The Wolf Code

“I do.  So, what was the final straw that led to Addie’s termination?”

“She was stealing,” Mark said, looking decidedly uncomfortable.  “You know, medication.  She was stealing from the pharmacy, and that’s something they just can’t let go.”

“I understand.  I don’t blame them.  They can’t really have an addict working and having free-”

“She wasn’t an addict,” Mark said, cutting her off.  “It was for her mother.  Her mother was sick and couldn’t afford all the medicine she needed.”

“I hadn’t heard that.  Her mother made a full recovery then?”

“She did, but it was all thanks to Addie.  After Addie got fired from here, she got herself a good job with great benefits, and she fought to get her mother on her insurance.  It took some time, but once that happened, her mother got better really fast.”

“Is Mabel doing well now?” Senora pressed.

“As far as I know, she’s doing great.  But with Addie gone, she’s probably worried.”

“Why?”

“Mabel needs medicine to stay alive.  She’s got some kind of autoimmune disease, and the medicine she’s on keeps her healthy and pain-free.  If Addie loses this job, Mabel might lose her coverage, and then she’ll be right back where she was a few years ago.  I’m not sure she can survive that again.”

Senora nodded.  It made sense, and maybe Mabel’s illness had been the trigger that had helped Addie turn over a new leaf.  There was nothing as scary as losing a parent young, and it looked like Addie had gone to great lengths to ensure that her mother lived a happy, healthy and full life. 

“I guess I’m just scared that something bad happened to Addie and that Mabel won’t be able to take care of herself.  Addie is a hot mess, but she was a sweet girl, and I wanted to see her succeed.  They deserved to be happy, and I always worried that one day, Addie wouldn’t be pretending to be missing.”

“I understand,” Senora said.  “But it looks like she’s missing for real this time, and I’m worried about her.”

Mark nodded, opening his mouth to say something when the phone started ringing.  He looked at her as if asking her permission to answer it, and she nodded.

“You’ve been helpful, thank you,” she said, leaving as he picked up the phone and waved goodbye to her.

Senora got into the car as the sky turned a welcoming shade of orange, and the sun began to rise in the east.  She was looking in the file folder, shuffling through the papers and looking to see where her next destination was when her own phone rang.

She looked at the caller ID, and her stomach dropped.  There was only one reason for the Sheriff to be calling her this early in the morning.

“Edwards,” she said briskly.

“Miss Edwards, I need you to come down to the wildlife center if you would.”

“Where is it?” she asked.

“I’ll send the address to your phone.  It’s easy to find.  When you get to the giant dinosaurs at the entrance, someone will meet you to bring you to the scene.”

“Is she dead?”

“I wish it were just that,” he said.  “We’ll have to wait for the Medical Examiner to take a look at her, but I’m going to guess that she was alive for most of this.  And it’s not good.”

Senora nodded even though she knew that the Sheriff couldn’t see her.  She’d had a gut feeling almost from the beginning that Addie was gone, but she hadn’t wanted to believe it.  She’d wanted to find Addie, just like she wanted to find every missing person’s case that came across her desk.  But life didn’t work that way, and for every happy story, she had ten sad ones that made her days hard to bear at times. 

Today was going to be one of those times.

She pulled onto the highway and headed toward Fossil Rim, letting the soothing voice of the GPS guide her as the last of the darkness gave way to the most beautiful, brilliant dawn Senora had ever seen.  The drizzle had let up, and the storm had moved on.  This was the kind of day where good things happened to good people.  This was not the kind of day that a family expected to say goodbye to their only daughter.