A Beautiful New Life (6 page)

“Take a seat sir and I’ll have a detective come talk to you.” The speaker box she spoke
through
distort
ed
her voice making her sound like a cartoon. He turned
around, found a seat,
and waited. The longer he waited, the more anxious he got. His phone rang and he hit ignore. He did not think he could talk to anyone right now. He took a deep breath. He had not anticipated having to talk to a detective so soon. He thought it took days to process missing person reports. He thought back to yesterday’s conversation with Penny and he relaxed. She had offered to keep the boys as late as necessary today if he needed her to.

Maybe
I’m
over reacting.
He thought as the detective came out of the door off to the side
of the waiting area
and called his name.
Arlin
took a deep
breath, got up from the chair,
and walked across the room to the big burly detective. He had a presence about him and Arlin could sense he was a seasoned detective.

“Arlin Gilab?”

“Yes
, I’m Arlin Gilab
.”

“I’m Detective Sheldon.” He shook Arlin’s hand. “Come in here and let’s get started on why you think your wife is missing.” He held open the door for Arlin. “Over this way
please
.” He followed him in and guided him
past detectives at their desk, busy with paperwork and even past some empty desk. Arlin guessed they were likely out investigating leads they got in their own missing person’s case perhaps. They reached Detective Sheldon’s
old oak desk that had seen its share of detectives over the years. The scratches and worn spots were visible on the overly neat,
almost
OCD, desk.

“Now you say she left to go on a weekend retreat. Was this something she often did?” Detective Sheldon took a seat and motioned to Arlin to
sit
in one of the w
o
rn cushioned chairs in front of the desk.

“Huh? No. No. She rarely did things by he
rself.” He tried hard to relax but something nagged at him. He took a deep breath.

“Do you know where she went? You only put on here a spa retreat.” He tapped the form to show Arlin his answer.

“I don’t remember the name. This was something she planned.” He leaned forward in the chai
r. “Well…I mean…I got it for her
but.” He shook his head. “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t pay much attention. She would get on the computer and talk about trips like this but never take one. I found this one on her computer and her birthday was coming up.
So
I bought it for her…for us to go together.
But
work commitments came up and I couldn’t go. I was surprised when I got up Saturday morning and she had packed and was leaving.” Detective Sheldon wrote some notes in his yellow notebook as Arlin talked.

“Why were you surprised?”

“She never went anywhere on her own.”

“When did she say she was returning?”

“Sunday evening.”

“You sound sure about that, so it is Tuesday and you are only now reporting her missing.” He leaned back in his chair and brushed his thick mustache with his fingers.

“I thought maybe I was wrong; that she had said Monday.
But
I know it was Sunday. I remember thinking that she would be back to get the kids off to school and such. But I didn’t want to worry the kids and thought it better to give her one more day in case I was mistaken.”

“Do you know Mitch
Bullen
?”

“Who?”
The name sounded familiar but he could not place the name with a face.

“He works with your wife.”

“Oh yah
,
okay. Sorry I never knew his last name. What about him?”

“Well he called yesterday reporting her missing. Why do you think he would do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he thought she should have been home Sunday as well. The difference is he
doesn’t
have kids that were upset because she wasn’t. I
didn’t
want to overreact. I thought I would give her an extra day.”

“Well he seemed to think you had something to do with her disappearance. Why would he think that?”

“You can’t be serious! I came in to report my wife missing and already I’m a suspect.” He worked hard to conta
in his anger
,
his hands clenching
into a fist.

“Should you be a suspect?”

“No! My wife went away on a weekend trip and never came back and
I’ve
been here with the kids the whole weekend. So I ask you, how I could have done anything to her?”

“I’m not saying you did. I’m just trying to get answers to questions that were implied.”

“Please!” He pulled out his wallet
. “
Help me find their mother.” He handed him a picture of the boys with Louise.

“We will do everything we can.” Detective Sheldon said. He got up from behind the desk and led Arlin out of his office. He shut the door behind
him, walked back to his desk,
and picked up the phone.

“Good morning Margret, can you run a local check on Arlin and Louise Gilab? I’ll send you their information.” He spoke into the receiver. “And I’ll need a rush on it.” He hung up the phone and leaned back into his chair. Of his twenty
years,
he had seen many cases like this
one
come and go. The majority of them resulted in the husband being accused and subsequently convicted of murdering the mother of their children that they had begged him to find. This one he was sure would be no different.

Arlin left the police department feeling outraged that someone had already suspected him of hurting Louise. He only hoped that they would find her and put any doubt that Mitch had planted to rest. He headed back to work but his mind was distracted and he ended up home instead. He pulled into the garage and looked at the empty spot where Louise’s car
should have been parked
. It being the middle of the day he could easily explain it away that she was at work. This thought settled his nerves and he decided not
to
go back to work but to get the house straightened up instead. He got out of his truck and headed to the door. They had left the house a mess from the weekend in anticipation of Louise coming home and cleaning it all up. He used to try
to
help with the housework but it was never good enough for her; or at least that was his excuse. Maybe he just stop
ped
caring to try
to
help her
.
Now
with her gone
, a messing house would just show how distraught he was about her missing
. He stopped as his hand reached the doorknob and turned back around, got in his truck, and drove away.

He arrived at work and went straight to his office. The mahogany desk was a welcome site. He sat down and dove right
in
working on the papers Shelley left for him. As he finished the first batch
,
she poked her head in the room.

“So how did it go this morning?”

Arlin shook his head and suddenly it just became too much, he lowered his head into his hands and sobbed. Shelley went to him and pulled him into her arms.

“
Hey
now
,
it will be okay. They will find her.” She rubbed his back as he rested his head on her shoulder.

“They think I had something to do with it.”

“What?” Shelley pulled back. “What do you mean? How…why…I…she just went missing. What did they say?”

“Well it wasn’t so much the police but this Mitch guy that worked with
Louise
.” He pulled his head up from her shoulder and looked down at her. His eyes
were
red more from lack of restful sleep than from crying.

“Do you know who this guy is? Why would he suspect you of something like that?  You are a good man and have always taken care of Louise and those boys.” She was angered at the accusation of her boss. She had worked for him the past five years and he had ne
ver raised his voice to her or showed any form of public outburst for that matter.

“I don’t know. Do you think I should go talk to him?” He pulled away from her now. “I just don’t know what to do. I just want her to come home.” He walked to the window and looked out at the mountains in the distance. “Where are you?”

Mitch could not wait any longer. He hopped into his car and drove to the police station. He had to know if Arlin reported Louise missing and if so, what he said. He had a terrible feeling about this and he could not let it rest. He would make sure Arlin
was held
accountable if some
thing
bad had
happened to
Louise.

He arrived at the police station, checked in at the front and waited for Detective Sheldon to come out. As he waited he picked up a magazine that featured a local doctor who did plastic surgery work on children in third world countries. The transformations of the disfigured children were just short of a miracle. The
state
senator’s wife, who is well known for her charity work, praised him for his tireless efforts in bring comfort and joy in the young children’s lives. “It is selfless doctors like Dr.
Ellson
that we all should want to emulate. How much better would the world be today if we all just did a little of what he has accomplished. He is truly a world hero.” As he finished reading the article, Detective Sheldon emerged from behind the locked metal door.

“Mr.
Bullen
what can I do for you today?” Detective Sheldon walked over and sat next to him.

“Did Arlin come in and file a report yet? I know
he did something to her.” He sat in the chair,
his leg shaking. He reached down to calm it. “Sorry, it’s a nervous tick.”

“What do you have to be nervous about Mr.
Bullen
?”

“I’m more worried than nervous. I fear something happened to that young lady and…well I just fear something happened.” He took a deep breath. “Please, just tell me if he at least filed a report.”

“Yes, he was in this morning and filed a report.” Detective Sheldon explained why he took an extra day before filing and told them they were checking out the spa she was to
have
attend
ed
over the weekend. “As soon as we know anything I will update you.” Detective Sheldon got up to leave.

“So that’s it? Are you going to release her picture to the public to ask for information? We may have a murderer living among us. What are you doing about that?” Mitch’s anger was bred by many a man who killed their wives.

“Mitch, we will do what it takes to bring Louise home but first we need to investigate her whereabouts on the weekend in question. If we
don’t
get a warm fuzzy, we will ask for the public’s help.
But
Mitch let us do our job. Go home, pray this has been a huge misunderstanding and that we will have Louise home soon where she belongs.” He patted Mitch on the back and turned leaving him
to
sulk. He was not satisfied but he would wait until they had word from the spa.

The rest of the day dragged by and when his reminder popped up on his computer, Arlin shut it off and headed out to pick up the kids. He
wasn’t
sure how much longer h
e could keep this up and decide, finally
to
accept his mother’s help.

He arrived at Penny’s and picked up the boys. The boys chatted about their day as they drove home and when the house came into
sight,
they spotted a car in the driveway.

“Is that mommy? Is
mommy home?” They all shouted, but
as they got
closer,
they could see that it was not her car.

“No boys, sorry,
i
t’s grandma.” Arlin was grateful for his mother’s arrival at the house. He needed help with the boys and now realized how much Louise had done to keep things going and running smoothly.

“Oh!” Charlie said.
It’s
not that they did not like their grandma but they too was feeling the reality that mommy may not come home.

“Now come on, she just wants to help until mommy gets home.” They all got out of the truck and walked into the house. She must have been there a while Arlin thought as he walked into the aroma of fresh baked bread and steaming spaghetti waiting to be served.

“Hi dear.”
She said as she walked up to him and took him in her arms. “Things will be okay.” She gave him a warm hug and then turned to the boys. “My look at how much you have grown. Come here, give grandma hugs.” The boys ran to her and gave her hugs. She did not visit often as her and her new husband w
ere
always taking some trip to tropical islands or taking long pleasure cruises in the Caribbean.  She was living the life Arlin hoped to have one day. His day would come she would tell him and he always replied, not soon enough.