Page 21 of The Debt

Chapter 13

He arrived home around midnight. The place was quiet as everyone was obviously asleep. As he passed by Mira’s door, he was tempted to check on her to see if she’d calmed down from this morning. On second thoughts he bypassed her room. He was tired and needed sleep above anything else.

After a short shower he was in bed. As usual every time he turned out the lights, he’d recall his childhood at the orphanage he grew up in and the night calls for lights out. He had hated the dark and would not be able to go to sleep until he was too tired to watch for monsters who would crawl out from under the bed.

The other boys would tease him about his fear of the dark and he would get into fights. Whenever this happened, Sister Hannah would lock him inside the closet without supper. Inside the tiny space would be dark and damp, filled with bugs that would burrow into his skin.

Vasco recalled that he wasn’t really an orphan when he arrived at the orphanage. He was abandoned by a mother who could barely manage to feed her kid and a father whose idea of a good time was to get drunk and beat his woman and son. He had no idea what became of his father, but he knew his mother died a few years after she dropped him off in front of the that huge white building that became his home for the next few years.

These memories surfaced every single night that he lay down to sleep. No matter how drained he was or how drunk, he’d recalled the late night she left him on those orphanage steps and the years that followed. Years of torture and bullying. Then one night when he was thirteen, it got all too much and he busted out of the place.

Even as Vasco drifted off to sleep the monsters crawled out from the darkness, clawing at him. He wasn’t afraid of the monsters now. In fact, he was unable to sleep without them. The dark was now the only place he felt comfortable enough to relax. It was the only place he could truly be who he was.

Hours later he would awaken in a pool of sweat even though it was the beginning of fall and the winds were turning chilly. The dim light of early dawn streamed into the bedroom through the slits in the curtain. He turned and opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. Checking the clock on the bed stand, he saw that it was 5:37.

Pushing back the covers, he stood, slipped into his robe and bed slippers. As he left the bedroom he secured the strings of the robe at his waist. He had an early meeting, therefore he needed to speak with Mira before he left. When he reached her door, he knocked. He was about to open the door when he recalled how she snapped at him the other day for entering without waiting for her consent.

He knocked again and waited, but there was no answer. Growing impatient, he grasped the knob, turned and pushed, then stepped into the room. Vasco stood transfixed, staring at the neatly made bed and empty room. Vasco checked the bathroom. She wasn’t there. For a moment he wondered where she’d gone off to this early at the break of dawn.

Moving to the window, he winced at the gaping hole where she had tossed a chair. Glancing down at the terrace he noted that she wasn’t there. Neither was she in the swimming pool. The only other place she would be was in his study messing with his books. If there was anything he knew she loved it was reading, and would become frustrated whenever he prevented her from touching the books in his study.

Leaving Mira’s bedroom, Vasco descended the stairs and headed straight for his study, expecting to find her there. He was ready with a scolding when he pushed the door and found the room dark and empty of human life. It was then that he realized that perhaps she was not in the house.

Hurrying from the study he went through the kitchen where the cook was preparing breakfast. He bypassed and entered a room situation just off the pantry where the men who guarded the house and his chauffer would hang out. He found Randy there. The chauffer was not there.

“Where is Simes?” he demanded. “And what the fuck happened yesterday that you didn’t update me?”

“Boss, some kid stole my phone and wallet.”

“You idiot, how could you let some kid rob you? Were you not packing?”

“He swiped me and he was gone by the time I realized it.”

Vasco was almost amused if he wasn’t so worried about Mira. “You got pickpocketed?”

“Yes Boss.”

He wanted the subject closed in order to focus on where Mira could be, so he dropped it and asked about the chauffeur again. “Where is Simes?”

“He’s in the garage fixing something on the car, Boss.”

Without further delay, Vasco went in search of Simes. He found him tinkering in the hood of the car Vasco was supposed to be using that morning. His personal driver was nowhere to be found. Simes was Mira’s designated chauffeur and this car was not his charge.

“What’re you doing?”

“Barry asked me to check out what’s making a weird sound.”

Vasco nodded, recalling hearing it last night. What he should have done was call the mechanic, but Simes was a wannabe mechanic who often did a pretty good job of keeping the vehicles running. Sime’s dark jacket was discarded and the sleeves of his crisp white shite rolled up his forearm. Only his fingertip showed any signs that he was working on a greasy engine.

“Where is Mira?” he asked.

“I haven’t seen her boss.”

“You’re her driver, what d’you mean you haven’t seen her?”

Simes set down a wrench he had in his hand and picked up a white rag which was on the hood of the other car. He wiped his hands and turned to face Vasco.

“Haven’t seen her since yesterday morning. She called herself a cab and left, saying she would be fine. I thought you knew.”

Vasco doubled his fist at his side at the realization that Mira hadn’t returned home since leaving the previous morning. There could only be one person responsible and that was Archer Dunbar. He was the reason she was acting all brave and mighty. How he influenced her to act out of character was foreign to Vasco.

“Get the other car ready,” he ordered. “We leave in twenty minutes.”

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