NOVEL WEB 4. Old Wounds
I sat in my pick-up truck and took a few deep breaths. I'd put it off long enough, but I couldn't avoid it any more. It was Wednesday, I'd been in town two days now. I had to go in there, which meant I was almost definitely going to see her.
My truck was parked in the little lot next to the town hall. Town hall also doubled as the hall of records and the town archives. The local police detachment's office was in there too, along with the council chambers and all the city officials' offices. It was a large square two-story building that basically housed all the municipal staff and elected officials for the town and surrounding region.
And Gloria Mills worked for the town, which meant she'd be in there. I wasn't sure what she did these days so I didn't know where in the building she might be lurking. I just knew with my luck I was going to see her sooner or later.
Gloria and I had history. She was one of the reasons I hadn't been back this way since my mom died. Maybe she was the main reason.
It couldn't be avoided though. I needed to do some research and this was the only place I'd find what I needed. I took one more deep breath then finally emerged from my truck and headed for the main doors.
There was a cute young brunette at the reception desk, she smiled and greeted me when I entered. According to the small placard on the front of her desk, she was Tammy Williams.
"Good morning," I replied, and I tried to keep the anxiety out of my tone. "Which way to the records office?"
The young woman pointed, "Down that hall, last door on the right."
I thanked her and set off in that direction, careful to avoid looking around incase I happened to spot her. I made it to the door in question, and the placard next to the door indicated this was both the archives and the records office, which would save me some time.
I opened it and stepped through, then stopped in my tracks as my luck ran out.
It was her, sitting behind the counter. She looked up and our eyes met. I knew she recognized me, there was no getting out of it.
Gloria was forty-seven now, same age as me. She was still attractive, her hair was the same warm brown that I remembered. She was wearing it shorter these days, in a wavy shoulder-length cut that looked good on her. She'd kept in shape too from what I could see. She was in a cute blouse and a pair of tight jeans. Her make-up was subtle but looked good.
And I dreaded every moment I had to spend with her.
The two of us went all the way back together. We were childhood friends, and childhood enemies. Back in grade school she was one of the tough kids, she actually bullied me on and off for a few years. Then in middle school we became friends. After puberty hit she got really cute, and in high-school I kind of fell for her. We even went out on a couple dates together.
She was also the only person in the world, apart from my current therapist, who knew my deepest darkest secret. People were a lot less understanding in those days, and it wasn't as open and accepted or understood as it was now. She laughed when I told her. She mocked me. She said some awful hurtful things. Then she dumped me. And we pretty much never spoke to each other again after that.
"Raymond?" she asked with a surprised smile. "What brings you here?"
I suppressed a sigh and put on my best professional work attitude. "Just here on a case Gloria. I'm here to check through some documents and maybe consult the archives."
She watched me for a few seconds then her expression became softer and more compassionate, "Ray I'm sorry for how I acted back then. I've wanted to tell you that for years but you never gave me the chance."
Her tone shifted to one of concern as she asked, "You never did anything about those feelings?"
My expression grew harder as I stated "I'm just here on a case. I don't want to dredge up the past, ok?"
After the way she reacted back then, I shut all those feelings down and focused on other things. Her harsh words convinced me to 'man up' like my father always said before he walked out on mom and me. I even followed in dad's footsteps, as soon as I was out of high-school I left home and enrolled in police college.
It took a decade before I was ready to try and confront those feelings again, and by then I already had my first assignment at the department in Orillia. And it wasn't exactly a good career to be in if you were going to be a little different. Or a lot different. In the end I chose the career. It was easier than facing the other stuff.
Anyways all that was in the past. It was thirty years since she crushed me, and twenty years since I made my decision to focus on the job. The last thing I needed was Gloria fucking Mills dragging it back out in front of me.
She sighed, "Ok Raymond. I'm sorry for everything, but I'll keep my nose out of it. What sort of information do you need?"
I pulled out my notepad and went down the list. "I need the business licence for Magic of the Moon, an occult shop just off Main Street. I also want to know about a residential address, it's an empty lot now but I need to know if there was ever anything there and if so, what happened to it."
For a split second there was something in her expression, but it was gone before I could identify it. She noted down the residential address and went and got that information first. They were only halfway through converting all the records to electronic here, which meant it took longer than usual since she had to check the computer first then the physical archives second.
After about fifteen or twenty minutes I had enough information to tell me I might be looking at a few more missing persons.
There was a house there, but it burned down in August twenty-twelve. It was owned by a Mary Trent, who lived there with her son and her common-law husband George Murdoch. The fire was attributed to an overloaded electrical outlet. There were no injuries reported, but there was also no record of what became of the family after that. No forwarding address was provided, no further information of any kind.
It was possible the three simply up and moved away, perhaps they had family elsewhere. What worried me was that baseball cap in the back of the occult shop. From the dust on it, that could have been there since twenty-twelve, and it had the Trent boy's name written inside the brim.
Gloria helped me get some more information on the kid, apparently he was sixteen at the time of the fire. He finished grade ten at the same high-school that Gloria and I attended. Basically if you grew up here you went to school there. There was no record of where he was born, or where his parents were from before they lived here. I couldn't even be sure George Murdoch was his father, or just his mother's boyfriend.
After about an hour we ran out of leads, so I suggested "Let's move back to the other thing. The occult shop, I need to see the business license."
I knew that would have Selene's full name and maybe even her home address. Her name might be enough though, I could search that up on the department's computer.
Gloria got that odd look again and asked "What are you digging into that place for? It's just a funny little shop that's barely hanging on."
I frowned at her for a moment then shook my head "I can't discuss that Gloria. I'm on a case, that's all I can tell you."
She never struck me as the type to be into that new age nonsense, but she obviously knew the place. Not that it was any of my business if she wanted to waste her money on overpriced candles or crystal balls.
"Ok Ray I'll see what I can find," she replied.
I was left waiting for another twenty minutes, before she finally returned empty-handed.
"Sorry," she shook her head. "It's not here. It might be out getting digitized? I mentioned we were in the middle of that, some of the records are being processed off-site. If that's the case it'll be back again by next week."
"Damn," I frowned. For a moment I wondered if she was lying, or for some reason withholding that information. Maybe she was friends with Selene, maybe she thought she was trying to protect the woman. Or maybe she was just screwing with me for the sake of it. Maybe she was dragging her feet to make me hang around an extra week.
I thought for a few minutes, then asked, "What have you got on that address? There's two other businesses in there right? Tattoo place and a bar? Who owns the building?"
"I'll see what I can find," Gloria replied as she started looking through the records again.
After ten or fifteen minutes she had the business licenses for the other two tenants, and the name of the property management company who owned and maintained the building. I got photocopies of the licenses and wrote down the rest of the information.
"Thanks Gloria," I said when I was done. "I'll follow up with you in a few days about that missing business license."
She gave me another sad look and I knew she was going to bring up the past again before she even opened her mouth. "It was good to see you again Ray. And I really am sorry for how I reacted back then. I hope that didn't... I hope it wasn't my fault, the fact that you never pursued those feelings?"
I just shrugged. I really just wanted to let the subject drop, and there was no point telling her that's exactly what happened.
My non-answer seemed to be enough though as her expression grew even more sad, "Oh Ray... You don't know how sorry I am. Because after you told me how you felt, I actually looked into that myself? I learned so much and I learned how wrong I was. I wish I could go back and fix things for you. I wish I could fix what happened between us."
"Water under the bridge Gloria," I stated as calmly as I could. "And I have to get going, I'm still on the clock here."
She sighed, "Take care Raymond."
I just nodded as I made my way out. I kept it together as I walked back to my pick-up, then drove back to the hotel. I picked up another drive-thru meal along the way. It wasn't healthy but I wasn't in the mood for a restaurant, I didn't want to risk having to be social.
While I ate lunch I opened up my laptop to compose an email. I had one more idea that might get me a full name for Selene, but it required the help of a buddy at the department's computer lab. I sent him the occult shop's website and the phone number Selene had given me, and asked if he could find me a name or address for either of those things. And I asked him to 'work his magic' which was code for 'no warrant but this is urgent'.
I wasn't all that hungry and half a burger was enough, I wrapped up the rest and set it aside for later. Then I got out the second bottle of scotch I picked up the other day, and proceeded to slowly drown all the emotions Gloria fucking Mills dredged up.
