Page 8 of Protecting Silver
“Okay,” Amos said as he pulled a small notebook from his uniform pocket, pulled out a pen, and looked at everyone, then before he asked his first question, he drew a seat closer to sit. “Who wants to start?”
“I will,” Ronnie said as she turned in Finn’s lap, then slid down to the seat beside her husband. She gripped his hand as she began. “I decided to invite Tymber, Amber, Lorna, and Silver out for a mini bachelorette party for Tymber. She and Grady are getting married in two months. It was an impromptu invite. I thought of it this past Sunday, and called up everyone to see if they wanted to do it, after asking Tymber first.”
“Except for Silver,” Lorna spoke then. She was sitting beside her husband, Andy, and had a death grip on his hand. “I invited Silver to join us today during lunch.”
“That’s right, I mentioned to Lorna to see if Silver wanted to join us. I never physically called her.”
“So, Silver only knew about this get together today? She couldn’t have planned to have anyone meet her there?”
“No,” Lorna said. “And before you ask, she’s not dating anyone. I knew she had ended a bad relationship years ago, but it wasn’t until we were talking tonight that she revealed some of what she endured during that time. From what she said, it wasn’t that good. He was emotionally, and mentally abusive to her, but when he hit her, that’s the day she left him.”
Amos nodded, as he wrote. He looked up, then asked, “So, does anyone know what actually happened?”
“No,” they all said as one.
Amber sat forward, and said, “I had to go to the ladies’ room, and I asked if anyone wanted to go with me. Silver volunteered. It was packed in there, and hard to move around.”
“Yeah, after Ronnie said that, the chief from the fire department and I went to investigate and shut them down for the night. The club owner will be hit with numerous fines.” He looked at everyone, even the men, when he said, “They were at least two hundred people over the legal limit.”
“Damn,” Finn raised his brows in shock. “What happened?”
“As we speak, my officers and several others from the state police are questioning everyone. Because of the sheer volume of people, it’s going to take some time to get through to each person, but I don’t think anything will come of it. Just a gut feeling. Before we continue, how much alcohol was consumed by you five tonight?”
“None,” they all answered as one. “It was a quick get together in the middle of the week to celebrate Tymber’s upcoming wedding. We all have to work tomorrow and didn’t want to get drunk. When I invited everyone, I had thought a Wednesday night would be a quiet night for us girls to talk and get to know each other better. I was wrong.”
Lorna looked at Andy, and said, “We were at the club where I met you.”
“Ah, I was wondering where you were going to go. That’s a huge club, lots of room.”
“Yeah, but it was wall to wall bodies, and they had a live band,” Amber said. “Anyway, we went to the bathroom, and it’s a two-stall facility. We got there just before the rush, because the band took a break. Silver finished and told me she was going to wait for me in the hall, to let the next girl in line to use the facilities. I told her I’d be right out. I was having trouble with my belt. Anyway, once I finally made it out to the hall, I couldn’t see her anywhere, I had to fight my way through the tipsy, laughing, and dancing women in the hall. Then, it took at least a good thirty minutes before I made it back to the table to the others. I asked where Silver was, and Lorna tried to call her, but she’d left her purse and phone at the table.”
“Here,” Lorna said as she opened her own purse, and pulled out a much smaller one, almost like a clutch. “This is Silver’s, and her phone is tucked inside. Other than putting her phone inside it, I didn’t touch anything else.”
“Okay,” Amos said as he took it, and looked through it. He pulled the items out, and they only saw the phone, her ID, some cash, and a keyring with only two keys on it, along with a tube of lipstick. After writing down her address, Amos put everything back in, then handed it back to Lorna. “Keep this, and give it to her when she wakes. What happened next?”
“We immediately went to look for her.” Tymber spoke for the first time. “Lorna led the way, and we fought our way through the crowd. When the band was on their break, we noticed that it was six deep at the bar. The band had started up again, and people were rushing to the dance floor. We were actually going against the flow of traffic, but we finally made it to the hallway where the bathrooms were.”
“And?” Amos encouraged when she paused.
“And,” Ronnie said. “We checked the bathroom, and used the flashlight app on our phones, because it was so dark back there. Tymber noticed the exit door, and asked if maybe she went out for some fresh air and it locked behind her, and she couldn’t get back in. When we went to investigate, we found her shoe in the doorway. It was blocking the door from being shut. We didn’t touch the shoe, but recognized it as hers. Again, it was very dark in that alley, and we used our flashlights, and something glittered in the distance.”
“That’s when we made our way to the dumpster.” Lorna shivered and rubbed her hands over her upper arms. “The other shoe, matching the one in the doorway lay on the ground outside the dumpster. Ronnie handed over her purse to Amber, while Tymber and I helped her up. That’s when she saw Silver inside the dumpster.”
“As soon as I saw her, I called 911. Told them I found the body of a woman inside a dumpster, and she’d been beaten badly. They asked if she was still alive, and wanted me to check for a pulse.”
“Jesus,” Finn said, and tightened his hold on his wife’s hand.
“I handed my phone to Lorna, and hopped down into the dumpster. It didn’t have a lot of stuff in it. Like it had been emptied that day, and only that day’s trash had been dumped in it. I felt Silver’s neck, and found her pulse. It was weak and thready, but steady. I told Lorna to tell them she was alive, and to contact Amos.” Ronnie looked at the other man, and continued, “I asked for you specifically by name.”
“I got a call on my cell that Ronnie Parker requested my presence.” He grinned. “Thought your name was Larson now.”
“It is,” Ronnie frowned, then looked at the other women in confusion.
“You barked into the phone that you were Ronnie Parker,” Amber said. “Like the people should know you or something.”
“Oh.” She looked at them, then settled back with a sigh. “I stayed in the dumpster, because there was no way I could climb out by myself, and held Silver’s hand. I talked to her, and told her that we were there for her, and to hang on. I also told her that whoever did this to her we would find, and make sure they paid for it. Then you showed up.”
“Okay, if you think of anything else, let me know.” Amos nodded.
