Page 25 of Mean Streak

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J eff read the name of the caller on his cell phone and considered not answering.

Speaking to Alice directly wasn’t the best of ideas.

But then, everyone knew her to be a friend to him and Emory as a couple.

Naturally she would be worried and calling him for information and to offer every means of support.

He clicked on. “Hi.”

“Jeff, what the hell is going on?”

“Emory is missing.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. It’s already gone viral on social media.”

“Shit. The clinic staff?”

“The clinic per se hasn’t issued a statement. But individual staff members have been telegraphing it. Some of Emory’s friends, too, who say you began yesterday calling around looking for her.”

He swore under his breath. “I knew that sooner or later there would be a social media blitz, but naively I hoped to have more time before the onslaught.”

“I’ve been out of my mind with worry. Talk to me.”

He spent the next ten minutes detailing the situation without any interruption from her beyond spontaneous exclamations of dismay and empathy. He wound down and finished with, “First thing tomorrow morning, I’m going with Knight and Grange to the place in the mountains where they found her car.”

“This is unbelievable.”

“I know. It’s like she was beamed up by aliens, and that’s the least horrible thing I can think of. The ghastly alternatives—”

“Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. You could drive yourself crazy with speculation.”

“I’m halfway there already. Crazy, I mean. The two detectives urged me to remain positive, but let’s be realistic, Alice. It’s been too long since she was seen or heard from. No matter how angry she was when she left, if she were able to contact me, she would have by now. This can’t be good.”

“I’m afraid you’re right.”

She was too practical a woman for lying either to him or to herself.

“It will be on TV tomorrow,” he told her. “Probably as early as the morning newscasts. News outfits get most of their leads from social media now. Once the sheriff’s office confirms that she’s officially missing, reporters and camera crews will flock up here.”

“Emory is so well known and has such a high public profile.”

She said it without jealousy or rancor. One thing about Alice that he appreciated most was that she was well aware of Emory’s many accomplishments but wasn’t threatened by or resentful of them.

Emory had a competitive nature. Not so Alice, who was unlike her in every regard and quite comfortable with paling in comparison to his wife’s stellar brilliance.

Which was precisely why he was with Alice.

He said, “Because of Emory’s notoriety, Knight told me to brace myself. He warned that this might be my last night of peace until she’s found. Once the word is out, I’m likely to be besieged by media.

“In Knight’s opinion, that won’t be all bad,” he went on.

“He says it’s usually a good idea for a family member to make a public appeal, to go on camera and ask for help or information.

You’ve seen them on TV, sobbing parents, distraught spouses, begging for the safe return of the missing loved one.

I never thought I’d be one of those poor slobs. ”

“Will you be comfortable doing that?”

“It won’t be easy, but I’ll do whatever is expected or required of me.”

“You sound exhausted.”

“It’s been a shitty twenty-four hours.”

“What prompted you to drive up there yesterday?”

Leave my bed and drive up there . She didn’t say that, but it was implied.

“As you kept pointing out to me, it was unlike Emory to go so long without calling, out of courtesy if for no other reason. I still didn’t believe anything catastrophic had happened, more like she was punishing me for our argument.

“I drove up here expecting to find her sulking in her motel room. I planned for us to make up, or at least to call a truce until we could get home and sort things out. Who in hell could have foreseen this ?”

She made soothing sounds. He imagined her hugging his head to her pillowy breasts, running her fingers through his hair, and stroking his cheek.

He’d never required or particularly enjoyed cuddling, but it was essential to Alice.

Her body, lushly proportioned, seemed to demand that she make good use of what it had been designed for.

As though following the track of his thoughts, she said, “I wish I were with you.”

“Wouldn’t do.”

“I know. That doesn’t stop me from wanting it. Where are you now?”

“Some crappy motel. I don’t even know the name of it.”

She suggested that he find better accommodations.

As he explained how he’d come to be in these particular lodgings, he went over to the window and peeped through the split in the tacky drape, halfway expecting to see Grange and Knight sitting in their SUV with the darkly tinted windows, keeping vigil on his room through night vision binoculars.

“Putting me here and covering the bill is their subtle way of telling me that I’m not free to come and go, like they’ve got to keep an eye on me.”

“That’s not so surprising, is it? Naturally they’re worried about you, your state of mind. And if there’s a sudden development, they need to know where to find you in a hurry.”

“Maybe.”

“Jeff? What?”

She’d picked up on his vexation, and he welcomed the opportunity to unload. “It’s almost like they think I had something to do with Emory’s disappearance.”

“They can’t possibly think that!”

“Oh, they can. It’s always the husband, isn’t it?” He didn’t say “cheating husband,” but Alice was smart enough to infer the adjective.

In a small voice, she asked, “Have you told them about us?”

“God no. Hell no. I owned up to the fight Emory and I had on Thursday night, but… I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but it seemed to me that they read more into it than it actually was. Knight even had the gall to ask if our fight had turned physical.”

“It’s their job to be suspicious.”

“Grange certainly is. He pounced when I mentioned packing a bag before leaving Atlanta, asked if I had counted on staying a while.”

“Did you explain how fastidious and persnickety you are about your wardrobe?”

He took that as a rhetorical question. “The two of them also have this good cop/bad cop routine that’s so transparent it’s almost funny.”

“Except that it’s not funny, Jeff. None of it. Your wife, my friend, is missing.”

“Yes, she’s missing. She’s missing because she went to a place where she—or any woman—should never have gone alone.

I should have kept my mouth shut about it.

Trying to talk her out of this trip only made her more determined.

You know how strong willed she is. Now we’re all suffering the consequences for her bad choices. ”

“Jeff,” she chided softly.

“I’m sorry. That sounded terrible. I’m not myself.”

She was quiet for a time, then, “These two detectives said there was no indication that she’d been accosted.”

“Not where her car was parked, anyway.”

“Which doesn’t rule out something dreadful happening to her while she was running, either foul play or an accident that impaired her.”

“That’s what I keep harping on to them, but…” He hesitated, debating whether or not to bring this up, then said, “They posed another explanation for her disappearance.”

“What?”

“It’s absurd, but they suggested that Emory met someone up here, a man, and that she’s on a lover’s getaway. Knight asked me outright if she was unfaithful.”

“Do you have reason to suspect that?”

That wasn’t the reaction he had anticipated, and it caused him to sputter a laugh. “Jesus, Alice. Not you too? What’s good for the goose?”

Apparently she was thinking precisely that. The extended silence at the other end was weighty with implication. Finally she said, “Knowing Emory—”

“It’s out of the question.”

“I was about to say that it seems highly unlikely.”

“If she has another love interest, it’s her damn marathons. Not a man. But to her, running is just as orgasmic as fucking. More so, if you want to know the truth.”

“I don’t want to know. I told you from the beginning, Jeff. We can talk about anything, no subject is off-limits, except your personal life with Emory.”

“Alice—”

“I never want to hear how wonderful, or lousy, or mediocre the sex is. I don’t want to hear about it at all.”

“All right! I heard you!” Jesus! Wasn’t anybody on his side?

Suddenly she was contrite. “I apologize. The last thing you need is for me to lash out at you.”

“Look,” he said brusquely, “I need to go.”

“Jeff.”

“You shouldn’t have called. I’m glad you did. But we’ve talked too long. If anyone checked my phone I’d have to explain this call. I’ll be in touch when I can. Good-bye.”

“Jeff, wait.”

“What?”

“Have you considered…”

“Spit it out, Alice. What?”

“Maybe you should have an attorney present when you talk to them.”

Again, not a comment he had anticipated from her. “That’s all I need. A lawyer advising me not to answer their questions. That wouldn’t appear at all suspicious.”

“I just think it would be wise to—”

“No, it would be stupid. Because if these two detectives have got into their pea brains that I’m culpable, retaining a lawyer would seal it. No, Alice. No attorney.”

“I’m only trying to help.”

“Which I appreciate. But I’ve got to handle this my way.”

“I understand. But please don’t shut me out. What can I do?”

He thought about it, then said coldly, “You can stop calling me.”

***

“ Labor ? She told me she’d lost the baby.”

He spoke in a hush, but his alarm was apparent. Keeping her voice low, Emory said, “She has.” Taking a deep breath, she organized her thoughts into an explanation.

“Lisa estimates that she conceived four and a half months ago. But two weeks ago, she miscarried. Being at least sixteen weeks along, she should have consulted a doctor, who would have prescribed medications that cause and accelerate the elimination of tissue.