Page 97 of Searching for Bristol
Sighing, Simon put down the sandwich before he’d even taken a bite. Since they were a small department, they didn’t have a full-time admin assistant to greet people who came in. So he walked to the front of the office, where he saw Davis Woolford waiting.
“Davis. Good to see you. Everything all right?” Simon asked.
Davis fidgeted as if he wasn’t comfortable inside the building. “We were told to come to you if we saw anything off,” Davis said.
“That’s right. Are you hungry? I was just sitting down to eat lunch.”
Davis shook his head. “Sandra gave me something a while ago.”
Simon nodded. He wasn’t surprised. The business owners of Fallport did their best to take care of the man. “Would you mind coming to sit with me as I eat then? I’m starving.”
Davis nodded, and Simon held open the door to the back offices. The stench of the man assaulted his nostrils, and he immediately regretted asking him to sit with him while he ate. Mentally shrugging, and doing his best to breathe through his mouth and not his nose, Simon led them to the small conference room where his sandwich was waiting.
Davis sat on the very edge of a chair across the table from Simon, looking everywhere but directly at him.
“Why don’t you go on and tell me what you came to tell me,” Simon urged gently.
The homeless man nodded but it took a minute before he began to speak.
Before he’d gotten even two sentences out, all thoughts of eating flew from Simon’s head.
“You know how I like to look in dumpsters for stuff. Well, I was at Rocky’s apartment complex, going through the trash in the back, and a man came rushing around the corner, screaming at me. He scared me, and I immediately backed away. He told me I was trespassing and had no right to be there. Everyone knows me, they know what I do…look for stuff I can sell and use. I don’t mean no harm. Anyway, his face got all red and he was real mad. He reached into the dumpster and pulled out a bag of trash. He yelled at me some more, then took the trash bag with him, up to his apartment.”
“Who was it?”
“Don’t know his name. He’s new in town though. Was a jerk to me at the festival. Haven’t seen him around much.”
“And he took his trash back up to his apartment?”
“Uh-huh. I didn’t get a look inside before he grabbed it. But Rocky said to tell you when we saw things that were out of place, and I thought maybe that qualified.”
“It definitely does. When was this?”
“A few days ago. I didn’t think too much about it at the time, other than the guy was an ass, but now, after what Rocky said, I’m wondering about it. Especially because he lives in the same complex as Rocky and his woman.
“I don’t like to gossip. It’s just not in my nature. I know people talk about me, and that’s fine, I don’t much care. But I don’t like to do it to others. I see a lot of what goes on around here and have always kept my mouth shut. But Bristol’s nice. She smiled at me all the time and met my eyes. Most people don’t do that. They think if they don’t see me, I won’t be there, and they don’t have to worry about me none. But she saw me. If I can help, I want to.”
“I appreciate you coming in, Davis. And no matter how much you think people don’t see you, you’re wrong. They do, and they worry. Anytime you want to try getting off the streets, you’ve got lots of people who are ready to help.”
Davis nodded. “We done?”
“We’re done,” Simon said. “I’ll walk you out.”
The two men walked back to the front of the station, and Simon shook Davis’s hand. “Thank you for coming in and talking to me.”
“I hope she’s found soon.”
“Me too,” Simon agreed.
He didn’t wait to watch Davis walk away. He immediately went to his office to do some research, his lunch forgotten.
* * *
Rocky sat in his vehicle in the parking lot of his complex, staring off into space. He didn’t want to go upstairs to his empty apartment, but he couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. He’d met with the realtor and she’d driven him out to see the property she thought would be perfect for Bristol.
She wasn’t wrong.
Rocky knew instinctively Bristol would love it. He could see immediately why there hadn’t been a lot of interest in the place; it definitely needed work. But it had great bones and the charm of the house, built a hundred years ago, was undeniable. There was a large red barn on the property that he could easily turn into a workshop for Bristol. The detached garage needed to be torn down and rebuilt, but that wouldn’t be difficult. He wanted to have an attached garage for her anyway. It was safer.
