Page 27

Teddi

“About a mile ahead and then it’ll be two lefts.” The SUV pitched left and then right, dipping into gravel potholes. Teddi gripped the door handle.

“I’ve never met her, have you?” Vera asked over the squeak of the windshield wipers. The sky began crying fat, sloppy tears the minute they pulled out of the trailhead lot.

“Nah, Alex and Lily kept to themselves. I only met him once or twice over the years. He seemed nice enough though.”

Vera nodded, the pad of her forefinger rubbing against her bottom lip. “Tell me again what you do know.”

“Name is Lily Howe, she works at the only grocery store in Sylen and she’s nineteen. Lives in a house listed under her father’s name, Adam Howe. Her mother is Nora. The marriage license says they’ve been married for thirty years. She never attended college or left Colorado as far as we could find. We also couldn’t find evidence of a social media presence. She and Alex dated for about eight months but beyond that, I haven’t got much.”

Teddi felt she admitted that more times since Alex’s case came to her than in her entire career. It felt like she was sticking her hand out in the dark hoping to catch the edge of something tangible. She wasn’t entirely sure it wouldn’t be sharp enough to cut but kept hoping otherwise. “I tried contacting her multiple times over the last few months and got nothing. You already know about her conversation with Mimi. Yes, they broke up. No, she hadn’t seen him since. The end.”

Reaching the turn, they slowed to a crawl, getting a look at a proper neighborhood. Nestled back from the road, the pitched roof of one modest-sized home could be seen, the puffy clouds from another chimney further down. It was the third house, its mailbox reading ‘HOWE’ in thick black letters that had Vera pulling into the short, paved driveway.

The two-story grey home was framed against a backdrop of forest, just like every other inch of Sylen. Teddi pulled her collar around her neck, feeling small against the giant wave of black everywhere they went. It was like they had slipped into an ocean of darkness, unable to find the shore.

The driveway would only fit one car and pulled right up to the porch. Three short steps led up to the front door. Fallen black leaves from the overgrown trees freckled the small square lawn like the spots on a Dalmatian.

Stepping out, they both took in the place. A bare clothesline stood off to the right of the lawn in front of the garbage bins. With freshly cut grass and well-trimmed bushes framing the steps, it appeared well-maintained if not a bit weather-worn. Teddi lifted her face to greet a soft wind, noting how quiet the neighborhood was. No chatter of children playing in their yards or rumbling car engines. It was still.

Nearly rattling the screen door off its hinges, Vera knocked. Teddi peered at the closest neighbor only to realize their house wasn’t fully visible through a wall of high shrubs.

The door swung open to reveal a young woman in an oversized t-shirt with a pastel rainbow on it. A pair of shorts peeked out from beneath the hem, a matching black to her crew socks. Copper-red hair fanned out around her small frame like she just rolled out of bed. “Can I help you?” She peered behind them, fair brows pinched together in confusion.

“Hi, I’m Vera Aguilar and this is Teddi Leon. Lily, right?” The teenager nodded slowly. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to talk to us about Alex?”

Lily’s bone-thin fingers gripped the door, her lips coming together tightly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She began to shut the door as her eyes went wide.

Vera’s boot jammed against the frame. “Alex is my cousin. I’m Ximena’s sister, do you remember her? She has spoken so highly of you and I wanted to come ask you some questions. We'll only take up a few minutes of your time and it would mean the world.” She was calm, keeping her voice low and steady as she released the door. Teddi knew in an instant she had done this a hundred times before and won every time.

Lily weighed her answer. “Yeah, I know Ximena.” She stepped back to let them in, worrying her lip between her teeth.

A small foyer opened into a dark living room where a TV played old sitcom reruns quietly. The white textured walls were covered in family photos broken up by pieces of art.

The girl waved her hand at the worn couch pushed up against the bay window. “Take a seat.”

One painting, in particular, caught Teddi’s eye before she sat down. It was a watercolor landscape painting, the viewpoint placing the viewer inside a forest opening to a wide, flat space. Vivid green grass contrasted with the pale blue of the sky. The rock was missing but it looked eerily like the crime scene they just came from.

They took their seats as Lily tucked her legs beneath her on a worn leather chair across from them. “So what do you want to know about Alex?” Her voice was thin like a child’s. Teddi wouldn’t believe she was nineteen if she hadn’t known it beforehand. Lily began picking at a thread on her shirt.

“I was just wondering if you knew why he disappeared. If anything was going on in his life around that time?”

“Why?” Teddi watched the girl, tracking every shift in her demeanor, listening to each inflection.

Forearms on her thighs, Vera leaned forward, a long glass coffee table separating them. “Teddi here is a private investigator and we’re trying to figure out what happened to him. I know you guys dated for almost a year and that you broke up right before he went missing.”

Her wide eyes darted to Teddi and away once more, shifting further into the oversized chair. She reminded her of an animal trapped in a corner, weighing the cost of escape. “We met at a party and started dating like two weeks later. He was… he was cool at first. Really fun to be around. Funny and easygoing, we spent a lot of time just hanging out.” She shrugged and pulled hard at the thread.

“Sorry, what do you mean by he was cool at first?”

“Nothing, I just mean we weren’t going to work out. We were doing long-distance because I live here and he’s in Fort Collins but it didn’t end up mattering because we broke up. I’m not going to leave Sylen and he didn’t want to move here.”

“Do you know if he was getting into any kind of trouble before he disappeared? Any fights or problems with people? Maybe someone in his classes or from work?”

“No, not that I know of but we weren’t talking a lot leading up to our break-up. We just… we didn’t work out.” Teddi cocked her head.

“I’m sure that was difficult for you. Did you ever speak to Ximena after he disappeared?” Vera’s voice was gentle.