My Wife Is Missing(43)
She’d done her best to think things through, to plan and cover her bases. From her research, she’d found out phones and credit cards were the two easiest ways to track someone down. Since there was no registration process for a Tracfone, Natalie was free to roam the internet anonymously.
She got the phone powered on, went through the activation process, and connected to the motel’s Wi-Fi. Even crappy motels like this one had free Wi-Fi. As it turned out, they hadn’t made the news, but a Google search of her name pulled up a Facebook post about her and the kids. Natalie didn’t log into her account, thinking Michael could trace her that way. Instead, she used a new Gmail address to create a Facebook account, one her husband wouldn’t know about. She wanted to trace the origin of the “Help Find Natalie Hart” post, which already had plenty of shares and was on the precipice of going viral.
After some digging, Natalie determined that it was her mother who had initiated the post. To read her mom’s words, to experience the pain of her plea—Please help. My daughter and my grandchildren are missing. They are my world. We are devastated beyond words—bore into the most primal places in her heart.
Naturally, she could have involved them in her plans, but had decided after much contemplation, that the less they knew, the better. As she saw it, Michael was going to contact them no matter what, and if he suspected that they were hiding information from him, who knows what he might do?
Natalie quickly justified away her worry. Once they knew the truth, they’d understand her reasons for running. Not only would she be forgiven for putting them through this ordeal, her father would praise her ingenuity and resilience. “I raised a real fighter,” she could hear her dad say with beaming pride after all this was behind them.
Natalie sent Kate her new number but didn’t offer details. Let her friend inquire, she decided. The less she knew, the better. She put her phone away just as Bryce was waking up. His hair stuck out in a variety of angles like that of a newborn bird.
“When are we seeing Daddy?” he asked in a parched voice.
Of course those would be the first words out of his mouth. Natalie returned a tight smile.
“Come on, sleepyhead,” she said, slumping down on the bed to give him a tender kiss on the cheek. “We’ve got a long drive today and there’s a lot to do.”
She was thinking about the picture of them on Facebook, which had probably gone elsewhere in social media land. Twitter. Instagram. She remembered Michael taking that photo in the carport of the Marriott Marquis. Seemed like a lifetime ago.
“I’m hungry,” said Bryce.
“We’ll get McDonald’s on the way out of town. I know how much you love their hash browns.”
McDonald’s was a treat, and Bryce probably understood this was some sort of a bribe to ensure his cooperation. From the adjacent bed, Natalie heard sheets rustling as Addie began to stir. No troubles with breathing meant a good night’s sleep for her. What Natalie wouldn’t give for one of those! A sudden loud bang drew Natalie’s attention to the front door. She jumped at the sound and thought, Michael. She was the only one who seemed to have heard it.
“Don’t move,” she said to the kids, speaking in a tight whisper. “Nobody say anything.”
She proceeded cautiously toward the door, put her hand on the knob before placing her eye up to the peephole.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” asked Addie, nervously.
Natalie blinked to make sure her vision was clear, that she wasn’t missing something, because there was nobody at the door. She turned the knob and cracked open the door wide enough to poke her head outside into a warm April morning and the pleasing scent of spring. But she was on her guard and searched first to her left, then to her right. Nothing was happening outside. There were no cars idling nearby. Nobody was ambling down the walkway leading to the other rooms. The whole area appeared deserted. Still, Natalie was so sure she’d heard something—a loud knock, to be precise.
She looked for some object that might have blown against the door, but saw nothing. The other possibility was harder for her to fathom.
It was all in her head.
Now, she could add a mystery knock to her growing list of uncertainties.
Natalie rubbed at her tired eyes. Tonight she’d get good sleep, she promised herself, but only after she put in the miles.
“Everyone up,” Natalie said, clapping her hands cheerily. “Time for the day to begin.”
“What are we doing today?” Addie asked in a tiny voice fragranced with her endearing innocence. “Are we going to see Daddy?”
“Not today, love,” said Natalie. “But we are going to play a game before we leave here.”
Addie was interested right away.
“A game? What kind of game?”
Bryce wanted TV and those promised hash browns. Rather than pack, Natalie let him find a show to watch. This was going to be rough enough without her having to contend with his complaining.
“It’s a game I’m calling Dress-Up,” said Natalie.
That got Addie’s attention, but not Bryce’s.
Once more, Natalie went to those Walmart bags, and dumped the contents of one in particular onto Addie’s bed.
“Who wants to go first?” she asked.
If Addie had wondered what her mother was buying at Walmart, she hadn’t brought it up, probably because she was too exhausted from the day’s travails. Now, seeing everything spread out before her, it was apparent she had some questions.