FIVE YEARS AGO

Lucas Simpson woke up and found his wife was absent from his side. Her side of the bed was cold, so he knew she’d been gone for a while. He sat up in the bed and stretched, trying to rid himself of the last vestige of sleep that hung around his eyes.

That move was made to mean nothing when the loud and excited footsteps he heard coming his way gave room to a loud “Oh my God! Babe! You will not believe what I just found out!” as Mina rushed into the room. Lucas’ brain was still booting up, so his quick wit was a step slower.

“That, uh, the Loch Ness monster was really a whale’s dick?”

Mina rolled her eyes so hard. “Come see, dammit.”

Mina led Lucas downstairs into his study, or what used to be his study. There were printouts everywhere. His couch was covered in picture albums and old files. His computer screen was filled with tabs and tabs of search results from so many different websites. His desk used to have two pictures of the two of them on it. Those pictures had given way to a large paper with some kind of investigative map on it.

“Should I be worried?”

“No, come see.” She motioned him over to the desk with the large sheet of paper on it. “I had the hardest time falling asleep last night, which wasn’t helped by your very peaceful face and your very loud snoring, so I came downstairs.”

Lucas put his head in his palms at the very overt shade she’d thrown his way as she continued. “The thing with my parents’ deaths still bothered me for some reason; it was all that filled my mind. So I went to look through the newspaper clippings again. And then I saw this.” She pointed to the news cutout with Detective Jenkins in it.

Lucas took a close look at it.

“Elmer Fudd?”

“Yup. Real name is Detective Joseph Jonas Jenkins, enough of a bigwig to be the point guy on my parents’ case. Problem: nothing comes up when I google him. He doesn’t turn up on any other search engines, or on any police rosters from that year till now.”

“That’s not possible. Police rosters are updated more frequently than any other department rosters. It is literally a safety issue if someone is fired but not taken off the roster online.”

“Well, seven straight hours of research tells me different. So, I started to think of a workaround to my ghost problem, and then I remembered who he was talking to at the party: Brigadier Jones. So I searched for him online, which came with the usual results. You know, pictures at events, pictures with dignitaries and government people, the regular stuff. But then one picture came up, which had my interest piqued. It came from a military yearbook website.”

She pointed at another cutout, which had a picture of Brigadier Jones with Major General Givens and another gentleman. In that picture, they were very young and in airforce academy uniforms.

Lucas stared at the picture, but nothing seemed off. “Okay, so these two have been friends since then, that’s public knowledge.”

Mina understood how convincing she’d have to be to Lucas, so she was prepared for this. “True. But look at the other guy in that picture. Then look at the caption.”

Lucas read the caption: ‘Private Christian Givens and Private Willis Jones at the gala in honor of Major Princess Giles.’ Okay, they were at a dinner party.”

“Great. Now, I’ve heard of Major Giles; she’s a legend in the airforce. But I’d never actually known anything about her, so I looked her up, just for kicks. Okay, admittedly, I was starting to feel like a crazy bitch on hormones. When I looked her up, I saw this.” Mina walked over to the couch and picked up one of the printouts, and handed it to Lucas. “That’s a picture of Major Giles, her husband, and their ten-year-old son.”

Lucas took one look at the picture and immediately knew where this was headed. “Elmer goddamned Fudd.”

“Exactly, my love. Now, I still don’t know if that means anything, but I suspect that Major Givens could be of help to me.”

“In the same way I could be of help to someone if they wanted info on Brigadier Jones because we were at the same party in your honor?”

“Look at the last picture on the sheet.”

Lucas turned his attention to the picture. It was an old Christmas card. It had the standard printed season’s greetings on it, but there was a handwritten note below that. It said, ‘Looking forward to our fishing trip next summer. Joe’s looking forward to football training with Chris and Willis. Happy Holidays, The Giles’.’ Lucas realized that Mina’s craziness might actually have some sanity to it this time.

Mina saw the realization hit him, so she played her final card. “That was part of a memorabilia sale our office had about ten years ago. We were auctioning out stuff that wasn’t needed anymore. I actually ran that auction, but I didn’t see most of the memorabilia. I texted the girl I worked with this morning about it cos I remembered she was an early riser like me. She said that card was in there because it was the last handwritten item from Major Giles, and the top brass at the time thought that people would want the last handwritten item from our first ever female Major General in the airforce. They were right, by the way; that card fetched over two million dollars at the auction.”

“Does he show up under his original surname?”

“Nope.”

“Wait. This guy led the investigation into your parents’ deaths. Your father was in the airforce. Who led the investigation on their end?”

Mina looked Lucas dead in the eye. “Major Christian Givens.”

******

PRESENT DAY

Mina woke up in her rustic cabin and touched the opposite side of her bed, again, and found it colder than a freezer, again. She looked, and the reality of the empty spot hit her in the face again. She slammed her head face-first into her pillow multiple times, and then yelled into it. She stayed buried in the pillow for a while, and then she got and took the pillow on the other side. She took a deep breath of it, kissed it, and then put it back in its place.

She went down the creaky wooden stairs in this old-model remote, two floor cabin that looked like something out of a throwback picture, and found three uniformed police officers looking through her kitchen. In the midst of their searching, they completely missed her coming down the stairs.

“Gentlemen, how you doing? Ever heard of something called a search warrant? Ever heard the terms ‘knocking’ or ‘trespassing?’” Mina stood on the last step in her white t-shirt and panties as the officers tried not to be embarrassed.

The leader of the three spoke up. “Are you Mina Simpson?”

“Brigadier-General Mina Simpson, thank you. I didn’t give my life for this country only for you to demote me in rank.”

“My apologies, Brigadier-General. We knocked, but we found the door open. No warrant needed.”

Mina stepped to the floor. “That only works if I’m not here, officer, which I very much am. Wanna tell your man over there to stop looking through my freezer?”

The leader turned and motioned to the guy to stop. Then he turned back around. “I am special agent Chris Bowser with the Hildenstad police. We’re investigating the disappearance of a man from the Port of Stilts. Does this car look familiar to you?” Agent Bowser held up a picture of the van taken from a security camera.

“I have a lifelong distaste for vans, Agent. I would never buy one with my money.”

“Well, someone bought this van in your name, because you’re who it’s registered to.”

“Agent, please hear me when I tell you that I not only do not own that van, I have no clue whose van that is. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a day to have.”

“One more thing, Brigadier, and we’ll be out of your hair. Do you know this man?” Agent Bowser held up a picture of Markham Greene.

“No, I don’t know him.”

Agent Bowser got confused. “That’s odd.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because he’s listed as your godfather on your birth certificate.”

“My godfather’s name was Joseph Perry Damson, and he died along with my parents in a home invasion when I was three. At least, that’s what your people told me. Now, if you don’t mind, today’s the anniversary of my husband’s murder, I would like to remember him in peace.”

“Thank you for your time, Brigadier. If you think of anything at all that could help us, this is my card. Please do not hesitate to call.”

Mina took his card. “Have a good day, officers.”

So Mina lost Lucas too? Geez! And it appears she and Sukuyaa are working together. We’ve still got a lot to discover, though…