Missing in Miami

I had spent the last few hours of yesterday afternoon calling almost all of the contacts on Rob’s phone, hoping one of them had talked to Rob, none of them had.

I came into the office early this morning, I wanted to get on the street early to follow up on all of the phone calls that I had made yesterday. The only contact that I hadn’t called yet was Rob’s parents. I found “momma bear” in Rob’s contacts and punched the number into my phone.

“Hello.”

I asked, “is this Mrs. Wilcox?”

She answered, “yes, who is this?”

I said, “this is Detective Ridgeway, with the Miami Police Department. Ma’am, I would like to talk to you and Mr. Wilcox, is he still at home.”

I was calling early enough, hoping to catch them before either of them had a chance to leave for work.

She said, “yes, he is still here, can I ask what this is about?”

I answered, “I really think it would be better if we talked in person, if you could give me your address, I could come to your house right now.”

She paused, “my husband was just getting ready to leave for work.”

I said, “ma’am, please have him wait until we talk, if you would prefer, you could come to the police station.”

I heard her talking to her husband, “Tom says we can be at the station in about fifteen minutes.”

I said, “thank you Mrs. Wilcox, please ask for detective Ridgeway as soon as you get here.”

I hung up the phone and went to the front desk and told them to show the Wilcox’s to interview room 2 as soon as they arrived. I prepared the room and went to my office to gather my notebook and the other papers I had on their son’s case.

It only took Tom and Linda Wilcox 13 minutes to arrive at the police station, they were led to the interview room, and I was notified of their arrival. I walked into see two worried looking parents, who had no idea why they were there.

I sat my notebook down on the table and held out my hand, “Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox, I am Drake Ridgeway, a detective on the missing persons squad, thank you for coming in.”

Tom shook my hand, and said, “missing persons? Who’s missing?”

I asked, “when was the last time you talked to your son, Rob?” Linda Wilcox let out an audible gasp.

Tom said, “I don’t know, I guess about a week ago, why?”

I made a note and said, "Rob has been reported missing, he hasn’t been at his home or at work in the past two days.”

Linda took Tom’s hand, Tom asked, “who reported him missing?”

I thought it was an odd first question, why did it matter who filed the report? I replied, “his roommate, Cory Black.”

Linda said, “Rob doesn’t have a roommate.”

Tom nodded, “and we don’t know anybody named Cory.”

I sighed, “Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox, Rob and Cory have lived together since they graduated from college and started their jobs. They became good friends in college.” I waited to see their reaction, to see if I needed to explain any further.

Tom was staring at me, “what do you mean good friends?”

Ok, so much for trying to keep Rob and Cory’s secret, I let out a breath, “Rob and Cory have been in a relationship for the past year.”

Tom stood, sending his chair flying against the wall, “are you saying my son is gay?”

I stood up, “Mr. Wilcox, please remain calm. Yes, Cory told me they are a couple.”

He ran his hand through his hair, “my son is not a queer detective Ridgeway.”

I was starting to get a bit frustrated, I raised my voice, “Mr. Wilcox, I don’t give a damn if Rob is gay or not. You seem to be missing the point here, your son has not been seen or heard from for the past two days. It is my job to find him and hope I bring him home safe and sound. Now, you can worry about him having a boyfriend, or you can help me and give me any information that you may have to aide me in my investigation.”

Tom continued to stare at me as he thought about what I just said, his wife put her hand on his and said, “he’s right Tom, we can worry about that later, right now we need to do anything we can to help the police.” She wiped the tears from her eyes as Tom looked at her, the weight of the situation hit him, and he realized she was right.

He sat back down, and they answered all my questions the best they could. I found out that it wasn’t unusual that Rob would only call about every 7 to 10 days and he would only visit about once a month. He had an older sister and a younger brother, we called both of them right away, neither of them had heard from Rob, nor did they know about Cory. I gave them my card and told them to call me if they heard from Rob or thought of anything else to tell me, I escorted them out the door to their car. The only thing worse than telling parents that their child was missing, was telling them that we found their body. I was hoping to avoid that at all costs, I needed to get going on this case.

I went back to my office to review my notes and formulate a plan for the rest of the day. I filled the captain in on the case.

He said, “brief Robbins and take him with you when you go talk to your leads.”

Blake Robbins had joined our squad about a year ago, he was about 8 years younger than me. He is a good cop and has helped me on a few other cases. He always followed my lead and would only offer his opinion if I asked for it or if he noticed something that I missed.

I walked to his desk, “hey Blake, I need some help, you want to go for a ride?”

He closed the file folder he was working on and smiled, “hell yeah Ridge, let’s go.”

***

Rob was gaining his mobility and was pacing around the room that he was locked in. He turned to the door when he heard the doorknob turn. One of the guys that he was with yesterday walked in with a tray of food. When Rob saw the tray, he suddenly realized he hadn’t eaten for two days, and he was very hungry.

The guy asked, “are you hungry?”

Rod nodded, “starving, where am I?”

The guy set the tray on a small table and said, “we’re at Mr. D’s country house.”

Rod had already deduced that he was in the country when he looked out the window and couldn’t see any other houses.

He asked, “why am I here?”

The guy motioned for Rob to sit at the table, “the same as all of us, I’m Kyle by the way.”

Rob said, “I’m Rob, but I don’t understand. Why was I kidnapped?”

Kyle smiled, “kidnapped is a strong word, most of us have come to think of it as being recruited.”

Rob asked, “how many of you are there? What the hell is going on?”

Kyle said, “look, let me fill you in on how things work around here. With you and I, there are six of us, Zach, Brady, Nick, and Jared. We all came here pretty much the same way you did, but it’s not as bad as you think. The thing to remember is just do as you’re told, if you cooperate you will get more freedom.”

Rob asked, “who’s Chuck?”

Kyle replied, “he’s Mr. D’s right-hand man, kind of our house father.”

Rob was still confused, “who the hell is Mr. D?”

Kyle said, “he’s the big boss, I have never met him, but if we behave, he takes care of us. We have plenty of good food, the cook here is a real pro. He buys us all the clothes we need, and we have a warm bed to sleep in every night.”

Rob asked, “and what do we have to do in return for all this good will?”

Kyle grinned, “the same thing we did on your first day. We put on a web show a few times a week, the rest of time we just hang out and play video games, take a swim in the pool, that kind of thing. It’s a pretty sweet gig actually.”

Rob couldn’t believe what he had just heard, “but what about your family, your friends, didn’t any of you have a job?”

Kyle shook his head, “I ran away from home after my old man kicked the shit out of me when he found me with my boyfriend.”

Rob asked, “so no one has reported you missing?”

Kyle shrugged, “I don’t know, I hitched to Miami from Jacksonville, Zach and Brady are from Tampa Bay and were both kicked out by their parents too. I’m not sure where Nick and Jared are from, they just got here a month ago. We needed a place to stay, and we all have that now.”

Rob said, “but I have friends and family, I don’t need a place. I have a job and a life, I don’t want to be here.”

Kyle said, “just do what you’re told, and once Chuck knows he can trust you, you’ll gain more freedom and eventually you will be allowed to go find your replacement. Just like Jesse did when he recruited you.”

Rob furrowed his brow, “he told me his name was Dave.”

Kyle chuckled, “yeah, we all have a couple names we use, depends on what we are doing. Now, finish eating, Chuck has the web cam set up in the bathroom. He wants us to do a shower scene today.”

After he finished eating, Rob followed Kyle down the hall, the man that Rob had seen in the room the day before was adjusting a camera. Chuck grinned, “he looks much more coherent today, that’s good. Once I start the camera, you two start kissing and undress each other, then get in the shower and have fun with it.”

They did as they were told. Kyle leaned in and kissed Rob, working his shirt off over his head. Rob took Kyle’s shirt off as they continued to kiss. A minute later, their shorts were on the floor and Kyle turned the water on as they stepped under the shower. Kyle went to his knees and took Rob’s cock into his mouth and began massaging his balls. Kyle slipped his other hand around and worked a finger into Rob’s ass crack. Rob had his hands on Kyle’s head and let out an involuntary moan. Just before Rob was ready to cum, Kyle released his dick and the two switched places. Rob sucked Kyle’s cock as he cupped Kyle’s firm round ass in his hands. He looked up at Kyle, who had his eyes closed and his head tilted slightly back. Rob noticed for the first time, that Kyle was a pretty good-looking guy, he also had a nice dick. Kyle stepped back and turned around, spreading his ass cheeks in front of Rob. Rob took the hint and started to lick Kyle’s pink pucker, pushing his tongue in and out. Kyle was leaning against the wall of the shower as Rob worked his ass. Kyle moaned, “shit, fuck me.” Rob stood and aimed his aching cock at Kyle’s hole, he slowly pushed in as Kyle let out more moans and groans. Rob held Kyle’s hips as he picked up speed, Kyle was stroking his own cock in sync with Rob’s thrusts. Before long, both Rob and Kyle let out a loud grunt, Kyle spilled his seed all over the shower wall, Rob pulled out and covered Kyle’s ass with his jizz. Kyle turned to Rob, and they shared another deep kiss. Chuck smiled, “that was great guys, we got lots of tips. The viewers seem to like the new guy, I’m glad you have decided to cooperate.”

***

Blake and I were going to the bars and clubs that Cory had told me, he and Rod frequented. The first three had not seen Rob since the last time he was there with Cory, weeks ago.

I said, “well, this is last place on the list, let’s hope someone remembers Rob, I don’t know where to turn next if we don’t get a solid lead soon.”

Blake said, “someone has to have seen this guy, he just didn’t drop off the face of the earth.”

We walked into the Pink Parrot, the bartender was leaning over the sink washing some glasses, he looked up and smiled, “hey guys, what can I get you?” The place only had one customer sitting at the end of the bar, not surprising for 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon.

We showed the bartender our badges, I said, “we are just looking for a little information.”

He stood, wiped his hands on his apron and said, “sure thing officer, what can I do for you?”

I showed him the picture of Rob, and asked, “have you seen this guy in the last couple of days?”

He nodded, “sure, Rob was in here two nights ago, he and Cory come here all the time. I was a little surprised Cory wasn’t with him that night.”

I asked, “was he alone? I’m sorry, but can I ask your name?”

He said, “yeah, I’m Adam, detective…?”

I apologized again, “sorry, Ridgeway and this is detective Robbins.”

He handed the picture back to me, “yes, he was alone at first.”

Blake asked, “what do you mean, at first.”

Adam said, “yeah, he came in alone and ordered his usual, a gin and tonic. A red head that I don’t remember seeing before came in and sat next to Rob and they started talking. I was waiting on the rest of the bar and didn’t hear everything they talked about, but I did pick up that Rob and Cory had a fight and Rob needed to chill for a bit.”

I asked, “what did the red head say?”

Adam shrugged, “like I said, I was kind of busy, I didn’t hear everything. I just know after a couple of drinks they looked pretty chummy, and they left together.”

Blake and I looked at each other, I said, “is there anything else you remember about that night.”

Adam shook his head, “nothing out of the ordinary. Look, I learned a long time ago not to get too involved in my customer’s affairs. I see a lot of people come in here with their partners for weeks in a row, and then the next time they are with a different person. I don’t ask questions and I just keep my mouth shut. I wish I could tell you more det3ective. Is Rob, ok?”

Blake said, “we just need to talk to him, routine stuff. Do you think you could describe the red head to one of our sketch artists?”

Adam nodded, “yeah, I think so. Shit, it was Dave.”

I asked, “what? Who’s Dave?”

Adam said, “I just remembered, the red head, Rob called him Dave.”

Blake asked, “did you hear Dave’s last name?”

Adam shook his head, “sorry, no. Hell, I don’t even know Rob’s last name. Like I said, I just serve them drinks, I don’t ask a lot of questions.”

I wrote down the information that Adam gave us and gave him my card, “thanks Adam, if you think of anything else, please let me know. Blake or I will call you later today to set up an appointment with our sketch artist. You’ve been very helpful, thank you again.”

Adam shoved my card into his shirt pocket as Blake and I left the bar.

Blake asked, “what do you think?”

I said, “I think we need to talk to Dave.”

We spent the next couple of hours at Rob’s work talking to his coworkers, none of them had any new information. We went back to the police station, Blake and I set up a time for our sketch artist to meet with Adam. I stopped at the captain’s office and updated him on what Blake, and I had found out, after a quick stop at my office, I headed home.

I walked in the door and after my kisses from Lucy, I got a kiss from Lucas as he handed me a rum and Coke.

I gave him a kiss back and said, “thank you, I really need this.”

He asked, “what’s the matter, did my Drake have a rough day?”

We fixed another drink and sat on the couch as I told Lucas about the case that Blake and I started today. I, of course, left out details and just talked in general terms. He gave me a massage and we took a shower then ordered a pizza to be delivered, neither of us felt like cooking.

The next morning, I went to the office early again to work on the Wilcox case. I was walking past one of the interview rooms to get to my office.

I paused when I heard another detective ask, “so Mrs. Morris, when was the last time you talked to your son, Joey?”

 

To be continued…