Still Missing

I motioned for one of the cops to come over, and when I told him what I'd found, he called Gary on his cell. None of the photos had names, and the cops wouldn't answer any of my questions, so I insisted on speaking to Gary.

'I don't understand why nobody will tell me who he is--he has a record. I've spent hours looking through these fucking photos, the least you can do is give me his name.'

'It's great you've identified a picture, Annie, but first we have to verify the information. I don't want you getting all worked up over this and finding out it's the wrong guy--'

'It's him. I spent a whole year with him.'

'I don't doubt you for a second, and I'll call you as soon as I have the full story on him. Meanwhile, just go home and try to get some rest, all right? And I need you to make me a list of anyone you think might want to harm you.'

'There isn't anyone, I already did one for my shrink, listed every damn person I know. The Freak must have had a friend who--'

'And that's what I'm working on finding out. Now go home, send me the list you made, and we'll talk soon.'

The next day I paced around my house waiting for Gary to call, which he didn't, nor did he answer his cell. I killed a couple of hours cleaning, then, curious about the guy whose picture at the cop shop had looked familiar, I went through all my recycled newspapers, page by page. In the very last one I spotted a headline about the 'recently released felon wanted in connection with a convenience store robbery' and took a closer look at the article. As soon as I read the name I knew who he was. Mom's stepbrother. The date told me he'd been released a few weeks ago and I wondered if Mom knew, or if I should tell her. All afternoon I weighed the pros and cons of being the one to fill her in. By five I was like a squirrel on speed, so when my mom called and invited me over for pasta, I said yes.

Dinner wasn't so bad, but when we finished eating and I was still debating whether to tell her the news about her stepbrother, Mom started talking about a little girl who just went missing in Calgary. I told her I didn't want to hear it. She sailed on without skipping a beat about how the mother was pleading on TV for the daughter's return, but Mom didn't think she was handling the press right.

'She's rude to them--if she wants help getting her daughter back she better lose the attitude.'

'Reporters can be pretty rough, Mom, you know that.'

'The press is the least of her problems right now--the police are questioning the father, apparently he had a girlfriend on the side. A pregnant girlfriend.'

'Mom, can we please drop it?'

She opened her mouth but before she could get going again, I blurted out, 'I saw Dwight's photo in the paper.'

She closed her mouth with a snap and stared at me.

'Your stepbrother? He's been released, Mom, but he's wanted for questioning in a robbery of a--'

'Did you want anything more to eat?' We held eyes for a moment.

'Sorry if I upset you, I just thought--'

'There's more sauce?' Her face revealed no emotion, but her hand twisting the napkin told me to back off.

'No, I'm done. My stomach's all messed up because I finally identified a photo at the cop shop today. Gary wouldn't give me his name yet, but he's looking into the guy's history--he said he'd have more information for me soon.'

Mom paused for a second, nodded, then said, 'Good. Maybe now you can put this behind you, Annie Bear.' She patted my hand. Wayne got up and headed outside for a smoke.

After he left I said, 'Well, not quite yet. Gary thinks the guy could've had a partner, that's who may have tried to grab me the other day.'

Mom frowned. 'Why on earth would Gary try to scare you like that?'

'He's not trying to scare me, it's because of this one photo The Freak had of me. I just figured he'd taken it from my office or something, but Gary's questioning why he'd want that one, you know? He even got me to fax him this list....' Shit. In my zeal to defend Gary I'd not only told Mom about the photo, I was about to spill my very own personal shit list.

'What list?'

'Just this dumb thing my shrink suggested I do--it's nothing.'

'If it's nothing, why did Gary want it? What was on the list?' Damn. She wasn't going to let it go.

'Just a few people from my past who might have a grudge or whatever.'

'Like who?'

I sure as hell didn't want to tell her I put everyone close to me on it, so I said, 'Just some exes and a couple of old clients. Oh, and the 'mystery' Realtor I was competing against.'

'You mean Christina.'

'No, the Realtor I was competing against in the beginning.'

Her eyes narrowed. 'She didn't tell you?'

'Who didn't tell me what?'

'I don't want to stir up trouble.'

'Come on, Mom--what is it?'

'I suppose you should know.' She took a deep breath. 'You remember my friend Carol? Well, her daughter Andrea works in your office and she's friends with Christina's assistant....'

'So?'

'So Christina was your competition for that project all along. She was the other Realtor.'

'No way. Christina would've told me. The developer just picked her because I was gone.'

She shrugged. 'I thought the same as you, but then Andrea said Christina's assistant was working weekends to get the proposal done. She said she even saw some marketing Christina designed for the developer.'

I shook my head. 'Christina would never screw me over like that. Friends are way more important than money to her.'

'Speaking of money, I heard her husband is having some financial problems. That house he bought her wasn't cheap, but she sure doesn't seem to be putting the brakes on her spending. He must be a very understanding man--Luke and her were awfully cozy while you were missing.'

'They were trying to find me, of course they spent time together. And Drew didn't buy the house for her, they bought it together. So she likes a nice life, what's wrong with that? Christina works hard for her money--'

'Why are you getting so defensive?'

'You just implied Christina and Luke were fooling around!'

'I never said any such thing--I was just telling you what I heard. She was at the restaurant night after night, a lot of times right until closing. Which reminds me, did you know things weren't going so good for the restaurant before you went missing? Wayne was talking to the bartender down at the pub just the other day, he knows Luke's head chef and he was saying there was even talk about the place maybe having to close, but then after you were missing he got all that news coverage and things picked right up. I guess something positive came out of all this.'

The chicken Alfredo I'd enjoyed now sat like a lump in the pit of my stomach.

'I have to go to the bathroom.'

For a minute I thought I might be sick, but I ran some cold water on my hands, splashed my face with it, and leaned my forehead on the vanity mirror until the feeling passed. My hair was hot and sweaty on the back of my neck, so I rummaged around in the drawer and used a pink hair elastic to pull it back. When I got out of the bathroom Mom was pouring another drink.

'I have to get going, Mom--thanks for dinner.'

'Call me if you find out anything else.' She rubbed her hand down my back and said, 'I'm sure everything will work out.'