Quicksilver Messenger Pt. 02

The Sheriff startled him out of his reverie. "We're about twelve miles from the intersection."

"Okay about 100 yards up on the right, by that large mesquite tree." Steve said pointing to an area up ahead.

Now the dawn was bursting over the horizon and with its pastel colors reflecting off the clouds and shadows. Steve was longing for his camera right now. The stars had all faded out except Venus, which was still low on the horizon. The sun was still behind the mountains, but providing plenty of light to work the crime scene.

The Sheriff pulled up to within twenty yards of the area Steve showed him stopped the car and turned on his emergency lights. They both got out of the car and walked towards the area where Steve found April. As they approached Steve saw a tiny spot of blood on the pavement and pointed it out to the Sheriff. Suddenly he felt vindicated, he looked over at the Sheriff and he nodded looking more relaxed than Steve had ever seen him.

Steve heard a noise behind them and saw Will the crime scene tech pull up in a white van behind the Sheriff's cruiser. The Sheriff walked back to Will, pointed out the blood drops and began to give directions on searching the area.

Will pulled on gloves, paper bootees then walked over to collect the blood sample. That having given out the instructions, the Sheriff went to the left side of the road, while Will went to the right side. They both began to look in, around and underneath the bushes searching for any physical evidence.

Will shouted. "I have some footprints and maybe tire tracks."

Steve intercepted the Sheriff as he was walking across the road and said, "I parked my car over there so any tracks would be mine. However, I didn't park where Will is, so those could be someone else."

The Sheriff abandoned his side of the road and came over to join Will. Now that Steve had been vindicated, he was losing interest in the grunt work of crime detection. So, he went over to the cruiser and sat on the hood. Steve's head started to sag towards his chest and he jerked upright as he realized that he had fallen asleep. Steve body was starting to pay the price for the long night, and it was demanding sleep.

Well, if he was going to sleep on them as well get comfortable. So, he headed over to the Sheriff's car, opened the passenger side and sat down to take a quick nap. He must've dropped off quickly, because the next thing he knew, the sunrise was over. The morning was glorious with lite fluffy clouds and a deep blue sky. In addition, two other cars were parked on the shoulder as well and several other members of the Sheriff's Department were rooting around though the bushes. A quick look at his watch revealed that an hour and a half had gone by.

Steve stretched a little, got out of the Sheriff's car and walked over to find out what kind of progress had been accomplished. The Sheriff saw Steve walking over to him and turned to meet him about halfway.

"So far the evidence is backing up your story" said the Sheriff.

"I found some large off-road tracks, about 30 feet off the road, with some boot prints leading from the tracks to the road. For whatever reason, it looks like somebody put April in the road and you just happen to stumble across her." The sheriff added.

"So how much longer you think we'll be here Sheriff" Steve asked.

"I'll probably have people out here for a couple of hours, but I guess you and I can go back. You ready?" Asked the Sheriff.

"Yes sir I am ready, I do need to find a place to sleep. Any suggestions?"

The Sheriff gave him a funny look, and added, "Yeah. I might have a couple of ideas."

As the Sheriff headed for his car, Steve turned and headed for the passenger side. The Sheriff slid behind the wheel, buckled up, started the engine and did a backwards 180. They headed back towards Alpine at an above the speed limit clip.

The whole drive back to Sheriff didn't say a word, never looked at him and just seemed lost in thought. Steve didn't say a word either, but for a different reason. He knew he was making progress towards his innocence, but he didn't want to mess it up. So he felt like silence was the better part of valor.

As he started entering Alpine Steve looked over at the Sheriff and said, "My car is over at the hospital. Do you think we can stop and pick it up on the way?"

Chapter 4

The Sheriff pulled right up to the emergency entrance at Big Bend regional medical Center. He got out and went into the emergency room; Steve assumed he went in to check on April. Steve had the same thoughts and was headed that direction when he saw the black and silver pickup that had stopped by the Sheriff's office. Immediately he had second thoughts and decided this might not be a good time for him to stop by.

Steve went over, unlocked his car, dug through his glove box and got his Blackberry out and the sheet of paper and pen. He wrote down the names and phone numbers of his friends who saw him off in Corpus Christi and figured he would give them to the Sheriff later. As he was stashing everything back in the Cobra the Sheriff came out of the emergency room and headed his way.

Steve gripped the sheet of paper with his friend's names and phone numbers on it and walked over to give it to the Sheriff. As he handed him the paper, he explained that it was the friends from Corpus Christi. The Sheriff also asked for Steve's cell phone number which he added to the sheet of paper.

The Sheriff explained, "I'm going to need you to stay around for a while and advise me all your movements in the area until we get everything cleared up. As far as places to stay, there's the Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn or if you'd like something with little character the Holland hotel."

The whole trip was about Texas and Texas character so the Holland hotel sounded like a great choice. Steve told the Sheriff that he would head over to the Holland hotel and see if they had room.

Steve stuck out his hand to see if they could have amicable parting, and the Sheriff responded in kind as they said good-bye. Steve looked after him as he returned to his car, mostly to make sure that it was okay to leave, but also just as glad not to have him on his case.

The Holland hotel turned out the exactly what the sheriff said. It had an old rustic air about it and looked like it'd been built in the early 1900's. It turns out he was right because it had been built in 1928. Recently, everything had been renovated and the rustic interior had been given a makeover without losing its charm.

Turns out they had several rooms available and Steve took one for two days. At least that's how long he hoped it would be. The late-night staff was still on duty, but getting ready transition everything to the day shift, so they were eager to get rid of him. The rooms had also been made over into a nice cowboy country chic motif. At least he knew that's how the people in California would have summarized it. Steve liked it a lot and it reminded him that he was still in Texas.

He finally had everything carried into the hotel and was trying to figure out what he would do with the rest of the day. Steve knew that if he ate anything his eyes would slam shut. A nap would shoot the better part of the day, but after having been up all-night he didn't think he had much of a choice.

The sudden banging on his door startled him out of his reverie. Since he didn't know anybody here he assumed it must be the Sheriff wanting some more information. So, he swung the door open and immediately jumped back. It was the guy from the Sheriff's office, the one with the black and silver pickup truck ... Mr. Hunt.

Since he had already jumped back, he couldn't close the door in his face although he really tried lunging forward to do so. However, Mr. Hunt easily stuck out his hand and blocked the swinging door, but he didn't advance through the door. He just stood there looking at Steve with an expression that was hard to figure.

At 6'2", 200 pounds Steve was not used to being intimidated. The Sheriff had definitely done that with his physical presence, but this man did it with authority. He was less than 6 foot and wiry thin, but his face was hard. You could tell this was a man used to getting his own way. He radiated a commanding presence and expected everyone to do what he said with a smiling, "Yes sir."

As he began to speak his voice was a rich and gravelly baritone, and it held a lot of emotion. "My name is Ed Hunt and the woman you brought into the hospital is my daughter. I've spoken with the Sheriff; he feels like you are an honest man who found a woman in distress and took care of her. If this is the case you have my everlasting thanks, and I will find some way to repay you." He said.

He started to turn away, but then he stopped, turned his head to look at Steve. His voice changed dramatically into a menacing growl as he added, "If this is not the case. If you had anything to do with her disappearance, or hurting her, I will destroy you in the most horrible fashion I can think of."

He grabbed the door handle, swung it shut behind him as he walked away leaving the room. Steve stood in the same spot for the next five minutes, wondering what to do. He didn't know anybody in this town and the gratitude he felt towards the Sheriff a few minutes ago had evaporated into some unforeseen terror.

Steve slowly sat on the bed, strangely enough the exhaustion and hunger that he had felt a few minutes ago had suddenly disappeared. He realized that the whole April incident was rapidly getting out of his control. If he had any hope of surviving this and making it to his job on time, he would need to be involved and clear his name... quickly.

Okay, logic dictates that you need to get some food and rest. So, the first order of business was a good breakfast, then some sack time. Then he needed to figure out what he needed to do to clear his name and get moving again towards California.

The Holland hotel as it turned out had a wonderful breakfast, with everything that you could hope for. Eggs in every shape, lots of meat such as ham, sausage and thick slab bacon, biscuits, sawmill gravy, pancakes, juices, lots of fruit, cereal and yogurt. However, the most important aspect of his breakfast was lots of Coffee. All of this was ordered from the server and not from any breakfast bar. It was very nice to see customer service.

The server was a beautiful athletic young woman of Spanish heritage. She had long black hair, large brown soulful eyes and she seemed nice, friendly and honestly seemed to like dealing with people. Her gorgeous hourglass figure and impressive breasts certainly brightened up the morning. She asked Steve questions about where he was from and what brought him in. She sincerely wanted to hear the answers. Her name was Catarina and she had lived in West Texas all her life. She said she really loved this job because she got to meet so many interesting people.

Steve asked for her advice on breakfast and she cheerfully recommended the huevos rancheros, a breakfast chili relleno with eggs or breakfast taquitos. Steve settled on the huevos rancheros with bacon, toast, coffee and cranberry juice. When the food arrived, Catarina sat down and asked if he had heard anything about the kidnapping of April Hunt.

Steve was startled that she brought up that subject and he jokingly swallowed his mouthful of juice. Steve had lived-in small towns, so he knew by the end of the day she would know who he was anyway. So, he fessed up, "I found April in the middle of Highway 67 and just brought her into the hospital. As far as I know she's okay, but still at the hospital."

Catarina looked at him with a lopsided smile and said, "I already knew that even before you checked in, but your visit from Mr. Hunt would've given it away anyway. I just wanted to know why you took her in the first place?"

Steve sputtered and choked the eggs that he was trying to swallow, "I... I didn't have anything to do with her kidnapping, I only found her!"

Catarina gave a lilting laugh and said, "Yeah I know, I was just messing with you." Then she leaned forward expectantly with her breasts coming dangerously close to spilling out of her blouse. Clearly before she brought back his food, she had loosened a couple of the top buttons on her blouse. She smiled mischievously and added, "You have any juicy details that I can add to the rumor mill. This is the biggest thing that's happened here since, well ... I don't know when."

Steve got himself under control and realized his whole stay in Alpine was going to be just like this. Everyone knew now who he was and how he was tied to April. Steve looked back at Catarina as he said, "Nope just your basic saving a damsel in distress kind of thing."

Catarina continued to stay and chatter, but to be honest he tuned her out and was trying to finish breakfast. When he finished, he quickly signed the breakfast over to his room, gave her a decent tip, and went back to his room for a nap.