Among the Missing

By H. R. Devlon

When retired homicide cop Thomas Blake finds an abandoned Mercedes in a lagoon area, he traces the car to an Adam Barker, who happens to be missing from his top secret research work at Argonne Laboratories, and from his home in Lake Forest, Illinois. As Blake investigates further, he suspects Barker's disappearance is the result of foul play.

Meanwhile, Jack Logan, an ex-friend of Barker's, receives a cryptic message asking Logan to help Barker's wife Michelleâ but Logan is hesitant to help her , since twenty years earlier, she had called off her engagement to him, only to marry Barker.

As Blake continues to investigate, and as Logan reluctantly decides to help Barker's wife Michelle, Adam Barker's safety becomes less and less certain...

[Among the Missing] has ..."more twists than a pretzel! Bravo!"

(An Armchair Detective Review)

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781456626228

Book preview

Anon.

Prologue

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Saturday, June 13th, 12:30 a.m.

The Car

The Mercedes was barely visible in the steamy mist rising off Ceylon Lagoon and the nearby wetlands. It was only the car’s hazard lights blinking on and off that had attracted the Lake Geneva police officers who were sitting in their cruiser twenty feet behind the Mercedes.

For five minutes, the two police officers simply waited and watched. Everything in the lagoon area remained dark and still, except for the flashing of the red and blue lights on the cruiser’s light rack, and the blinking of the Mercedes’ hazard lights.

Then, looking at his watch, the younger police officer, a dark-haired blue-eyed twenty-five-year-old named Brad Turner, turned the cruiser’s searchlight on, and slowly swept its bright beam back and forth across the Mercedes and the surrounding area once, twice, three times.

I don’t see anybody. Do you, Tom? Turner asked.

No, I don’t, Thomas Blake, the older police officer, a sixty-six-year-old part-time Reserve Officer resembling Kevin Costner, answered. You want to call it in, while I take a closer look?

Right. I make the plate as Illinois Tango, Echo, Foxtrot seven two four.

Check, Blake replied.

As he spoke, Blake pulled a large flashlight from its bracket and opened the cruiser passenger door. Then, using the car door as a shield, Blake got out of the cruiser in a crouched position and drew his service weapon. Next, holding the flashlight in his left hand and his service weapon in his right, Blake quickly stepped out from behind the cruiser door, turned the flashlight on, and swung his arms straight out in front of him, aiming both his flashlight and his gun at the trunk of the Mercedes. After quickly looking all around the lagoon area, and swinging his flashlight and his service weapon quickly to each side and to his rear, Blake crept to a position just behind the Mercedes’ trunk and paused – but to avoid being a target, Blake also shut his flashlight off, and shifted two feet to the left. Just then he heard something unexpected. What the hell, Blake thought, this car’s engine is still running! Somebody must be around here somewhere…

For the next several minutes, Blake methodically searched the area around the Mercedes, moving quickly from one position to the next, occasionally shutting his flashlight off, then turning it back on again after he’d shifted a few feet to one side or the other. And as he moved, Blake kept his service weapon and his flashlight moving in front of him or swinging quickly side to side.

He ended his search at the edge of the lagoon waters. No one is here…or if they are here, they’re staying out of sight, Blake thought. Why did they leave the car running? Were they planning to come back? From where? Doing what? Did we interrupt them before they were finished?

Blake shook his head, and turned back towards the Mercedes. He did not holster his weapon – he kept it at-the-ready near his right side – and he kept the flashlight swinging back and forth in front of him – just in case somebody decides to come out of the woodwork…

When Blake came to the Mercedes again, he got into the car, and checked the gas gauge. Hmmm…half-full... How long as this car been running? How long has it been sitting here?

Then using his handkerchief, he turned the engine off and removed the keys. Very interesting. Only car keys…no house keys, no ID, no gadgets, only car keys… Next, Blake checked the glove box for the car’s registration. Ah…here we go…registered to an Adam Barker, Lake Forest…O.K., Adam Barker, What the hell is going on?

He put the registration papers back into the glove box, and closed it. Then he got out of the car, walked around to the car’s trunk, and – with his service weapon pointed at the trunk – opened it.

Only a briefcase and a spare tire kit were visible. …Well, that’s good… we won’t have to report a homicide…at least not tonight…

He closed the Mercedes trunk, looked around the lagoon area one more time, then walked back to the cruiser, where Turner was still waiting.

Textbook, Tom, Turner said. A little extreme, but textbook.

What?

The way you moved out there.

Blake smiled at the young officer. Old habits. And by the way, it’s only extreme until somebody starts shooting at you.

"Oh, that’s right…You were a homicide detective…in Chicago…right?

Blake nodded. For thirty-plus years.

That’s a long time…

Blake laughed. Tell me about it.

He holstered his service weapon and turned off the flashlight. Then he asked, How deep is that lagoon, Brad?

Twelve feet at this end, Turner answered.

We may have to search for the driver in the lagoon.

Turner nodded. Right…I’ll take care of it. I suppose we should also have Stevens’ Towing bring the Mercedes back to the station lot. That’ll take another hour at least…,Barb’s really going to be pissed…I was supposed to take the 2:00 a.m. feeding…

I can get the car back to the station, Brad. Why don’t you head home to your family? I’ll see you tomorrow.

Are you sure, Tom? I shouldn’t put that on your shoulders - you’re only a part-time reserve officer…as the full-time officer, I should…

Go on home, Brad. I’ll be fine.

Thanks, Tom. I’ll owe you.

Blake smiled. You can buy me a cup of coffee… Oh, before you leave, Brad, let me grab some barrier tape and a couple of stakes. I want to have another look at this place in the morning when the mist has burned off – and I don’t want the area disturbed until after I’ve checked it.

Good idea. O.K., Tom…See you tomorrow night.

Take care, Brad…Say Hi to Barb. See you tomorrow night.

Right. Turner gave a quick wave, and started the cruiser.

Blake returned the wave, and got out. Then he walked to the rear of the cruiser, opened the trunk, and removed a roll of barrier tape, four stakes, and a hammer. Then he closed the trunk, tapped on it twice, and waved again.

Turner waved backed, put the cruiser in gear, turned the vehicle around, and drove away.

After the cruiser was out of sight, Blake pounded the four stakes into the ground so that each stake was at least twenty feet away from the Mercedes – two stakes in the front, and two stakes behind the car.

Then he got into the car, started it, and backed it a few feet beyond the rear stakes. Next, while the car was still idling, Blake strung the yellow Police Line. Do Not Cross tape from one stake to the next, surrounding the area where the Mercedes had been parked.

When he had finished, Blake got back into the Mercedes and drove away from the lagoon area, and out to South Lake Shore Drive, where he turned right and headed to 626 Geneva Street – The Police Station. Blake drove the Mercedes into the Police Lot, put the car’s top up, locked the car, and took the Mercedes keys into the Station.

Later, after he had completed his paperwork for the night, Thomas Blake headed home in his own car – with a dozen questions swirling in his head…What was Adam Barker’s car doing in Lake Geneva when it’s registered in Lake Forest? Was Barker himself in Lake Geneva, or just his car? Why would anybody abandon a $100,000 car with the keys still in the ignition, and the engine still running? If Adam Barker or someone else was using the car in the lagoon area, what the hell were they doing? And where are they now? If Barker owns a Mercedes convertible, and a home in Lake Forest, he most likely has money…How did he get it? Has he used it all up? Is he in debt and suicidal? Or is this is a ransom thing? …Did somebody grab Barker, take him away in another vehicle, and drive his car to the lagoon area just to throw everybody off the trail? ...Is Barker still alive? If so, where the hell is he?

*******

Chapter 1

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Saturday, June 13th, 7:30 a.m.

The Tire Tracks and the Briefcase

By 7:30 a.m., Thomas Blake was back in the lagoon area. This time, he had his own forensics kit – from the old days in Chicago – and a thermos of black coffee.

As he got out of his car, Blake could see that the yellow barrier tape was still in place, and that – apparently – no one had violated it. Then, as he walked up to the barrier tape, Blake could also see a single set of footprints, plus several tire tracks in and around the space where the Mercedes had been parked.

He wasn’t surprised or curious about the set of footprints – because the footprints were his own from a few hours earlier. (Blake had cut two notches in the bottom of each of his work shoes, so he could always distinguish his footprints from any others, in the event he ever had