Chapter 21
With the phone tucked securely underneath his right armpit, Mr. Mercer anxiously paced from the living
room and back to the hallway, totally forgetting that the phone''s cord wasn''t as long as he would have
wished it could have been while fussing with the police over the line.
Adorned in his all blue janitor''s jumpsuit, Mercer looked at the clock that was nailed to the wall in the
living room and realized that heading into work would be futile at that point in the day.
"I don''t understand why no one can give me any information about my own son!" The man irately
yelled. "He''s out there somewhere, for God''s sake!"
He dragged the phone back into the living room where he just happened to look out the front window to
see a police cruiser parked right in front of the house. Without saying a simple "goodbye", Mr. Mercer
hung up the phone, and with quivering knees, stepped across the floor and to the door, opening it
before the detectives could even get out of their car.
He stood at the doorway watching and waiting with bated breath for the two men to make their way to
him. Over and over again he kept on reying the worst scene in his head. As cold as it was outside,
his palms couldn''t stop sweating. His knees were ready to copse right where he stood; the stiff,
unrelenting wind sshed into his sweaty face like a bucket of ice cold water.
Just then, thew officers opened their doors, climbed out and began their march towards the home.
Mercer gritted his teeth to the point where they started to hurt the closer they approached.
"Good afternoon, sir. I''m Detective Linus—
"Is my boy dead?" Mercer impulsively jumped in.
Taken aback by the very question, both Bruin and Fitzpatrick blushed. Bruin then nced over at his
partner and then back again at Mercer who was shuddering, not from the cold air, but from
heartbreaking fear.
"Uh, sir, we aren''t quite sure yet." Bruin slowly uttered. "Can wee in and talk for a moment,
please?"
Steadily, Mr. Mercer moved aside to allow the men into his warm home. The moment he shut the door
behind him, Mercer crossed his arms and asked, "Okay, where''s my son at?"
"You are Charles Mercer, right?" Fitzpatrick questioned.
"That''s me." He intolerantly sighed. "Now, where''s my son?"
"Mr. Mercer, this is Detective Bruin, and I''m Detective Fitzpatrick. I don''t know if you are aware of this or
not, but we found the B.O.D. kidnapper this morning."
"I heard all about that, yes." Mercer said.
"Well, sir, your son Isaac wasst seen taking a ride with the aforementioned person yesterday
evening."
Right then, Mercer''s sullen eyes opened to twice their original size. He dropped his arms to his side
and slowly stuttered, "What...was he doing with that man?"
"A witness at the diner where Isaac wasst seen said that your car seemed to be having trouble. That
was when your son epted a ride from Cummins." Fitzpatrick rified. "Mr. Mercer, right now we
don''t have a clue as to where Isaac is."
"Wha...whaddya mean you don''t have a clue?" Mercer breathlessly stammered. "He went with that
kidnapper, didn''t he?"
"Yes, sir, but when we arrived at the residence this morning, Isaac was nowhere to be found."
"Well, maybe he escaped and went back to this diner to get the car." Mercer eagerly said.
"Sir, the car was still at the diner this morning." Fitzpatrick continued on. "Some of our people are
having it brought back here, and—
"I don''t give a damn about that car!" Mercer angrily hollered. "I want my boy!"
"Sir, please calm down." Fitzpatrick urged.
"Calm down?" Mercer threw up his hands. "My son is out there! He could be dead or waiting for
someone toe and rescue him! And all you can talk about is my car?"
Both Bruin and Fitzpatrick turned their heads in a manner that would have suggested that they had
nothing left to say at that point.
With his hands outstretched, Mr. Mercer cried, "Isaac has a son...he''s two years old. He''s got a fiancée.
What on earth was he doing all the way out in Cuyahoga Falls to begin with?"
"Our witness mentioned that—
"Our witness informed us that Isaac was asking for directions at the diner." Linus brazenly cut right in
between his partner.
"Well, Isaac never did have a good sense of direction." Mr. Mercer dropped his hands. "But that still
doesn''t exin why he would take a ride from aplete stranger."
"Would there be any other ce Isaac would possibly go? Other ces he would hide out? Because
for all we know, he could be on his way back to Cypress as we speak." Linus insisted.
"If he''s not at Lynn''s house, then I don''t have a clue."
"And who is this Lynn?" Linus questioned, taking out a pen and pad from his back pocket.
"Lyte Glover is his fiancée. She lives at 909 West Seventh Blvd. I tried calling her a while ago, but
her line was busy." Mercer exhaled before reaching over to the mantle and pulling out a photo of Isaac.
"Here''s his picture, if it''ll help any."
"Okay, thank you, sir." Linus replied, taking the photo and slipping it into his pocket. "I assure you, Mr.
Mercer, we are doing everything in our power to find your son. It''s been a long, trying day for us all.
Hopefully Isaac will be in a safe frame of mind when we do find him."
All of the sudden, like a door violently mming shut, Mr. Mercer looked up at the detectives with a
sadistic frown on his face. It was menacing enough to where both Bruin and Fitzpatrick actually had to
take a slight step backwards in unison.
"My son isn''t crazy, Detective." Mercer uttered in a foreboding murmur. "Do you hear me? Isaac is just
fine. You''ll do best to remember that."
"Yes, sir," Linus muttered right back while sliding his pen and pad back into his pocket. "Your car should
be arriving sometime before six this evening."
Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.
At that very second, with an evil eye pointed directly at both detectives, Mercer stood still, right in the
middle of the floor, while attentively watching the officers turn and walk out the door from which they
entered.
From left to right, the heavy burdened man looked on as though the walls in his own home were caving
in on him. He then sat down on the sofa, sped his hands and closed his eyes. A quiet, lone tear
dropped down from out of his left eye and onto his folded, hardened hands.
***
"What the hell was that all about?" Fitzpatrick blurted out while climbing into the passenger side of the
cruiser.
"I don''t know for sure." Linus reflected as he got in and slid the key into the ignition. "The guy looked
like he was going to gun us down."
"So tell me," Fitzpatrick smirked, "what gives with the little lie back there?"
Linus put the car in drive and pulled out onto the road before replying, "Call me a cynic, but something
tells me that Isaac may have been up to a little risqué business, if you know what I mean. Did you see
that man''s face? He was about as clueless to his son''s whereabouts as we are. Isaac has a fiancée
and a young son, and yet, he drove all the way out to Cuyahoga Falls, of all ces, just to meet up with
and argue with some mystery woman? That man inside that house is going through enough right now."
"I say that if''s he''s not at his fiancée''s house, then we go back to Scats and get some info on this so
called mystery woman he was with." Fitzpatrick said. "Who knows, maybe she has an idea where he
is?"
"This oughta be fun." Linus sighed. "What time you got?"
"Uh...ten after five," Fitzpatrick looked hard at his wristwatch.
"I wonder if this day will ever end." Linusmented.