Chapter Text
Jack was panicking, he spammed Robby, but it went to voicemail each time. He immediately remembered that Robby said he was in Okotoks – there were only three main hotels there. Jack called Best Western first.
“Best Western Okotoks, how can I help you?” The voice was unsettling to Jack, “I’m calling about my friend, Michael Robinavitch. Can you tell me if he is staying there?” Jack had to sit down. By the end of the call with Robby he could barely stand.
“I’m sorry sir, I can’t confirm or deny if specific guests are staying here. I can pass a message on to him.” Jack hung up and tried Lakeview Inns & Suites, but he got the same answer.
Econo Lodge gave him the same answer, but Jack was desperate “Please, he might have had a medical emergency.” He rubbed his forehead “I understand sir. If we have a guest by that name we will do what we can. I wish I could help you more.” The clerk hung up.
Jack was distraught. He tried Robby again.
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
You’ve reached the voicemail of…Michael Robinavitch…please leave a message after the tone…
Beep.
He just hung up. What can he do? Robby is in a different country, over 2,000 miles away from him.
Jack’s chest tightened. He hit his second contact, Dana. She’d know what to do. It’s 3am, but she still picked up “Jack, it’s 3 in the morning, what’s wrong?” She was still waking up, her voice was quiet “Dana, it’s Robby…he, I don’t know – I think he might’ve.” Jack was trying his best to not hyperventilate, but he was failing, “Hey, woah woah. Jack, what happened?” Her voice was louder now, he could hear blankets being shoved off “He called me, Dana I think he – he tried something.” Jack’s nose started to tingle, his hands were no longer steady – everything was shaking.
“Are you home?” Dana was getting out of bed, he could hear Benji talking in the background but he couldn’t make it out. “I called the hotels, they can’t tell me anything-”
“Are you home, Jack?”
“Yeah.” Jack nodded, shaking a few tears loose. “I’ll be there in five minutes. Stay there.” Dana commanded. Jack didn’t say anything, just nodded.
Jack tried to calm himself – rocking, humming, he pulled his prosthetic off. Nothing worked, it started with him pressing against his head but it quickly evolved to hitting – his palm made contact with his skull. It helped, so he kept doing it.
He heard the door open, he didn’t look up cause he knew it was Dana. She sat in front of him, her gentle hands were on his knees “Jack, look at me,” he looked up “What did Robby tell you?” Dana was staring at Jack.
“I love you, thank you, forgive me, I’m sorry. He said I had to let him go and…and that he was tired.” Jack could still hear Robby’s slurred speech, him reaching for his phone. Every possibility – did he pass out, was he just drunk, did he not realize what it sounded like?
“I’ll call the hotels again, then we’ll call the Canadian police.” Dana said, pulling her phone out. She started making the calls. Jack opened his phone and tried Robby again.
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
The person you are trying to reach has a mailbox that is full and cannot accept new messages.
The call ended automatically.
“Jack, text Whitaker. See if Robby called him or texted him.” Dana said. Jack nodded and started to text Whitaker.
The screen was bright, the letters bled together. The shaking of his hands didn’t help either. He managed to get a short message to Whitaker.
D.Whitaker
Dr. Abbot: “Have you heard from Robby.”
D.Whitaker: “No, sir.”
Dr. Abbot: "Anything at all?”
D.Whitaker: “I mean he messaged yesterday, it was his landlord's number, saying if I needed to pay rent.”
D.Whitaker: “I haven’t been able to get a hold of him since.”
Jack dropped his phone onto his lap. He could only hope that Robby would make it back to Pittsburgh, but the chance of that was becoming less likely.
Dana tried each hotel, she got the same answers as Jack, that they couldn’t tell her if Robby was at any of the hotels.
The longer they couldn’t get answers, the more inconsolable Jack became. He felt ridiculous, he kept calm when he was under fire and the most gruesome of traumas but now he couldn’t even make a simple phone call to the Canadian police.
“Okotoks RCMP, how can we help you today?” Dana moved just far enough from Jack so he wouldn’t hear the replies. “Hi, I’m calling to request a possible welfare check on my close friend.” Dana kept her tone professional, but she was panicking, “Alright. We can help you with that. What's your friend's name?” The clicking of keys could be heard, “Michael Robinavitch. He went on a road trip sabbatical about a month and a half ago.” Dana had her back turned to Jack.
“Okay. When was the last time you spoke with him?” The operator’s voice crackled through the phone, “About, I don’t know, thirty or thirty-five minutes ago. He was on a call with our other friend, and apparently he was saying some concerning things. He ended the call out of nowhere and we haven’t been able to call him back.” Dana turned around when she heard Jack shifting around.
“Do you know where Michael might be staying, if he is in a hotel or campground?” Dana froze before looking at Jack, she moved the phone away from her “Is he in a hotel?” Dana asked, but Jack’s head shook as he shrugged his shoulders “N-No, we know he is in Okotoks or that Head-smashed heritage site.” There was a pause, before more typing crack through the call.
Jack managed to get his prosthetic back on – it wasn’t on properly, but he could stand. It took everything for him to walk to the table. He watched Dana start to shift on her legs, her free hand gripping her shoulder.
“About 6’0, 6’1. He’s about 205 to 215, short brown hair, he has a beard, mostly brown but it was going grey. He has four tattoos, a scrabble F piece on his left wrist, he has something written on his forearm,” Dana started to pace, just a few steps in each direction. “He has Memento Mori and Amor Fati on each of his biceps.” Jack started going through old text messages with Robby, just in case he did say where he was staying, but he got nothing.
“You mentioned that he was doing this by road trip, do you know the make, colour, or license plate of his vehicle, even a partial?”
Jack heard Dana describe the motorcycle, but she froze on his plate. He found a photo that showed the license plate, and Dana listed it off. The call ended, and they sat at the kitchen table. “They’ll call when they have updates. They don’t know how long it will take.” Fear threaded its way through her voice. Dana’s phone sat between them.
The RCMP officers parked their car in front of the hotel “Hey, Josh. Guy’s bike is here.” Aaron called out, pointing towards the sleek 1969 Triumph Twin motorcycle, the Pittsburgh license plate stood out, “Dude has good taste in bikes at least. Call it in, I’ll go ask the front desk.” Josh said, gripping the front of his vest. “Dispatch, 3-2, we found the motorcycle matching the description of the welfare call. We are located at Econo Lodge, 59 Riverside Gate. We’re going to attempt contact with the room.” Aaron looked around and didn’t see anyone matching Michael’s description, “Copy, 3-2.” Dispatch cracked through the radio.
Aaron stood next to Josh who had a pen and paper out, relaying information to the clerk and taking information down. “The afternoon clerk, um…Anna, saw him leave and he came back around quarter past, half-past, give or take, 2pm. She wouldn’t shut up about the bike.” The Clerk, Vanessa, explained. She was nervous, but who wouldn’t be, it’s just past 4am and there are two RCMP officers asking about an out of country guest.
“Alright, thank you. I’m going to fill my partner in, then we’ll head up to his room.” Josh explained, Vanessa just nodded, before disappearing into the backroom. Josh and Aaron stood near a corner of the lobby. “So, he is staying here, checked in about 2am on Monday. They don’t think they saw him come down for breakfast, but some afternoon staff saw him leave around 1pm. Came back around 2:15 to 2:30 roughly, no one saw him again. They were getting some calls from Pittsburgh calling about Michael. Didn’t get a name on the callers.” Josh listed off, “They haven’t gotten complaints about the room.” He added, Aaron nodded “Cool, dispatch said that the friend mentioned he probably has PTSD, you thinking it’s something with mental health?” Aaron asked.
They started to walk up to Michael’s room, “It could be. He could be drunk, he could’ve passed out. He’s older so he might have fallen and been embarrassed to call for help. You never really know with these types of welfare checks.” Josh explained.
Michael was in 210, they couldn’t tell if the light was on or not. Josh knocked, “RCMP. Michael, if you’re inside we need you to come to the door.” Josh had a loud voice, so there was no need to yell. They waited for a couple minutes before doing it again, Aaron tried “RCMP! Michael, if you’re inside, we need you to open the door!” Aaron called out, but again nothing. They couldn’t hear anything moving, “Alright, he’s not coming to the door. So we get a master key?” Aaron asked, and Josh nodded.
Vanessa waited just behind Aaron while Josh tried to make contact once more, but he got nothing. “Alright, Michael, we’re going to open the door now!” They waited for a couple seconds before Josh nodded and Vanessa unlocked the door.
The room was net. The bed was made, a pair of work boots at the end of the bed and a pair of black socks were placed neatly on the end of the bed. There was a grey rabbit plushie resting against the pillows, there was an envelope resting against its feet with “Jack Abbot” written across the centre – barely legible. A thin stack of envelopes were on the bedside table, there was a black wallet near the corner. A badge from Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center was on top of the envelopes.
Josh could see Aaron open the bathroom door. The door swung open, creaking. At the first sight of blood, Aaron slammed the door open, causing Josh to head right over “Oh fuck.” They rushed towards the body. His skin was colder than normal, but his skin was greying. Aaron checked a pulse while Josh called it in. Aaron tried and tried, pressing his fingers harder against Michael’s neck, just hoping there was a pulse but he couldn’t find anything. Josh pulled Aaron back, “C’mon man, out.” Aaron followed, “Secure the room, make sure no one comes in. I’ll call dispatch.” Josh pushed Aaron out of the room. He stood just outside of the room, his hands gripping the vest harshly.
“Dispatch, 3-2. Adult male is unresponsive in room 210. Requested EMS and supervisor.” Josh has seen far too many bodies like this.
“Copy, 3-2. EMS and supervisor en route.”
It didn’t take long for their supervisor and EMS to get there. EMS confirmed that Michael was gone, which led to their supervisor, Craig, to call dispatch requesting for FIS. “Josh, get those numbers from dispatch, let them know. Bring Aaron back to base too.” They stood close together.
When they got in the car, Aaron was looking at his hands. There wasn’t any blood but he could feel how clammy and cold his skin felt, rigor just started. He was cold from bleeding out. Aaron has seen dead bodies before, but rigor was either fixed or already dissipated. He’d been dead for less than three hours.
Jack had finally become consolable, his breaths were still shaky, but he was no longer struggling to breathe. Dana didn’t stay in one place for very long, she kept checking her phone and when it rang they both froze before Dana picked it up.
Jack couldn’t hear who it was or what they were saying “Yes, this is her.” Dana kept looking at him, her free arm wrapped around herself “My name is Constable Josh Harris with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Okotoks, Alberta. You requested a welfare check earlier today regarding your friend Michael Robinavitch, correct?” Dana’s throat tightened, “Yes, were you able to contact him?” Dana watched Jack lean forward on the couch “Yes, we were able to locate Michael.” The officer’s voice was steady, Dana had this horrible feeling but she didn’t respond.
“We located his motorcycle outside of the Econo Lodge and performed the welfare check. I’m very sorry to inform you that Michael was pronounced deceased. We’ve started an investigation and the medical examiner has been notified.”
Dana didn’t know what to say, Jack gave her that look. “Was…was he sleeping?” The air was torn from Jack’s chest. His shoulders felt “No.” Jack whispered, but Dana just nodded. The tingling in his nose came back. The painful clawing of the lump in his throat made it hard to swallow. He clenched his teeth, but a wan smile appeared.
“I’m very sorry ma’am. I can’t say what happened. The medical examiner will have to determine that. We didn’t see any signs that there was anyone else involved.”
“We will remain in contact with you in case we have any questions or any updates. I’m very sorry for your loss ma’am.”
Dana dropped her phone on the coffee table. Her chin began to wobble “They…they don’t think anyone was involved.”
“Please not him,” Jack begged slightly, covering his face, the cold metal from his ring pressed against his eyebrow “Not him and my wife both.”