Mystery: Missing Rita: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) (9 page)

“Okay, I will keep you posted.”

“Will you be back before lunch?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Bring me a boneless chicken sandwich, please.”

“Okay, Lohan,” he said and walked out of the office. He thought about his partner and wondered what was currently bothering him. He had been so detached from work of late and was worried about pointing it out to him. He thought of the silly clip he was concentrated on and knew he would eventually have to talk to him about it.

He got into his car and was about to decide which facility to visit first before an idea crept up on him. He took out his cell phone and placed a phone call.He listened to it ring and hoped she would not be in her usual foul mood.

“Hello,” a grumpy voice on the other side of the receiver echoed.

“Hello, Tracy.”

“Who is this?”

“Detective Sam.”

“Detective who now?”

“We met the other day at the morgue. I helped you to clean the place,” Sam tried to explain.

“Oh, that pushover guy. What do you want?”

“I was wondering if you were free right now, I could buy you lunch?”

“Will you pick me up too?” Tracy asked in the same grumpy voice.

“Yes, please text me your address,” Sam replied with an inner smile. He had known she would be demanding and her request had not come as a shock to him.

He waited for the text to come through and felt really happy when he realized she was not far from the station. He started his car and drove off the station’s parking lot and onto the main road. Locating Tracy was not hard as she stood on the road waiting for him to arrive. He took in her appearance as she approached the car and realized she would look much better if she paid more attention to her looks.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Sam answered and gave her a wide smile.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“No reason, just happy to see you.”

“Why are you happy to see me?”

“Because you are going to help me out on the case,” Sam went on and tried to maintain the mood. He needed her to be in the right mood before she started giving out information.

Tracy did not seem to have any answer for him and looked on ahead on the road.

“What would you like to have for lunch?”

“Beef burger served with fries and a shake. Maybe ice cream later.”

“Alright.”

“What?” Tracy barked unexpectedly.

“I did not say anything,” Sam answered confused.

“But you thought it.”

“Are you a mind reader now?”

“I might be,” Tracy answered. “I know what you thought.”

“No I don’t, tell me.”

“You thought I should watch what I eat, it’s not good for my body and all that crap.”

“I sure as hell did not think that,” Sam corrected but did not give her time to revert. “I was actually thinking about the closest place from here with the best burgers.”

“Were you now?”

“Yes I was, I don’t really care whether or not you eat so many burgers,” Sam snapped back. “From what you just said you already know that burgers are not good for your health.”

“So why are you buying me one?”

“Just one?” Sam said with a funny glare spread on his face. “Are you sure you don’t want more than that?”

“Okay, smart guy,” Tracy answered. “What information do you want to get from me?”

“A lot,” Sam answered and had a hopeful smile on his face. They drove towards the burger joint and as expected it was packed with people. Sam got Tracy what she asked for and only got a shake for himself.

“Aren’t you going to eat, too?”

“Are you concerned?”

“No, just curious,” Tracy answered.

“I am good with this,” he answered and shook the milk shake. He looked at how Tracy was attacking her burger and wondered when she’d last had a meal.
      

“So? Get right to it,” Tracy urged.

“I want to know about your relationship with Rita when growing up.”

“What exactly do you want to know?”

“The kind of upbringing you both had, basically reasons why she would want to see a therapist.”

“She was still seeing that old shrink?” Tracy asked in between mouthfuls.

“What do you mean,‘still seeing’?”

“She had been seeing the shrink for a long time,” Tracy went on to explain before taking a sip from her shake. “I didn’t see how it helped her because she was still the same old mean bitch.”

“How long had she been seeing her for?”

“About five or six years.”

“But I thought the last time you said you saw her was her wedding day? And she had been married longer than that,” Sam pointed out.

“That is true,” Tracy answered. “You make keen observations, I see. There was a time she tried to reach out to me to get me to join her in one of the sessions.”

“Did you go?”

“Hell no! I am not a retard.”

Tracy went on to bite into her burger and sip from her shake. She seemed to be enjoying her burger and Sam could not help but notice how the burger was diminishing from sight.

“So why do you think she wanted you present at the meetings?”

“She said we had to deal with our childhood issues.”

“Was she specific about the kind of issues?”

“We grew up without a father figure and our mother was a slut,” Tracy explained. “She said such experiences made us they way we are today.”

“Do you think that is true?”

“Well, it may be true.”

“In what way?”

“I think I could have turned out much better than the way I am right now,” Tracy said and for the first time since he had met her, Sam could see a hint of emotion on her face.

“I do not blame life choices and mistakes on anyone but I know if circumstances were different things would be slightly different for me, too.”

“Was your mother abusive?”

“That is an understatement,” Tracy replied before letting out a slight chuckle. “She would abuse us both physically and mentally and also emotionally.”

“Did she run her business right in front of you?”

“What do you think?”

“So how did you finally get away from her? How did you finally break free and get away?”

“We both decided to get jobs after running away from home when we were sixteen.”

“So you both finished high school?”

“Yes, we both did.”

Sam shifted slightly in his seat before taking another sip of his shake. He looked up at her and wondered how he would ask the next question.

“How did you end up being a janitor and her a nurse?”

“That must have been very uncomfortable for you to ask,” Tracy let out before sipping again on her shake and looking up at Sam.

“I was not always a janitor,” Tracy started to explain. “I actually got a scholarship to study psychology.”

“What made you take a different route?”

“I got a contract with a local modeling agency and decided to give up on the scholarship,” she went on to explain. “I was big and huge, I was everything.”

“What about Rita?”

“Rita of course was more focused than I was; she got a scholarship too, to study nursing and later on got married.”

“Was she always wicked?”

“Not really,” Tracy said. “But after being married for a good number of years to Ryan she started losing it.”

“Losing it?”

“Yes, Rita was once raped by one of my mother’s clients after she attempted to protect me,” Tracy went on explain. “I think the demons started haunting her when she finally got married. She had erratic behavior for quite some time before being advised to seek professional counsel.”

“Was she on any type of medication?”

“I wouldn’t know, I didn’t keep track of that,” Tracy answered. “You will have to ask Ryan about that.”

“Okay,” Sam said before taking out a small yellow notepad from his inside jacket pocket and looking at Tracy. “Do you happen to know the address of the shrink she was seeing when she asked you to join her in her sessions?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I thought you said that was about seven years ago?”

“I have a good memory.”

“What was the name of the therapist?”

“Dr. Peter Mathews.”

Sam took out his phone and cross-referenced the name from the information he had obtained online. He felt an exciting feeling creep up on him when the name popped up from one of the private practices he had listed.

“I seem to have made you happy?”

“You have.”

“Can I come with you?”

“To see the shrink? Why would you want to do that, I thought you said you were not a retard?”

“Think about it, the doctor might be more lenient about giving you the files if he knows who I am. I am sure my name must have popped up somewhere in his files.”

Sam thought about it and knew Tracy was right although he suspected there was more to the reason why she wanted to show up at the shrink’s office with him. He looked at her empty cup and plate and got to his feet.

“Let’s go then,” he said and slowly started walking out of the burger joint. The crowd that had been there before they got in had now cleared. They walked on to the parking lot with Sam leading the way and Tracy following suit. Sam got into the driver’s seat as Tracy sat right next to him. He pulled out of the parking lot and his mind thought back to Lohan back at the office and wondered what he was up to. He didn’t think Tracy would want to make any small talk and was grateful instead for the awkward silence that befell them.

“Are you always this boring?” Tracy asked out of the blue.

“Yes, most of the time.”

They went back to being silent and Sam’s concentration was on the road ahead. He kept looking at the address of where he was going on his phone and paid no attention to Tracy.

“Are you always this quiet?” Tracy tried again this time on a softer note.

“You are not always this pleasant,” Sam pointed out with his eyes still fixed on the road. “In fact, you have always been vile and bitter ever since I met you which makes me curious as to why you would want to make small talk with me.”

“I hardly talk to anyone,” Tracy answered.

“Why is that?”

“I can’t really answer that question.”

“Why not?” Sam probed on. “You are the one after all who wanted to make small talk.”

“I have no friends.”

“Does that have anything to do with your very foul attitude?”

“Maybe.”

Sam negotiated a corner in front of him and could see a building in the distance. He pointed at it and said, “I think that’s it.”

“It’s time to have a look at Rita’s mind.”

“You sound excited.”

“You bet I am.”

“What happened to your modeling career?”

“That, my friend, is a story for another day. You will have to buy me dinner first.”

“Tomorrow eight, pick you up?”

“I thought we are investigating Rita here, why am I now all of a sudden being a person of interest in the case?” Tracy complained.

“You have so many excuses, young lady. Can’t you just say yes?”

“I could,” Tracy went on to say. “But I think dinner is a bit more personal than other meals.”

“What do you mean,‘a bit more personal’?”

“I mean exactly that!”

“So will you show up or not?” Sam asked. “Personal or not?”

He was now parked in the building’s parking lot and looked around him. He fixed his gaze on Tracy and waited for her response.

“Okay, I will,” she said. “But you are buying me steak and I will be at work at eight and will only get out at midnight.”

“Okay, I will pick you up.”

Sam got out of the car and from observing Tracy, he knew she was not the kind of girl who waited for any man to get the door for her. He looked at the building in front of him and was just about to go in when a call came through for him.

“Hey,” he said and waited for the response.

“Hey, how is it going?” Lohan asked.

“Not bad, I have found a few leads.”

“That is good, son. I think I will head out.”

“Where to?”

“You are not my mother or wife, I do not have to account for my whereabouts to you,” Lohan replied defensively.

“All right, I will see you tomorrow then.”

The line went dead with not as much as a goodbye; Sam looked at his phone and slightly shook his head. He then started walking towards the building with Tracy by his side.

“Girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Boyfriend?” Tracy probed on.

“No.”

“I have a gay question for you,” Tracy started but was interrupted by Sam.

“Can we have that conversation later?”

“Sure.”

They both approached the reception and Sam flashed his badge immediately to the blonde lady who sat behind the desk.

“Hello, ma’am.”

“Hello,” she took a while to answer and she stared at his badge with a very confused look on her face.

“I am Detective Sam and I need to see the doctor.”

“Dr. Mathews,” Tracy chipped in, trying to sound as important as Sam.

“He has an appointment right now but should be done in about half an hour.”

“Is it okay if we wait?”

“Yes, you can wait,” she answered and ushered them to a guest sofa where other people were also waiting to see the doctor.

They walked towards the sofa the receptionist had indicated and sat on it. They looked around the quiet room and at the crowd of people who were also waiting. Sam could not help but notice the excited look on Tracy’s face.

“You look excited.”

“I am.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Yes, you can.”

“Why?” Sam said and looked over at Tracy curiously.

“I am about to go have a peek into Rita’s mind, I am about to find out why she did the things she did and why she was the person she was.”

“Do you think you will perhaps understand her more after having a peek in her thoughts?”

“I might.”

Sam relaxed more in is seat and let his mind wander to his partner. There was something terribly wrong with him. He was disinterested in almost everything and he wondered why. The receptionist looked over at them and ushered them towards her with a slight wave of her hand. They both got to their feet and walked towards her.

“The doctor will you see now.”

“Thank you,” Sam said and started walking towards the room. Tracy followed suit and watched as he knocked on the doctor’s door.