The bartender doubled as the referee and entered the ring. He announced the contenders without much ceremony. “Tonight’s match is between Felicia the Fearless,” he said, pointing at the blond, “And Badass Brenda.”
The dark-haired girl with black eye makeup pivoted in a full circle and waved. The bartender held up a small cow bell, gave it ring, then quickly stepped out of the way.
The girls circled each other for a moment, then Felicia lurched forward and smashed her bare fist into the side of Brenda’s face. The blow glanced off as Brenda pulled away. Rudker’s pulse began to accelerate. After a few wild swings, Brenda connected with Felicia’s nose in an audible smack. Blood trickled down onto the girl’s pale lips. Rudker felt himself get hard.
Then the girls got with it, raining blows on each other with an unexpected ferocity. Brenda went down, and Felicia jumped on her, pummeling her in the face and chest. Rudker realized he’d been holding his breath and gulped for air.
He wanted to be in there, swinging away, fists crashing into tender flesh. Girls, guys, it didn’t matter. It was all about release. But his executive position in a conservative industry didn’t allow him to live that close to the edge. Showing up for work with a black eye and a fat lip could derail his career. He had not fought with anyone in years. The other night in the parking lot didn’t count. That skirmish had been unexpected and accidental.
The fight only had three rounds, each five minutes long. At the end, the audience voted for a winner with applause, and Felicia was the clear favorite. Brenda gave them all the finger and stormed out. Felicia circled the ring twice, arms raised in victory, blood running from her face, then left the room. Rudker wished it had lasted longer, but still, it was the best seventeen minutes he’d spent in a long time.
Chapter 10
Thursday, April 15th, 7:59 am
Sula went through the same routine morning she’d carried out the day before, only today, she felt more panicked. First she called Warner’s extension and got no answer, then she called Steve Peterson, who still had not seen or heard from the doctor. She called Warner’s cell and home numbers. No answer and no room left to leave a message. Something was definitely wrong, and it was time to call the police. Still, she hesitated. Once the cops got involved, it might be impossible to search Warner’s office for the suicide data.
Sula was angry with herself for not doing it yesterday afternoon. She had thought about it obsessively, even formulating several plans. One had involved stealing the master keys to the R amp;D building from Bob Wurtzer, the building maintenance guy. She had immediately rejected the idea as insane. It had occurred to her Marcy had keys to all the offices because she was the one who gave people keys when they were hired. Sula had tried to come up with a workable plan for borrowing Marcy’s keys, but both ideas were so out of character for her mode of thinking and acting that she had become paralyzed with fear.
Now it was too late. Her priority had to be about Warner herself. The doctor was clearly missing. Sula took the elevator up one level to the human resource office on the third floor. She checked her watch: 8:27.
Serena’s first words were, “Have you heard anything about Diane Warner?”
“She’s not in again today. Is Marcy in her office?”
“Yep. Go on in. I think she’s expecting you.”
Marcy was on the phone, so Sula waited in the doorway. Marcy signaled her to sit. The HR director was listening intently to someone on the phone. Her legs were crossed and the one on top swung impatiently. Finally she said, “You will try to reach him, though?”
A pause.
“Thanks. Give him my number please.” Marcy hung up and turned to Sula.
“Diane’s son Jeff works for Doctors without Borders. Right now, he’s in a remote village in Somalia. That was his answering service. They said they would try to track him down and give him my number. I didn’t tell them his mother was missing, because we don’t know that for sure yet.”
“She isn’t here again this morning. I think we should call the police.” Sula sounded more confident than she felt.
“Did you try her house?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Marcy heaved a big sigh. “I’m supposed to fly to Seattle today for meetings with JB’s human resource department.”
“I’ll help in any way I can.” For a second, Sula was tempted to suggest that Marcy let her check out Dr. Warner’s office, but she chickened out.
Marcy grabbed a phone book and looked up the non-emergency number for the Eugene police department. Sula stood to leave.
“Please stay,” Marcy pleaded.
Sula sat back down. While Marcy explained the situation to someone at the police department, Sula casually looked around the office for where the director might keep her set of master keys. A desk drawer was the most likely spot, but maybe a filing cabinet. Sula noticed a set of dark brown luggage leaned against one wall. Marcy was traveling; she would be gone later today. Sula suddenly realized that the woman was talking to her.
“When you went to her house, did you notice if her car was there?” Marcy held her hand over the phone as she talked.
“I didn’t see it, but it could have been in the garage.”
Marcy relayed the information, then listened for a minute. “I’ll send her in right away.”
A wave of panic passed through Sula’s chest. Marcy hung up and announced, “They want you to come in and fill out a report.”
“Why me?”
“Because you noticed she was missing. You went to her house.”
Sula’s hands instinctively went to her stomach, so she could feel her breathing at work. She could do this. “Should I go now? ”
“Yes. Officer Rice is expecting you. Thanks, Sula. I appreciate all your help in this matter.” Marcy looked relieved.
“How long will you be gone?”
“Only two days. I’ll give you my cell phone number, and I want you to call me with any updates.” The HR director jotted down her number on a yellow sticky and passed it to Sula.
She sucked in her breath for nerve, then blurted out, “What if the police want to search Dr. Warner’s office?”
Marcy tapped her desk. “Bob can let them in. He has masters to everything.”
“Okay. I’ll go down to the police station now. Have a good flight.” Sula turned to leave.
“Wait. Bob is so hard to track down sometimes. I’d better give you the key.” Marcy opened her desk drawer and took out a small key, then used it to open the main filing cabinet behind her desk. Sula held her breath. She kept expecting the woman to change her mind again, but Marcy extracted a gold-colored key from a large ring and handed it to her
“Keep me posted. Oh, and please let Mr. Rudker know what’s going on. He’s been in Seattle, but he should be back this evening.” Marcy gave a small laugh. “We’ll probably pass each other in the air.”
“I’ll go see him in the morning.” Sula squeezed the key in her hand. Not a chance in hell she would walk into Rudker’s office voluntarily. She gave Marcy a small wave and left.
She could not believe her luck. She wanted to run directly to the R amp;D building and begin her search, but she had to talk to the police first. After that, Marcy would be gone, and she would have a perfect opportunity. She stopped in her office for her sweater and her purse, then headed out to the parking lot. As she drove downtown, she felt guilty about how little work she’d accomplished in the past few days. Warner’s disappearance had thrown everything out of whack.
The Eugene police department shared a building with the city court and city council. The white-brick structure formed an L-shape around a large round fountain and took up an entire block. Sula got lucky again and found a parking spot right across the street. She locked the Dakota and headed up the wide stairs. The department’s entrance was a small dark lobby with two chairs. A deck officer sat behind a plexi-glass window with a speaker mounted in the middle. Sula stated her name and business and said Officer Rice was expecting her. The desk officer made a call. Sula couldn’t hear the conversation, but in a few minutes, a solid metal door to the right opened and a woman with cropped blond hair stepped out into the lobby. She held the door open with her body.