Page 70 of Fever Dream

“What was he admitted for?”

“He had a high fever,” I say.“No one was sure what was wrong.”

“What did they determine, ultimately?”

“They weren’t sure.We think Toby brought something home from school.The baby wouldn't eat and all he did was cry.The doctor said he was dehydrated.”

“So, not a good time for a trip, then?”

“No, it wasn’t.But we didn’t know that until the last minute.”

“What do you mean?”

“He got very sick, very quickly.”

“And your husband still insisted on going?”

“We all thought Phillip would be fine the next morning.We’d never had a child hospitalized before.I think we both went into it a little blind.”

Officer Druggs looks at his partner and then at me.“That’s an interesting way to put it.”

“But he’s fine now,” I say.

“The other children… and your husband… Search dogs combed the area for weeks,” Officer Sloan says.“Nothing turned up.”

I nod again.

“What do you make of that?Knowing now what you know—that the children turned up in Mexico.”

I could see they had finally come around to my way of thinking.The situation with the car should have told the cops, the way it did me, that whomever was involved in the disappearance of my family, they were not amateurs.“I didn’t know what to make of it.I still don’t.”

“The blood in your kitchen.It came back from the lab as matching yours.”

“Really.”I am not surprised.I knew the blood was mine.I also knew that to admit this would only invite more questions.

Druggs cocks his head.“Was Charles abusive?”

“No.Never.”

“Do you have any idea how the blood could have gotten there?”

“Not really.But I’ve been known to be rather clumsy with knives.I slip occasionally.”This is not a full-blown lie, but a diversion.If I tell them about the men who showed up at my house, I fear it will only lead to more trouble for my family.Maybe this is stupid on my part, but if I can’t trust the authorities to handle me or my case properly, how can I rely on them not to mess things up for Charles?He’s out there somewhere, and if my predicament is any indication, the odds don’t fare well for him.

“Had you noticed anything out of the ordinary?Was there anyone your husband might have had a falling out with?Did he owe money to anyone?”

“I’ve told you.Not that I’m aware,” I say, knowing that in my mind the question remained.Who were the men and why had they come?

“There was no one who might have wanted to do your husband harm?No one you could think of?”

How was I to know?

What was I going to tell them?

Would it only lead to more trouble for my husband?

I feared it would.

So I shake my head and tell them no.

Mostly, I thought, or rather, Ibelieved—again, probably stupidly—that Charles would be found, and that he would sort all this out in his own way.After all, in as long as I’d known him, he’d always taken care of things.I have to keep the faith.It is all I have.Charles is going to turn up.

And then one day he does.