Crucified by Adelle Laudan

her ever present
notebook.
    “ He lives above his hardware store across the street. Most of
the business owners live above their stores.”
    “ When was the last time you talked to your friend
Ray?”
    Old Man Pillar
sat down on the bench, his brow knit. “Hmm, let me think on that.”
He took a toothpick from his sweater pocket and stuck it between
his yellowed teeth.
    Taylor stifled
a chuckle as Dianne’s eyes rolled impatiently.
    “ You know, I don’t think I’ve talked to him for at least a week
now. With everything going on, I guess he’s just keeping to himself
like most folk in town.”
    She snapped her
notebook shut and stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans.
“Thank you. You’ve been a big help. If you think of anything,
anything at all, give a quick call over to the station.”
    “ You don’t think Ray had anything to do with our Casey being
taken, do you?”
    “ I don’t know. I’d appreciate you keeping this conversation
between us.”
    He put a
wrinkled finger to his thin lips. “Mums the word.”
    “ Thank you.” Dianne spun on her heel and took hold of Taylor’s
arm, pulling him across and down the street.
    “ Easy now. Where are you taking me?”
    “ I’m going back to the station to get Seth. We need to check
out this Ray guy.”
    Taylor pulled
her back to his side. “Since we’re already here, why don’t we take
a look around? If I know the old man as well as I think I do, he’s
burning up the airwaves as we speak.”
    The sign above
the picture window read “Hardware Store.” In the window above the
weathered sign, a soft amber glow lit up the window.
    “ Why don’t we just pay a little social call?” Before she could
respond, he jogged to the side of the building and rapped on the
door.
    “ Are you crazy? We should call for backup.”
    “ Why? We’re just asking a few questions.”
    The curtain on
the door’s window moved to the side and he caught a quick glimpse
of wide eyes staring out at them. The lock clicked on the door and
Dianne took a step back, motioning for Taylor to move to the side.
Seconds passed before it was obvious Ray had locked the door and
had no intention of opening for them.
    From the corner
of his eye, he watched her withdraw a gun from under the back of
her sweatshirt. “I want you to run for backup.”
    Taylor shook
his head. “No way. I’m not leaving you here alone.”
    “ Get behind me then,” she snapped before banging on the door.
“Federal Agent, Ray. I just need to ask you a couple of
questions.”
    Silence
permeated the alley.
    “ I’m going to count to five. If you don’t open the door, I’ll
be forced to break it down.”
    “ That door’s not just made of plywood, ya know?” He was twice
her size and there was no way he could budge that monstrosity of a
door.
    “ Really? Thank you. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Her sarcasm left little to be desired.
    “ One…two…” Dianne counted, loud and deliberate.
    ****
    Dianne
regretted her words the second they flew out of her mouth. Taylor
didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. She had a bad feeling about
Ray and the last thing she needed was to be worrying about him
getting hurt. She shouldn’t even be here without backup. Now, she
had to follow through.
    “… five.” She peered back over her shoulder, warning Taylor with
a frown. “Under no circumstance are you to follow me in there. Do
you hear me?”
    He didn’t
answer her, and she didn’t have time to argue with him. With expert
precision, she brought up her leg and kicked the door. A loud crack
of wood splitting reverberated in the alley.
    Dianne crouched
down, her gun aimed in front of her. She moved in quick, precise
moves up the stairs. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, every
sense on high alert. She heard footsteps behind her. Taylor’d
totally ignored her command, but she couldn’t focus on him right
now.
    Frozen to the
spot, she strained to hear. The muffled sound of paper ripping