Free Sara by Tony Hayden

vanished, and his wife of twenty years was pulling away.
                  Mike worked his right shoulder to loosen a kink, then scraped the crust from his eyes. Each time sleep had found him throughout the night, he was jolted awake by the sounds of Sara screaming and begging for her life. He swung his feet to the floor and checked his cell phone for the time and to see if he had missed any calls. A haunting vision of Sara reaching to him from a hole in the ground kept forcing itself from a fog that clouded his consciousness. Deep in his soul, he knew that his daughter was alive, but he also felt that she was far away. Urgency pounded at his heart, but uncertainty paralyzed his muscles.
                  “Sara,” he said quietly. “I need some help, baby doll. I need a sign. Anything.”
    Mike’s stomach growled loudly and he felt a wave of nausea pass over him. He rubbed both hands through his hair and stood.
    “I need you to help me find you, Squeaky. I promise to never let you down again.”
     

     
    Mike sat at a small table in the large dining room of the Sightseer Inn. Breakfast was included with his stay and he knew that he would be of no help to his daughter if he collapsed from lack of nutrition. A pot of steaming coffee and small bowl of fresh sliced fruit had been placed in front of him.
                  “Mr. Haller, we are serving a baked frittata this morning, made with fresh asparagus and feta cheese.”
    Trina Lang was paying special attention to her only guest this morning while her husband, Brian, was in the kitchen preparing the meal. She topped off Mike’s cup with steaming coffee and frowned. “Honey, you look like a herd of sheep walked all over you and ruined your day.”
    She lowered the coffee pot to the table and sat in an empty chair across from Mike. “I realize that it’s none of my business, but I am not used to my guests looking like they have witnessed the apocalypse. Is there anything I can do, sweetie?”
                  Mike swallowed a peeled grape he had been chewing absent mindedly. “Oh,” he said and cleared his throat. Finally looking into the eyes of his host, Mike tried to conceal his grief. “I apologize,” he continued. “My eighteen-year-old daughter is missing, and I am just trying to figure out what to do next.”
                  Trina furrowed her brow and reached out to Mike, “Oh sweet Jesus, not another one.”
                  Mike shook his head to clear it, “What do you mean, ‘not another one’,” he asked bluntly.
                  Mrs. Lang straightened a linen napkin on the table. “It just seems that this part of the country is cursed is all.” She poured a spot of creamer into Mike’s coffee before continuing, “We have universities on either side of us, and it seems like kids come up missing all the time.”
                  Mike’s law enforcement skills woke to the information, “Please explain what you mean by, ‘missing all the time’.”
                  Trina Lang’s husband approached with a small skillet, filled with steaming egg and asparagus. His smile disappeared when he saw the concern on his wife’s face. “Oh no,” he said. “Our guest has an allergy to feta cheese?”
                  Trina motioned for her husband to sit next to her. “No, honey, Mr. Haller’s daughter is missing.”
                  Brian Lang frowned deeply and placed the egg dish gently to the table before sitting. “I am so sorry, Mr. Haller. Is there anything we can do to help?”
                  Mike pulled the photo of Sara from his shirt pocket and handed it to the couple. “This is my daughter. She passed through here day before yesterday and hasn’t been seen since.”
                  Brian Lang held the photo for his wife to look at. “You know, just this past week, Trina and I were