Clearly, the night was done. The magic had disbursed, and now we knew. The danger for Beth had become a concrete thing. A concrete person we had to find, in order to keep her safe. And whatever we had to do, we had to do it soon.
Or we could lose Beth. And I wouldn’t lose her, no matter what it cost me.
16
Daniel
The ringing phone cut through the harsh silence of the cabin. I hadn’t been home long. I hadn’t even turned on the TV, which I tended to keep on for a bit of noise in the background. I didn’t mind being alone, I was used to it, but sometimes the silence was too much, at least inside the cabin. Outside it wasn’t so bad, the birds were singing, critters were foraging, and all that. Inside was just too still and quiet for my liking, hence the TV.
I pressed the speaker button as I passed by my phone on the coffee table, tossing a couple of logs into the wood burning stove that sat in the corner. I didn’t use it as a stove anymore, but it kept the place nice and toasty. “Yeah?” I swung the cast iron door shut and locked it, opening the vent at the top a little more, so the heat got out, but the smoke went up the chimney.
“Daniel?”
“Hey, Samuel, how’s it going?” I grabbed my phone and carried it across the small area of the cabin. The area between the kitchen and the living space was where I had my dining table, which was generally where guests like Samuel sat when they dropped by for coffee. Not many people liked to sit in front of the TV, I wasn’t sure why, maybe they felt awkward seeing their reflection in the empty black screen, or maybe it was because there was only the two-seater and an armchair. I passed by the wood table and moved into the kitchen, setting the phone on the counter so I could keep chopping vegetables to make a stew. It wasn’t fancy, but it was tasty and filling which were both important things. Plus, it was a good way to get my vegetables in and not just wind up being a meat and potatoes kind of guy.
“You’re still hanging around with Emma Pierce, aren’t you?” Samuel asked. His question was innocuous but there was something in his tone that suggested he thought that there was something more going on between us than there currently was.
I grabbed another carrot and nodded as I replied, the thought of Emma bringing a smile to my face. “Yes, why?” I topped and tailed it, giving it a quick scrub before I began chopping. My mom always told me that most of the nutrients were in the peel, that may have been an old wives’ tale, or may have just been that she didn’t want to waste time peeling vegetables, but I stuck to it, just in case.
“Detective Morris, from Springfield police department has been assigned the case involving the disappearance of Emma’s ex-husband,” he paused, and I could tell he was looking at his notes, even if I hadn’t heard the rustle of the notepad pages turning. “Like we discussed before, it isn’t that Ms. Pierce is a suspect, but the longer they’re gone, the more suspicious it looks. Since you started spending time with her, has she discussed anything about her ex with you?
“She hasn’t mentioned anything.” Not that we’d really spent a lot of time discussing her ex-husband. “And I can’t see her having anything to do with it.”
“Okay, I guess that’s good. The detective did say they’re prone to up and take trips out of the blue, but it’s been a while and his office is getting concerned, so they’re looking into it.” Samuel sighed and paused for a beat before he added, “I’m sure they’ll turn up. These rich folks always forget that someone is relying on them for things. Apparently, they need him to sign some paperwork or something, and they’re running out of time. I don’t know, it’s all paper pusher stuff that I try and avoid.”
“I’m sure they’ll turn up, as you said. Probably just gone off for a getaway or something.”
Samuel made a noise that could have been agreement, could have been annoyance, could have been pretty much anything since it was just a grunt. He was the type of man that would lay it all out there if he had a question that needed answering though, not the type to beat around the bush.
“Some neighbors also mention that the divorce didn’t seem to be amicable. That they heard some arguing and that the husband was not going to make it an easy process. There’s also a strong suggestion that his current relationship had been started during the marriage...”
“Well, people talk,” I told him, trying to choose my words carefully.
He sighed. “Okay, then, I guess if she mentions anything, give me a call. Even if it’s just a place the two might have gone. I think the detective was a little annoyed having to waste his time on something like this, and we both know how those kinds of cases are.”
“Yeah.” I did. Most missing people were missing because they didn’t want to be found for a little while. Not all of them. But every cop preferred a case where a missing person was just inconsiderate, or too dumb, to make sure the people around them knew where they were, rather than something awful happening to a person.
“Well, goodbye, back to keep an eye on the streets.”
I smiled. “Goodbye.”
After we hung up and I was through making my stew, all I could think about was Emma. She was
