Romiette and Julio (25 page)

Ben ran to her. “Hey! What’s this?” Ben held up a brown shoe, caked with mud, that was lodged behind a bush.

“It’s Romi’s shoe!” screamed Destiny. “No, it’s my shoe—I loaned it to her. Gee, that seems like so long ago. Oh, Ben, they were here! Do you think they’re in the water? Maybe they drowned. Romi can’t swim, Ben!”

“We’ll find them,” he soothed her. “Now, don’t start crying. I can’t deal with it.”

“Wait! The shoe feels cold and damp! I’m getting psychic vibes!”

“The shoe is talking to you?”

“Yeah. You know I’m psychic, don’t you?”

“That’s what you keep telling people. What does the shoe say? You know it could be just the fact that the shoe was in the mud that it feels cold and damp to you.”

“No, it’s more than that. Let’s go down to the water. I sense fire and water.” Destiny walked down to the edge of the water, the place from where boats were launched.

“When that storm hit, there were lots of lightning strikes, so you might be right. Let’s start walking
around the lake and see if we can spot anything,” Ben suggested. “Shine the flashlight on the water. Do you see anything, Destiny?”

“No, let’s keep walking.” She sighed. “Wait, what’s that?” She pointed to a dark shadow on the surface of the lake.

“Just a tree branch in the water—probably broke off in the storm,” Ben said.

“I’m hungry,” exclaimed Destiny after a few minutes of walking. “That fruit was gone too long ago.”

“I thought you were starting a new diet,” Ben teased her.

“You remember I said that?”

“I remember everything you say, Destiny.”

“Why?”

“No reason. You tired?”

“No, but we’re not going back until we find them,” she said firmly.

“Goes without saying,” agreed Ben. “Let’s keep walking. Let’s use both flashlights. We’ve got to spot something.”

“I feel so helpless, Ben,” moaned Destiny.

“What happened to your psychic vibes?” he asked, trying to cheer her up.

“They fizzled. We’re probably too late anyway.”

“Quit talking like that, Destiny. What time is it?”

“Ten minutes to six in the morning. I’m tired, and hungry, and scared. We’ve been here all night long!”

“So have they,” Ben reminded her quietly.

“I’m so afraid the morning will bring bad news.”

“That was some storm last night, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’m glad I had you to share it with. I wasn’t even scared.” Destiny smiled at Ben with honest appreciation.

“Talk about percussion! Wow! How mighty is the power of nature!” Ben raised both his arms to the sky in exultation.

“Now, don’t you go telling people we spent the night together!” warned Destiny, laughing.

“Well, we did.”

“Yeah, but …”

“Destiny! Check it out. We’ve caught all five! What do you call it—the Fantastic Five?”

“Oh, my goodness! I almost forgot! We got 1:11 and 2:22.”

“Then we remembered 3:33 and 4:44.”

“And now it’s almost 5:55!”

“Wish, Destiny, wish!”

“You mean you believe that stuff now, Ben?”

“I don’t know what I believe. All I know is that you made me wish four times in a row and I’m not going to miss this last one—especially if it means that our wishes will come true. Now, shut up and wish!”

“Wishing!”
Destiny exclaimed with a big smile.

“We did it, Destiny! We wished on five in a row. So what does that mean?”

“They say that—”

“Who are ‘they’?”

“Smart people, probably women, Romi says,” explained Destiny. “Anyway, they say that if you catch five in a row, your wish is guaranteed to come true, and you get an extra wish granted as a special bonus prize.”

“Can you tell your wish now?”

“I think so,” Destiny frowned, trying to remember the rules. “What did you wish, Ben?”

“I wished that Romiette and Julio be found safely, of course. What about you?”

“I wished the same thing. Do you think this will work?” she asked hopefully.

“What happened to your faith in the universe?” he teased.

“It got cold and hungry and scared in the darkness of the night.”

“I still believe in you, Destiny,” Ben said, looking directly in her eyes. “And in the universe and magic wishes too.” He looked away quickly, and threw a rock in the lake.

“You’re something else, Ben,” Destiny remarked, pretending not to notice his look. “What was your extra wish for?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“I think you’re dynamite, Destiny.”

“Do I have to dye my hair blue if I hang out with you?”

“Only if it matches your outfit.”

“Hey, I like your style!” They grinned at each other as the sky became brighter with the morning sun.

In the distance, near the boathouse, they could see movement as the police and other search teams began for the day. “Let’s go see if anyone else has had any better luck in finding anything,” Destiny suggested.

“Maybe they have some coffee back at the boathouse,” Ben added. “Are you still cold, Destiny?”

“Much warmer now,” she said quietly. They marched back along the shore of the lake. Destiny carried Romi’s shoe in one hand. Ben held her other hand.

Lady Cappelle stretched and yawned, then woke up suddenly. The horror of last night engulfed her as soon as she opened her eyes. The parents had spent most of the night at the station calling friends and organizations who could assist in a full-scale search as soon as the day would allow. They had made and copied posters, which were ready to be distributed to stores and nailed on telephone poles in the community. Keeping busy had helped keep the fear at bay for a while. Romi’s mother had only dozed a minute, but she felt guilty for sleeping even one second while Romi was lost. She glanced at Mrs. Montague, who slept fitfully on the other bench.

“Maria, it’s almost dawn,” she called. “Wake up.”

“Did they find the children, Lady?” Maria replied, startled.

“No, no new word yet,” sighed Romi’s mother. “I just wanted to be ready for … for whatever may come today.”

Maria nodded. “I can’t believe I fell asleep on those
hard chairs. I didn’t think I could sleep at all. Where is my husband?”

“He and Cornell went to get some coffee. They are finally speaking cordially to each other.”

“A night in a police station worrying about the lives of one’s children erases many foolish notions. Luis loves Julio. He is our only child.”

“You know I understand. Romiette is our only daughter.” Lady picked up last night’s coffee cup and sipped the cold, tasteless liquid.

The two fathers returned with fresh coffee. Captain Escaluski walked with them. He was not smiling.

“Mr. and Mrs. Montague, Mr. and Mrs. Cappelle, as you know, our search last night was frustrating. As much as we could in the storm and darkness, we combed the woods around the lake and found nothing. Our investigation has also turned up another important piece of information, however,” he added. “We have located the video camera that the young people mentioned.”

Luis gasped. “You have found the camera that was in my son’s pocket, but not my son? How can this be?”

The captain explained, “It was found in the trunk of the car that was used in the kidnapping.”

“You are sure of that now?” asked Cornell.

“Yes, we have viewed the tape several times.” The captain spoke carefully. He didn’t want to upset these parents even more. “It seems that the gang members threatened and intimidated your children, then forcibly
placed them in their car and took them to what we assume is London Woods Lake. The video portion is fuzzy and dark, but we have very good audio. We have clear identification of each of the Devildogs involved. We can hear sounds of water and the voices of the gang members as they take Julio out of the trunk. There is no more after that,” he said quietly.

“The trunk?” Maria gasped. “My Julio was in the trunk? Is he … is he alive?” she cried.

“We think he was when they took him out, ma’am. And we have no reason to believe that he isn’t still,” the captain reassured her. She collapsed in tears.

“And Romi?” her mother asked quietly. “Anything of her?”

“Only at the beginning of the tape, Mrs. Cappelle. We hear her screaming and struggling, and we think she was put in the backseat. That’s all the tape tells us.”

Lady Cappelle joined Maria on the bench. They shared tissues and hugs.

The captain took a deep breath and continued. “Now that the weather has cleared, and we have daylight, we have two options.”

“What’s that?” asked Cornell.

“Get volunteers to comb those woods, and to drag the lake.”

“Drag the lake?” exclaimed Romi’s mother. “Oh, no! That means you think they’re dead!”

“No, not at all, Mrs. Cappelle, but it is one way of eliminating that possibility.”

“¡Oh, mi Julio! ¡Oh, mi hijo! ¡No. No. No!”

“Maria, it will be all right,” her husband soothed her. “We’ll find them. At least now we have something to do besides wait.”

Cornell was ready for action. “Luis, we’ve got our equipment ready. Let’s head for the lake now. I’ve got to get out there and find our children.”

“Sí,
Cornell. We’ve got blankets, rope, flashlights, a map of the woods. What happened to those pictures of the kids, Maria?”

His wife took the pictures from her pocket. “This is such a wonderful photo of Julio in his band uniform back home.” She sighed. “And Romi is such a lovely young woman.” She began to weep softly.

“Don’t cry, Maria. We are going to find them,” Luis reassured her. Luis took the pictures and placed them inside his jacket.

Mrs. Cappelle reminded the men, “I’m going to call the station and make sure the reports go out with every station break, and make sure the news crews are on their way. You two got your cell phone to keep in touch with us?”

“Yes,” Cornell replied. “We’re out of here. See you up there, Lady B. Our prayers will be answered soon. You’ll see.”

She wiped her eyes and kissed him quickly. She knew she had to get to work or she’d dissolve in tears. “Maria and I will be out there shortly. We’ll be organizing the volunteers from the boathouse. If you find anything at all, buzz my pager.”

—Mystery continues to surround the unexplained disappearance of Romiette Cappelle, daughter of TV news anchor Cornell Cappelle, and Julio Montague, transfer student from Corpus Christi, Texas. Are Romiette and Julio lovers like the famous couple of old? Have they run away together? Were they desperate enough to consider suicide, as Shakespeare’s characters did? Or are their lives in danger as they hide from the threat of gang violence? Details in a moment.

—The daughter of TV Six newscaster Cornell Cappelle, Romiette Cappelle, age sixteen, and her friend from school Julio Montague, also sixteen, are still missing. They are believed to be lost, perhaps injured, in London Woods Forest. Searches by park police and city police, which were hampered by last night’s stormy weather, have been unsuccessful. The two young people were last seen yesterday at dusk, walking near London Woods.

—Five teenagers, all reportedly members of a local gang known sometimes as the Devildogs and sometimes simply as The Family, have been arrested, charged with possession of firearms, and are being questioned in the disappearance of the teens.

—Anyone who has seen Romiette and Julio, or knows anything about their whereabouts, is asked to contact News Six or the district police
department. Police are asking for volunteers to help in a detailed, systematic search of the woods. If you are available and would like to help, please call the station at 555–3458, or call the park police at 555-9898. Volunteers should report to the boathouse for maps and instructions. We thank you for your help. Stay tuned to News Six for further details.

“This is Nannette Norris reporting live from London Woods, on the case of the two missing children. We’re going to ask some of the people out here in the field exactly what is going on in the search efforts.” Nannette, wearing a pink designer suit and matching shoes, tiptoed daintily in the muddy grass. She carried her portable microphone, and motioned to Lawrence, the cameraman behind her, to hurry. He sighed, shifted the weight of the camera on his shoulder, and followed her to another volunteer.

“Excuse me, sir, this is Nannette Norris, and you’re live on TV News Six. How long have you been out here, sir?” She held the mike very close to his mouth. When his voice boomed out, Lawrence had to adjust the sound level.

“I been here since they called for help ’bout two hours ago. Ain’t no sign of dem kids—they just gone!”

“Any indication of foul play?” Nannette asked as she switched the mike back to herself quickly.

The volunteer looked at her, squinted his eyes,
and responded, “This ain’t no baseball game, lady! This here is life and death! Quit asking stupid, useless questions and help us look. You gettin’ in my way!” Nannette signaled to Lawrence with a roll of her eyes that this interview was concluded. Lawrence grinned at the volunteer and gave him a thumbs-up. Nannette moved to her next attempt—a woman, busy answering one of the phones that had been hastily installed that morning by phone company volunteers.

“Excuse me, ma’am, this is Nannette Norris, and you’re live on TV News Six. Tell me, ma’am, what’s the latest in the search efforts?”

With a phone on one ear, the woman responded, “Well, they’re dragging the lake. It’s really hard on the parents. They’re out there looking with us. The two fathers, Mr. Cappelle and Mr. Montague, are working side by side, checking every tree and every bush to find their kids. I understand there was quite a bit of friction between the two at first.”

Nannette’s eyes brightened. “Friction? What kind of friction?” She was hoping for a news scoop, an angle that no one else had covered yet.

The woman shrugged. “You know—each one accusing the other of being responsible for this situation. But that’s behind them now.”