Bam...Bam...Bam...
Tom was creeping down the basement stairs, almost at the bottom step, when he heard a loud banging coming from his front door.
Police! Open up!
His head jerked up abruptly, it felt as though his world was being jostled off its hinges. He turned around and hurriedly climbed back up the rickety wooden steps until he reached the top. Then he closed the door and pulled a thick curtain over it, to hide the entranceway to conceal his secret.
Tom rushed through the living room, down the hallway, towards the front door. He paused for just a moment, took a deep breath and conjured up a neutral expression on his face before he finally opened the door.
"Can I help you?" he said, trying to appear calm. Tom looked at the faces of the two cops. He was not surprised to see them.
The older cop introduced himself, "I'm Deputy Sheriff Riggs and this is Officer Stevens."
His partner was in his early twenties, tall and slim. Both men flashed their shiny metal badge holders for him to inspect, but he only managed to get a brief glance.
"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" said Riggs, scanning him up and down.
"Of course!" he replied.
"Do you live here?"
"Yes, I do," he said, with a fake smile on his face.
"What's your name?" asked Riggs.
"Tom Wolfe," he answered, the sound of his thudding heartbeat in his chest almost betrayed him, but he managed to control his voice and sound calm.
Deputy Sheriff Riggs frowned and his brows furrowed into a serious expression. "I am sorry to bother you, but you may be able to help us with our investigation. We are looking for a missing woman, last seen around this area a couple of days ago."
From the inside of his jacket pocket, he pulled out a photograph of a young brunette and showed Tom the picture.
"Have you ever seen this woman before?"
"No...never," Tom lied.
He didn't actually pay attention to the photograph, instead, he focused his eyes on a rim of dirt under the cop's thumbnail.
There was something about this guy that made Riggs suspicious, he was too calm for a start, so on a hunch, he said, "So, you don't mind if I come in and take a look around the place, do you? Or do I need to get a warrant?"
Tom's heart skipped a beat and his fingers began to tremble, so he slipped them into the pocket of his jeans.
"Of course, come in," replied Tom, knowing that it would be more suspicious if he refused him.
The older cop nodded to his partner, who then sauntered back down the path to investigate outside. There was nothing Tom could do, but allow the sheriff to enter his house and he was beginning to feel even more uncomfortable since the sheriff was staring intently at him.
Suddenly, the sheriff's eyes lit up. "Tom Wolfe! I thought I recognized that name. Don't you remember me, Robert Riggs? We went to Hudson primary school together, must be about twenty years ago?"
In his mind, Tom mentally flipped through the hazy recollections of his school days, as he examined the sheriff's face. Then suddenly...
"Heck, yeah! Now, I remember you!"
"It's been a long time, I didn't recognize you at first, with that big bushy beard and I must admit, I've put on a lot of weight since then," he said, cupping his hands over his ample belly.
"You haven't changed that much," replied Tom, although, he hadn't recognized him at all.
"Look, this is just a routine search, it won't take long;" said his old schoolmate.
"Okay, but I was just going out. I have an appointment with the doctor for a check-up.
"I promise not to take up too much of your time."
As Tom led the Sheriff into his house, his neck and shoulders suddenly got tense and his mouth became dry, threatening to betray him. Was this really it? Was he going to get caught?
When they got to the living room Riggs said, "We must have been about twelve years old the last time we saw one other?" he shook his head in utter disbelief, he was still stunned by this bizarre coincidence.
"Time flies doesn't it?" Tom said.
Tom's memory of the cop came flooding back to him and he relaxed a bit. Tom watched Riggs mount the staircase with difficulty, as he proceeded to investigate the upper part of the house. The wooden stairs creaked under the weight of his footsteps. After a short time, the cop came back down again. Next, he went into the kitchen, visibly scouring the room from top to bottom. He opened cupboard doors one by one and looked inside. But he found nothing which could be classified as suspicious.
"Do you get many visitors?" said Riggs, as he flicked through the bundle of mail on the kitchen bench.
"No, it is pretty quiet around here. I prefer to go for a drink to my local or visit friends."
"I see."
"How is that sister of yours doing? What's her name again? Becky, Am I right?"
"Yeah, Becky is doing well," replied Riggs, nodding his head.
The cop walked into the living room, peering out the window, which overlooked a small shed and he saw his partner outside, looking through some gardening tools. Then he began to walk towards the thick curtain hanging on the wall and Tom intercepted him, by going up right next to him.
"I heard your sister got pregnant? he said bluntly.
The cop stopped dead in his tracks, "Where did you hear that?" he said, startled at the personal question, which had just been thrown at him. Both men looked at each other and for the first time, it was the cop that began to feel uncomfortable.
"Did she ever get married?" asked Tom.
"No! she didn't."
"It's all coming back to me now," said Tom with a broad smile. "I can still remember that big swimming pool, you had over at your place and the shed down at the end of the garden. In fact, if I recall correctly, you disappeared in there with your sister, every chance you could get," Tom was sneering as he said this, a triumphant grin on his face.
The sheriff turned bright red and the color spread down his neck. He couldnt stand it anymore and he turned away from Tom and headed quickly towards the front door, without spending any more time on searching the house.
"It was a long time ago and a lot has changed since then," he said over his shoulder as he headed for the way out.
Tom followed behind him and moved into his personal space, their faces were almost touching, "now that I recollect, you and your sister, used to disappear all the time and end up in that shed. One time I looked through the window and saw you both...!"
"I don't know what your talking about," said the cop flustered, stumbling over his words.
He pushed his way past Tom, who was blocking his exit and opened the door and got out. Tom followed close behind him down the path. The cop's nostrils were flaring with anger, challenging him to say what he was hinting at. But after a few seconds, he looked away and said, "I thought you had an appointment to go to!"
"That's right," said Tom, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
The cop walked briskly out of the front gate, towards the patrol car, just in time to meet his partner, who was walking towards him.
Riggs shouted over to him, "let's go! Everything is all right in there."
Tom said with a sneer on his face., "Well, it was good seeing you again, maybe we could catch up for a drink sometime and chat about the good old days?"
"I am a bit busy at the moment," he said, as he climbed into the car, started up the engine and drove off.
As soon as the car had disappeared out of sight, Tom took in a deep breath and then exhaled loudly and ran back up the path towards the house. He felt euphoric, his whole body was buzzing with an adrenaline rush, unlike anything he had ever felt before. He was not used to all this excitement. He couldn't wait to get back down into the basement to tell the woman locked up in his basement, exactly what had just happened.
When he got back inside the house, Tom went down the hall and then went into the sitting room and pulled back the heavy curtain, revealing a hidden door. He pulled it open and ran down the stairs into the basement, toward the door at the end, which was locked.
He banged loudly on the door several times with his fist.
"Wake up!" he shouted, without opening the door, "You just had two charming visitors here looking for you."
After a few moments, a weak voice spoke up from the other side of the door. "What are you talking about?" she said.
"The deputy sheriff and his trusty sidekick, were here just now, asking about you. Of course, I said, I never saw you before," he laughed.
Mia stood motionless at the door, suddenly deflated. She felt utterly despondent knowing that a search of the house had taken place and they hadn't even come down into the basement. Her head began to throb, as the blood gushed through her temples.
"Where did they go?" she asked, although it was a pointless question.
"Back to their comfortable little office, satisfied that there is nothing here and they won't be coming back ever again."
Tom punched the air, jubilantly, with his fist. He felt a huge sense of achievement that he had outwitted the authorities. He was euphoric from the sheer thrill of it, his whole body was buzzing from head to toe.
"Why didn't they come down here?" she said in a shaky voice.
"By a sheer bloody coincidence, that's why. I know one of the cops who came here sniffing after you. I can't believe my luck! When we were kids, I discovered a deep dark secret of his. I still can't believe it!" he said laughing, as he turned and walked away from the door. He could hear her screaming as he walked up the stairs.
********************************
Later on, Tom went into the bathroom and snipped off small chunks of his beard with a pair of scissors and let them fall into the sink. He was standing in front of the cabinet mirror, inspecting himself. Then he shaved off the rest until his skin was completely smooth. It was a surprise to recognize his old self once again. The cupid-bow of his upper lip, which had been obscured by the big bushy beard. He looked completely different now, younger, handsome in fact. He ran his hand across his smooth skin. He admired himself in the mirror, turning his head from side to side and then he moved his face up nearer to the mirror and looked deeply into his eyes. He had never observed himself this way before, up so close.
Evil stared back.