Thirty minutes had passed, and Donovan relaxed on his bed with his laptop on his lap. He conducted more searches on Tiffany Carlson and Howie Anderson to see what would show up from the Internet. He looked disappointed as all kinds of results appeared, but none looked like the Tiffany and Howie from 1970.
Someone knocked on his motel room door from the outside.
His eyes widened, thinking Jodi came to pay him a visit.
He got off his bed and rushed to the door.
“Hello,” he said the second he opened his door then looked disappointed the second he saw Rock standing outside his room. “Sheriff,” he said, finishing his greeting.
Rock gave Donovan a stern look for a few seconds to intimidate him. “I searched that area by the clearing, and I found your iPhone in the dirt. That attacker must have dropped it after your beating. It was probably too complicated for him,” he said then reached in his pants pocket and removed Donovan’s iPhone.
“Thanks,” Donovan said while Rock handed him his iPhone.
“And I could not find any evidence out there to help me identify your attacker. So, I would highly recommend that you leave town. I’m not ordering you to leave town, but it might be safer if you did. Like I said, we have some folk that doesn’t take kindly to strangers snooping around in our lives,” Rock said and looked dead serious.
While Donovan looked at Rock, that pain in his chest reappeared. He cringed in pain.
“You okay?” asked Rock and pretended to be concerned.
“I’m fine. Must be heartburn from breakfast.”
“Well, like I said, I would seriously consider heading back down to Florida.”
“Thank you, Sheriff, I’ll give it some serious thought,” Donovan said then waited for Rock to leave, as he did not want to piss him off by slamming the door in his face.
“Okay, suit yourself,” Rock said then he turned around and walked away.
Donovan closed his room door and stood by it. He thought about Rock’s suggestion, and something about that made him distrust the Sheriff. He suddenly had a strange eerie feeling about Rock.
Then that pain in his chest came back but not as severe as a few minutes ago. He reached under his shirt and rubbed his chest. The pain quickly disappeared. Donovan got concerned, as this had never happened before he read that Internet article about finding Tiffany’s Buick Special in Lake Haney.
He walked over and sat down on the bed and thought about what just happened.
He got off the bed, rushed to the door, and left his room.
Once Donovan left his room, he headed over to Jodi’s room that was down the other end of the motel.
He knocked on the door for Room 16 and waited.
After a few seconds, that door cracked opened, and Jodi appeared a little sleepy.
“Is it six already? I dozed off. Give me a few minutes to get ready,” she said, then yawned.
“No, I’m early. I had Sheriff Riley drop my iPhone off at my room. He claims he found it out in the woods where I was attacked,” Donovan replied.
“Oh, then why are you here?” she asked and yawned again.
“I was thinking of seeing if they had a library in this town. We could do some searches through some old newspaper articles.”
Jodi looked at Donovan for a few seconds. “Sure. Staying in this room is starting to get boring. Give me a few minutes to freshen up,” she said then closed her room door.
Donovan waited outside her room for a few minutes.
Then the door for Room 16 opened, and Jodi was ready to head out into town.
“I’m glad you got your iPhone back,” she said while she walked with Donovan to his Buick.
“Thanks, but you know something,” he said.
“What?” she replied while they walked up to his Buick.
“That Sheriff of this town makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. His name is Rock Riley,” he said, then unlocked the passenger door being a gentleman again.
Jodi remained quiet while she waited for Donovan to get in the car.
His driver’s door opened, and he sat behind the wheel.
“I haven’t met the Sheriff yet. Just his Deputy and he’s young and appears nice,” she said while he started up his car.
“There’s something about the Sheriff that bothers me,” he replied while he placed the car into reverse.
Jodi thought about he comments about Rock while he backed out of the parking slot. Then she suddenly had a creepy feeling about Rock even though she never met him.
It was a quiet drive while Donovan drove his Buick east on Haneyville Road and headed into town.
Ten minutes had passed, and Donovan pulled his car into the parking of the Haneyville Library located down from the police station at the eastern end of Wildwood Avenue.
He parked, and they got out and headed to the front doors of the library.
Once Donovan and Jodi were inside the library, they headed over to the counter where an old lady named Ester Yates worked.
Ester looked up at some books that were returned earlier in the day. She looked at Donovan and Jodi. “You’re not from here, are you?”
“No ma-am, I’m Donovan Kirby, a reporter from the Florida Today newspaper in Florida and my friend is Jodi Lauder, a reporter from the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper in Kentucky,” he replied.
Ester looked at Donovan and Jodi. “Oh, I thought you two were a married couple. As a matter of fact, you two do look familiar. Have we met before?”
Donovan and Jodi glanced at each other with a little smile.
“No, ma-am, we’re just up here to write an article about that car found in Lake Haney,” replied Jodi.
“Ah, I see. You’re the only reporters that I know of that are interested in Tiffany’s car,” replied Ester.
“Did you know her?” asked Donovan.
“Yep, her and Howie. He graduated high school with my son Wally,” replied Ester, then she looked sad.
“The Sheriff told me that he believed Howie and Tiffany ran to Canada back in nineteen seventy,” said Jodi.
“Draft dodger. That’s what Howie was. A coward draft dodger,” replied Ester, and you could sense some anger in her voice while she started to recall those old memories.
“That’s the theory, but why would they ditch their car in the lake before running up to Canada,” asked Donovan then he paused for a few seconds. “How could they get up to Canada? It’s still far away,” he added.
“Hitchhike is my guess,” replied Ester.
“I wonder why they haven’t contacted their parents after all these years?” asked Donovan.
Ester looked at Donovan then at Jodi. “I don’t care if we ever hear from that coward. My son Wally went into the Marines right after graduation. He was killed after being in Vietnam for only two months. So, I’ll repeat it, I don’t care if we ever hear from that coward Howie again,” Ester said, and her anger in her voice was more noticeable. She looked at Donovan and Jodi. “So, what brings you to my library?”
Donovan looked at Ester, and then he had this strange feeling he knew her and somehow knew something about Wally being killed Vietnam.
“We were hoping to look at some old newspaper article from the time they went missing?” said Jodi.
“We don’t have any here. You’ll have to go see Grant Scott. He owns the Haneyville Tribune located down off Haneyville Road,” Ester replied.
“Thank you,” said Jodi and motioned to Donovan that they should leave.
“Yes, thank you,” replied Donovan.
Ester returned to her books.
Donovan and Jodi walked away from the counter and headed to the front doors.
Donovan opened one of the front doors for Jodi. She smiled and loved it when a man acted like a gentleman. And this was something her ex-boyfriend would never do with her.
“Sounds like some of the people around here didn’t take kindly to Howie running up to Canada,” she said then they walked up to his Buick.
Donovan did not say a word while they got inside his Buick.
It was quiet in the Buick while Donovan drove out of the library parking lot.
He turned left on Wildwood then turned right on Thorndale Avenue.
He headed down Thorndale then turned left on Haneyville Road.
He drove his Buick down Haneyville Road then saw the big indoor shopping mall to the left.
Donovan got this strange déjà vu feeling the second he saw the mall. “I bet there was a drive-in theater there back in the day.”
Jodi looked at the mall and had the same déjà vu feeling. “I believe you could be right.”
He continued his drive down Haneyville Road then saw the Haneyville Tribune Newspaper building off to the right.
He turned his Buick right and pulled into the parking lot.
He parked his Buick next to a blue 1964 Rambler Classic still in excellent shape.
After they got out of the car, they looked across Haneyville Road and saw another parking lot. This was for patrons to park that wanted to frequent those numerous shops and restaurants down by the lake.
Donovan and Jodi headed to the front door of the Haneyville Tribune building.
They went inside the building.
They looked around the area and saw a counter for greeting customers. Four desks in the center, two offices off to the right side and on the opposite wall saw two microfiches machines with about ten filing cabinets.
In the back room were the printing presses for bringing the residents of Haneyville the local and national news.
The newspaper office looked deserted.
“Can I help you?” asked eighty-year-old Grant Scott while he stepped out of his office.
“I’m Donovan Kirby from the Florida Today newspaper in Florida, and this is Jodi Lauder a reporter from the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper in Kentucky,” he replied while they walked up to the counter.
Grant looked at Donovan and Jodi while he walked up to the counter. “I heard about your papers. So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“We’re doing some research on that sixty-two Buick found in Lake Haney. It belonged to a Tiffany Carlson. The lady at the library told us to come to see you,” Donovan replied.
Grant looked a little surprised with hearing Donovan’s reason. “Why the interest in an old car dragged out of our lake?”
“We thought we’d do an article on the disappearance of Tiffany and Howie,” replied Jodi.
“Disappearance of Tiffany and Howie?” said Grant while he looked at Donovan and Jodi.
“Yes, sir,” said Donovan.
“Everybody believes they ran off to Canada that night,” Grant replied.
“We know that Howie received his draft notice before they went missing,” said Donovan.
“If they ran off to Canada, how come they haven’t contacted their parents by now. I can imagine they eventually would have gotten homesick,” said Jodi.
“Well, the Sheriff at the time, Sheriff Powers and Deputy Riley conducted an investigation and could not find any evidence of foul play. And Sheriff Powers also got an anonymous letter from someone stating they saw Howie and Tiffany hitchhiking later that night, and they were headed north on Stinson Road. So I don’t know how I can help you,” said Grant.
“I didn’t know of a letter,” said Donovan while he looked at Jodi.
“I didn’t,” she replied, then looked back at Grant. “We were hoping that we could look at some of the old articles from that time,” said Jodi.
“Does that letter exist today?” asked Donovan.
“I don’t know. I guess Sheriff Riley might have it in the files.”
Grant looked at Donovan Jodi for a few seconds. “But if you want to waste your time, come on inside. Things are kinda slow anyway,” he said then motioned for them to come around the counter.
“You can use any of those microfiches over there. The film is in the filing cabinets by date,” Grant said while they followed him to the microfiche machines.
“I just made a fresh pot of coffee, would you two like a cup?” Grant offered.
“Sure, that would be nice. Plain black, please,” said Jodi.
“The same for me and thanks,” said Donovan while he walked over and started scanning the filing cabinets.
Grant walked away and headed back to his office.
Donovan found a drawer of interest. He opened it and found a cartridge that contained newspapers during August of 1970.
He installed the cartridge in the microfiche in the center.
He and Jodi sat down on some chairs in front of the microfiche.
After a few seconds, Donovan and Jodi found the news article titled “Two Haneyville Teens Missing” and was about the disappearance of Tiffany and Howie. It was dated Monday, August 24th, 1970 and written by Grant Scott.
Donovan and Jodi started silently reading the article.
“There’s something about that letter,” said Jodi while she pointed at the screen.
Donovan read that line in the article.
Grant walked up with two cups of black coffee. He placed them down in front of Donovan and Jodi.
“Thanks,” she said.
“You wrote this article,” said Donovan.
“Yep. I’m a good friend of Howie’s father, George. It was not an easy article to write at the time. His wife Betsy cried for about a week fearing the worst happened to her son,” Grant said while he pulled up a chair and sat next to Jodi.
Donovan looked at the picture of Howie from the old article.
“The lady at the library said something about her son dying in Vietnam,” said Donovan and for some strange reason, he felt compelled to find something about her son.
“You’re talking about young Wally Yates. He joined the Marines and died in Vietnam shortly after getting there. I think I can try to find the article I wrote back in early seventy,” Grant said then he got up off his chair.
He walked over to the filing cabinet. He opened up a drawer for cartridges for the winter of 1970. He removed a cartridge for January 1970 and walked back over to the microfiche machine.
“I think the article is around the end of the month,” he said when he handed Donovan the cartridge.
Donovan stuck the cartridge in the machine. He turned a knob while the old newspapers whizzed by on the screen of the machine, Donovan and Jodi took a drink of their coffee.
“Try now,” said Grant.
Donovan slowed down the microfiche, and it stopped on the front page of the newspaper for January 22nd, 1970.
Grant took a look at the headlines and date. “Press forward.”
Donovan slowly moved the newspapers toward the end of the month. Then the front page of the newspaper for January 27th, 1970 appeared on the screen.
Donovan and Jodi saw the “Local Killed in Vietnam” headline with the high school senior picture of Wally Yates.
While Donovan and Jodi looked at the picture of Wally, they both got strong déjà vu feelings like they knew him.
Donovan and Jodi looked at each other and refrained from telling each other about their feelings.
“Howie and Wally were best friends,” said Grant.
“Since Kindergarten,” Donovan quietly said under his breath then surprised he knew that.
Jodi heard Donovan, and somehow she also knew that information.
“I think that Wally’s death might have made Howie too scared to get drafted. I feel that’s why he wanted to run off to Canada,” said Grant.
“But after forty-three years, how come he never contacted his family? That’s the mystery question,” said Donovan.
Jodi nodded in agreement.
“Too ashamed would be my guess,” said Grant.
“Maybe some lousy investigating techniques by your Sheriff at the time,” Donovan blurted out without thinking.
Grant looked at Donovan. “I won’t argue about that. Sheriff Powers was a tad lazy on doing his job back then. And his Deputy Rock Riley wasn’t something to write home about either.”
Donovan looked at Grant. “The guy that’s the Sheriff now?”
“The one and only,” Grant said then he hesitated while he pondered if he should continue. “What the hell, I plan on retiring in a few months and moving down to Florida,” he said then paused for a few seconds. “Sheriff Riley started out as a Deputy when he came home from the Army. He got married to Melinda, but that didn’t stop him from fooling around with the high school girls. Take them out to the clearing by the lake in his car and doing nasty things with them.”
Jodi looked at Grant and got an eerie déjà vu feeling. “Isn’t that called statutory rape?”
“Now it is and enforced, but back then, it was ignored,” said Grant then paused. “I never trusted Sheriff Riley. But don’t quote me on that,” he added.
“Where in Florida are you moving?” curiously asked Donovan.
“I’m thinking of Tallahassee. I have a daughter that’s living down there. He’s been bugging me for years to move there. So, I’ll sell this newspaper business for a low price and my house then move south to warmer weather,” said Grant.
Donovan turned the knob on the machine, and the newspapers whizzed back to the beginning of the cartridge. “Thanks for your assistance,” said Donovan.
“My pleasure, and if you need any more help, just come on by the shop,” said Grant.
A little while later, Donovan and Jodi walked out of the newspaper building.
When Donovan and Jodi walked up to his car, he glanced back at the newspaper building, and for a split second, he had an interest in owning the place. He shrugged it off then looked over at the lake.
“Let’s eat over by the lake,” he said.
Jodi looked at the lake. “That would be nice,”
Donovan and Jodi got inside his Buick.
Donovan started up his car and drove out of the parking lot.
He crossed Haneyville Avenue and pulled into the parking lot for patrons frequenting the shops, and restaurants along the lake.
A little while later, they had a table outside the Lake View Restaurant with a great view of the lake. It started to be a romantic atmosphere with the sun beginning to drop below the horizon, providing a beautiful orange and purple sky.