CHAPTER FOURTEEN C: THE MOTEL OFFICE
The motel stood beside a shuttered miniature golf course where rainwater had collected in the painted mouths of concrete animals.
Mara parked the cooperative van outside the office while Jake waited with Gideon in the passenger area.
They had come because the deputy wanted someone familiar with the community transportation network to help locate the woman Beth had tried to assist.
Nobody expected the motel manager to welcome them.
The manager was a narrow man named Curtis Vale who watched every visitor through a scratched security window.
He refused to discuss guests until the deputy showed his identification.
Then he became abruptly helpful.
He remembered a woman arriving with a young girl and two canvas bags.
He remembered a second woman in a yellow coat bringing groceries and asking about a weekly rate.
He also remembered a man in a red truck coming to the office two days later.
“He said the woman owed his company money,” Curtis explained.
“I told him he couldn’t go knocking on doors without a room number.”
“Did you give him one?” the deputy asked.
Curtis hesitated.
“He already knew the number.”
The deputy asked whether the woman had checked out.
Curtis nodded.
“She left before dawn with the child.”
“Did she leave an address?”
“No.”
The deputy asked to see the registration record.
Curtis brought out a binder and turned to the appropriate page.
The woman’s name was written as Marisol Vega.
The child’s name was not listed.
Jake noticed a small pencil drawing in the margin beside the room number.
It showed a bird standing on an enormous pair of boots.
“Who drew that?” he asked.
Curtis leaned closer.
“The little girl.”
“She was waiting here while her mother paid the bill,” he explained.
“She kept asking whether the birds could walk through puddles without getting wet.
”
Jake looked toward the empty parking spaces.
He imagined a child trying to make sense of a frightening journey by inventing impossible birds.
Mara asked Curtis whether the family had used the motel telephone.
He checked the call records and found one outgoing local number.
It belonged to a laundromat on the east side of town.
The deputy made the call from his own phone.
Nobody answered.
“We’ll go there,” he said.
Gideon remained quiet until they were back in the van.
Then he asked Jake whether he wanted to return to the kitchen.
“You signed up for a paid shift,
” Gideon reminded him.
“You aren’t obligated to spend the day following us.”
Jake considered the question.
“I want to know whether the girl is safe,” he said.
“Then we keep looking,” Gideon answered.
He did not reach for the black phone.
The team was already beside him.
