Trouble At Double Cross. Adult. Violence. (standard:mystery, 5527 words)
Author: Oscar A Rat	Added: Jun 22 2020	Views/Reads: 1194/873	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Double Cross is a small company town. Chief of Police Edwin Johnson also worked full=time at the Elite Mines. When a boy is missing, the case is too complex for Ed and he calls in the state police.

It began late one August evening. As with many from the day shift in the
small town of Double Cross, Utah, Chief of Police Edwin Johnson was 
asleep.  Ed wasn't alone, his entire police force of one, Kathryn 
Peters, happened to be sharing his bed. 

Before copper had been found nearby the town had been home to
approximately twelve individuals.  It was now six-blocks square with a 
population of over four-hundred.  The original three houses were still 
spotted around one of only six water-bearing wells within forty miles. 

Ed, like most of the town in that year of 1976, lived in a trailer, more
properly known as a mobile home.  Except for the original three 
old-style two-story houses, the town consisted of row after row of 
mobile or prefabricated homes, separated by dirt streets.  A few were 
even converted semi-trailers and Conex containers. 

The original inhabitants had planted a half-dozen trees, irrigating them
from that lone well.  Luckily, the well sat over a large body of 
underground water; enough for the copper company owning the town,"Elite 
Mines," to spring for a modern pump-house along with a three-man staff 
to run it.  Those trees, along with transplanted greenery, now served 
as the town park. 

A general store, subsidized by Elite, sat at one central intersection. 
Of the original houses, one was owned by Kathryn's family, her in 
residence.  One contained a town hall and the sheriff's office, and the 
largest was being used as a recreation center.  For tax reasons, the 
town had been incorporated with elected though mostly honorary 
officials. 

At the moment, Ed and patrolwoman Kathryn were Double Cross's only
employees.  The town paid them small salaries which Kathryn 
supplemented by renting rooms to visiting salesmen or job applicants 
for Elite.  The mine financed the community center and furnished 
electricity and other utilities. 

The Elite Mines ran the town, most of its inhabitants either working for
them or furnishing goods or services to the employees.  It was strictly 
a company town.  Ed himself doubled as head of security for Elite. 
Kathryn worked as an alternate in the mine supply room. 

*** 

Ed's rest was interrupted by the ringing of a telephone lying next to
the bed.  It was one of the residents with a problem.   He listened, 
then replied, "Look, Edna.  John's thirteen.  At an age where he'll 
often disappear for a few hours.  It's not anything to worry about.  
You say he did return on the school bus, right?  He's probably at a 
friend's home, someone you don't know about." 

Early next  morning, a Friday, Ed received another call from Edna Smith.
 Her son still hadn't come home.  Ed was faced with a choice.  To 
search for the lad, he'd have to miss a day's work.  Actually, he had 
no choice, calling his boss to say he'd be in whenever he could get 
there. 

Getting into a company Ford, he slapped magnetized police logos on both
front doors, over those from Elite, and set out to search for the kid.  
The first thing was to check with the mother. 

*** 

"... and his friends?  Do you have their names and addresses?  Also, any
girlfriends that you know of?  At 13 he'll be interested in girls." 

She recalled a few addresses.  The ones she didn't know he obtained by
calling Elite and querying their personnel department.   Using the same 
processes, he talked to parents, finding out that John Smith hadn't 
been at their homes the night before.  Elite didn't mind summoning 
employees from work to talk to him over the phone. 

Ed didn't become excited until he'd called the school, talking to the
boy's friends and learning they hadn't seen him either.  They gave him 
a couple of new names, other kids that he found easy to trace since 
they were also at the school.  Nobody had seen John Smith since he left 


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