Land of Entrapment by Andi Marquette Page B

vividly because we were celebrating the first anniversary of our official relationship.
    It was late summer so we went camping in the mountains above Taos and spent a couple of days wandering the town and pueblo, inseparable.
    Enjoying each other’s company and the landscape.
    The sky had been impossibly blue. New Mexico blue.
    So clear you could see the edges of time. The pueblo’s architecture flowed from the earth, matching the color of the soil. Windows and doorways appeared like magic in its walls. I remembered the residents going about their business, laughing and talking. I almost smelled the bread from the hornos. Pueblo dogs ran free across the dirt pathways that served as streets.
    I remembered how much I loved her then and another lump formed in my throat. I remembered who had taken that picture. A local Indian man, charmed by Melissa’s smile. What happened? Where did you go, Melissa? Where did we go? I heard the security door open and hastily slid the photo back into the jewelry box and set it on the shelf before returning to the living room. Melissa stood near the door, wearing black cotton pleated slacks and a loose white blouse.
    She had the two top buttons undone. The silver chain glinted around her neck. She took her shades off when she saw me and propped them on her head.
    “Hi.” She offered me a smile and it made me think of that photo at Taos Pueblo.
    I ran a hand through my hair. “Hey. Thanks for coming by.” I looked around, almost desperate.
    Where had I put the key? Oh, on the coffee table.
    “Here. It opens the security door and the front door.”
    She took it and stood looking at me. “Kase, I’m really worried.”
    “Look, I’m making progress. I’ll get this figured out and hopefully you’ll at least know where Megan is.” “I know that. I’m worried about you. I shouldn’t have asked you to come.”
    I shifted my weight from foot to foot, extremely uneasy and a bit overwhelmed by memories. “I’ll be okay. If I think anything’s really freaky, I’ll let you know.”
    She stood watching me. I read things unspoken in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “This whole thing has been kind of stressful.” She chewed her lower lip, then glanced over at the computer. “What else can I do? I haven’t heard from Megan’s friend yet.”
    “Keep checking. If I think of anything, I’ll ask.
    How’s that?”
    She nodded, but she wasn’t completely appeased.
    “I can’t believe someone’s been trying to break in.”
    “Oh, that reminds me,” I interrupted. “Can you check her closet? See if you notice anything missing that maybe wasn’t missing before?”
    “Okay. But I don’t really know what she wears except maybe stuff she liked a lot.”
    “It can’t hurt.” I waited for her to move past me and then I followed her into the bedroom. She stood in the closet with the light on, concentrating. She stepped back, puzzled, and looked around again.
    “That’s strange,” she muttered. She looked up at me. “There’s a sweatshirt missing.”
    “Really? Which one?”
    “UNM. It was her favorite and when she left, it was here. I know because I hung it up. It’s not here now.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Definitely. I remember it because...” her voice trailed off. “It was that one you got her when she was accepted.”
    I felt like I had swallowed several large stones and they were sitting in the pit of my stomach. “And it’s gone?”
    “Yes.” She had her right hand on the door jamb and she was studying Megan’s carefully organized clothing. She looked at me. “So maybe she’s still in town?”
    “Possibly. Or nearby, at the very least.” Or Cody was coming by with his friends. But I doubted that.
    The sweatshirt had sentimental value. That was something Megan would fetch herself. It also told me something else. If she was still in New Mexico, she was somewhere that required a sweatshirt, at least on occasion. New Mexico summers were hot. At the