Missing in Miami

Chapter 2

Rob Wilcox

Rob walked into the Pink Parrot Bar, he had just had a fight with his boyfriend and needed a drink to cool off. He walked to the bar and ordered a gin and tonic, the bartender smiled as he sat the drink in front of him. He took the first sip as he thought about the fight he had with his boyfriend, Cory. How could Cory think that he was cheating? Rob had never even thought about being with another guy since he and Cory started dating a year ago. Why didn’t Cory trust him?

Rob finished his drink and ordered a second one, he wasn’t ready to go home and face Cory just yet.

Rob Wilcox and Cory Black were both 22 and had just finished college 4 months ago and had just started their new jobs and moved into their first apartment. Rob worked as an IT Specialist at a large insurance company. Rob was about 5’10” with an average build, brown hair, and eyes, he wasn’t a super model, but he certainly wasn’t unattractive. Cory did find him very good looking. Cory was the one that made the first move when they met at a party in college. Cory was about the same height and build as Rob but had lighter hair and green eyes. Rob always joked that he was dating out of his league when he and Cory first got together, Cory assured him that they were in the same league. Cory was working as a web designer at an advertising agency.

When the bartender set the second drink in front of Rob, a cute redhead sat on the next bar stool. He ordered a beer and smiled at Rob.

Rob smiled back, “hey, how’s it going?”

The redhead smiled back, “hey, I’m Dave, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.

Rob shook the guy’s hand and said, “Rob, good to meet you too.”

Two more drinks and Rob and Dave were walking back to Dave’s place.

They walked inside Dave’s apartment and were kissing before the door was even closed. Rob thought, “if Cory wants to be jealous, I’ll just give him something to be jealous about.” They started tearing each other’s clothes off and were laying on the couch naked, kissing and rubbing their hard dicks together. Their precum was being spread all over each other. Rob stood and lay back down on the couch with his face near Dave’s erection, they took each other’s cocks in their mouths. Once Rob had Dave good and worked up, Dave stood and turned Rob onto his stomach and started to give him a wet sloppy rim job. Rob moaning and pushing his ass into the air to give Dave better access to his hole. Once the hole was good and wet, Dave positioned his cock at Rob’s pink pucker. He slowly pushed in and the two soon got into a steady rhythm, Dave kissing Rob on the back of his neck. The two new friends continued kissing and fucking for another hour, until Rob was past the point of no return. He pulled Dave in tight and gave his dick one last stroke and shot his hot sticky cum all over his heaving chest and stomach. Dave was soon releasing his own load on Rob’s already cum covered torso. Dave fell on top of Rob as they kissed and smeared their mixture of cum between their chests.

Dave grabbed a couple of towels from the bathroom, they cleaned up and sat naked on the couch talking. Dave asked, “how about another drink? You were drinking gin and tonic, right?”

Rob thought about Cory for a second, he still wasn’t quite ready to go home. He said, “sure, sounds good.”

Dave came back and handed him the glass and sat back on the couch, Dave had another beer. They clinked their glasses, and each took a drink. Rob swallowed and thought his drink tasted a little off, he looked at his glass and saw what looked like some particles floating in the bottom. He set his glass down and asked, “is there something in my glass?” He looked at Dave as his vision started to blur, Dave stood and laid Rob back and put his legs up on the couch. Rob’s eyelids were suddenly heavy, and everything went black.

***

By the time I told Lucas what had happened in court that day, we had finished eating and had started to do the dishes. Lucy was lying on her rug next to the fridge watching us wash, dry, and put our dishes away, she had already finished eating the piece of lasagna that I had given her.

I laughed, “guess what I called Slocum today when I was on the stand.”

He laughed when I told him, we headed to the living room to relax on the couch and watch some tv. Lucy joined us as I laid my head on Lucas’s shoulder, and she laid her head on my lap. Lucas told me about his day and that his parents invited us to their house for dinner on Saturday night. I got along well with Larry and Jane Mills, they treated me as part of the family from the first time Lucas introduced me to them. His sister, Heather, and her husband Joe were just as welcoming. I was in awe that a real family acted this way, it was something that I had never witnessed before. As an added bonus, Heather’s boys, Nate and Jake, called me Uncle Ridge, I never thought I would be an uncle. As I lay there listening to Lucas’s heartbeat, I was still wondering what I did to deserve this. After we both dozed off for bit, we decided to get up and go to bed. We snuggled against each other, and Lucy took her spot at the bottom of the bed, we all drifted off to sleep.

 I was pouring Lucas a cup of coffee the next morning as he walked into the kitchen, he gave me a gentle kiss.

He said, “good morning, Drake.”

I kissed him back, “good morning to you too, Lucas.” Lucas was the only one who called me Drake, and it still gave me a warm feeling every time he said my name. Everyone else called me Ridge and for some reason, I hated it when anyone else called me Drake, that was a privilege reserved only for Lucas. Well, Lucas and his mom, she was the only other person that I allowed to use my first name.

He asked, “do you have court again today?”

I shook my head, “no, they are just going to present physical evidence today, the shopping center surveillance footage, Farmer’s fingerprints on the duct tape, that sort of thing. I’ll be stuck doing paperwork in my office, captain wants me to be available in case they need to recall me for any reason.”

Lucus knew how much I hated being stuck in the office, he gave me smile, “I’m sorry, maybe as soon as the trial is over the captain will give you another case to get you out of the office.”

We let Lucy out and after she did her business, we filled our to-go cups with coffee, kissed each other goodbye, and headed off to work.

I sighed as I sat at my desk and started to go through the pile of papers that needed to be addressed. I got through the first few pages and paused to look at the wall across from my desk. When I first started working missing persons cases, I would put a picture of the victim on that wall. I divided the wall with a piece of tape and now had dozens of pictures on the solved side and just five on the unsolved. All of the solved cases weren’t happy endings, they only were solved after we found the body, but at least we arrested the person responsible. I stood to stretch my legs and looked at the five unsolved pictures.

Cassey Reynolds, 28, disappeared 6 months ago. She was reported missing by her coworkers after not being at work for three days. Her husband had no idea she was missing, I still think he is involved, he acts indifferent to the whole situation and has already remarried and has a kid on the way with the new wife. Next week I will pay him my monthly visit just to remind him that I am still watching him.

Tyler Pearson, 18 years old, never came home from school a year ago. He didn’t have a great home life, an absent father, mother had a revolving door of boyfriends. I could certainly relate to this kid. I was sure that he just took off on his own. It’s been over a month since I had my last lead.

Chad Williams, 22 and Kayla Harris, 21, went missing 2 years ago. They had been dating for two years and went camping for the weekend and never returned home. We found their car in a hotel parking lot, not at the campgrounds where we would have expected. We did a thorough search of the campground and the hotel with no luck. Several people remembered seeing them setting up their tent, but no one saw them at the hotel. The car was parked in the only area of the hotel parking lot without a surveillance camera. I have had no leads in over a year.

Joann Chandler, 52, has been missing for 5 years. She moved to Miami 8 years ago after a divorce from her husband of 20 years. The husband and daughter both still lived on the west coast and the daughter called us after not hearing from her for two weeks. The husband hasn’t left California in over ten years, their divorce was amicable, and he was clearly upset about his ex-wife being missing when we talked to him. Her coworkers hadn’t noticed her acting any differently and she seemed happy. Her apartment and car were in perfect order, only her purse and cell phone were missing. I have never had any real leads to follow up on, I have no idea where to look next on this one.

I went back to work on the pile of papers until about 4 that afternoon. I waved at the captain as I headed out of the office. I met Bill Taylor as I was walking to my car, he told me that he would be giving his closing statement in the morning, and he thought they would turn the case over to the jury before noon. He would let me know how things turned out. I stopped at the grocery store and picked up two ribeye steaks and the ingredients for a salad. It was my turn to spoil Lucas tonight. Lucy and I went through our usual greeting, and I let her out into the back yard while I changed into a pair of shorts and t-shirt.  I prepped the salad and put the potatoes in the oven to bake. Lucas would be home in about a half hour, I made myself a rum and Coke and went out to light the grill for the steaks. Lucy and I played fetch until about five minutes before Lucas was to be home, I went in and made him a drink. I met him at the door and handed him his drink right after I gave him a kiss.

He smiled, “wow, thanks, how was your day?”

I sighed, “boring as hell, how about yours?”

He shrugged, “the same as always.” He noticed the oven was on and smirked, “are you cooking dinner tonight?”

I said, “yep, baked potatoes in the oven, salad in the fridge, the coals should just about be ready on the grill, I’ll slap the steaks on while you change. Should be ready to eat in about 20 minutes.”

He gave me another kiss, “sounds wonderful, I’ll be right back.”

***

Rob Wilcox woke up and tried to clear his groggy head. He looked around, he was in a room he didn’t recognize, lying on a bed in only his underwear. He remembered the fight he had with Cory last night and meeting Dave at the bar and going back to his place, the rest of the night was a complete blank. He heard the door open, and someone say, “hey, he’s awake.”

Rob tried to move, tried to talk, but couldn’t. An older man he had never seen before walked in the room and put his hand under his chin, and said, “just be a good boy, we are going to have a little fun.” Two other guys about Rob’s age walked into the room and got undressed and pulled Rob’s underwear off. Rob was trying to get away, but his body was not cooperating. They were soon on the bed with Rob and started to kiss and caress him. Before he could protest any further a hard cock was forced into Rob’s mouth and the other guy pushed Rob’s legs up as he started to rim him. He only quit licking Rob’s ass when he moved and up and started to fuck him. Rob had no idea how long this went on, the two guys took turns fucking his ass and feeding him their cocks in several different positions. Finally, the two guys turned Rob on his back and moved up and each shot their loads across his face. Rob just lay there motionless as one of the guys wiped the cum from his face and they turned to walk out of the room. He tried to look around the room again. Rob saw the older man moving around, was he taking down a camera and a tripod? He blacked out once again.

***

I was back at the office the next morning still facing the pile of papers on my desk. I sighed as I started back in, right where I left off the day before. By mid-morning, Bill Taylor had texted me that the jury was deliberating, and he would let me know when they were back. It wasn’t an hour later when he called and told me they had reached a verdict. I told the captain I was heading to the courthouse to hear the verdict and walked into the courtroom right before the bailiff announced the judge entering. I took a seat next to Halley Thomas and her parents.

A few minutes later, the jury foreman announced, “guilty on all charges” and Halley and her mother burst in tears as they hugged. Mr. Thomas turned to me and shook my hand then back his to wife and daughter and joined their hug. Mr. Farmer was led away, the judge thanked and dismissed the jury and closed the case. The rest of the girls and their families swarmed Halley and her parents, exchanging hugs and congratulations. Once we were in the hall, Halley gave me and Bill a hug and then left the courthouse, hopefully she is able to put this whole ordeal behind her.

Bill and I chatted as we watched that little weasel Slocum slink out of the courthouse through the back door. We gave each other a satisfied smile as we both went back to our offices. Captain glanced up from his desk as I walked by, “how did it go?”

I gave him a thumbs up, “guilty on all charges.”

I was standing at the captain’s door, filling him in on all the details when Howard Banks walked by. He has been on the squad about 7 or 8 years longer than I have and had lost all of his compassion somewhere along the way.

He rolled his eyes, “if you’re done with that case maybe you want the one that just walked into interview room 2.”

Captain asked, “why, what’s going on?”

Banks said, “the happy couple has a fight, the boyfriend storms out and hasn’t been heard from since. I know the boyfriend is just somewhere sleeping off a bender, I ain’t got time for no damn lover’s spat.”

I looked to the captain, he nodded, “go ahead, see what’s going on.”

Banks threw up his hands, “good, it’s all yours Ridge.”

I went to my office and grabbed a note pad and headed to interview room 2. I was expecting to find a girlfriend when I walked in the door. I was surprised to see a nice-looking guy in his early twenties with a worried look on his face. He had light brown hair and beautiful green eyes, it was clear that he had been crying and I am sure Banks didn’t give him any comfort. I set my notepad on the table and walked around and held my hand out.

“I’m detective Ridgeway, can you tell me what’s going on?”

He glared up at me, “what happened to detective Personality?” He gave me a weak handshake.

I smiled slightly, “he’s got another case to work on, I’ll be helping you today.”

He looked me over for a minute, “are you sure you want to help a couple of queers?”

I took the chair across the table from him, “yes, I am sure. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to my boyfriend, Lucas.”

His eyes went wide as he stared at me, he said, “you mean you are…?”

I nodded, “yes, Lucas and I have been together for ten years, can we start with your name?”

He seemed to relax a little bit, he said, “yeah, um, I’m Cory Black. My boyfriend Rob and I had a fight and he left to cool off and I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”

I asked, “what’s Rob’s last name?”

He answered, “Wilcox, Rob Wilcox.”

“And when was the last time you saw or heard from Rob?”

Cory said, “two nights ago. After we fought, he left, and I didn’t stop him. I figured we both needed a little time alone. I thought he would be home later and when I woke the next morning, he still wasn’t home so I went to work and assumed he would come home after work. When he wasn’t home, I called some of his coworkers and they said he wasn’t at work all day. I called some of his friends and no one has heard from him. So, I left work early to come here.”

I asked, “why didn’t you come here yesterday?”

He said, “well I know you guys can’t do anything until someone has been missing for 24 hours, so I had to wait until this morning to report it.”

God, I hate that, all those damn cop shows on TV say the police can’t do anything until 24 hours, that is not true. If people only understood that the sooner we can start our investigation, the better.

I made a few notes and asked, “do you know where Rob might have gone, is there a friend he might have stayed with?”

Cory shook his head, “no, I have already called everyone I can think of.”

I asked, “what about family?”

He paused for a moment, “I’ve never met any of his family. Um, Rob hasn’t told his family that he is… well, he hasn’t told them about me.”

I said, “ok, so do have a name or phone number I can call to talk to them?”

Cory asked, “do you really have to tell them about us, I mean according to Rob, they may not take the news too well.”

I put my pen down, “Cory, right now, the most important thing is to find Rob, I am going to talk to anyone and everyone that I need to in order to do that. His private life is completely irrelevant, and if you two are adult enough to be in a serious relationship, don’t you think it’s time to tell your families?”

He nodded, “yes, it is. My family knows about us, Rob was worried about what his parents would say, and I was just trying to be supportive.”

I said, “I understand that, but maybe Rob went to stay with his parents while he collected his thoughts. I need to talk to them, if the subject doesn’t come up, I won’t tell them anything they don’t ask about.”

Cory pulled a phone from his pocket, “this is Rob’s, he left it when he took off. It’s not password protected, so you should find all of his contacts in there.”

I took the phone, “thank you, here is my card with my cell number, you can call me anytime. Are there any bars or clubs that you guys frequent, that Rob may have gone to?”

Cory gave me a list of four places that they liked to go, and I jotted them down on my pad. We talked about anywhere else Rob might have gone.

Cory shook my hand and thanked me as I walked him to the door, I said, “I will call you as soon as I have any information.”

I went to my office and pinned the picture of Rob, that Cory had given me, to the wall on the unsolved side.

 

To be continued…