Page 13 of Too Old for This

Fairhaven is a regional bank headquartered down in Eugene.

But Jax wasn’t calling from the bank. He’s employed by a call center.

The only information I have is the toll-free number on my phone.

When I dial it, an automated system picks up and routes me to another system.

The messages cut off and on at weird times, and the background noise sounds like a whirring fan.

Not a high-end operation. If they can’t make a decent hold message, it’s hard to imagine they have enough money to record their calls.

It takes thirty minutes for me to get a live person.

“Someone named Jaxon called me yesterday from this number,” I say. “Is there any way I can talk to him again?”

“Umm…hang on.”

I am rerouted back to the automated system. Once again, I hang on until a live person picks up.

“Please don’t transfer me,” I say. “I am trying to find someone who called me from this number yesterday.”

“Umm…yeah. No. We can’t do that.”

“You can’t find one of your own employees?” I say.

“I don’t know the person who called you.”

“Is there someone who would know?”

“Hang on.”

Transferred again. While on hold, I look up the toll-free number on the internet. The search leads me to InterDial, a company registered in Nevada that claims to have call centers available on both coasts. I doubt that.

A knock at the door makes me groan. Just when I was getting somewhere.

Maybe I do need one of those doorbell cameras. I never have before, but lately so many people are popping by and I have to get up every time.

“Mrs.Jones, it’s Detective Kelsie Harlow.” Her voice is strained as she yells, like she doesn’t do it very often.

I grab my walker and pause for a moment to see if Tula chimes in as well. He does not. Kelsie came to my house alone.

This time, I know more about her. She is twenty-nine years old, born and raised in Salem, and she has been a police officer for eight years. Kelsie has a degree in criminal justice and was promoted to detective six months ago.

Today, she is not wearing a suit. She’s dressed in running clothes with sneakers and a lightweight jacket. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was still in high school.

“Hello, Detective. I hope you have good news?”

She shakes her head, her ponytail swishes back and forth. “No. Not yet, unfortunately.”

My shoulders slump, and I back the walker up. “Well, come on in, then. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

“This shouldn’t take long.”

“It’s no problem. No problem at all.”

Fill the teapot, put it on the stove, set two cups with saucers and spoons. Kelsie tells me not to go to any trouble, and I ignore her. “Chamomile or peppermint?”

“Umm…chamomile.”

“That’s my favorite, too.” I smile at her. She seems polite and sweet, but I would be an idiot to underestimate any police officer. “Oh, why am I bothering with tea? I’ve got almost a full pot of fresh coffee.”

“Either one is fine.”

“Coffee,” I say. “Obviously, I haven’t had enough.”

She jumps up to get the milk and sugar, just as Cole did, and it’s like having a little helper in my own kitchen. I’ve never had one of those. Archie never liked preparing food. He showed up only when it was time to eat.

That became Stephanie’s problem, I suppose. And now it will be Morgan’s.

“What brings you here today?” I ask.

“I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by.”

“In the neighborhood?”

“Baycliff is so beautiful, I love it here. And Salem is right down the road.”

“Yes, it is.”

She smiles. “I just wanted to see if you remembered anything else about Plum.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Sometimes things come later,” she says. “Some little detail hits when you least expect it.”

“I admit, there have been times I’ve walked into a room and forgotten why I entered it. One time, I went upstairs and ended up going into every room, trying to figure it out.”

Kelsie laughs and raises her hand. “Guilty. I’ve done things like that.”

“So is that really why you came all the way out here? To see if I’ve remembered anything new?”

Her smile disappears. She lowers her voice an octave or three. “Only two flights left Salem airport the other night. Plum’s name wasn’t on the manifest for either one. Unless she has a very good fake ID, she didn’t fly anywhere.”

“That’s…Well, I don’t know what to make of that.”

“People don’t just vanish. Not in today’s world,” she says. “At least not for very long.”

“Do you have a theory about where she went?”

“Other than alien abduction? Not really. All we have is Cole.” Kelsie swallows more coffee. Her cup is almost empty. I bet she drinks several a day. “It might’ve been him. When someone disappears, it’s usually someone close to them that did it.”

“Is that really true? I always wondered if that was just something they say on TV.”

“It’s true. Sad, but true.”

I snap my fingers. “I forgot the cookies. You know, I just bought this new kind at the store, and I’ve been wanting to try them…” I grab the package out of the cupboard, wedging it between my hand and the grip on the walker.

Kelsie and I each grab one. The cookies aren’t very good. They’re an off brand that was on sale.

“I’m sorry I don’t have any homemade cookies.”

“These are tasty,” she says. “Mrs.Jones—”

“Lottie.”

“Lottie. Where was that bruise you saw?”

I blink. More than once. “Bruise?”

“You said you saw a bruise on Plum.”

“Oh, yes.” I point to my right temple, between my eyebrow and hair. “It was right there.”

“And the burn?”

“That was on her arm.” I point again, this time to the side of my arm below the wrist. “Wait, now let me think.”

Kelsie says nothing.

I point to the right arm. “It was this one.”

“Not the left one?”

“No. The right. I’m sure of it, because I saw it when she reached for the sugar to put in her tea.”

“Thank you. I want to make sure to dot those i ’s and cross those t ’s. If I don’t, Tula will have my head.”

“But you’re still looking for her? It’s not just paperwork?”

“We’re monitoring her bank cards, accounts, passport, phone, social media…basically everything we can. But we don’t have any proof that a crime occurred. Without that, it’s difficult to go any further.”

“That’s a bit disconcerting.”

“It’s not against the law to walk away from your life,” she says. “Adults have that right.”

I pretend to consider that. It’s not new information to me. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“It does, but it can be frustrating. That’s why I’m here on my day off, trying to gather information while it’s still fresh.

Because I hate to think Plum might be out there, in trouble or hurt or being held against her will, and all we’re doing is staring at our computers.

” Kelsie throws her hands up in frustration.

She reminds me of Plum. All that persistence.