Rob grabbed my arm. “You’re not going back in there. The water’s deep in some places and—”
“I want my glasses,” I said, jerking my arm away.
Before I could take another step, he blocked my way. “I’ll go look. You wait here.”
He was gone before I could bite his head off. Why was I so mad? Embarrassment? Maybe I was mad at myself. Maybe next time, this little mishap would be all it took to convince him to leave me behind.
My drenched ponytail straggled down my back and I pulled out the band and shook my hair out. I fluffed it with my fingers, but it was hopeless.
I heard rustling and he came back through the branches, holding out my glasses. “They were on the bank, luckily.”
I snatched them out of his hand and crammed them on my face. I turned to stomp off, but quickly turned back and threw my arms around his neck, shocking the hell out of him. And me, too.
“I’m sorry. You saved me and I yelled at you. I wasn’t being careful enough, but I don’t repeat mistakes. It won’t happen again. I don’t want you to leave me out of this.”
He shook his head and stared into space in contemplation. I think he was mad, too.
I held my breath until he looked back at me. “I’m sorry,” I said again in a small voice.
“No problem,” he said stiffly. He slipped his wet tank back over his head. I watched, taken aback by the sight of his naked chest and shoulders. I’d been too angry to notice before, but now I sucked in a breath at his beautiful, muscular body.
He caught me looking and opened his mouth to say something, but then picked up my backpack. “We should head back.”
I spread my arms. “No kidding. Look at me. I look like a drowned rat.”
His eyes swept my body and I felt self-conscious, knowing my red tank top was plastered to my chest. I wrapped my arms around myself. “That’s enough looking,” I said, daring to smile.
His eyes moved up from my body to my eyes, and held there for a long moment. Then he nodded.
“Forgive me?” I asked, touching his arm.
He looked down at my hand then up to my face. “Nothing to forgive. You’re not the first rookie I’ve had to pull out of a tough situation.”
“I’m a rookie?”
“You’re definitely a rookie. Now let’s get you back.” His face lightened up. “I could say let’s get you out of those wet clothes, but I suppose that would be inappropriate.”
I laughed. “Totally inappropriate.” I slipped my arm through his and hugged it to my side. “I can carry my own backpack. You’ve been enough of a hero.”
“You can never be enough of a hero. It’s a full-time job.”
I rolled my eyes.
My shoes squished as I walked. It was kind of a creepy feeling, warm and soggy. The heat of the day soon had my wet clothes feeling hot, although they were probably too soaked to dry out before we made it back to the car.
We walked in silence for a while until I asked, “What do we do next?”
“We don’t do anything,” he said, holding up a hand to silence my imminent protest. “We can’t cover enough ground from land. I’ll take out the department’s boat to scan the shoreline.”
“Are you taking me?”
“No.”
“But—”
“I couldn’t explain why you’d be there. There’s paperwork to take out the boat and I’d have to include you in the paperwork. It would be frowned upon, believe me.”
My shoulders slumped. “We have to work fast to find Marilee before she starves to death.”
He stopped and looked at me, his eyes reflecting the seriousness of the situation. “I’m well aware of that. I’ll take the boat out this afternoon.”
We didn’t talk much the rest of the way back. I wasn’t sure what to say as we stood at our cars. Finally, I said something innocuous. “You’ll let me know if you find anything?”
“Of course.”
We shuffled our feet awkwardly, as if there were more to say. After a moment, I gave a small wave and headed for my car.
Once behind the wheel, I glanced toward Rob’s car, and caught him watching me. I smiled and drove away.
Chapter 23
O
I
stopped at home to change before picking up TJ. After a quick shower, I blew dry my hair and put on clean jeans and a T-shirt. I balled up my still-damp clothes to drop in the laundry room but, before I moved two feet, I heard a door slam. A chill ran up my spine. No one was in the house but me. I did a quick search for something to use as a weapon. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have an arsenal in my bedroom. A wooden coat hanger was the most deadly thing I could find. Sticking my head out of the room, holding the coat hanger protectively in front of me, I straightened when I saw TJ’s bedroom door was closed. It hadn’t been when I passed it half an hour ago.
I held my breath and turned the knob. As I expected, the room was empty. I had a feeling Emma wanted to talk. Considering whether I should text Rob, I decided against it. He would probably be on a boat continuing the search for Marilee.
“Emma?” I called, sitting on the end of TJ’s bed. “Are you here? Do you want to talk?”
I’m here. Please hurry.
“We’re trying, Emma. We looked along the banks of the lake this morning, but didn’t find anything. Rob is taking out a boat to scour the shoreline this afternoon. Can’t you tell us anything that could help us find you?”
The room grew colder and I wrapped my arms around myself to take the chill off. Emma didn’t respond but after a moment I heard sobbing.
“Emma, don’t give up. We’re trying as hard as we can. Please, can’t you look around, go outside, see if there’s anything that might tell us where you are?”
There were so many letters. I see water out the window and a blue boat. I just see trees everywhere. Hurry.
The room warmed up and I knew she was gone.
I felt helpless. Water and a blue boat. How would that help? And what did she mean by letters? I texted Rob Emma’s clues, then headed off to pick up TJ while I waited for Rob’s answer.
When I got to Kevin’s house, Melissa invited me in for coffee but I begged off, offering a brief recap of my grueling day, the lake part, that is, and pleaded a headache. My head really did hurt, but only because it was pulled in so many different directions.
I attempted to concentrate while TJ chattered about his adventures with Kevin. I smiled and tried to be an enthusiastic listener, but I kept going over in my head what Emma had told me, and worry over Marilee was ever-present.
Rob texted back asking if I wanted to stop by and fill him in on what Emma had said, saying it was okay to bring TJ with me. Not wanting to text and drive, I called him back.
“Uh oh.” I could hear him cringe through the phone. “I can’t remember what shape my condo’s in.”
“You’re embarrassed for me to see where you live?”
“I’m not sure. It might be okay, but there might be dishes in the sink.”
“Can’t help you out there, buddy,” I laughed. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see. By the way, TJ’s thrilled to go to your house.”
“I’m not sure I can handle the pressure of possibly disappointing him.”
“I’ll try to manage his expectations before we get there.”
I will admit to being curious to see Rob’s home. I wondered if I would be put off if it was messy. Not that it should matter to me. I mean, we weren’t dating or anything.
I needn’t have worried. His condo was neat and nicely furnished with a comfortable seating area and bright kitchen. And no dishes in the sink.
“Looks like you didn’t have to worry about what shape your house would be in.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Mr. Clean.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he said.
“Not at all. I’m impressed.”
“I’m glad I could impress you. You can be a to
ugh audience sometimes.”
“What do you mean by that? I’m delightful.”
“Delightfully stubborn maybe.”
While Rob got us something to drink, I sank down on the sectional couch and motioned for TJ to join me. He was busy examining everything in the living room. There were a couple of citations on the wall and a trophy for a softball championship.
“Look, Mom. Rob was a Marine!” TJ said excitedly.
“Really?” I joined him at a bookcase where Rob’s dog tags lay at the foot of a photograph of three Marines in a desolate-looking terrain. Probably Afghanistan. I hadn’t known he was in the service, although I shouldn’t have been surprised.
By this time, Rob was back in the room, carrying two coffee mugs, a bottle of water tucked under one arm.
“You were a Marine.” TJ’s smile almost took up his whole face.
Rob smiled back. “Ooh-rah!”
“What does that mean?” TJ looked perplexed.
“That’s the way Marines talk,” Rob said.
“Can I say it, too?”
“Sure, buddy. Ooh-Rah!”
“Ooh-Rah!” TJ proudly said back.
“Come on, you jarheads,” I said.
“What—”
I held up my hand to ward off TJ’s question. “It’s a Marine thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
TJ looked at me with his mouth open, and Rob laughed and mouthed “Jarhead?”
I filled Rob in on what Emma had said about the letters, and my confusion over what she meant. If nothing else, it was an intriguing clue.
By now it was almost five and, being exhausted from our long day in the woods, I stood to go. As an afterthought, I asked Rob if he wanted to come over for a quick bite to eat.
“Sure.”
“I can throw something together. It won’t be anything fancy. We can figure it out after you get there.”
Once home, TJ headed upstairs to put his backpack in his room, and I flopped down on the couch. What I wouldn’t have given to climb into bed and shut my eyes for a couple of hours. It wouldn’t be fair, though. I needed to spend time with TJ, and I’d invited Rob for dinner.
Almost before I had time to turn on the TV for TJ, there was a knock at the front door, and Rob stood on the porch with a pizza box in his hand. I gave a silent Yay. Pizza meant I didn’t have to cook.
We sat at the kitchen table devouring the pizza. I contributed a couple of bottles of beer to the party. I could tell Rob was anxious to talk more about my session with Emma, but was hesitant to go into too much depth in front of TJ, who’d been excitedly telling us about the Avengers movie starting at seven. Perfect. At five to seven I told him he’d better hurry so he didn’t miss the beginning. He excused himself and left Rob and me alone.
“Tell me again exactly what she said,” Rob said. “In case you forgot something the first time.”
I repeated our conversation verbatim. It had been short and sweet. When I was done, Rob looked as confused as I was.
“What do you think she means by ‘letters?’” he asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe ABC letters? Mail? Emma vanished before explaining what she meant. I’m not sure this helps us at all.”
“We can’t rule it out. Maybe she’ll have more to say next time we talk to her.”
“Something must have upset her, because she slammed TJ’s door to get my attention. But she’s so cryptic. What about you? Did you spot anything from the boat?”
“No. I pulled close to the shore wherever I saw stands of willows, but came up empty.”
“She kept saying to hurry. It makes my stomach hurt to be sitting here while a child could be dying, but I don’t know what else to do.”
Rob took a swig of his beer, and set the bottle down. “I think we need to try to talk to her again. Like now.”
“Agreed,” I said, grabbing my bottle and starting for the stairs. Rob grabbed his and followed. TJ was still wrapped up in the movie.
I didn’t wait to attempt contact. “Emma, we need you to talk to us. We can’t find you if you don’t help us. You need to hurry, too.”
I was almost angry at the meager clues Emma provided. Why didn’t she just come out with it? I had to kick myself to be patient. I guess it doesn’t work that way.
I started when I felt the chill. “She’s here,” I whispered to Rob.
“Emma?”
She’s going to die.
“Then help us, Emma. You’re the only one who can. What did you mean by letters? What letters?”
They fall out of the bag on the floor. He steps on them sometimes.
“So, like mail?”
Yes.
“What about the man? Why does he have mail all over?”
His outfit.
“Outfit? You mean like a uniform?” Rob asked.
Yes.
Rob sat forward on the bed. “Is he a mailman?”
I think so. So many bags in his truck with letters stuffed inside and coming out the top. One fell on me.
“Emma! That’s great. Thank you.”
Hurry, she said again, and she was gone.
“What do you think?” I asked Rob.
“I think it’s a solid start.”
“How many mailmen are there around here? How many were here when Emma went missing?”
“I don’t know, but this is the first real clue we’ve had. I’ll go back to the office and search town records for our mail carriers, see if anything jumps out.”
“If something does, we can search his house,” I said, eager to find answers.
“Probably not. Not without a warrant, and I doubt I could get one without probable cause. Clues from a ghost wouldn’t cut it.”
“We’ll deal with that problem when we come to it,” I said, disappointed and feeling scared for Marilee. “For now, if you can research the mailmen, we’ll figure out what to do from there.”
I walked him to the front door and impulsively hugged him. His hands on my waist, he looked down at me and his eyes held mine. My stomach knotted up when his gaze moved to my mouth. The air around us seemed to stand still.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, let you know if I find anything.”
I stood looking at the door after he was gone. What was that?
I moved over to the couch and dropped down next to TJ. He grinned up at me and I ruffled his hair. It was easy to let my thoughts wander as I stared at the screen. And my thoughts were really wandering. Did Rob mean anything by it, that looking at my lips thing? Was it my imagination that the moment was loaded? Did I want Rob to have felt what I felt?
Something else occurred to me. It had been several days since I’d felt any guilt about Tom. About being disloyal to him by spending time with Rob.
But now wasn’t the time to contemplate my feelings about Rob. Not with two little girls missing, one of them on the verge of death. It was the kind of event that puts things into perspective.
I sent TJ up to bed at the end of the Avengers movie. Restless, I tried switching channels, then picked up my Kindle. I hadn’t been able to concentrate on reading since all the ghost stuff started. True to form, I still couldn’t concentrate on it, so I moseyed out to the kitchen and collected the beer bottles to drop in recycling and wrapped up the leftover pizza and put it in the refrigerator.
It was still early, too early to go to bed, and I didn’t know what to do with myself. Nothing came to mind, so I climbed the stairs to TJ’s room and sat on the end of his bed. There was no chill in the air, no disturbance in the force, nothing to indicate Emma’s presence.
“Emma,” I whispered. “You don’t have to talk to me, but I wanted you to know I’m here for you and Marilee. So maybe you won’t feel so all alone.”
After awhile, I headed for my own room. I lay back on the bed, hands under my head, and stared at the ceiling, unable to stop my thoughts from turning to Rob. Why now? In the middle of all that was happening. An
d what about TJ? I know he likes Rob, but he’s too young to contemplate what that could mean if Rob and I—
Rob and I nothing. I couldn’t have feelings for Rob. It wouldn’t be right. It seemed like only yesterday that Tom was here. I owed it to him to be faithful to his memory.
What the hell? Hadn’t I just reflected on the fact that I wasn’t feeling guilty anymore?
Chapter 24
O
I
must have dozed off, because I jumped when I heard my phone ding. I sat up and stretched. The phone dinged again and I pulled it out of my pocket.
It was Rob. I rubbed my eyes and answered, “Hey.”
“I hope I didn’t wake you. Sorry to call so late, but I have the information on the mail carriers. Marysville only has two. It’s a small town after all. John Brindleson and Sara Kagle. Sara’s been a carrier for three years. She replaced Tony Spencer, who passed away.” He paused. “John Brindleson has been the mailman for 12 years.”
“Twelve years? That’s long enough—”
“I know.”
“Do you know him? Do you know anything about him, what kind of man he is?”
“Sure, I know him. We don’t hang out or anything, but I run into him now and then. He’s always seemed nice. I only see him when he’s in public, so I would expect him to be on good behavior.”
“No rumors or anything?”
“Not really. He’s been married for at least twenty years. Has a kid in college. As far as I know, he’s an upstanding citizen.”
My shoulders slumped. “Oh.”
“I’ll dig around. See if I can find anything on him.”
“That would be good.” I suddenly had a thought. “Do you have any pictures of him?”
“Not that I know of, but I’ll check around. Why?”
“Because maybe . . . maybe Emma would recognize him if he was the one who took the girls.”
“Good idea. I’ll come up with something.”
“Let me know as soon as you do.”
I felt useless, and there wasn’t time to be useless if we were going to save Marilee. If Rob found a good photo of the mailman, at least that was something. But, in the meantime, I hated feeling useless.
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