Just Let Me Die Here (A Serialized Novel) 28

I pull up to the address and look out my window at what is decidedly not a luxury apartment complex. The entire block is covered in the concrete blocks of a mega storage facility. This can’t be the right place. Did Beth get the address wrong? Did I read her writing correctly? I change a few of the more illegible letters of the street name on my phone but come up with nothing in the area. This has to be the right street. And there is nothing else on it but industrial buildings. But I’m not willing to let go of this possible lead. Tucker could still have come here. Someone might know something. I park the car just outside the front gate and head towards the small shopfront with the word ‘Sales Office’ stenciled in large block letters above the window.

Inside, a middle-aged woman sits behind a small desk surrounded by the multitude of cardboard boxes that the facility offers at a discounted rate with the rental of a storage unit. A radio on the windowsill behind her is playing classic rock. She looks up from a stack of papers as the door shuts behind me.

“What can I do for you?” she says with a smile that reveals two gold teeth.

“I don’t know,” I say, stepping up to her desk. “I think I’m a bit lost. I was wondering if you knew where the Peak Villa Apartments are located?”

“The what?” I repeat the name but there is no change in her look of confusion. “Sorry, honey. Never heard of such a place.”

“Someone told me they were at this address. Said it was a new apartment complex.”

“Nope. This is a storage facility. Has been for over thirty years too. You need a unit? I got some available.”

“No, actually, I’m looking for someone and I was told I might be able to find them here. At this address.”

“Not many people here to find. Just stuff in storage lockers.” I try to hold out some hope that this isn’t a dead end and bring up a picture of Tucker on my phone.

“Have you seen this man around here?” I ask, holing my phone up for her to see. “Maybe he stopped in here? He might have had a baby with him.” She pulls up the pair of glasses that are hanging on a chain around her neck. She looks at the picture for a minute and then pulls the phone closer for a better look.

“That’s the man from the news, isn’t it?” she says with a smile, like she won at some game. She lets her glasses drop back down onto her chest. “I seen him on the TV but not around here. You a cop?”

“No, why?”

“Dunno. Just know the cops are lookin’ for him and I don’t very much want to get wound up in that.”

“No. Not a cop. The man is my husband.”

“Oh. The no-good bastard ran out on ya?” She tilts her head to the side with a sympathetic pout. “Happens to the best of us, hun. Hope you track him down though. Give him an extra kick for me when you do.”

“Well, thanks anyway.” I turn to go. Why would Beth have lied? Why would she offer to help and then send me to this place? I open the door and then turn back with one last thought.

“Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know a woman named Beth?” She doesn’t even look up from her paperwork.

“Know lots of people, darlin’. Some have that name. Others don’t.”

I climb into the driver’s seat of my car and slam the door behind me. This can’t be right? Where did Tucker say he was going if it wasn’t here? Did Beth just give me the wrong address?

She saw what a desperate, sad person you are.

This is all your fault.

I pull out my phone and look up Peak Villa Apartments. Nothing. The closest listing I can find is a condo complex call Peak Vistas but it’s in South Carolina. A bit far away to be just a miscommunication. I sigh, deflated but not completely hopeless, turn the key in the ignition, and head back to Canmore.

On my way to the motel, I stop in to see Detective Singh. She is coming out of a meeting in a back room, surrounded by other officers when I enter the station. She waves at me as she finishes up a conversation and then breaks away from the group to come greet me at the front desk.

“August, good morning. How are you?” Her smile is warm as she gives my arm a comforting squeeze.

“Not great,” I say, not wanting to fully detail the events of my day so far. She had warned me about trying to investigate. About being too emotionally involved. And I wanted to follow up with Beth before explaining my trip out to the storage unit to the police.

“Well, that’s understandable. Hopefully that can change soon. We’re looking into some things for you. We were actually just discussing our next steps in this case.”

“Really? You found something?”

“We don’t know yet. But we do have some things to follow up on. I should know more this afternoon. I will let you know if anything comes of it.”

“That’s great. Thank you.” I feel a lightness come over me that I haven’t felt in days. This woman’s faith in a positive outcome gives me something to hold on to. Something I desperately need with all the questions that are still unanswered.

Back at the motel, I bang on the door to Beth’s room, but there is no answer. The curtains are slightly parted, but when I look inside I don’t see anyone. The light is on and the mess is still there, but no Beth and no Carl. I go down to the front office, hoping Duke might know something about the couple. He’s hanging up the phone just as I enter and he doesn’t appear to be in a pleasant mood.

“Duke, do you know where the people in room 17 are?” The look on his face sours even further.

“Question of the day, lady.” He shuffles some papers around on his desk before looking up at me.

“Pardon me?”

“Cops showed up about an hour ago. Dragged the dude out in cuffs.”

“Really? Beth too?”

“Who? The bitch that was with him? That what she told you her name was? Different every time I see her. Nah, she’d already done a runner. Those two have been here twice before and always cause trouble. Now I got cops swarming the place, no payment for the past three nights, and the room is fucking trashed. Going to take me forever to clean it. What do you want with them?”

“Oh, it’s just that she had helped me with something earlier and I wanted to ask her a question about it.”

“Helped you? Wouldn’t trust the kind of help you’d get from those two. Not worth your time. Pair of meth-heads, the both of ‘em.”

“Oh.” His words echo around me in the emptiness of the small lobby. They mix with the buzz from the single vending machine that stands in the corner. An out of order sign hangs over the coin slot.

She got you.

How pathetic.

“What did she help you with anyway?” Duke asks.

“Well, I’m looking for someone and she said she had seen him. Said he was here actually. A few nights before I got here.”

“What would she know about that? She and that trash she was with only showed up a couple hours before you did. Hasn’t been here for months before that. Like I said, not worth your time.” I slowly walk back to my room, letting this failure of a day thoroughly sink in. How could I have been so stupid?

You deserve this.

You’re not enough.

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