“I guess he’s not going to come,” Betty grumbled. Betty and the rest of the Delightful Diners were enjoying a fine Italian dinner at Vito’s Italian Kitchen. Vito’s was one of the restaurants on renowned food critic Will Mattel’s top 10 Chicago Eateries. Will, food critic for the Chicago Ledger and a rising TV star had agreed to join the diners and talk about his work and the restaurant scene.
“It’s just not like him. If he had changed his mind or was running late, why wouldn’t he message me? I haven’t received any of his daily newsletter either.”
“He’s taking a weekend off for once,” Pete assured her. “he forgot about this thing… when did you talk to him?”
“Wednesday. Right after he filed Friday’s Ledger, column. Pete, I have a really bad feeling about this.”
Betty reached for her phone. “I will call his editor and see if she knows where he is”.
“He doesn’t’ come in that much,” Jillian King, Will’s editor said on speaker. He does most of his work from his home office. He usually comes in Mondays for his mail, then calls me when he sends his weekly column on Wednesday. I voice him when we publish on Friday. We don’t really do anything with his daily hits. He even shoots his own video. He sent this weeks’ column early, which usually means he had some sort of plans. But I’m worried because we wanted him to do a TV appearance on Good Morning Chicago tomorrow , but he never got back to us, so they’re doing something else. That’s not like him. he’s a born ham. Loves his TV.”
“No enemies?” Pete asked.
“He stirred up a little controversy with his advertisers when he started a campaign on tips and the minimum wage.”
“Minimum wage?”
“Here in Illinois, restaurants can pay wait staff and bartenders less than minimum wage and use tips to make up the difference. The problem is, tipping is sometimes a bit unreliable.”
“Will believes in tipping, but doesn’t think it should be confused with actual income. Anyway, a few of our advertiser rumbled and grumbled because the reduced minimums work in their favor but it hardly seems like it’s worth fighting about.
“Anything else?” Pete asked.
“He’s got a new girlfriend, I think. He was living with a girl named Susie, Sally, ‘er something like that, but he moved out about 5 months ago. he seemed pretty broken up, until a few weeks ago. I finally asked and he said he’d been flirt texting with a girl, so…”
“It was me,” Betty admitted. “I thought we were getting along until he stopped texting me.”
“Don’t take it that personal. Sometimes, he likes a media break. Last year, he spent a week in fly fishing in Montana.”
“But he wrote from there even though he was in the middle of nowhere, his daily newsletter and everything. Even when you couldn’t reach him he was still talking food.”
“You’ve got a point. Maybe we should be worried.”
Betty has not heard from renowned food critic and recent boyfriend, Will Mattel for several days and is worried.
Betty absently hung up the phone with Jillian King, Will’s editor who had no idea where Will went and slowly ran her fork through her plate of spaghetti. Pete prodded her to try to remember anything she could. Betty told the other Delightful Diners she could not recall Will mentioning anything specific. Mary Lou, who had been working steadily on her lasagna, put down her fork and grabbed Betty’s phone.
“I am sure you missed a clue to his whereabouts”
She began scrolling through Betty’s texts. Betty snatched the phone back. “Those are personal! I’ll look.” she said more softly.
She went back through her texts. “Nothing,” She said. “Just personal messages and a couple of pictures he sent last week.”
“Pictures of what? Or are those personal, too.” Pete joked.
“Eagles. He was sort of obsessed with them.”
“Eagles!” Samantha piped up for the first time. “There are a couple of pairs of nesting eagles this year at Starved Rock State Park over in Ottawa. Perhaps he’s been over there watching them and ran into some kind of trouble. ”
Samantha said she had been several times and loved to watch the eagles soar.
“Road Trip!” They all shouted at once.
Pete offered to drive them down to Ottawa and see if they could discover anything. Since it was after dark, they agreed to meet early the next morning. Pete pulled up in his Bermuda Green 1954 Chevrolet 210. Betty and Samantha spent a few minutes admiring his ride and then climbed in.
Betty tried Will’s phone once more before they started and it went straight to voicemail. She brought up a map of the park on her tablet and Pete pointed his car down the highway. Samantha brought snacks. “You can never go on a road trip without snacks!” She stated matter of factly.
As they neared they park, they decided if anything had happened near the visitor’s center, he would have been found. Betty said “I know his car. It’s a blue Nissan Sentra.”
They began their search in the remote parking lots. In the third lot they tried, they found his car. It was locked and didn’t show any signs of foul play. They started walking up the trail toward Hennepin Canyon and its overlook. It was fairly easy hike but it was slippery from the recent snows. They called out for Will as they walked. The scenery was beautiful and a rabbit raced across the path in front of them. Betty commented ” I can understand what Will sees in this place.”
They were about halfway to the overlook when Betty thought she heard a shout from below. They peered over the edge and could see a person at the bottom of the ravine. Samantha called 911 and Betty and Pete scrambled down the hill. Will was lying at the bottom with his leg caught under a log. His cell phone had been lost in the fall and he had no way to contact anyone.
Pete covered him with his coat. The rangers arrived and were able to bring him back up the hill and carried him back to the parking lot where they met the ambulance which took him to nearby Illinois Valley Community Hospital. The Delightful Diners followed in their car. Betty paced back and forth while they waited to hear Will’s condition. The doctor came out and told them Will would be fine and they could go and see him.
Will thanked them for looking for him. Next time, he would be sure he told people where he was going. “And invite us!” Betty told him.
“He stirred up a little controversy with his advertisers when he started a campaign on tips and the minimum wage.”
“Minimum wage?”
“Here in Illinois, restaurants can pay wait staff and bartenders less than minimum wage and use tips to make up the difference. The problem is, tipping is sometimes a bit unreliable.”
“Will believes in tipping, but doesn’t think it should be confused with actual income. Anyway, a few of our advertiser rumbled and grumbled because the reduced minimums work in their favor but it hardly seems like it’s worth fighting about.
“Anything else?” Pete asked.
“He’s got a new girlfriend, I think. He was living with a girl named Susie, Sally, ‘er something like that, but he moved out about 5 months ago. he seemed pretty broken up, until a few weeks ago. I finally asked and he said he’d been flirt texting with a girl, so…”
“It was me,” Betty admitted. “I thought we were getting along until he stopped texting me.”
“Don’t take it that personal. Sometimes, he likes a media break. Last year, he spent a week in fly fishing in Montana.”
“But he wrote from there even though he was in the middle of nowhere, his daily newsletter and everything. Even when you couldn’t reach him he was still talking food.”
“You’ve got a point. Maybe we should be worried.”
Betty absently hung up the phone with Jillian King, Will’s editor who had no idea where Will went and slowly ran her fork through her plate of spaghetti. Pete prodded her to try to remember anything she could. Betty told the other Delightful Diners she could not recall Will mentioning anything specific. Mary Lou, who had been working steadily on her lasagna, put down her fork and grabbed Betty’s phone.
“I am sure you missed a clue to his whereabouts”
She began scrolling through Betty’s texts. Betty snatched the phone back. “Those are personal! I’ll look.” she said more softly.
She went back through her texts. “Nothing,” She said. “Just personal messages and a couple of pictures he sent last week.”
“Pictures of what? Or are those personal, too.” Pete joked.
“Eagles. He was sort of obsessed with them.”
“Eagles!” Samantha piped up for the first time. “There are a couple of pairs of nesting eagles this year at Starved Rock State Park over in Ottawa. Perhaps he’s been over there watching them and ran into some kind of trouble. ”
Samantha said she had been several times and loved to watch the eagles soar.
“Road Trip!” They all shouted at once.
Pete offered to drive them down to Ottawa and see if they could discover anything. Since it was after dark, they agreed to meet early the next morning. Pete pulled up in his Bermuda Green 1954 Chevrolet 210. Betty and Samantha spent a few minutes admiring his ride and then climbed in.
Betty tried Will’s phone once more before they started and it went straight to voicemail. She brought up a map of the park on her tablet and Pete pointed his car down the highway. Samantha brought snacks. “You can never go on a road trip without snacks!” She stated matter of factly.
As they neared they park, they decided if anything had happened near the visitor’s center, he would have been found. Betty said “I know his car. It’s a blue Nissan Sentra.”
They began their search in the remote parking lots. In the third lot they tried, they found his car. It was locked and didn’t show any signs of foul play. They started walking up the trail toward Hennepin Canyon and its overlook. It was fairly easy hike but it was slippery from the recent snows. They called out for Will as they walked. The scenery was beautiful and a rabbit raced across the path in front of them. Betty commented ” I can understand what Will sees in this place.”
They were about halfway to the overlook when Betty thought she heard a shout from below. They peered over the edge and could see a person at the bottom of the ravine. Samantha called 911 and Betty and Pete scrambled down the hill. Will was lying at the bottom with his leg caught under a log. His cell phone had been lost in the fall and he had no way to contact anyone.
Pete covered him with his coat. The rangers arrived and were able to bring him back up the hill and carried him back to the parking lot where they met the ambulance which took him to nearby Illinois Valley Community Hospital. The Delightful Diners followed in their car. Betty paced back and forth while they waited to hear Will’s condition. The doctor came out and told them Will would be fine and they could go and see him.
Will thanked them for looking for him. Next time, he would be sure he told people where he was going. “And invite us!” Betty told him.
The End