Cheyenne Sat quietly in the window as the snow glistened the ground remembering the day this all started........
The year is 1972 Cheyenne and Hank Thompson pulled their car up in front of what appeared to be a normal looking house set in a quiet neighborhood, they were not prepared for what was waiting for them on the other side of the door. An elderly lady dressed in a long black dress, black shoes, and her gray hair up in a bun greeted them. She looks like she should be in a horror flick Cheyenne thought to herself as she shook the woman’s hand.
"Come in please "the woman spoke in almost a whisper.
Cheyenne wore a mid calf straight white skirt, a matching white cropped jacket, a light blue blouse, revealing her hour glass shape, She wore white heels, Her blonde hair worn up in a bun on top of her head, She looked at her husband Hank hesitantly as they entered the house.
"Please follow me Mrs. Harrelson is waiting for you in the den Mr. and Mrs. Thompson." she said turning to lead them down the hall way.
"How did you know our last name?" Cheyenne asked since they had not told her who they were.
The woman turned towards Cheyenne with a humble smile. "You are the only appointment for today my dear, so I just assumed it was you at the door," she continued to walk down the hall slowly.
"Oh." Cheyenne replied as she looked at the family’s portraits hanging on the wall.
Hank a quiet man was observing their surroundings and the fact that all of the drapes were pulled shut prohibiting sunlight from entering the house. He unbuttoned the top button of his white dress shirt, he smoothed out his black dress slacks, wishing he could take off the gray jacket as he walked down the hall way, his black dress shoes could use a good shining, but he didn’t have time since he woke up late this morning. God this place is depressing, he thought to himself as he smoothed his short graying hair.
The woman opened the door to the den where a young frail looking woman sat behind a large red oak desk with just a small gold desk lamp lighting the room.
"Your appointment is here Mrs. Harrelson." The woman informed the other woman.
Cheyenne noticed how beautiful the woman was with her long red hair hanging loosely to her waist, her eyes were an Icy blue, Cheyenne noticed that with her pale white skin, the red lipstick complimented the emerald green dress she wore. Her eyes held a sadness that grabbed Cheyenne’s heart when she looked into them with her own dark brown eyes.
"Thank you for coming to see me, the sun light gives me intolerable migraines in case you’re wondering why I keep my house so dark." The woman said as she rose from the huge brown leather chair behind the desk.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Harrelson." Hank said shaking her hand.
"Please sit down." Mrs. Harrelson told them pointing to the two brown chairs in front of the desk.
"I want to hire you to find out what my husband is up to. You see our bank accounts are missing money , he stays away for days at a time, he says it is business, but I feel it is something more than that. I do not believe he is seeing another woman, but he has to be up to something that could cause harm to everyone around him." Mrs. Harrelson’s voice stayed very calm and even toned as she spoke.
"Do you have any idea as to what it could be that he is doing?" Hank asked as he sat back in his chair.
"Young women seem to disappear during the times he is gone, I can give you the dates when he has been away to help you find out if he is the one behind these women’s disappearances." Her eyes began to tear up as she spoke.
"You mean the rash of women that have vanished from parking lots in the last six months?" Cheyenne asked as she looked at Hank with a confused expression on her face.
"Yes." Her tears streaked her face as she looked down at the top of her desk.
"Why didn’t you just call the police?" Cheyenne asked as she crossed her leg’s, she could tell the woman was in severe pain, was it from her migraines or the thought that her husband had something to do with six women disappearing without a trace of them anywhere.
"The police would have questioned him and he would have known that it was me. I don’t want him knowing any of this if it’s not him." her eyes were wide as she spoke." Here is a note book of the dates when he left, where he was supposed to have been at on those dates. The rest you will have to find out your selves, I am willing to pay you one thousand a day that should cover any expenses and then five thousand when you know if it’s him or not." She told them as she ran her hand over her forehead to help ease the pain of her migraine.
Hank cleared his voice as he looked at the woman." We can start tomorrow if that is soon enough for you?" he stood up looking around the richly decorated den.
"Yes and thank you." She told them rising up from the desk." you will keep me informed on a daily basis correct?" she smiled at them as she held her hand out to shake theirs.
"Yes at the end of each day around six o’clock and no later then ten o’clock one of us will call you." Cheyenne told her straightening out her skirt as she rose from the chair.
Hank and Cheyenne entered the hall way and they were met by the gray haired woman." I will show you out." She told them as she showed them to the front door.
Man she is creepy, Cheyenne thought to her self as she followed behind the woman. Cheyenne could not wait to be in their car for she felt something would jump out at them from behind a door as they walked by.
Once inside of the car Cheyenne was relieved to be away from the eerie little old woman." Do you think she might be right?" she asked her husband as they drove slowly down the road.
Hank was looking at the houses around them. "I don’t know, but we were hired to find out and that’s what we will do." He said as he turned the car on to Federal highway.
"They have money that’s for sure; you aren’t middle class living off Bay Shore drive." Cheyenne said as she thumbed through the note book.
At the office Cheyenne thought how Mrs. Harrelson’s den made the office look drab with the white walls, the two brown desk and one window that Cheyenne could look out to see cars traveling down Federal high way. Cheyenne looked at the gray filing cabinets that held the clients they had acquired since they opened a year ago.
We will have a view of the ocean one day, she thought to herself.
Hank checked out the hotels that Fredrick Harrelson was suppose to stay at during the last six month’s while Cheyenne through some of the old news papers still in their office on a table in the corner. She looked through the news archives to see if the dates matched with the dates the women who had disappeared off the face of the earth.
"Hey babe one thing they all had in common they were single, in their forties, and had brown hair, they were all very beautiful." Cheyenne told him as she read each story." Cheyenne noticed all the women had disappeared in the afternoon. " well we know he strikes in the afternoon."
"Or she." Hank said looking up from the note book.
"Or what she?" Cheyenne asked looking at her husband puzzled by what he said.
"It could be a she, we don’t know if this guy is connected in any way to these women disappearing Cheyenne." He told her never looking up from the note book. "I guess I should fly out to Colorado since that was the first trip he made six months ago right at the time when the first disappearance occurred, maybe I can find out something on this guy." He told Cheyenne as he picked up the phone.
Cheyenne looked at the photo of Fredrick Harrelson that his wife had also supplied in the note book. He looked very handsome with chiseled features, slightly graying hair and not one hair out of place; he was fifty years old, married to his wife who was only thirty six years old, His eyes were almost black as coal, she felt like he was watching her through those eyes of the picture. These people remind me of the old horror movies with Bella Lugosi. She thought to herself as a shiver went through her body.
Hank interrupted her thoughts. "I leave Ft. Lauderdale at seven o’clock in the morning." Hank told his wife as he came up behind her as she sat working on the case he kissed her lightly on top of her head.
She swirled around in her chair. "How long do you think you will be gone?" she asked.
"I will try to come back home just as fast as I can." He knew how much she hated being alone in the house. "Ralph will be there with you to keep you company." He told her as he smiled trying to reassure her.
"Now you’re a comedian, Ralph is the only German Shepard who is scared of his own shadow." She said with a smile thinking of their big bad dog who would give them away to a burglar as long as they did not hurt him or take his food.
"You can come with me." He said smiling down at her.
"No way am I getting on a plane! Besides I need to do my research here, I just need to figure out how to talk with the Detectives with out giving away our client." Cheyenne said as she looked at her husband with a puzzled look hoping he would have the answer.