A.L. Jambor - Where's Audrey? (2 page)

Laura was in her recliner with her legs up. She smiled when she saw Mel and put out her hands. Mel put the basket down and went to her to accept a big hug.

“I hear you’re going to Florida,” Laura said.

“Yeah. Nana’s sending me.”

“I’m worried about Aud, too. She didn’t send me a birthday card. It isn’t like her to forget.”

“How long has it been since you guys heard from her?” Mel asked.

Nana put her finger on her cheek while she thought. “I talked to her in September.”

“That was what, three months ago?” Mel asked. “Why have you waited so long to find out what happened to her?”

“Well, I had the accident, and Nana was in the hospital in October.”

“But still, no one called during all that time?”

“We’ve been busy,” Laura said. “You get busy, don’t you?”

“Why all the sudden do you want me to go look for her?”

Nana sat on the sofa near Laura’s recliner. She looked embarrassed. “I had a dream about her.”

“Mom thinks she’s in trouble.”

“Oh. Okay. So you had a dream,” Mel said to Grace.

“Don’t pick on her,” Laura said. “It was a terrible dream.”

“She was hurt. I couldn’t get to her.”

Nana Grace looked dejected. Mel bit her lower lip. She went to the sofa and sat next to Grace.

“I’ll need her address and her phone number,” Mel said.

“Go to my desk and get my address book,” Laura said.

Mel got up and went to the desk. Laura was a neat person, and the address book was perfectly aligned next to the faux leather blotter.

“Bring paper and a pen, too.”

The pens were in a faux leather cup that matched the blotter, and there were Post-its in a cube. Mel took a pen and one Post-it back to Laura.

Mel envied Laura’s penmanship. She had graceful, female handwriting, while Mel’s resembled a doctor’s scrawl. When Laura was done, Audrey’s name and address looked like the script on a wedding invitation.

“Do you have a picture of Audrey, Laura?” Grace asked.

“I think there’s one in that photo album in the bookcase.”

Laura pointed and Mel looked to where she was pointing. A small bookcase sat against the wall between the living room and the kitchen. She went to it and pulled out the large photo album, then brought it to Laura.

“It’s in here somewhere,” Laura said, flipping through the pages. “Here.”

She pulled it out of the black corner holders and handed it to Mel. Audrey was leaning against a tree.

“That was when she first moved down there,” Laura said.

“Let me see it,” Grace said. Mel handed it to her. “Oh, yes. I think she sent me that one too.”

“Do you have one that’s more recent?” Mel asked. “That was what, twenty years ago?”

“That’s the only one I have. She didn’t send any after that.”

“Didn’t you ever go and visit her?” Mel asked.

“I wanted to go,” Grace said. “But I just couldn’t find the right time.”

“In twenty years, you couldn’t find the right time?” Mel said.

“It’s harder to travel when you get older,” Laura said.

“But you weren’t that old,” Mel said.

“I have a job,” Laura said.

“Okay,” Mel said. “So, I guess I’ll be going. I have stuff to do.”

“Call me as soon as you get there,” Laura said.

“I’ll call you both.”

After bidding them both goodbye, Mel headed to Grace’s bank. She cashed the check, then deposited the cash into her own checking account. She went to the mall, bought the cute dresses, found a pair of shoes in Payless, and went home.

Chapter 2

The flight to Tampa was uneventful. Mel wore one of her new dresses and the shoes she’d bought. She had checked her suitcase and breathed a sigh of relief when it appeared on the carousel. The rental car was also waiting for Mel when she arrived. So far, so good.

The GPS on her iPhone led her directly to Audrey’s mobile home park. As Mel turned into the park, she noticed how nice it looked. She had imagined one of those broken down parks where large pit bulls guarded rusted-out single-wides with old swing sets in the front yard. This was nothing like that.

Large palm trees and ancient oak trees lined the road. Each house had its own generous lot, and they were all pruned and plucked to perfection. Everyone she passed waved at her, and she felt compelled to wave back.

The homes were decorated with strings of lights, blown-up snowmen in bubbles with snow blowing all around, and lots of candy canes. The festive atmosphere was depressing. It served to remind Mel that Christmas was coming and nothing could stop it.

Audrey lived at 298. Her road was a cul-de-sac. Her home was the second one in. Mel parked in front. She noticed an old Mercury sitting in Audrey’s driveway and saw her last name on the mailbox, “Glenn.” She got out of her car and grabbed her purse. She threw it over her shoulder and walked to the door leading into the porch.

The home had a screened porch and a carport. There were no decorations adorning Audrey’s home. Either she, like Mel, didn’t feel the need to cover her abode in tinsel, or, at her age, it was just too hard to hang the lights from the carport roof.

Mel rang the bell next to the screen door and heard footsteps approaching. They were fast and heavy, unlike those of an elderly woman. She heard the sliding glass door open and a man stuck his head out.

He was gorgeous, and Mel felt her cheeks grow hot. His blue eyes under black lashes were mesmerizing, and his black hair fell in soft layers as if he hadn’t had a haircut in a while. It suited him. He looked surprised when he saw her, then caught himself and smiled.

“Yes?” he said.

“Hi,” Mel replied. “I’m looking for my aunt.”

“Um, you sure you have the right house?”

“Her name is on the mailbox and that’s her car.” She had no idea if it was Audrey’s car or not, but Mel pointed to the huge Mercury parked in the carport, thinking that would add weight to her assumption that this was her aunt’s house.

He came to the screen door. He was wearing some sort of cologne and the scent wafted through the holes in the screen. Mel liked it. She also liked his white, even teeth.

“What’s your aunt’s name?”

“Audrey Glenn.”

“Audrey never mentioned having a niece. Well, not one your age,” he said. He smiled.

“My grandmother asked me to stop by. Audrey’s her sister. She hasn’t heard from her in a while and is worried.”

“Your grandmother, huh? You got some ID?”

“What are you, a cop?” Mel said.

“Naw. I promised Audrey I’d look after the place. I’m just being careful.”

Mel reached into her purse and took out her Jersey license. She held it up.

“That doesn’t help much. You have a different last name,” he said, but he unhooked the lock and let her in.

She hesitated while he held the screen door open. What if this guy had hurt Audrey? What if he killed Mel and cut up her body? The other homes were close by. She could scream and someone would hear her. She shook the thoughts out of her head and followed him inside.

The home was a double-wide. The porch led into a long living room. Next to that was a dining room, and the kitchen was off the dining room. Mel assumed the bedrooms and bath were in the back.

She looked at the pictures on the built-in shelves and saw her high school graduation picture.

“You knew who I was,” she said.

He glanced at the photo. “I know. I just wanted to see what you’d do.”

Very funny
, she thought. “So, where’s Audrey?”

“She went on one of those holiday cruises. She won’t be back until after New Year’s.”

“Is there any way to get in touch with her?”

“She’s out at sea. I don’t think you can call her there.”

Mel didn’t believe there was no way to get a message to her aunt.

“What cruise?”

“She’s going to Europe.”

“Europe? Did she go alone?”

“She went with a friend.”

“What’s the friend’s name?”

Mel wasn’t backing down. Something about this didn’t feel right, and she was getting frustrated with his answers.

“Ginny,” he said. “She’s a widow who lives in another park.”

How convenient,
Mel thought. She looked around the room. There was a built-in desk in the inner wall that divided the living room from the kitchen. She walked over to it and began pulling out drawers.

“I don’t think you should be doing that,” he said.

“What’s your name?” Mel asked.

“Jason. That’s Audrey’s stuff.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me looking in here.”

He walked over and gently pushed her away.

“I’m responsible for her stuff. I think she would mind.”

His voice wasn’t as friendly as it had been. Mel didn’t like the way he’d touched her. And this time, she noticed his eyes were bloodshot.

“Fine,” she said. She wrote down her phone number. “If she gets in touch with you, give her my number.”

“Sure. No problem.”

She took one last look around. The place hadn’t been vacuumed in a while and there was dust everywhere. Dishes were on the dining table, a lot of dishes, like it had been months since they were taken to the kitchen and washed. If Audrey had gone on a holiday cruise, she would have left a few days ago. Mel doubted she would have left her house in such disarray.

She let herself out the screen door and got into the car. She sat there for a few minutes trying to collect her thoughts. Something was wrong. Jason might have been good-looking, but there was something about him that bothered her. For one thing, he was too young. She didn’t think Audrey would entrust her home to anyone under fifty.
And
he looked like he was on something.

She dialed Laura’s number. Laura answered and Mel told her about Jason. Laura felt as Mel had – that Audrey wouldn’t have someone so young housesitting while she went on a cruise. And she would never leave her house looking like that.

“She wouldn’t have gone on a cruise without telling Mom,” Laura said. “Especially overseas.”

“Why especially overseas?” Mel asked.

“I don’t think she had a passport.”

“She could have gotten one.”

“Not unless she fixed the glitch.”

The glitch? “What glitch?” Mel asked.

“The glitch that prevented her from getting a passport the first time she applied for one.”

“What glitch?”

“She and Mom were born in Cuba on Guantanamo Bay. Their birth certificates were wrong, and they had to go through so much rigmarole to change them that Audrey just gave up.”

“When was this?” Mel asked.

“Oh, about twenty years ago.”

So, Audrey couldn’t get a passport twenty years ago. Maybe she’d had the glitch fixed. Maybe she was able to get a passport. Maybe Jason was a lying scumbag.

Chapter 3

Mel sat in front of Audrey’s house for a while. She looked at the homes on each side of Audrey’s, then she looked across the street. There was an old woman sitting on the porch of the one directly across from Audrey’s. The Shih Tzu with her kept barking.

“Shut up, Maurice!” the woman cried over and over.

Mel heard a knock on the passenger window and jumped. She turned and saw an old man. She turned the key in the ignition and lowered the window.

“I saw you go to the house,” he said. “Are you looking for Audrey?”

“Yes, I am. “

He looked toward Audrey’s home and then back at Mel. “I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

“How long is a long time?”

“Months. She used to come to the pool. Some of us were getting worried.”

“Did you talk to the police?”

“They won’t do anything.”

“How do you know if you didn’t report her missing?”

“We didn’t know if she was missing or not. We thought maybe she was sick and he,” the man pointed at Audrey’s with his thumb, “was taking care of her.”

“Did you knock on the door and ask him about her?”

The man looked down at the ground. “He’s kind of young. I don’t want any trouble. I have to live here.”

“Then why…oh, never mind.”

“I just thought I should tell you.”

“Well, thanks,” she said out loud and “for nothing” under her breath. He backed away and she closed the window. She hadn’t remembered to ask his name and he hadn’t offered it.

Mel looked at the woman across the street. She didn’t look too friendly. She contemplated talking to her, but her stomach rumbled. She was hungry. She wanted to go to Clearwater Beach and stay with Lisa but felt obligated to find out what happened to Audrey first. She’d have to start looking for a hotel room.

Mel started the car and did a K-turn. The old guy had mentioned there was a pool in the park. Grace had said there was an office, too. Mel could speak to the manager.

“You’re gonna have to wait,” she told her stomach as she turned onto the main road and began looking for the pool. She found it. It was in the center of the park.

The office was a nondescript, cement block building painted white. It sat directly in front of the pool. She parked the car out front and looked for the entrance. When she got inside, she saw an elderly woman sitting behind a gray metal desk.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi. My name is Mel Jones. I’m looking for Audrey Glenn. She’s my aunt.”

“I know Audrey.”

“We haven’t heard from her in a while and we’re starting to worry about her.”

The woman pursed her lips. “You know? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“Does anyone check on them, the residents, if they don’t show up for a while?”

“There’s no system in place if that’s what you mean, but neighbors tend to notice if someone hasn’t been seen for a while.”

Mel saw a brochure on the desk touting the joys of living in an over fifty-five community. “Aren’t there rules about how old you have to be to live here?”

“Yes. You have to be over fifty-five. Sometimes we relax the rules if someone is married to a younger person, but otherwise, it’s fifty-five.”

“There’s a guy living in her house. He’s definitely not over fifty-five. He said he’s staying there while she’s on a cruise.”

“Well, that seems odd. I’ll have to ask the manager if she knows about this.”