Entering my car was like being inside an overheated sauna. The summer heat baked the interior, and I immediately rolled down the windows and blasted the AC. Sitting in my car for a moment, I imagined what it was like for Charles Green to work here in the early ‘90s after he had just gone through a tragedy. Mr. Lennox made it sound like Charles had recovered well enough. Getting a degree and an engineering job, but knowing what I know about losing someone important in your life at a young age, it’s never easy to come to terms with it. It’s possible to move on, but the pain is always there, buried somewhere like a pitfall in the mind. I felt sorry for Charles, but stalking people at night wasn’t good behavior. Shifting gear on the transmission, I drove out of the Lennox Limousine parking lot and returned to Wilton.

Arriving into the downtown strip, I had planned on going straight to the inn. But as I stopped at a red light, I saw a confused old man wearing a white cutoff t-shirt and boxer shorts looking all around, with his mouth open, trying to form a sentence. He wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it. His brow was scrunched; he looked concerned and afraid. Teenagers and other young folks walked through the strip eating ice cream or drinking beverages from the local coffee shop, but no one stopped to see if the man was okay. They carried on about their business, but some of them stared at him like an animal in a zoo. Fortunately, there was street parking and an open spot close to the old man.

The way he looked, not just his face, but his look of confusion reminded me of my own grandfather.

I had a gut feeling something was horribly wrong.

I pulled in, parked, turned off the car, and jogged up to the old man.

“Excuse me, sir, is everything all right?” I asked him.

His eyes looked lost and helpless. “I uh, don’t uh,” he tightened his lips and tried to figure out what to say.

“It’s okay, I can help you. Do you know where home is for you?”

“J-J-Jerry.” He pointed at me and smiled.

“Me? Yes, I’m Jerry,” I lied.

The old man looked relieved. “Jerry, I’m uh, lost.”

“That’s okay. Where are you trying to go?”

“...H-home.”

“Do you know what street you live on?”

He thought about it for a moment and shook his head, and frowned.

“That’s okay.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you home.” I wanted to ask for his name, but apparently, Jerry would have known it. If I asked, he might seem betrayed or even more confused. “I have a car right here. Let’s get you inside, and I’ll take you home after I finish an errand.”

“Okay. Thank you, Jerry.”

His balance was a little shaky with each step. He used my arm as support to walk to my car. I opened the front door and guided him in. It took him a moment to put one foot in, sit down and then put the other foot in, but I assisted patiently along the way. I strapped his seatbelt in, and he looked at me and smiled. “Th-thank you... Jerry.”

“Of course.” I shut the door and ran to the other side of the car and hopped in the driver’s seat, and cranked up the AC.

We drove out to the police station, and I parked in the lot and called Martha.

“Eddie, what can I do for ya this fine afternoon? Oh! How did last night go, by the way?”

“Oh, hi, Martha, I actually don’t have a lot of time to chat and catch up. I’m in a bit of a situation, and I was wondering if you could help?”

“I could certainly try. What’s the matter?”

“I think you better come outside to my car. I found an older gentleman walking around downtown Wilton. He was looking pretty lost and isn’t fully dressed either.”

“Copy that! I’ll be right outside. You’re in the parking lot, yeah?”

“Yes”

“See you in a second.”

As I waited in the car, Martha came jogging out of the front door of the station. I rolled down my window, and she came up to me.

“What’s the scoop?” She asked.

“I found this older gentleman walking around. Does he look familiar to you? He seems to have moderate to severe dementia. Apparently, I look like someone he knew named Jerry, so I was able to gain his trust with getting inside my car,” I said.

“Well, this is an easy one. We just got a call saying that their grandfather was missing, and they had no idea where he was. I’m guessing this is him.” Martha smiled and took a triumphant breath. “Let’s call Ms. Roberts back and let her know we found -sorry- let her know that you found her grandpa... Most likely. I can’t imagine two old men are drifting around Wilton.”

With all the weird things I had witnessed so far, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were two old men wandering around. I got out of the car and opened up the passenger side door. Martha and I helped the old man stand up. He didn’t have a lot of strength to get up or sit down, but he could still take a few steps without issue.

We got him inside the station and put him in a chair in the lobby. Martha gave him a uniform to wear and she also placed a phone call to Ms. Roberts, and I could hear Ms. Roberts say, “Oh thank God! I’ll be right there!” from the receiver while on the other side of the room.

Waiting inside the lobby, I looked at the old man to make sure he was okay. “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

He shook his head. He had a relieved smile on his face, but there was still some uncertainty in his eyes. I’m sure he was confused about his surroundings. Those thoughts made my heart ache.

A few minutes passed by, and a woman came rushing inside the station. I couldn’t believe it, I recognized her immediately.

“Vicky? What are you doing here?” I asked. She looked like she was on the verge of pulling her hair out. Her heart must have been racing for a while.

“I came to get my grandfather,” she said. “It’s good to see you again. Sorry we left the other night, I had to go home early because the nurse was having trouble with him, so Quinn and Jill came over instead.” Vicky approached her grandpa and sat next to him. “Grandpa, thank God they found you. Are you okay?”

He didn’t reply.

“Grandpa, are you okay?”

“Mhmm,” her grandfather nodded.

“I didn’t find it pressing to know, and I didn’t want to confuse him any more than he already was, but what’s his first name?” I asked.

“Earl. Earl Roberts.”

“Noted.”

Vicky sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I can’t believe this happened. The nurse who came in to take care of him just had a no-call no-show. I was at work, and my mom was at work, so we couldn’t really do anything about it. I had to leave my job early once the nursing company texted me saying that no one was coming in to watch him today. So I ran home, and he’s nowhere to be found. Even his walker was gone. Did you find his walker?”

“No, he seemed to be moving around quite all right without one,” I said. “I found him stepping along the strip of downtown Wilton. Right on Main Street.”

Vicky’s eyes widened. “You have got to be kidding me. Oh my God.” She had a sheen of tears over her eyes. “This is such a nightmare. I’m so sorry you had to deal with this, but thank you so much for picking him up. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

“Of course. I’m happy to help. It was easy for me to get him in my car. He thought I was someone named Jerry. Do you know who that is?” I asked.

Vicky dropped her jaw and covered her mouth. “No way. Wow, I can’t believe that. He never talks about Jerry, really, but that was his best friend growing up. Unfortunately, he passed away a while ago, but I’ve seen old photos of him, and yeah, you kind of do look like him.” Vicky laughed and smiled. “Well, that has me a little relieved. I was so scared that my grandpa was lost and terrified out in the world, and then I freaked out, thinking the worst had happened. Especially with the six people who have, you know, disappeared.”

“Worry no more. Your grandpa is safe and sound.”

Vicky’s lower lip quivered, and a tear fell down her cheek. She responded with a barely audible, “Thank you.” Vicky stood up and gave me a hug.

I hugged her back and felt my heart flutter.

“I’m glad I saw you again, actually,” Vicky said as she pulled away from the hug. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a blue slip. The front had black rectangular lines forming an art deco pattern with the Club Novus logo at its center. “I found my invitation.”

I felt like I had just seen the golden ticket. I felt a rise of excitement in my chest. “Do you mind if I have that invitation and use it to get in?”

“Actually, they use a name, and the person it’s assigned to can only be admitted, but from what I understand, but I can bring a guest. I thought maybe we could go there together tonight if you wanted?”

“Uh, yeah, that would be excellent. That’s the last piece of nightlife I’ve been wondering about. How perfect. So yeah, let’s go there tonight. Perhaps we could do dinner beforehand?”

Vicky nodded. “Yeah, my mom will be home around 6:00 to look after my grandpa, and then we can get dinner around then.”

“Wonderful.”

We exchanged phone numbers, and then I helped Vicky escort her grandpa to her car. I assisted him into the passenger seat, and then he said, “Th-thank you, Jerry. Good to... see you again.”

That pulled at my own heartstrings. “Good to see you again too, Earl.”

As she pulled out of the parking lot, I couldn’t help but cry silently to myself.

I had a flashback to a time before Michael’s disappearance. It was the same summer, though, before he had gone to Disney World. I was going to stay the night at Michael’s house, but since I’d been riding my bike around the neighborhood so much, my mom thought it would be a good idea for me to spend the day with my grandparents.

My grandparents lived a few miles away from me in Lockweed. So I rode my bike one afternoon all the way to their house. My grandma was ecstatic to see me, but my grandpa was having a hard time remembering who I was. It was the first time that ever happened. And it frightened me, not because he forgot my name once, but he had no idea who I was or that my mom ever had a son.

I thought it would be a good idea to let my grandpa have some time to himself. So I went out to the backyard, where my grandparents had a basketball net on top of the garage. I shot the ball around and practiced some moves, and then my grandpa came outside.

“Hey, Eddie, I’m really sorry about earlier,” my grandpa said. His voice was softer than usual, and his eyes had a faraway look.

I noticed he had some trouble with his step, and I rushed to his side to try and help.

“Grandpa!”

But I didn’t make it in time.

My grandpa fell like a chopped down tree, and he hit the pavement. He moaned in pain, one of the worst sounds I ever heard. A helpless cry of an old man filled with confusion.

My grandma and I helped him up, got him back in the house, and took him to the hospital.