Road Trip (2018 Wattys Long List)

Chapter 12

Dan Coleback left the diner feeling smug. Now he was on the right track, and he expected that he would have the wayward geezers collared, and on their way back to Glenwood, in short order. He would show them that they shouldn't trifle with Mr. Daniel Coleback! All he needed to do now, was to get close enough to nab the old fools. Spinning loose gravel, Dan tore out of the parking lot and the car accelerated, headed west. Victory was within his grasp.

He drove west again, about as far as he figured the old folks would have gone before they would have had to take a break, for gas or food or, maybe one of them would have needed to answer a call from Mother Nature by now. He had already tried the last two gas bars that had appeared, but he had drawn a blank both times. It seemed that no one had seen a car or it's occupants, that fit the description of these old codgers.

He persisted in his search, driving more miles than he had originally expected to in his search. After a time, another gas station, complete with side diner, appeared ahead, and Dan slowed to a stop at the gas pumps. After filling the tank on his car, he made his way into the restaurant. Upon entering, he met a young woman behind the counter.

"Hi. How can I help you?", she asked.

She was a very pretty, young girl. Nice eyes and hair. Openly friendly, too. If he was just a bit younger, say not as old as her father, maybe he would find himself getting interested in something other than detective work....

"I might as well take a minute and eat since I'm here. I'm really here on police business", Dan said, as he held his badge out for inspection.

The girl ignored the badge, and quickly asked, "Oh! What sort of police business would that be?" Her big doe eyes became larger still. A fella could fall right in if he wasn't careful.

"I'm trying to locate four elderly people, who recently left a nursing home without their families' knowledge. They may be traveling in the company of a teenaged boy, as well."

"You know, now that you ask, I might have seen them. I think they may have passed this way just yesterday. A teenaged boy came in, ordered take out for some other folks who he said was waiting in the car. Might have been who you're looking for. I only ever saw the boy, he was sort of goofy-acting.

"Really, what can you tell me about him then?"

"Well, like I said, he seemed quite young, tall and quite slim, too. His hair was kinda' long. Brown, I think, and he had some kind of braided leather bracelet around his wrist". The girl stared off into space, concentrating on bringing back the image of the boy as best she could.

"Anything else you remember? His clothes or his shoes, that sort of thing?"

Denim. His jeans and jacket were both denim. I don't know what his shoes were like. I either can't remember or else I never really noticed. Sorry," she finished, apologetically.

"No, no, you have done great. Helps me out a lot actually. Can I order something to eat, now?" Dan's stomach was growling and he realized that he was very hungry now.

"Oh, sure thing. Do you need a menu?" The young waitress asked.

"Naw, just make it a scrambled egg sandwich. Toasted, and coffee. I'll take it to go if you don't mind." He wanted to keep the trail as fresh as he could. Wrap this one up as soon as possible. This job had already taken him longer and a hell of a lot further than he could have ever imagined that it would.

"Sure thing. Coming right up!" The girl beamed as she turned and pushed open the door to the kitchen. When she returned, Dan gave her his card, along with the suggestion to call him on his cell if she thought of anything more.