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“What did Wright say?”
Lee took my hand. Her eyes were full of tears. “He said they checked with the phone company. She hasn’t made any phone calls or sent any messages. Her phone hasn’t even pinged a tower since Friday night.”
I tried to get Leanne to eat, but she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t even talk. We cleaned the kitchen together in silence. Afterward I handed her a beer, took one for myself, and we went back to the living room. Rufus followed us in and out of the kitchen, whining. In the living room, he settled by the fire but looked at us like he knew something was wrong.
“Did Grace eat?”
“Yeah. But I didn’t tell her about Nina. I don’t know how to do that.”
Lee took a sip from her beer. “We’ll have to tell her in the morning. The police are having a press conference. Over in a hotel in Waterbury. Matthew Wright wants us to come and talk to the press about Nina.”
I flinched. Leanne’s eyes met mine.
“I know,” she said.
I thought about all the press conferences I’d seen over the years, with broken parents turning their broken faces to the cameras, begging some evil bastard to return their missing children. How many had ever come back? How many bodies had been found? How many were still out there somewhere? I finished my beer. I went back to the kitchen for another one. Rufus followed me out and back, his nose so close to my calves that he must have bumped into me half a dozen times. When I came back, he settled beside Leanne, and she rested her hand on his neck.
“What do you think happened?” she asked. “What’s the most likely explanation, in your view?”
“I was thinking, what if she woke up early on Saturday morning? You know, she didn’t have her car. She might have considered calling us for a ride home, but maybe it was too early. And maybe she was a little heartbroken. She might have gone for a walk or a hike to clear her mind.” I was warming up to my theory as I spoke. “What if she fell or something? She could be out there still. And Nina’s really good in the backwoods. She always takes plenty of water and everything she needs to stay warm. You were dead right to search the house, Lee, but I think we should go and search the hiking trails.”
Leanne shook her head. “Her jacket, Andy. I found her jacket and her boots and her pack. She couldn’t have gone out without them.”
“Maybe she borrowed someone else’s gear? Or she could have bought something new when she was in Stowe. We could ask Simon.” But my hope and belief in my theory sank just as fast as it had risen. I felt stupid. And Leanne looked frustrated.
“You’re right, we should search the hiking trails,” she said. “We should gather as many people together as we can. Anyone who’s willing to help organize a search party.”
“That’s a great idea. Craig will want to help, and Sofia.” Craig was his brother and Sofia was Craig’s Danish wife. Craig and Sofia were a classic case of opposites attracting. Craig was book smart, but flaky; Sofia was a kind of New Age hippie. He worked as an accountant, and she believed in living off the land and homeschooling their kids. She made some money fixing up secondhand furniture and had a pretty big following online, according to Craig. They lived in Burlington, which wasn’t far, but we didn’t spend a whole lot of time together, just because they had twin six-year-old boys and we were all too busy.
“We’ll need the Jordans’ permission to go onto their land.”
“You don’t think they’ll give it?” I was pissed. “No one’s going to stop me from looking for my daughter, I’m telling you that right now.”
She gave me a small smile. That made me feel better, but then Grace came into the room. It was just after ten o’clock. Leanne and I both tensed up.
“You’re not in bed yet?” Leanne said, in the face of the obvious.
Grace made a face. “I can’t finish my math assignment. Do you know what time Nina’s coming home? I called her three times and I keep getting voice mail.” Grace looked at her phone with dissatisfaction.
I started to get up. “I’ll help you, honey.”
Grace looked alarmed. “Uh, no offense, Dad. But I don’t think so.” It had been a couple of years since either Lee or I could help her with her math homework. It had never been a problem, because Nina had always been there.
“I don’t mind, really,” I said.
“That’s okay,” Grace said, backing out of the room. She looked at Lee from the door. “Did Nina tell you when she’d be home?”
I could see that Lee was struggling to speak. She shrugged and shook her head.
“It’s fine. I’ll use Khan Academy or something.” Grace disappeared quickly, for fear, I guess, that one of us would follow and try to help. We were quiet for a moment, and then I had an idea.
“We should use the press conference. Shame them into it.”
“Shame who into what?”
“We should say in front of the cameras that we want to search the Jordans’ land. I don’t mean point the finger at anyone. We just say we’re worried that Nina went hiking by herself and, you know, we ask for volunteers to search for her.”
Leanne thought about it. “That’s a really good idea.”
