Who Will Find Them

You would think that after such an eventful day, Jake would have slept straight through the night, but that wasn’t the case. Beth’s tear-streaked face and pleading eyes kept intruding on his rest. How could anyone be so cruel to a child and cause them that much pain? It was the question he kept replaying over and over in his mind. Jake knew it made no sense, but he felt responsible for this young girl whom he had only met briefly. She wasn’t his sister, or even some long-lost cousin, but the hug she had given him just before they parted formed a lasting bond in his heart.

Exhaustion must have finally claimed him because, not realizing that he had eventually fallen asleep, Jake sat up with a jolt at the sound of his alarm. He took a minute to clear the cobwebs from his mind, then swung his feet to the floor and hoisted his body out of bed. The shower helped him return to normalcy, and breakfast eliminated the hunger pains. He was back on schedule and leaving for work before the sun came up. Today was the final day of his four-day schedule, and he could use the next two days off to regroup.

Jake’s car was parked a short walk from his front door. No one was ever out at this time of the morning hanging around, but that assumption was wrong today.

“Hey buddy, got a minute?”

The voice came from out of the darkness to his left. It startled him at first, but he soon regained his composure. Jake was average height and in extremely good shape with a black belt in karate, so people normally didn’t intimidate him.

“Not really. I’m on my way to work and can’t be late. What do you need?”

Two large men stepped out of the shadows and positioned themselves between Jake and his car.

“We want to know who paid you to interfere with our transfer yesterday.”

“Paid me! No one paid me to do anything. I could see it was the right thing to do so I did it. Something you gentlemen apparently know nothing about. Now please move.”

Instead of moving, one man pulled a pair of brass knuckles from his coat pocket while his partner brandished a blackjack.

“Our boss sent us here to emphasize how important it is to mind your own business.”

The speed at which Jake moved temporarily stunned his would-be assailants. It was all the time he needed to drive his right foot into the closest man’s groin with enough force for him to crumple to the ground in agony. Jake ducked under the second man’s blackjack and drove his stiffened fingers into the assailant’s jugular, cutting off his air. The attack was over in seconds.

“When you boys feel healthy enough to drive home, tell your boss I will always do what’s right.”

Jake got in his car and drove off toward work, leaving his assailants lying on the driveway writhing in pain. The aggressive part of Jake’s brain caused him to smile and think, Guess the old man still has some gas in the tank, while the cautious side of his brain pondered, What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Traffic on I-50 from Annapolis to Tuxedo was always light at five in the morning unless some dignitary had the road closed off, but that wasn’t the problem today. No, today’s issue was an accident that scattered debris across both westbound lanes. The local fire department was cleaning things up, but it added an extra fifteen minutes to Jake’s ride. He called the shop and apprised them of his situation and asked if someone would have his bus ready to go.

“Anything for our resident TV star,” quipped the shop foreman.

“That’s cold, Juan, real cold.”

Both men laughed, then Juan told him it would be ready when he got there. Jake showed up about twenty minutes later, hopped onto his coach, signed the paperwork, and was on his way to the DC terminal within five minutes. He hoped today would be far less chaotic than yesterday, but in this business you just never knew. The encounter at his townhouse wasn’t how we expected to start the day, and he still needed to deal with Detective Isenburg after reaching New York. It would be another day without a nap before driving home, thought Jake, shaking his head in frustration, but it had all been worth it if Beth was safe now.

There were eighteen passengers waiting for him at the DC terminal. One of them, a regular rider, had been with him yesterday afternoon and commented that he saw Jake on the news last night.

“Yeah, that was my five seconds of fame. Now I’m back to being Jake the bus driver, which is just fine by me.”

“Well, don’t sell yourself short. What you did for that little girl is something to be proud of and shouldn’t be reduced to a one-minute news bite.”

“Thank you for saying that, sir. I hope you enjoy your trip!”

Jake finished taking tickets, then he was off to Baltimore, Wilmington, and New York City.

The run this morning was run-of-the-mill boring. A minor fender bender on the Delaware Turnpike caused a five-minute delay; construction on the truck-bus lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike pushed all traffic into the car-only lanes for twenty miles before dividing traffic into specific lanes again; In other words, just a normal day’s drive to New York City. What wasn’t normal was the reception Jake received when he pulled into his gate.

Wayne, the day dispatcher, and two Port Authority porters stood by the passenger door to assist the travelers departing the bus and retrieving any of their stored bags in the luggage bays. Off to the side stood Jake’s friend Dom and Detective Lieutenant Isenburg. Once the passengers were clear of the gate, Isenburg briskly strode to the passenger door. Radiating every ounce of intimidation he possibly could, Isenburg glared at Jake and growled.

“Mr. Jake Martin, you are to come with me immediately for questioning. Leave all your belongings on the bus except for your phone. I’ll take that.”

Jake’s response was not what Isenburg was expecting.

“Save the intimidation act for someone it might work on. I used to be a cop, Detective, so I know how this works. Now, I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have, but I’ve been in this seat for four hours, and I’m going to the Men’s Room first. You’re welcome to come with me and watch if you like.”

Dom didn’t say a word. He just stood back and smiled.

Jake stood, stepped away from the driver’s area, placed his bag on the seat, walked down the steps, and handed his phone to a red-faced Isenburg.

“Dom, my bag is on the seat. I imagine the Detective has instructed you to go through it while we’re talking. Detective, I’ll meet you back here in about ten minutes.”

Jake walked off to the closest Men’s Room, leaving an exasperated Isenburg glaring at his back. True to his word, he was back in less than ten minutes. His bag was no longer on the driver’s seat but resting on the floor next to it. Isenburg said nothing, just motioned for Jake to follow him. A few minutes later they entered what Jake assumed to be an interrogation room, and the detective gestured for him to have a seat.

After quickly scanning the room, Jake didn’t wait for Isenburg to start speaking but instead started with a question of his own.

“I imagine that slot next to the wall switch is where the camera is located. Are we being recorded?”

“Why do you ask? Is there a reason you don’t want to be on camera?”

“No reason whatsoever. I was simply wondering how close to the rules you were going to stay?”

Isenburg visibly stiffened. “I always stick to the rules, sir.” He went on, “This is a preliminary fact-finding interview with witness Jake Martin, the bus driver who reported a child- trafficking crime. The time is 12:52 p.m., July 29, 2026. The witness is here of his own free will. Mr. Martin, would you please describe the events that led up to your notifying the police about the alleged abduction?”

Jake began with the man’s treatment of the girl coupled with her meek demeanor. He described the note asking for help and ended with the man’s threat about what would happen to them both and the girl if he wasn’t released. When he finished his statement, Jake told Isenburg that was all he had. The Detective simply nodded his head and wrote down the time.

“Now I have a question for you, Detective. Where has the girl been placed, and may I visit her? I’m feeling responsible for her and would like to follow up and make sure she’s okay.”

“We turned her over to Child Protective Services, and that’s the last I saw of her. That department is so backed up with abandoned kids she could be anywhere. They may have shipped her back to DC or Maryland. All I can do is give you their phone number, but good luck getting anyone to give you any information. We’re done; you can go, but expect to hear from the District Attorney’s office when that piece of shit’s trial comes up. They’ll probably want you as a witness.”

“That’s fine by me. I’ll be happy to help put that scumbag in jail.”

As Jake was walking out the door, he looked at his wristwatch and smiled, realizing he had time for lunch after all, just no nap.

Dom was waiting for Jake by his bus when he got back.

“How’d it go? Isenburg can be a real ass when he wants to.”

“It went fine. The only disappointing part was he couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me where Beth is.”

“She was put on a train to Baltimore with an escort this morning. I have a friend who works in that department. She filled me in since I helped rescue her. They work with an affiliate called Safe Haven based out of the Baltimore area.”

“I can’t believe they sent her back there. She begged us not to go back because it was a prison for kids.”

“I do remember her saying something like that, but my friend told me Safe Haven told her that the girl was a habitual runaway, always looking for her mother. This time she aligned herself with the wrong person. Like it or not, they had to return her to the organization she came from.”

“That’s okay, I’m off tomorrow, so I’ll contact them and see if I can visit her, but for now, I’m going to eat my sandwich, update my log, and get ready for the trip back to DC.”