a lot. Whoever she was, she was the touchy-feely type. Not that he minded, it was just that he wasn’t used to anyone touching him. No one had, not like that, gentle, familiar reminders that he wasn’t alone—not since Charlotte.
“My missing memories must seem so small compared to losing your wife,” she continued. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“You’re right,” he said after a pause. “That charm can’t be hers. She wasn’t here.”
“You mean she wasn’t here now, without you? Does that mean you’re giving up? You think she’s dead?” Sarah raised her camera, framing his image, then lowered it quickly. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to—”
“No, no, it’s fine. I just, I haven’t—there hasn’t been anyone I could talk to about this. I mean, I don’t know what’s more painful. Hoping she’s still alive out there, somewhere, living her life, or…”
“Maybe she’s like me?” she said brightly. “Maybe she has amnesia. That’s why she hasn’t come home. As soon as she remembers…”
“If she’s like you, she’d have people like me and the police to help her. Someone would have recognized her from the missing persons reports. Someone would have found her, brought her home.”
Sarah hung her head. “You’re right, I guess.”
“Funny thing is, the police, except for Burroughs, think she is still alive. They think she ran away.” He hauled in a breath. Here, sheltered by an otherworldly cocoon of green, he could speak the truth. Finally, for the first time in a year. “Maybe she did.”
“Really? Why?”
“I don’t know. But when I look back, she was acting strangely in the weeks before she vanished. Nothing I can be certain about, nothing I could ever explain to the police. She wasn’t sleeping well. I’d find her talking on the phone at strange times, a strange look on her face. A few times, I came home from the ER and she wasn’t home yet. She’d always show up later with a bag of groceries, saying she stopped at Giant Eagle, but, it never felt… right.”
“Doesn’t sound like a lot to go on.”
“I know. That’s why I never told anyone else. Maybe it’s all in my imagination, grasping for hints that aren’t there, searching for any kind of explanation.”
They passed through the tunnel and back into the light. The forest came alive around them once more, and Tommy blinked as a ray of sunshine angled through the treetops. The trail grew steeper here, but Sarah didn’t seem to mind.
They were almost at the plateau halfway up the mountain where the old iron furnace stood. The trail forked at the furnace, one path leading up to follow the steeper ridgeline along the top of the mountain, the other winding down the backside of the mountain and circling around, ending up just above the parking lot where they’d begun.
“Could she have been having an affair?” Sarah asked in a soft tone as they walked.
“Now you sound like the cops. That was the first thing they asked. Well, second. Right after they asked if I killed her.” He stepped over a fallen branch. “No, I don’t think so. I think if it was something like that, if she really wanted someone else, she would have just told me. One thing about Charlotte, she didn’t pull punches. And she never would have left Nellie to be with another man. That much I’m certain of.”
“Okay, then. Something at work? You said she was a social worker, right? Maybe a case got too personal?”
“No. She’d been working with the rehab unit the past three months. A nice break from rotating through the ER or with the trauma team or OB-GYN.”
“Hmm. Her family?”
“Solid. And I don’t have any, not local, so no meddling in-laws for her to worry about. She did volunteer with the women’s shelter, but that was mainly answering phones, putting together care packages, arranging transportation and logistics like visits to attorneys and the like.”
“Still, working with victims of domestic
“My missing memories must seem so small compared to losing your wife,” she continued. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“You’re right,” he said after a pause. “That charm can’t be hers. She wasn’t here.”
“You mean she wasn’t here now, without you? Does that mean you’re giving up? You think she’s dead?” Sarah raised her camera, framing his image, then lowered it quickly. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to—”
“No, no, it’s fine. I just, I haven’t—there hasn’t been anyone I could talk to about this. I mean, I don’t know what’s more painful. Hoping she’s still alive out there, somewhere, living her life, or…”
“Maybe she’s like me?” she said brightly. “Maybe she has amnesia. That’s why she hasn’t come home. As soon as she remembers…”
“If she’s like you, she’d have people like me and the police to help her. Someone would have recognized her from the missing persons reports. Someone would have found her, brought her home.”
Sarah hung her head. “You’re right, I guess.”
“Funny thing is, the police, except for Burroughs, think she is still alive. They think she ran away.” He hauled in a breath. Here, sheltered by an otherworldly cocoon of green, he could speak the truth. Finally, for the first time in a year. “Maybe she did.”
“Really? Why?”
“I don’t know. But when I look back, she was acting strangely in the weeks before she vanished. Nothing I can be certain about, nothing I could ever explain to the police. She wasn’t sleeping well. I’d find her talking on the phone at strange times, a strange look on her face. A few times, I came home from the ER and she wasn’t home yet. She’d always show up later with a bag of groceries, saying she stopped at Giant Eagle, but, it never felt… right.”
“Doesn’t sound like a lot to go on.”
“I know. That’s why I never told anyone else. Maybe it’s all in my imagination, grasping for hints that aren’t there, searching for any kind of explanation.”
They passed through the tunnel and back into the light. The forest came alive around them once more, and Tommy blinked as a ray of sunshine angled through the treetops. The trail grew steeper here, but Sarah didn’t seem to mind.
They were almost at the plateau halfway up the mountain where the old iron furnace stood. The trail forked at the furnace, one path leading up to follow the steeper ridgeline along the top of the mountain, the other winding down the backside of the mountain and circling around, ending up just above the parking lot where they’d begun.
“Could she have been having an affair?” Sarah asked in a soft tone as they walked.
“Now you sound like the cops. That was the first thing they asked. Well, second. Right after they asked if I killed her.” He stepped over a fallen branch. “No, I don’t think so. I think if it was something like that, if she really wanted someone else, she would have just told me. One thing about Charlotte, she didn’t pull punches. And she never would have left Nellie to be with another man. That much I’m certain of.”
“Okay, then. Something at work? You said she was a social worker, right? Maybe a case got too personal?”
“No. She’d been working with the rehab unit the past three months. A nice break from rotating through the ER or with the trauma team or OB-GYN.”
“Hmm. Her family?”
“Solid. And I don’t have any, not local, so no meddling in-laws for her to worry about. She did volunteer with the women’s shelter, but that was mainly answering phones, putting together care packages, arranging transportation and logistics like visits to attorneys and the like.”
“Still, working with victims of domestic
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