โHis passport is missing too?โ
Dave Winter eyed her across the table, tapping a pen against his notebook,ย ๏ฌickering in and out of a beam of morning sunlight.
โYes, Iโve checked everywhere,โย Bel said, breathless from explaining.ย โButโIโm trying to tell youโmy dad wouldnโt leave. Trust me. Something has happened to him, something bad.โ
โAnd it looks like a bag has been packed? Clothes missing? His wallet?โ โYes.โย Bel held on to the word, borrowing Aunt Sherryโs snakes. Hands
squeezing each other,ย ๏ฌngernails leaving half-moon imprints.ย โBut again, Iโm saying he wouldnโt leave me. Itโs completely out of characterโthatโs what you ask, isnโt it? What all the reports said about Rachel at the time. Something bad has happened and I want toย ๏ฌle a missing person report. You need to look for him. Itโs urgent. Youโve already left it too longโwe should have done this last night.โ
Dave Winter sighed, unclicked his pen.ย โAnnabel, I understand this feels like an emergency to you. But as an adult, your dad has a legal right to disappear without telling his family, if thatโs what he wants to do. I gotta tell you, all the signs are looking like he left voluntarily, no sign of foul play. Bags packed, passport and wallet gone.โ
Bel shook her head.ย โSomeone just wants us to think that. Why wouldnโt he take his truck, if heโd decided to leave?โ
Dave sighed again, picked up his pen,ย ๏ฌicked a couple pages back.ย โWhen did you last see him?โ
โTen oโclock Saturday night, when I went to bed.โย Bel leaned forward, separating her hands.ย โI donโt know when he went missing, sometime before morning. But that means itโs been almost thirty-six hours since he was last seen. No one has heard from him, and his phoneโs been o๏ฌย the whole time. You need to start looking for him. Now.โ
Her leg juddered against the underside of the table, just nine days since she was last here, talking about a reappearance, not a disappearance, tables turning, sides shifting again. And Dave Winter still wasnโt listening.
โIโm not sure thereโs anything I can do.โ
โWhat do you mean?โย Bel straightened up, locking her jaw, the knot in her gut spitting sparks.ย โYou can do exactly what you did last time one of my parents went missing. Look for him. Track his phone. Get search dogs. Do it all.โ
โI canโt justify a full investigation like that,โย he said, trying to be understanding, failing.ย โYour momโs disappearance was di๏ฌerent; the circumstances were suspicious and it was evident she was in danger. Your dadโฆa grown man has a right to take o๏ฌย for a day or two if he wants. Itโs understandable, given the situation. Rachelโs return probably hasnโt been easy on the family. Ms. Nelson told me it sounded like there was a family argument at your house on Friday. She saw your dad storming o๏ฌย down the street. Itโs just stress, blowing o๏ฌย steam. Iโm sure heโll be back in a couple of days.โ
โYouโre wrong.โย Bel slammed oneย ๏ฌst against the table, making his notebook pages fan back.ย โYouโve already been wrong; you said heโd probably turn up last night. He didnโt. Something bad has happened to him. The circumstancesย areย suspicious and heย isย in danger.โ
โIn danger from who?โ
โRachel!โย The knot in her gut exploded and Bel did too, her new promise to Dad shattered and forgotten.ย โItโs something to do with Rachel!
Sheโs back for just one week, and now my dad disappears? Itโs connected. Itโs something to do with her.โ
Not just something; it was everything to do with her. Rachel was a liar; sheโd orchestrated one disappearance, and now sheโd made Dad disappear too. Bel should have worked harder, faster, toย ๏ฌnd evidence and remove Rachel from their lives. Now it might be too late; Dad was already gone, the worst had already happened. The last thing heโd asked her to do was to trust Rachel, and now Rachel had taken him from her.
โIโm sure itย isย connected,โย Dave said.ย โRachel coming back after being presumed dead all this time was an unprecedented event. And the stress of knowing the man who took her is still out there. I thinkย Iโdย want a break if all that happened to me.โ
โMy dad didnโt leave!โย she shouted, bothย ๏ฌsts on the table.ย โAnnabel, you need to cโโ
โDonโt tell me to calm down.โย She took aim with her eyes, blinking theย ๏ฌre his way.ย โYouย need to do your job. File the missing person report and look for him.โ
Daveโs mouth opened silently, building up another sigh. Anger wasnโt going to push him, but something else might.
โYou owe him,โย Bel said, darkly, lowering her voice.ย โYou owe him, and you know it. Youโve been wrong about him before. Convinced he was the one who killed Rachel. Locked him up, made him face trial. You were wrong and you put him through hell. Hereโs your chance to do the right thing. You owe him. Please. Help meย ๏ฌnd him.โ
Daveโs mouth stayed open, but there was a shift in his eyes, and a shift in his shoulders.
โOK,โย he said gently. Hisย ๏ฌngers drummed the table, dancing spiders.ย โIโm going to need a written statement from you for the report. Iโll need all his details: phone number and carrier. It will take a few days to subpoena the records. I need bank details, if you have them, papers at home.โ
โYes,โย Bel said, breathless again. A new feeling too: hope. It was small and fragile, and she fed it to the knot in her gut.ย โI can do that. Right now.โ
โAn o๏ฌcer will have to come out to the house, do a search. And weโll need a statement from Rachel too.โ
โThank you,โย she said, throat dry and scratchy. Eyes too, fromย ๏ฌtful bursts of sleep,ย ๏ฌghting it all night, watching the door in case Rachel came for her too.
Dave stood up from the table, knocking his knuckles against it once.ย โDonโt thank me,โย he said, holding his notebook against his chest, eyes heavy and sad.ย โLike you said, I owe him.โ
Bel nodded. They all did.
โ
Bel didnโt go home again until it was dark. She closed the front door, wincing at the sound of the latch, giving her away. Home, except it wasnโt anymore; the air was di๏ฌerent, it got trapped in your ears, amplifying every creak and sigh that a house was supposed to make. And the ones it wasnโt: footsteps from the living room, mu๏ฌed and creeping.
Rachelโs head appeared around the corner, the rest of her body following, trapping Bel in the hallway.
โAn-B-Bel. Where were you?โ
Bel shrugged o๏ฌย her jacket.ย โJe๏ฌย and Sherryโs. Where were you?โย She shot the question back at her.
Rachelโs mouth twitched, sharpening her chin.ย โAfter the o๏ฌcersย ๏ฌnished their search here, I went to give my statement to the chief of police, told him the last time I saw Charlie, before I took a bath that evening. I didnโt hear him leaving, but he must have, during the night.โ
Bel took one step forward, forcing Rachel to take one back, freeing her.ย โI thought you werenโt sleeping well,โย she said, heading for the kitchen. Rachel tailed her.ย โStrange you didnโt hear anything.โย Using one lie to un-ย ๏ฌip another.
Bel reached for the refrigerator, pulled out the carton of apple juice Rachel had bought. Said sheโd missed it while she was in that basement.
โHe must have been quiet,โย Rachel said, from the doorway.
โMust have been.โย Bel took a sip, straight from the carton. Rachel didnโt react.ย โItโll be OK,โย she said instead.ย โI promise.โ
Bel tipped her head up and drained the carton, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.
โWhere were you the rest of the day? Doesnโt take six hours to give a statement.โ
โDriving around,โย Rachel said,ย โto the places I thought he could be.
Looking for him.โ
Bel squeezed the empty carton, caving it in. She dropped it into the trash can, on top of a red takeout co๏ฌee cup, a logo with a cartoon cow, pursed lips to blow a steaming mug. Rachel must have stopped at a co๏ฌeehouse while outย looking for Dad.
โYou didnโtย ๏ฌnd him, then?โย Bel spun around.
Rachel had moved into the room while Belโs back was turned, feet silently tracing theย ๏ฌoor. Both of them circling the other, pushing and pulling. Getting ready.
โNo, I didnโtย ๏ฌnd him,โย Rachel said.
โI will.โย Bel met her eyes.ย โIโllย ๏ฌnd him, bring him home.โย Said as a promise, meant as a threat.
Rachel blinked.
โRisotto for dinner. Do you like risotto?โ โI already ate.โ
