When I get back home, Rob is waiting for me in the kitchen. He’s eating a bowl of cereal and he glares at me as I stomp the snow off my boots in the foyer, silently daring him to come yell at me. He doesn’t.
“Where were you?” he asks as I walk into the living room in my bare feet.
“Just driving around, looking for Quinn.”
He grunts. “You think you could find her better than the police?”
That’s the problem with Rob. He never believes in me. A few years ago, I talked to him about the possibility of going back to college, or at least taking a few classes. You’re way too old for that, Claudia. I hate to admit it, but his words got to me. I never ended up doing it.
“Maybe,” I say. “Well, did you?”
I roll my eyes. “No, I didn’t.”
He frowns. “You be careful, Claudia. You know, if you help her, you’ll be aiding and abetting a criminal.”
“Quinn isn’t a criminal.”
“She killed her husband. I would say that makes her a criminal.”
“Watch it.”
Our eyes meet across the table. I see a muscle twitch in Rob’s jaw. Finally, he drops his eyes.
“If you’re going to take my truck,” he mutters, “at least let me know first.”
“I wasn’t gone long.”
“Yeah, but I got a job to do, Claudia.”
I snort. “What? Unclogging someone’s toilet?”
He stands up so quickly, he nearly knocks his chair down. “Guess that’s not as important as giving somebody a
back rub, huh?”
I open my mouth to reply, but Rob has already brushed past me. He grabs his coat and his car keys, then he’s out the door. The entire house shakes on its foundation when he slams the door shut.
I don’t expect to go out again today anyway. I got rid of the phone. Presumably, the phone is currently making its way to Vermont. Nowhere near us. By the time the police track it down, Quinn will have had time to get even further away from here.
And when she calls me to tell me where she is—and I’m sure she will—I’m going to be ready.
I had a couple of massage clients scheduled in the afternoon, but everyone canceled because of the snow. It means I end up sitting around the house, worrying about what’s happening with my sister. I also do a bit of laundry. Rob never, ever does laundry. He would keep buying underwear for months to avoid doing a load.
I call the police station and leave a message for Scott, but I don’t get a call back until nearly five o’clock in the afternoon, while I’m sitting on my sofa, watching television to take my mind off of everything. Rob got called out on a job, and he took his truck with him.
“Did you find her?” I ask Scott, before he can get a word
in.
His voice is gruff. “Not yet.”
I allow my shoulders to relax. Of course they didn’t find
her. This guy is a small-town police deputy for a reason. He doesn’t know how to investigate a murder. He has no idea how to find a person on the run. Maybe if the chief were here, they would have a chance.
“But it’s just a matter of time,” he adds. There’s an ominous tone to his voice.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we’ve got some leads.” “Did you find her phone?”
Scott hesitates. “We tracked it to Vermont, and I’ve got an officer going over there. But we have reason to believe she’s still in the state. I don’t think she’s gone far.”
I get a queasy feeling in my stomach. I thought dumping that cell phone in the car at the cemetery would send Scott on a wild goose chase that would give my sister at least another day of leeway. But it turns out he’s smarter than I gave him credit for.
“Why do you say that?” I ask carefully.
“We found out she got pulled over last night on I-93 North, just before the state line. They didn’t issue a ticket or anything like that, but she had a blown out tail light. The officer told her she had to get off the road, and he said he didn’t see her again, so he assumed she did.”
Oh Quinn, how could you be so stupid? I chew on my thumbnail. “But that was last night. She could be hundreds of miles away by now.”
“Maybe. But there was a blizzard going on and she was in a compact car. She probably had to get off the road anyway, even without the tail light issue. And wherever she pulled over, she may very well be stuck. Anyway, we’re checking it out.”
I cringe. If she’s still in New Hampshire, they’ll find her soon. How did she not even manage to make it out of the state? I can get out of the state in less than two hours.
Of course, in the weather we were having last night, without all-wheel drive or snow tires, she would’ve had to go pretty slowly. Still.
“Scott,” I say, “you… you don’t think Quinn killed her husband, do you?”
There’s a long silence on the other line. “I’m not sure what to think right now. But it isn’t looking good for her, Claudia. She left him lying dead in her house. And there was
nobody else in the car with her when she got pulled over. It’s not like somebody was holding a gun to her head.”
I clench my right hand into a fist. “You know her though.
You know she wouldn’t do something like this.” “I don’t know her.”
I’m surprised how cold Scott’s voice sounds. He dated Quinn. He was so infatuated with her. I could see it all over his face. And when she moved back here, I ran into him on the street and he started asking me all kinds of questions about her.
“What are you talking about?” I say. “She was your
girlfriend.”
“We dated for a few months ten years ago.”
“She was your girlfriend. I know you cared about her a lot.”
“That was a very long time ago.” He pauses. “We were just kids then. It was nothing. I don’t know her anymore— you know she keeps to herself.”
He’s not wrong about that. Derek and Quinn almost never entertained guests. My sister used to be outgoing, but after she got married, she turned into a hermit.
Scott lets out a sigh. “Claudia, I have to go. If you hear anything from Quinn, let me know right away.”
“Will you tell me if you think you know where she is?” “Yes.”
But he hesitates for several seconds before answering, which makes me think he has absolutely no intention of telling me anything. Why should he? He doesn’t want me to tip her off, after all.
Deputy Dwyer may be a better police officer than I gave him credit for. Although I still can’t believe he didn’t go into her house yesterday after he got the call about the screams.
After I hang up with Scott, I can’t stop pacing across the living room. I was trying to give my sister a clear shot to escape the police, figuring she would contact me when they stopped looking for her, but it’s not working. How did she
manage to get herself pulled over? What was she doing with a blown out tail light anyway?
That’s when I make a split second decision: I’m going to look for her.
This is New England—the main roads will be clear by now. I need to find her before the police do. I have a sense of where they pulled her over. And I know Quinn better than anyone in the world.
I’m going to find my sister.
