Page 32 of Stand By You
“This is Detective Simons,” a gruff voice identified. “You say these two work for you as bike messengers?”
“They do,” Clemmons replied. “Their names are Will Sanders and Jack Davenport but call themselves Wizard and Slick in that order. They are twenty-one years old and have worked for the company since graduating high school. I’m not sure what the two of them may have gotten mixed up in, but I just don’t see them kidnapping a child on their own. Frankly, I don’t thinkthey’re smart enough to plan, much less pull off a kidnapping. Someone else got them involved in this.”
“That may be, but we still need to talk to them to find out what they know,” Simons said. “Do you know where we can find them?”
“They were just here, but left, without their work assignments,” he said. “They share an apartment at 1452 West Valley View. If you need any more information on them I’ll be more than happy to provide it.”
“You gave the officer working the hotline your particulars, so if we need to get in touch with you for a follow-up I know where to reach you,” Simons said. “Thank you for calling in. One more thing. You said they were at work today?”
“Like I said, they showed up, but I think they saw the Amber Alert and it spooked them,” Clemmons explained. “They got on their bikes and left without taking their morning assignments for delivery. I’m sure they were afraid of being turned in by anyone who came in contact with them and saw the alert.”
“That’s good to know. Any favorite hangouts of which you are aware?
“No. Sorry.
“Okay. Thanks,” Simons said. “We’ll be in touch if we need you again.” And he hung up.
Jillian turneddown the volume on her phone’s blaring Amber Alert as she walked into the kitchen.
“How many of those are they going to send today?” Mrs. Hudson asked, sorting through the day’s mail.
“I don’t know. I’ve never received so many for one single missing child before. Or maybe I just dismissed it because it wasn’t important enough to me,” Jillian said. “Maybe I need to call Detective Simons and find out what the frequency of thealert broadcast is. I want Travis to be found, but not at the cost of others being so annoyed they disregard future alerts.”
“I agree,” Mrs. Hudson said. “We want people watching, not ignoring.”
“Ignoring what?” Nick asked, coming into the kitchen carrying an open laptop.
“Has Swede’s program picked up movement again?” Jillian asked.
“Yes.” Nick sat the laptop on the counter, pointing to the screen. “The only problem is I don’t know whether it’s them or not. One moment the red dot is flashing over here and the next it shows up in the upper quadrant of the screen. How do I know which location to trust?”
Jillian frowned. “That’s a problem, but he did warn us about that being a possibility with his altered program. Excuse me for a moment. I have to make a phone call.” She stepped outside on the patio and called Simons.
The detective answered after a few rings. “Simons. How can I help you?”
“It’s Jillian Grant. I have a question now that the Amber Alerts have started. We’ve been getting several notifications this morning. Is that typical?”
“How many alerts have gone out?” he asked.
“There were three in the first hour…well thirty minutes actually. And then one every hour since then,” she said. “I don’t ever recall another child case having this many alerts broadcasted. I want Travis found, but…isn’t this excessive notification?”
“Yes, it is,” he said without missing a beat. “Let me call you back. I haven’t been getting those myself, so I didn’t know.”
“As an officer you don’t get Amber Alerts?” Jillian said.
“It’s a configuration I put in place to avoid spam calls or texts, and it can’t differentiate between good and bad, which an Amber Alert is good,” Simons said. “I’ll call you right back.”
He rang off and she walked back into the kitchen where Mrs. Hudson was preparing quesadillas for lunch.
“Do you want chicken in yours or just cheese and veggies?” she asked.
“Both,” Jillian said.
“Can do,” Mrs. Hudson said. “Will you get the plates down for me and make the drinks? Nick is busy talking to that computer swami.”
Jillian grinned as she went to the cabinet. “You mean guru.”
“That’s right. I knew it had a funny sound to it,” Mrs. Hudson said.
