All the Dark Places(41)
The sheriff comes to a stop in a nondescript section of road, slides the gearshift into PARK, and we jump out. “This is where her cell phone was found,” he says, “by those two pine trees.”
“Anything on her phone helpful?”
“Nothing. Except a text to her mother saying she’d be home soon that we figure she placed right as she left the bar. There was also a small amount of blood on the road here and fibers that probably came from her jeans.” He lifts his hat and scratches his head. “We think he knocked her down, then dragged her into his vehicle. That’s our theory anyway.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
I glance at the trees standing silently in the snow, close my eyes, and try to get a sense of Annalise. But I feel nothing but a cold emptiness.
Chase walks past us and heads up the road, turns. “Her house up this way then?”
“Yeah. Over that rise, there’s a gravel driveway on the left.”
Chase cranes his neck looking through the trees.
“You can’t see it from here,” the sheriff says. “Sits pretty far back.”
The sheriff is standing still as if this is the end of the line. It doesn’t seem like there’s much else to see up this way.
“You want to head back and go through all this?” I ask.
“That’d be good,” he says, and leads us back to his vehicle.
CHAPTER 28
Molly
ELISE DROPPED ME AND SADIE OFF AT HOME ON HER WAY TO WORK. The house is still, quiet. I flip through my security screens and then carry my laptop up to the master bathroom and set it on the sink while I shower and dress for the day.
The bookstore isn’t busy on a Tuesday morning, and I settle in on the second floor with Sadie. I shelve books while she snores between the stacks. Childish laughter and women’s voices trickle through to where I work behind a wall of books. Sounds like a couple of moms with their preschool-age kids. I sigh. To be one of them, a mom with a child to take care of. Jay home in the evening at the end of a workday. Dinner as a family. First steps and bedtime stories. I take a deep breath and reach for the next book to be shelved.
Eventually, the women and their children leave, off to the next stop, I guess. And the floor becomes lonely and still. I work steadily, and the morning passes quietly. I try to keep my mind off Jay, and off my caller. I play a game where I decide which book on any given shelf is my favorite.
When my parents moved us to Graybridge, I’d beg Corrine to bring me here. She was sixteen in a new town, missing her friends back home. The first few months, she was lonely and didn’t mind hanging out with me. We’d both sit and read, then head to the candy shop across the square. The candy shop is long gone, replaced by a skateboard store.
When school started in the fall, Corrine’s life picked up where it had left off. She made friends easily and grew to be grateful for the move, and Graybridge became home. I found Kim that year too. The harder I tried to disappear in the back row in our classroom, the more interested in me Kim became. She made it her mission to befriend the new girl—the strange, quiet new girl. She was outgoing and popular, even in second grade. The other kids, who might have found something in my oddness to make fun of, didn’t dare with Kim at my side. And she never asked any questions, still hasn’t all these years later. Whether she ever figured out who I was, I don’t really know. But as long as no one brings it to light and makes it real again, I’m okay.
At lunchtime, I head across the square to Laken’s spa. Alice asked if Sadie could stay with her in the office while she did homework, so I reluctantly left her behind.
Serene Lake Spa takes up two storefronts, and inside it’s like another world. The walls are painted off-white, with soft blue and green accents. The sound of gentle waves fills the dimly lit waiting room. The scent of lavender and citrus hangs in the air. Ferns and smooth stones cover the counter where the receptionist is checking in two middle-aged ladies, and I wave to her as I head to Laken’s office.
I tap on her closed door, and it takes her a few minutes to answer, flipping the lock.
“Molly! Hey.”
“Do you want to grab some lunch?”
She clears her throat and peers over her shoulder. “Yeah. That would be great. I was just finishing up some paperwork.” She’s acting oddly but swings the door open, and I see Josh sitting on a sofa near the window.
“Hey, Molly,” he says cheerfully. “I was just taking a break myself and stopped to see if Laken wanted to head over to André’s.”
Laken runs her fingers through her disheveled hair. Two of her blouse buttons are undone, the lacy top of her bra showing. I feel as though I’ve walked into an improv skit. “Oh, sorry. Well, if you two had plans,” I say like an idiot.
Josh jumps to his feet and tucks his shirt in his pants. “No. No. You guys go. I’ll catch up with you another time,” he says to Laken and practically runs out the door.
Laken and I walk across the square. I don’t know what to say to her as she rambles on about business and her boys until we reach the café. We put in our orders at the counter, take a metal stand with a number attached at the top, and set it on our table.
“Josh wanted to book a massage,” she says. “Things have been pretty rough for him at work.”
Laken’s a terrible liar, and I’ve lost my appetite. How could they do this to Kim and Cal? And why now, when we’re all torn up over Jay? Jesus. What am I supposed to do about this? Then I hear Jay’s voice in my head. Not your problem, Molly. Not yours to fix. Which is funny because all Jay ever did professionally or otherwise was try to fix people.