Emily Locke 01 - Final Approach

partner, Detective Richard Cole, was in his early forties and had the same concerned look that Father Denny used to have when I’d see him for confession in high school. They told me they had questions for me. I had questions too.
    That was seven hours ago. Since then, the detectives and I have done oodles of talking. I’ve had entirely too much bad coffee. I’ve memorized the graffiti in the bathroom. There’s a shaky guy sitting across from us who shares a random Bible verse with me every twenty minutes. I think he’s with the hooker they brought in right before the desk sergeant’s Little Caesars order arrived.
    Mattie’s waking up! More later.
    April 9—1:05 a.m.
    Days Inn, Austin
    Too wired to sleep, so will finish getting this down. Keith and Nora made it to the station and were reunited with Mattie tonight. I’ll tell it in order so I won’t mess it up.
    At the restaurant, I’d started to fill in details for the detectives when the other officers brought the couple toward the door. No handcuffs, only stern faces on the cops and desperate explanations from the couple. The woman seemed shocked and was crying. Her husband was irate.
    Mattie, in the arms of one of the policemen, squirmed and reached for the woman. The officer carrying him wouldn’t hand him over, and Mattie’s outstretched arms and wriggling upset this woman even more. I asked whether I could hold him, and the officer told me, “Not yet, ma’am,” and whisked him past me, out the door.
    Morgan and Cole asked me to follow them to the station to give a statement. Confused, I asked about the second man from the table. The detectives and the patrolmen had a brief discourse outside, and when Morgan and Cole returned, I learned that, whoever the second man was, he was gone by the time my call had been answered.
    But where did he go? And when? I’d watched all of them at their table during my call and was standing at the exit after that.
    I described the guy and the three of us searched the restaurant without luck. The place had video surveillance of its parking lot though. It showed a hurrying man, in clothes like I remembered, leaving through an employee entrance. His face was grainy, but I felt pretty sure it was the guy. He got into a dark pick-up and booked it out of the lot. Morgan rewound the tape, paused it, and wrote down part of a license plate number.
    I called Nora on my cell while following the detectives to the police station. I started with, “I found Mattie!” and never got around to the nuts and bolts of how that happened. She was hysterical. Listening to her carry on, my eyes started tearing so badly I had to keep wiping them so I could see the road. Keith picked up on another extension and asked questions that made me feel useful. Am I sure it’s him? Where did I find him? Does he look mistreated? Who has him now? He gave his cell number and said they’d be on the next flight to Austin. I heard keys jingle in the background as he said it. I promised to call them with more updates and the street address for the station as soon as I knew it. And I promised to stay with Mattie.
    When we got to the station, Mattie was undergoing a physical exam in a private room but I was told I could be with him shortly. I’m not sure how cops divvy up their questioning, but apparently Cole got me and Morgan got the “parents.” He led them to an office and I watched as the crying woman collapsed into her husband’s arms. I think she said “we were so close” right before Morgan shut the door.
    Cole sat me at his desk with a small stack of statement forms and told me to write about my experience using as many continuation sheets as I needed. It took fourteen hand-written pages.
    Next, it was off to a computer station where I used special software to create a likeness of the mystery man. It wasn’t perfect, but gave the detectives a start.
    Meanwhile, Keith had been in touch with the Austin PD and asked that I be allowed to stay with Mattie until he and Nora arrived. Keith’s company has a corporate plane; his VP was happy to help any way he could. They traveled on a private flight and would arrive at the station in a few hours.
    Finally, I got the little guy. When I scooped him into my arms, I imagined how this would feel to Nora and Keith when they got to hold their baby again. As soon as he settled into my lap, I dialed them. When Nora answered, I said, “I have somebody here who wants to talk to his mama,” and got teary