A Little Piece of Happiness

The Dead Body

I woke the next morning, my head was pounding. The banging on the door did not help. "I'm coming." I groaned, trying to walk as if I wasn't hungover. I unlatched the locks and opened the door, the sun beamed right in my face. 

It was Ms. Walter. She brought me a cup of coffee over, and apparently some gossip; she made her way right into the motel room. "Morning, Emerald. How're you feeling?" I shut the door and grabbed the coffee. I gave a stiff nod. "Thank you for the coffee."

She stood rather awkwardly, then; as if the subject made her nervous. I waited, knowing she would start talking in a moment as I drank my coffee. "Emee," she started. No one has called me that since my mom died; Ms. Walter was friends with her, for as long as I can remember. "You know you have a home here. You don't have to go away again. Jewel--your mom--wouldn't want that."

Now I understood. "Ms. Walter. I love Duskwood, of course I do--it's home. But that's exactly why I had to leave." I slumped down on the bed, then. "You know why I cannot stay, Ms. Walter." She moved toward me and gave me a hug; which I didn't realize till then that I needed one. 

"You can stay as long as you like," she repeated. I gave her a nod in understanding. Then, I remembered: "What's the gossip these days?" Ms. Walter sighed, looking tired all of a sudden. "Nothing good." I still wanted to know, so I pressed. "Is this about the Hannah girl?"

Ms. Walter nodded. "They found a dead body last night in the forest. Right now, unidentified. But there's still that dread that it might be Hannah." 

I got up off the bed, and started to gather myself. "Maybe I can go to the police station. Does my dad still work there? I haven't spoken to him in awhile." I pulled my hair up and slid my boots on. Ms. Walter stood still, worrisome in her features. "No, he left last year. But he's still here in Duskwood. Alan Bloomgate is the police chief now, Emerald."

"Bloomgate? You can't be serious. What happened?" I wondered. "Your dad retired, Emerald, and he was tired of police work. He's been by himself since you left town ten years ago." I sighed, suddenly feeling guilty. "Right. Well, all the same, I'm going to the police station. You remember Amy?" Ms. Walter smiled. "Of course, you two were peas in a pod. Why do you ask?"

"Well," I started. "I came back last night to catch up with Phil and Amy." Ms. Walter gave me a stern look. "That Phil is a player," she warned. "He's different now than he was when he was a kid." I heeded her warning, then continued: "Apparently, Amy hasn't been seen around in a month." She frowned. "I didn't even notice." 

Of course, I thought to myself. Everyone always forgot about Amy. "I will see you later, Ms. Walter. And thanks again for the coffee."

As I walked back to car at the Aurora, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket. I'd forgotten I put it on silent the night before. Of course, notifications were full. I had a missed video call from Jessy and a couple of messages. 

"Phil? My brother?" she messaged. 

Holy shit. 

So Jessy was his little sister; the one that I could never remember the name. By the time I made it to the car, the icy air was scorching my throat; the temperature definitely dropped since last night. I unlocked my car and checked to see if my laptop was still in its secure spot under the front seat--yes. 

"Emerald?" 

I looked for the voice that called my name. It was Phil. He was sitting on a bench in front of the bar. "Hey, Phil." He was smoking a cigarette, he looked stressed. "Everything okay?" I rose up from my position and placed my arm on my car door. 

"I didn't know you'd be driving a Scion FR-S." He admitted, laughing. "What's so funny? I got a good job, all right." He shrugged. "Fair enough, what do you do now?" I didn't have time for this; I needed to find Amy. 

"Computer stuff, 'kay? Now, I'm busy; I've got to find Amy." He stood up suddenly, and half-ran toward me. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Do you need me to go with you?" I shook my head. "I'm going to the police station first, Phil. You hate cops." 

"Because of the dead body that was found?" He wondered. "But because she hasn't been seen in a month, something is wrong. I can feel it." I told him. Phil bade me goodbye and I headed toward the police station. 

I made it to the station in a few minutes time. It was already ten o'clock, so the police chief should be in. When I went in, I saw a couple of familiar faces, some that were in the field when my dad was police chief. "Emerald Dawson! It's like I'm seeing a ghost." 

I turned around and of course, it was my dad's oldest friend: Liam Doherty. Liam has been in the police force for at least thirty-odd years. "Officer Doherty." I greeted him. He had gotten older, grayer, and bigger; his hair was peppered in gray, but his eyes were still young with that boldness blue that he always had. "I'm sorry, kiddo. Your dad isn't here; he retired last year."

"I'm not looking for my dad at the moment," I began. "I came back to Duskwood last night just to catch up, and I found out that Amy Lewis hasn't been seen in a month?!" He started to look nervous, he held up his hands. "Now, Emerald, we have our hands tied with this Hannah case." I couldn't believe it. "Amy has been missing for a month, yet I've seen no pictures of her anywhere; and Hannah has been gone ninety-six hours and she's plastered all over the news?"

"Emerald, I understand that you're upset. We'll find Amy, but first--"

"First what? Like Amy doesn't even matter? Do you realize how bad that sounds?" I was heated. "Where is this new police chief?" 

Officer Doherty shrugged. "He won't be in till later; autopsy and all that, we found a body, Emerald." 

I wanted to scream at him. "I know, why do you think I am here at the police station right now asking if anyone has seen my friend Amy? I've been gone ten years and I come back to this? Do you have any idea?" 

"Calm down, Emerald." He put his hand on my shoulder. I smacked it away. "I'll just look for her myself, and this Hannah chick. Because this police station already smells like death and it doesn't look like the stench is leaving anytime soon." I stormed out of the station. 

Liam looked flabbergasted. I unlocked my car and sat down in the driver seat for a moment to compose myself. I checked my phone, and immediately went to the hacker guy's message. 

"I have news!"

"They found a dead body."

"I already know." I replied. "I don't think it's Hannah."

I decided to vent a little and told him about my friend Amy, who's been missing for a month now. All he seemed to care about was Hannah. I proceeded to tell him that I would continue onto Hannah's cloud, that I just needed to figure out what happened to Amy real quick. My phone buzzed again: it was Cleo. 

"I'm going downtown to ask around."

"Try Ms. Walter first." I told her. 

I started my car and knew where I needed to go first. Amy's house.