She Never Came Home

Chapter 5

"What's wrong, Dad?" Carla asked her father, the TV remote control still in her hand.

"Chris says that Coreen left his place over an hour ago." The worried expression on his face frightened Carla.

"Maybe she had car trouble?" Richard wondered aloud.

"That's why Chris phoned," Stephen replied. "Reeny's cell phone battery was dead, so he'd asked her to call him as soon as she got here."

"Oh dear," Joyce commented, "I know that she has roadside assistance coverage on her car insurance, but if her cell phone wasn't working... What if she broke down and had to wander somewhere off of the freeway to find a pay phone?"

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Carla tried to reassure her parents, but her voice was unsteady as she spoke.

For a few minutes everyone was quiet as they stood and stared at one another. This was such an unexpected, foreign situation. No one knew quite what to do, or if in fact something needed to be done.

"Do you think we should call the police to see if any car accidents have been reported on the I-15?" Joyce finally wondered aloud.

"If that's the road she took," Richard replied, "it's a place to start."

"That's her usual route from Chris's place," Stephen said, "except during rush hour and there's a lot of traffic... But I can't imagine any stop-and-go congestion on the freeway at this time of night."

Carla spoke with hesitation. "Do you think we should check with any hospitals between here and Chris's apartment? Just in case Reen was in an accident?"

"I think that's something the police will automatically do if we contact them," her husband replied.

"I just don't know what to do," Joyce was pacing the floor of the living room. "I mean, if it turns out to be nothing, and Coreen was just off wandering around looking for a payphone and had to wait for a tow truck... Well, I know that she would be so embarrassed when she found out that we'd called the police. But what if she's really in trouble?" She looked upward toward the ceiling, as if expecting some sort of answer to come down from the heavens.

"If she found a payphone somewhere, don't you think she'd call us to let us know that she's OK?" Stephen asked with irritation.

"She probably doesn't know that we're worried," Carla tried to calm her father down. "She doesn't know that Chris called us... that we know that she should've been here a while ago..."

"Maybe I could drive up I-15 toward Chris's apartment and see if Coreen's car is stuck somewhere along the highway?" Richard offered.

"That's a start," Stephen agreed. "If she broke down you might – " His statement was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone.

"Hello?" Carla answered it. Everyone in the room looked at her expectantly as they listened to her side of the conversation. "OK, that sounds like a good idea, if you're well enough... Are you sure?... Thanks." She hung up the phone. "Chris says he's on his way here. He's going to drive Reeny's regular route to see if her car is stuck somewhere."

"Perfect," Richard replied. "I'll head up from here and he'll be searching the road down from his place and we'll meet somewhere in the middle." What he didn't say aloud was "...and hopefully one of us will find Coreen."

Half an hour later the phone rang at the Crowley house again. "Hello?" Stephen picked up this time.

Richard's voice sounded more serious than it had been before he'd left. "Chris and I are headed back to your house. I think it's time you call the police."

"Wha – what? Why?" Stephen clutched the telephone receiver in panic. "Did you see something??"

"No, that's just it. We didn't see anything. No sign of her car."

After he hung up, Stephen immediately dialed 911.

"What is the nature of your emergency, do you need police, fire or ambulance?" the operator said when she answered the phone.

"Um, police, I guess," Stephen told her. "My daughter is missing."

"How old is the child?"

"She's 22..."

Stephen heard the operator audibly sigh on the other end of the phone. "Sir, did you actually witness her being abducted?"

"No, but she was supposed to be home several hours ago and – "

"Sir," the operator interrupted him, "what you need to do is to go in person to your local police precinct and fill out a Missing Persons Report."

"But – "

"I'm sorry, but this is not a 911 situation. If you need help in finding your local precinct, please dial...."

Stephen hung up the phone before the operator finished reciting the number.

"My God," he shouted in anger, "what the hell do we pay taxes for?!"

Chuck sleepily stumbled into the living room. "What's going on?" He'd been awakened from his deep slumber by the sound of his father yelling. "Why didn't you wake me up when Reeny got home?" he added. "I told you - "

"Coreen's not home," his mother told him. The look on her face spoke volumes.

"What?!" Chuck became suddenly alert. "I thought she left her boyfriend's apartment - "

"She did," Carla stepped forward. "Chris is on his way here. He and Rich drove up and down I-15 and didn't find her car."

"What do you mean, they didn't find her car?" Chuck was trying to understand the situation.

"Rich and Chris thought that maybe she had car trouble on her way here," Carla told her brother. "So they retraced her usual route but didn't see her car on the shoulder of the highway anywhere." She paused and then added, "Richard told Dad that he should call the police."

"Did you? What did they say?" Chuck was now shouting as loud as his father had been.

"They said we have to go to the station and file a report," Stephen sighed in frustration. "Just because she's under the age of 18 she's apparently not a priority."

"OK, OK," Chuck waved his hand and shook his head, as if to keep everyone else silent while he formulated a plan. A minute later he said, "Dad, you should go to whatever police station is closest and file a report so that it's on record that Coreen is missing."

"OK," his father agreed, his heart feeling very heavy in his chest.

"When Rich and Chris get here," Chuck continued, "we'll spread out and search any of the other highway arteries..."

"The what?" Carla asked.

"Any exits and frontage roads along the way. Any place she might have driven off for whatever reason."

"What can I do?" Joyce asked, trying not to reveal the level of fear she was feeling.

"You should stay here in case Coreen calls home, or...if anyone else phones..."

Joyce nodded, understanding what Chuck was hinting at. Even though that was not the ideal outcome Joyce had in mind, right now she'd rather hear from some hospital that her daughter had been in accident rather than not hearing anything at all.