Discombobulate

Chapter Forty-Two

Sheriff Winston sped out of the parking lot with sirens blaring. He didn't know where Detective Mullen's house was. The car flew down the streets of Lexing. He was driving as fast as he was comfortable with. Cars pulled off the side of the road around him. Now and then, the car dipped into a pothole. Both men bounced in their seats multiple times.

Mullen clutched the handle above his door with one hand. In the other, he had his cell phone. It was pressed against his ear. The phone rang multiple times. Emily Mullen didn't pick up the phone. Cody Mullen hung up and dialed her number again. It rang a few more times.

"Hi!" A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Cody slumped in his seat. Relief flooded through him. "Emily? I'm so glad you picked up the phone. Are you and Adeline o-"

"You've reached Emily Mullen. I'm currently unable to answer the phone. Leave a message and I'll call you back!"

Mullen's heart dropped. He slammed his phone shut. He gnawed on his lip. Something happened at his house. Emily always answered the phone when he called.

"Was that her?" Winston asked.

"I thought it was, but it ended up being her voicemail."

"What road do you live on?" The road ahead of them was barren. There wasn't a car in sight.

"I live on Fountain Street. My house is on the right. It looks exactly like Grant described it. What are we going to do if my daughter is missing?"

"We're going to think about this rationally before we do anything stupid. We could be being set up." Winston clutched the wheel tighter.

"Can you drive faster?" Mullen asked.

"I'm not trying to get us into a car accident. There's been way too many of those recently." He was already going almost sixty-five miles per hour. "Grant Bowers was at Denise's house last night."

"What?" Mullen whipped his head towards Winston.

"Denise called me last night. Someone was outside her house banging on it. I could hear it through the phone. They threw a rock through her glass sliding door. I went to her house and couldn't find anyone."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Mullen folded his arms over his chest.

"I didn't have time. I ended up watching her cat overnight and I dropped her off at a motel."

"Why would you do that?"

Winston shushed him. "Denise ordered pizza from Simon's before all this happened and it was delivered to her. Shortly after I arrived, some other pizza guy showed up with a large pepperoni pizza. The pizza guy was Grant Bowers."

"So what are you saying?" Mullen asked.

"I think Grant Bowers could have been the one that pounded on her doors. I think he threw a rock through the glass sliding door. Earlier, he tried to hit her with his truck."

"But that's pure speculation," Mullen pointed out.

"And somehow, mysteriously, now he has seen Denise give your wife muffins."

"That could potentially be laced with sleeping pills. What's your point?"

"I think Grant and Sullivan are behind all of these weird things. I don't know why. Do you think they'd go to these extreme lengths all because of a stupid story?"

"I don't know! I'm not focused on that right now. I want to know if my wife and baby are safe."

"We're heading into Brimington right now." Winston pointed towards the bright green welcome sign. "We're not that far away."