Come Find Me

To some it was just a misplaced shoe, dropped along the road while heading home, but to Melissa, it was more than that. The shoe: all black, size 6, laces still tied lying in the dirt could be the only clue to a mystery unsolved. She had taken the photo she would later print and place next to the notes she jotted down in her little black book. Back in the car she tossed the book in the passenger seat, it landed with the others. Right now there were 6, at home it seemed there were hundreds.

“Damn,” Melissa said aloud as she lit her cigarette and tossed the lighter back into the cupholder.

“What’s wrong?”

Melissa jumped slightly as she looked in the rearview mirror. She had forgotten her niece in the backseat of her car. The shoe had distracted her, taken her away from the here and now and placed her among the possibilities. Whose shoe could it have been? Melissa had tirelessly searched for missing and abducted children, trafficked women and even men gone missing. To her, the shoe could have belonged to any of them, so she never passed by one she saw in the street without doing her due diligence.

“Nothing,” she answered as she smashed the cigarette into the ashtray she jammed into the second cupholder. Melissa hated the fact that cars no longer made them, did they think no one smoked any more, or perhaps this one missing thing would cause all true smokers to somehow stop. It wouldn’t, but she wouldn't smoke with Becca in the car. “Let’s get you to school,” she said as she started the car and drove off.

“Auntie M,” Rebecca’s tiny voice called out. Melissa met her light brown eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Yes?”

“Why do you take those pictures?”

“It gives me hope,” Melissa said simply. It was the only answer she could give. She couldn’t unload all the pain and suffering she felt for those taken from their loved ones, the anger that boiled inside of her at the people who brazenly snatched them from the streets. After she dropped off Becca, she would do her usual ritual, head to the nearest police station, check their wall of missing people. Compare the notes of last seen wearing, last seen at. Then she would head home and do the same online. Each “Help us find…” post broke her heart. Today, however, there was a shift in her routine. When she arrived home a note was taped to her door that read in bold all cap letters: DID YOU FIND THE SHOE?

Melissa snatched the note from her door and turned frantically toward her neighborhood. She looked at each house to see if someone was watching her, at the few cars parked along the street to see if they held the person who left the note, there was no one. Her heart was racing, who could have known? What was there intent? But more importantly, was this a threat?

Nervously, she entered her home, checked all the doors and windows, made sure they were locked. She walked the span of her home, looking under beds, in showers and closets. Once she was sure that she was alone, she let out a heavy sigh. She paced back and forth trying to make heads and tails of today’s events. It was nerve wracking to say the least.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Melissa said aloud as she slapped her forehead and opened her Ring app, she scanned the day’s activities and paused when she saw the man walk up. Her breath caught, it was enough to call the cops in on it, and at the same time it wasn’t. He was hidden behind an all black hoodie with matching joggers, but what really stopped the beat in her heart was the mask he wore. It was all white and plastic and made for a very scary visual. He was smart, if he had driven any car, she would not have known it. He came from the back of her home, up the porch and exited so quickly, it was hard to make him out. Still, she concentrated on his walk, his physique, the smallest details. She played it over and over until he became fixated in her mind.

“The back yard, he came from the backyard,” she said as she ran to the back of her home. At the back of her door lay a small black bag, again she looked around, again, there was no one. Picking up the bag, she rushed inside her home, heart rate on 100 again. She didn’t know what she would find when she opened the bag.

“Don’t open it, call the police,” her sane mind said.

“Open it, then call the police,” her curiosity replied.

“Shit,” she said aloud. “What do I do?” She went to the kitchen drawer and pulled out the gloves she used to clean with and went back to the bag. She opened it, inside were crisp hundred-dollar bills.

“What the hell?” she said as she stepped back. “What kind of game is this?” Again, curiosity won over sanity, she went back to the bag and counted the bills; there was exactly one hundred. “Oh, my freaking God, that’s ten thousand dollars,” she said. She was so caught off guard by the money that it took a moment for her to see the note.

COME FIND ME.

THERE’S ANOTHER TEN THOUSAND WAITING ON YOU

AND IF YOU DO

YOU JUST MAY FIND THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST SHOE.

Melissa couldn’t fathom who had begun a game of hide and seek at the high cost of $20,000 but if she didn’t know anything else, she knew that she was up for the challenge. She made up her mind, she wasn’t calling the police, they would slow her down. She called her sister and informed her that she couldn’t pick Becca up or take her to school for a while and as she expected, that call didn’t go well, but Melissa had to find this man and she had to do it without any distractions. Next, she called her job and told them the same, that call went a lot smoother.

Back in her car, Melissa unlocked the glove compartment. Rudy, her compact Smith & Wesson bodyguard lay where she left it. It was small, but it served its purpose. It comforted her, but it also gave her courage to know that she could do something and that was a whole lot better than nothing. She drove back to the spot where she had seen the shoe and just as she thought, the shoe was gone. She left, traded cars with her sister for fear that whoever started this game also knew the car she drove. She came back to the spot. It was the only thing she had to go on. He had to come back here some time. Melissa reasoned that this man wanted to be caught. He had ventured down a road that led him to her as a way of surrender. So she parked and waited, people watching. Studying their every move, a few times she almost exited her car thinking she had found her man, but something told her to wait.

It would be days before he surfaced. Melissa began to fear that he had come when she left for food or the restroom. She had almost given up hope, but that was what she told Becca that she was holding onto, so she stayed, eyes as heavy as her spirit. Sleep calling to her just before panic struck through her like a bolt of lighting. Her eyes popped back open, she sensed he was there and he was. He didn’t have on the same clothes, but there was no denying it was him.

She looked at her dashboard, 6:45 PM, it would be dark soon. Melissa watched as he walked behind the young girl, anxiety washed over her. She reached for Rudy and quietly exited her vehicle.

“Becca,” she called out though it was not her niece in front of him, she called her name again. The man stopped, the little girl turned, screamed and ran off. Becca felt a small victory, she had saved one, but now she was at a face-off and he still wore his mask.

“I see that you found me,” his voice was heavy, raspy. “I don’t have the money with me,” he said casually as if they were friends. He walked toward Melissa. She noticed that he didn’t have a weapon, and she was slightly relieved, feeling as if she had the upper hand, she breathed slowly. Planted her feet and raised Rudy.

“Don’t come any closer,” Melissa bit her lip, she had heard that line in so many movies that she had sworn she would never use it but here she was feeling the euphoria. She had solved a mystery, she had saved a life. For three excruciating years, she had hunted them hoping for this day. Who she found, she didn’t know, neither did she know what was his crime or the extent of it, but for that, she believed she had a pretty good idea. With her eyes trained on him, it never occurred to her that he was not alone until the chloroform filled her nostrils.

She awoke, covered in sweat, lying across a familiar hardwood floor. She blinked until her focus was clear. She was home. Lying next to her was the small bag and the black shoe. Melissa sat up looked across the room and stared at the fireplace that was burning her black books. Tears ran down her face. She opened the bag and read the note: SOMETIMES WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR IS NOT WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND. TAKE THE MONEY AND LEAVE US ALONE! THINK OF IT AS A GIFT FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK. She threw the bag across the floor and watched as 200 bills scattered. He had kept his word, but what he took was far greater.

She reached for her phone and dialed 9 1 1.