Gilmore Girls: Wish Upon a Snow

Chapter 22

Sunlight danced through the metal bars on the windows.
Lorelei shifted uncomfortably in her plastic seat, waiting. A custodian was sliding a mop back and forth in front of the box where the receptionist sat behind bulletproof glass.
Stars Hollow's police was housed in the same building as the jail, being that it was such a small town.
Lorelei had been waiting for Detective Wood for about thirty minutes. Her appointment had been scheduled for 15 minutes before and she was beginning to feel antsy.
She studied her red flats, lining up the point of her toe with the corner of the tile under each foot.
"Mrs. Danes?"

Lorelei looked up and a young man in a police officer's uniform was standing in front of her. How had he come out from the heavy iron door without her noticing? Lorelei swallowed as he approached her and stood up.

"Follow me back," he said kindly.
After quite a few timed doors with a lot of beeping for each, they sat down in a very small office. Lorelei sat in a plastic chair across from his corner desk. He had a plastic chair as well.
"How do you sit in that thing all day?" Lorelei asked suddenly. She blushed. She felt like kicking herself. Up close, Detective Wood was not as young as he looked initially. Very fine laugh lines had settled in the corners of his mouth.
"I actually am not in here very much," he explained with a sympathetic smile, "I'm usually out trying to solve cases."
Lorelei fought the urge to laugh. The fact that she was sitting in this room was so absurd. She thought about texting Rory. She had told her so many times that she wondered what it would be like to be on Law & Order. Now she kind of knew.
Lorelei took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said, "I get a little babble-ish sometimes."
Detective Wood reached into his desk and pulled out a yellow legal pad and a pen.
"So, I understand that you're wanting to file a missing report on your husband?" He asked, picking up his pen.
"Um, yes. And my name is actually still Lorelei Gilmore, if that makes a difference. We have, um, only been married for a few days. With everything going on I haven't gotten a chance to do all the paperwork to change it," Lorelei said. She sounded winded. Her stomach clenched in worry.
Detective Wood raised his eyebrows at her and scribbled something on his notepad. "A few days, huh? Some honeymoon."
Lorelei laughed, then quickly stopped short. The laugh fell on the desk between them like a loud, staccato bomb.
He cleared his throat and Lorelei felt herself begin to sweat.
"Okay. So...he is missing for a few days. This is Luke Danes, correct?" Wood asked.
"Yes. Luke Danes," Lorelei clarified.
"And you live together?"
Lorelei nodded.
"How long have you lived together?"
"Um, 10 years or so," Lorelei said.
"Has he ever been missing before?"
"Um, no. He likes his space sometimes but he has never gone anywhere without telling me. This is very unusual of him," Lorelei said, wringing her hands.
"I see. And you've checked with all of his friends and family to make absolutely sure he couldn't be with any of them?"
"Yes. His daughter, nephew, sister and brother-in-law all have not seen him either."
"Does he have any close friends?"
"Well, not really."
"Define 'not really.'"
"Well, I guess I don't know. He didn't tell me until right before the wedding that he went to baseball camp with Kiefer Sutherland."
"Wait, recently he went to a baseball camp with Kiefer Sutherland?"
"No. It was a long time ago apparently."
"So he forgot to tell you for a long time that a long time ago he went to a baseball camp with Kiefer Sutherland," he clarified, scribbling on his pad.
"Yes."
"So his daughter...am I correct to assume that is not your daughter as well?"
"Right. I do have a daughter also, but it is not his daughter."
"Okay. So you both have your own daughters who are not each other's daughters."
"Um, yes. We each have daughters from previous relationships we were in...um, do you not know Luke? He owns Luke's."
Detective Wood was busy writing. "No," he said, "I don't know Luke. I don't live in Stars Hollow."
"You don't live in Stars Hollow?"
"No."
"Where do you live?"
"I live in Hartford," he said, his tone betraying a slight annoyance.
"Wow so you drive every single day?"
"Yes. Can we get back to your husband, please?"
"Um, yes. Sorry."
"Okay. When was the last time you saw your husband?"
"We were handing out wedding favors. We were supposed to do an anniversary dance but I figured it might make my mom feel bad since my father passed away recently. So our last dance was the Wop and then we decided we were going to pass out the favors to everyone."
"Was he acting normally at that time?"
"Well, I guess so."
"Did you all drink heavily during the wedding?"
"We were drinking, yes. Luke wasn't drinking heavily, though."
"Are you guys happy? It seems a little odd you waited so long to get married."
Lorelei sat back in her chair, taken aback by the question. She felt sick to her stomach. Her palms were clammy when she clasped them together.
"Yes. We were happy. We had tried to get married before and stuff didn't come together, I guess."
"Were?"
"Oh, are. Are happy. Sorry." Lorelei could've screamed in frustration. She had never understood why people confessed to things they didn't do, but she was beginning to. She was falling apart and getting her words confused and it wasn't even an official interrogation.
"I will be right back," Detective Wood said, standing up. "Can I get you a water or a coffee or anything?"
"A coffee would be so amazing, thank you."
He left.
Lorelei shivered, folding her arms over her chest. She couldn't help but feel like she was being watched.