Page 10 of Silent Echo
CHAPTER NINE
C harlotte had been on the phone all afternoon.
First to check each of the area’s urgent care facilities and local hospitals to see if anyone matching Sebastion’s description had come in that day.
His name wasn’t on any of their computers, and no one remembered seeing him.
She also had them check under Penelope’s name, but nothing.
Next, she’d called the school to find out who Penelope’s next of kin was, but they said that would violate their privacy policy.
She opened her laptop to the memorial page the school had set up after the tragedy.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Sebastion’s picture, and a sob escaped her.
Taking a deep breath, she scrolled down to the comments made by family members and friends.
There were hundreds of messages, and it was tough going, but she had to see if anyone had left a message about Penelope Watson.
An hour later, she finally found something.
To my wonderful sister, I’ll carry you in my heart forever. Nora
She did a browser search for Nora Watson, but there were too many.
She narrowed it down to Maryland and began meticulously looking at each one.
Penelope had been in her twenties, so her sister would likely be close to her age.
After another hour, no further ahead, she got up and made herself a cup of tea.
It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Social media might yield something. She returned to her office and went to Facebook to see if Penelope had a page.
No luck. Then she searched Nora Watson and began to sort through the profiles.
None of them seemed right. Frustrated, she glanced at her watch—almost seven.
Harper would be home from her soccer game soon.
She was surprised that Eli wasn’t home yet.
She picked up her cell phone and realized it was in silent mode. He had texted a while ago.
Last minute change of plans with a client. Taking them to dinner. Don’t wait up.
Working late? She wondered again if something was going on with him and Madison.
She would bring it up to her therapist. She was tempted to keep going with her internet sleuthing, but she knew Harper would be starving when she came in, and Charlotte suddenly felt guilty that she hadn’t prepared anything for dinner.
She went into the kitchen, opened the freezer, and pulled out a pizza. That would have to do.
Moments later, the front door opened, and Harper’s footsteps echoed from the hallway.
“Mom, we won!”
She burst into the kitchen, all smiles, and Charlotte walked over to give her a hug. “Congrats, honey! That’s great.”
“I scored the winning goal. Everyone was cheering. I wish it had been a home game so you could have been there.”
“Me too.” The truth was that Charlotte could have chosen to drive the ninety minutes to the game; some of the other parents did, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than whether her son was alive.
At Eli’s insistence, she hadn’t told Harper anything, although she was bursting to.
She could use an ally, but Eli was right; Harper needed to be kept in the dark until she had some answers. It wasn’t fair to get her hopes up.
“I put a pepperoni pizza in for you,” Charlotte told her.
“Cool. I’m gonna shower. Wanna watch an episode of Grey’s with me?”
What she really wanted was to keep going with her search for Penelope’s sister, but she nodded. “Love to.”
“’Kay. I’ll be back in a flash.”
Charlotte pulled the pizza from the oven and cut it, then grabbed plates and sodas.
Harper was back, a towel around her neck, her hair still wet from the shower, wearing her pajamas.
Charlotte felt a tug in her heart. Harper was still so young, yet she’d grown so much over the past year.
A deep feeling of regret washed over her, thinking about how much of her daughter’s life she’d missed while she was buried in grief.
No more. No matter what, she had to keep a balance.
She would leave no stone unturned in investigating what she now believed was her son’s disappearance rather than his death.
But she had to make sure that she didn’t neglect Harper in doing so.
She would spend her days searching for answers, but her evenings would be reserved for her daughter.
What about your husband , a little voice asked. She didn’t have an answer.