Page 31 of Once Vanished
A staircase rose from the hallway, disappearing into shadow.To their left, a sitting room with sheet-covered furniture.To their right, what appeared to be a dining room, chairs stacked atop a long table.Everything was coated in a fine layer of dust, yet there were clear pathways through it.Someone had been walking these floors and those stairs.
From the looks of it, maybe just one person,Riley thought.Maybe whoever had been at that upstairs window.But that didn’t mean that Jilly couldn’t be locked up in a closet.
“Before we go up,” Bill said softly, “we have to make sure there’s nobody down here.”
They did a room-to-room and found no one, nothing to indicate anyone else was there.They had finished checking out the first floor when a thump sounded from above, followed by the unmistakable creak of footsteps trying to be quiet.Time to find out who that was.Although they couldn’t take the person completely by surprise, they could be ready for anyone who threatened them.
Riley pointed upward, then to herself, indicating she would take point.Bill nodded, falling in behind her as they approached the stairs.
Riley’s gun remained steady in her hand, aimed slightly upward as they ascended.Bill’s breathing was controlled and quiet behind her.The familiarity of moving in tandem with him was the only comfort in this moment of crushing uncertainty.
At the top of the stairs, a long hallway stretched before them, doors on either side.All closed except one at the end, which stood slightly ajar.Riley knew that would be a room at the front of the house, where they had seen a curtain move.Now another noise came from inside that room—a rustling sound, then silence.
Riley moved forward fast, but the hallway seemed to elongate with each step.When they finally reached it, she positioned herself to the side, then pushed it further open with the barrel of her gun.
A bedroom.Empty except for a bare mattress on the floor and a wooden chair in the corner.No sign of anyone, but the closet door at the far wall was closed.As they entered the room, Riley could hear rapid, shallow breathing from behind that door.
She signaled to Bill, who moved to the opposite side of the closet.With three fingers, she counted down silently.Three.Two.One.
Riley yanked open the door, weapon aimed into the darkness.“FBI!Don’t move!”
A cry of terror erupted from inside as a figure pressed itself deeper into the corner of the closet, arms raised protectively.Not Jilly.Not Leo.Instead, a stranger—a man who was thin, disheveled, and clearly terrified—cowered before them.
“Please don’t shoot me,” he whimpered, his voice cracking.“Please, please, I ain’t done nothing wrong.”
Riley lowered her weapon slightly but kept it trained on him.“Who are you?What are you doing here?”
The man’s face was gaunt, his clothes hanging loose on his frame.He couldn’t have been more than forty, but hardship had aged him beyond his years.His eyes, bloodshot and watery, darted between Riley and Bill.
“Name’s Smitty,” he mumbled.“Just Smitty.I ain’t got no other name.”
“Come out of there slowly,” Bill instructed, his tone firm but not threatening.“Hands where we can see them.”
Smitty edged forward, his movements jerky with fear.As he stepped into the light from the window, Riley could see the telltale signs of prolonged drug use—the sores on his skin, the nervous tic at the corner of his mouth.
“I’m Special Agent Riley Paige,” she said, holstering her weapon once she was certain he posed no immediate threat.“This is Special Agent Bill Jeffreys.We’re looking for someone who might be in danger.”
Smitty’s shoulders slumped slightly.“You ain’t here to arrest me for trespassing?”
“That’s not our concern right now,” Riley said.“Are you here alone?”
“Yeah,” Smitty replied.“Ain’t nobody else here.”
“Have you seen a girl?”Riley demanded.“A young teenager?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head.“Ain’t seen nobody since I started stayin; here.”
Bill asked, “How did you come to be in this house?”
Smitty scratched nervously at his arm.“Been on the street most of this year.Maybe longer.Days blur, you know?”His gaze wandered, then snapped back to Riley’s face.“Then this fella came up to me, maybe a week ago?Could’ve been more.Or not as long.Not sure.Said I could stay here, out of the elements.Said the house was his and nobody was using it.”
“This man—what did he look like?”
“Nice-looking fella.Clean-cut.Like a doctor or a lawyer or something.Talked real proper.”Smitty’s forehead creased as he concentrated.“He had these eyes that seemed to see right through you, you know?Made me nervous, but I was desperate for a roof.”
“Did he tell you his name?”Bill asked.
Smitty nodded eagerly.“Abel.Said his name was Abel something.”He frowned.“Keen.That was it.Abel Keen.”