The Lost Door Read Free

Moving around a lot as a child had taught her becoming attached to anyone was just cause for heartache. Then Devon had come into her life, and she thought she’d finally be able to settle down, to have those attachments everyone else around her took for granted.
    How silly she’d been, trusting him.
    One thing her parents instilled in her was self-reliance, and she’d managed to secure a job within a few months of Devon leaving. At least he’d left her the house.
    She reclined her seat and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun caress her face. Just a few minutes, she told herself. Just a few minutes to rest my eyes. Claire was asleep seconds later.
     
    * * *
     
    Willem rode shotgun while his partner yammered on about… what? Willem couldn’t say. He’d tuned out five blocks back when Justin started talking about his last night’s hookup. They were headed back to the firehouse after transporting an elderly woman who’d suffered a heart attack to the hospital.
    Either Justin hadn’t realized he’d stopped listening or didn’t care, but he was content telling his story to no one. It wasn’t that Willem wasn’t interested in the stories of sex and drugs—he was—but something felt off . There was something in the air, and he was on edge.
    Justin was nearly three decades younger than Willem’s sixty-four, part of the reason Willem found his stories interesting. Willem had never married and never had children. He got to live a young man’s life vicariously through Justin. While he was sure Justin would have preferred someone closer to his age for a partner, Willem felt younger because of it.
    While most men in their thirties were trying to settle down, Justin was the opposite. He showed no signs or interest in slowing down his nightlife style. He loved women—apparently all types from the stories told—and the idea of settling down with just one scared the hell out of him. And why not? He was a handsome man, fit, why not milk it as long as possible? Willem, on the other hand, had always wanted a woman to fall in love with, someone to have children with, grow old with. It seemed that was not in the cards. They say there is someone out there for everyone, but if true then where was his someone? The world was a damn big place, and Willem was not a world traveler, so if she was sitting in a Siberian tavern somewhere he was screwed.
    Justin slowed to a stop as the light went from yellow to red. He was still talking about last night when a white pickup truck drove past.
    “—she was using her… holy shit!” Justin bellowed. Willem watched the pickup swerve, narrowly missing a man crossing the road. A sedan in the right of way slammed on the brakes, the woman behind the wheel laying on the horn. The truck swerved again. It was almost through the intersection when a city bus plowed into it, the impact a thunderclap of twisting metal and breaking glass. The pickup spun twice and flipped to its side before coming to lean on the edge sidewalk. A stuck car horn blared.
    Willem grabbed the CB and called dispatch. Justin turned the van emergency lights on and drove the short distance to the accident. Willem hopped out before the ambulance came to a full stop. He glanced at the bus as he ran past. Through the spider web of glass he saw the bus driver talking to the passengers; no one on the bus appeared to be injured. He raced past the sedan, the horrified driver had a hand to her forehead as she stood.
    “You alright?” asked Willem as he passed. She nodded.
    The driver of the pickup came into view as Willem rounded the crumpled front of the truck. The airbag had done little to stop the unbuckled man from being tossed about the cab. He now lay in a tangled mess on the passenger side, unconscious or dead Willem could not say, arm pinned beneath the truck through the open window. Willem banged on the windshield.
    “Hey! Sir!” he yelled over the blaring horn. “Wakeup! Sir?” The driver, a man in his