him about that exclusive club Axton talked about.
Without bothering to knock, I opened the front door and found Joe sitting on the sofa watching an episode of
“Hey, Rose.” He shifted his eyes from Elizabeth Montgomery to me and back again. “You ever wonder how Samantha does that nose twitch thing? I’ve tried to do it, but I can’t.” He demonstrated his attempt at the nose twitch thing. He looked like a rabbit with a cocaine habit.
“Have you heard from Axton?”
“Um, negative.” He stared at the TV, bringing a chip from the bag to his mouth without sparing me a glance.
I reached over, grabbed the remote control from his lap, and turned off the television.
He gazed at me, his brow furrowed. “What’d you do that for?”
“Axton hasn’t shown up for work, he hasn’t been home, and he left the house last night without taking his car. I’m worried about him.”
He reached for the remote control, but I tossed it over my shoulder and heard it thunk against the wall. “Joe…Axton is missing.”
“Dude, that was so uncool.”
“Focus. Where did Ax go the other night? The club, where was it?”
“Um, can I have the remote back, please? I need to see if Samantha’s mom turns Darren back into a dude.”
I leaned down, my face inches from Joe’s. “She does.”
He blew out a breath and I winced. “Man, I hate spoilers. You are seriously harshing me.”
Straightening up, I closed my eyes for a second. I obviously needed to go about this in a different way. I settled myself on the edge of the sofa and patted his shoulder. “Joe, we need to find Axton. I’m afraid he’s in trouble.”
He nodded, seeming to understand. Okay, we were making progress.
“Did he tell you anything about the club? Anything at all?”
With his mouth hanging open, he lowered his brows and rolled his eyes upward. Awww, he was trying to think. Mostly though it looked like he was trying to poop. “I know he said something about an invitation.”
“Right,” I nodded. “Do you know where he was going?”
“Um…some club? It sounded kind of boring.”
“Where was the club, Joe? Think really hard, because this is important.”
He scrunched up his face and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he looked like a sad puppy that had peed on the carpet. “I don’t know.”
“What about last night? What did Axton say when he got home?”
“He told me to save him a piece of pizza.” He gestured toward the empty box. “And like, I totally would have if he hadn’t skipped out.”
I sighed. “Where did he go last night, before he came home, I mean?”
He shrugged his bony shoulders. “Sorry, Rose. Can I have my remote back?
