Upstate Uproar

by Joan Rylen

  They walked through the dining room on their way to the stairs and said goodnight to Tracy, who was tidying up.

  Once in their rooms, Vivian resumed the conversation. “Lucy, you said it earlier today, this wasn’t going to mess up our trip, and we’re not going to let it. We’re going to get up tomorrow and have a good day, and with minimal involvement with the police.”

  Lucy said nothing.

  In the adjoining room, Kate lay in bed, propped up on pillows at the top and the bottom. Her hot pink toes were up in the air. She started coughing. “Anyone else feel like they’re having a hard time breathing? My chest feels tight.”

  Wendy was changing into her pajamas. “I hope you’re not coming down with something.”

  Kate coughed again. “It’s like something is sitting on my chest.”

  “It’s probably your big momma boobs,” Vivian said before going to run her bath.

  “Allergies?” Lucy asked.

  Kate shook her head and rubbed her chest. “No, this is different. It feels heavy.”

  “I’ve got Claritin in my toiletries bag in the bathroom,” Wendy said. “Help yourself.”

  The girls went to bed while Vivian relaxed in the hot water and mulled over the day. She sure hoped she never wound up buried in the woods, nobody knowing where she was. She couldn’t even let herself think about her kids that way. The water eventually cooled and she drained most of it, then ran it again, letting the heat envelope her. When it cooled again, she got out. As she was drying off, she thought she heard moaning in one of the bedrooms, but the water draining covered it. She thought she heard it again as she was rubbing lotion on her face.

  “What the hell?” She poked her head out of the bathroom and listened again.

  There was just enough light to see Lucy sleeping peacefully, with Kate and Wendy in the other room. Kate’s foot twitched and she whimpered. Vivian walked to her side. Kate’s breathing was rapid, and just as Vivian was about to reach out and touch her shoulder, she heard a deep moan and rhythmic thumping pulsing through the walls.

  Vivian covered her mouth and snickered to herself. Someone’s doing the nasty!

  She held her breath and froze as Kate rolled over, her face relaxed and breathing returned to normal. Vivian headed off to bed. Which crazy relative is visiting her now? she thought as she turned out the light.

  16

  Day 3

  In her dream, Vivian was being whisked downstream by a swirling cascade of freezing water. She awoke and shivered, then pulled the floral comforter around herself, knowing Lucy would be tugging it back any second, except she didn’t.

  Vivian slowly rolled over, thinking she’d let Lucy have the covers, but there was no Lucy. She felt over on the nightstand and grabbed her phone, checking the time — 7:23. Thirty-seven more minutes, she thought, and closed her eyes.

  Four minutes later Kate shook her awake. “Vivian!”

  “I’m up! I’m up!” She pushed herself up, dizzy.

  “Lucy’s gone! She left!”

  Vivian rubbed her eyes. “What?” Wendy, wearing her black and hot pink, kitty cat flannel pajamas, leaned against the dresser holding a piece of paper. She pushed her glasses up.

  “It says she’s sorry, but she’d just be a downer on this trip and she’s going to see a friend who will understand the loss she’s going through.” Wendy put the note down, then held up a smaller, yellow piece of paper. “Here’s a check for her part of the room and the rent car.”

  “Is her luggage gone?” Vivian asked, getting out of bed and heading to the closet. “Where would she go?”

  “I wonder if she got an early flight out,” Kate said. She picked up the note and read it to herself.

  Vivian opened the closet door to find it void of anything that was Lucy’s, though she did see a door to a crawlspace she hadn’t noticed before. She hustled to a dresser and opened the drawers Lucy had neatly occupied. Empty.

  Wendy picked up her cellphone. “Let’s call her.”

  The connection went straight to voice mail six times. On the seventh, Wendy left a message. “Hey, Lucy, it’s us. We’re worried about you. Call us back. Please.”

  Vivian sat at the edge of the bed and wrapped herself in the blanket. “I can’t believe she left.”

  “Me, neither,” Kate said, then her stomach growled.

  “Let’s get Little Plum fed,” Wendy said. “Maybe Brandon or Tracy saw Lucy leave and can give us some info. We need to find that girl.”

  Everyone threw on clothes and trekked downstairs.

  “Morning,” Tracy chimed.

  “Morning,” Vivian responded. “Did you see Lucy leave this morning by any chance?”

  Tracy looked confused. “No, but Brandon was up before me. In fact, I’m a little late getting breakfast going. He’s heading into town soon.”

  Vivian grabbed a powdered sugar donut. “Can I talk to him before he takes off?”

  “He’s on the front porch reading the paper, I think.”

  Kate ripped off a paper towel and wrapped up two sausage patties. “This will tide me over ’til we get back.”

  Wendy filled a Styrofoam cup with coffee, then threw in a dash of sugar and a bit of cream. “I need my go-go juice.”

  They went out to the front porch where Brandon was reading the paper and petting Austin. As soon as they walked out, Austin bounded over, thrilled to see them. His red coat looked shiny and healthy, and he wagged his tail like crazy.

  “Morning,” Vivian said to Brandon, but he didn’t respond. “Morning,” she said again.

  Brandon snapped to and looked up. “Hi.”

  “Did you happen to see Lucy this morning?” Vivian asked, wiping the powdered sugar from her mouth.

  “Sure did. I was sad to see her go.”

  “How did she leave? Do y’all have cabs out here?” Kate asked, digging through her purse.

  Brandon chuckled. “Won’t see too many taxis around. Nah, I took her to the bus station in town. She said she wasn’t feeling well and needed to go.”

  “She needed to go?” Wendy repeated. “That was it?”

  Brandon nodded. “Yep, that’s what she said.” He went back to reading the paper.

  “Do you mind giving us directions to the bus station?” Wendy asked, giving Austin a scratch under his chin. “Maybe she’ll still be there.”

  Vivian glanced at the headline of the paper:

  Human Remains Found Near Haystack Mountain

  Brandon stood and tucked the paper under his arm. “Sure, I’ll be right back.”

  Vivian pointed to the screen door after he disappeared through it. “Did y’all see the headline? It was about our hiking discovery. We need to see that.” She told them the headline.

  Kate started down the steps. “We’ve got to go find Lucy. Let’s get a paper in town while we’re out.” She stopped on the last step and dug through her purse again. “I think I left the keys upstairs.”

  “I’ll grab ’em,” Vivian said, wiping puffs of white off her shirt. “Breakfast of champions right there.”

  “I think they’re on the nightstand,” Kate called out.

  Kate and Wendy played with Austin while Vivian hustled upstairs. She opened the unlocked door to what used to be her and Lucy’s room. A sad feeling washed over her. She and Lucy had been best friends for almost 17 years. They could finish each other’s sentences, kick butt at Pictionary and practically read each other’s thoughts, yet Vivian had no idea why Lucy had left. She remembered how annoyed Lucy had been when she was being silly about Larson. Maybe I do need to cool it when it comes to meeting men on vacation. I kinda can’t help it, though. But Lucy knows that about me.

  Vivian found the keys in the adjoining room, on the dresser, not the nightstand. Pregnancy brain.

  She closed the door to Wendy and Kate’s room just as Brandon was opening a door at the end of the hall.

  “I gave your friends the directions,” he said.

  “Thanks, we’ll be back so
on. Hopefully with Lucy.”

  He stepped into the room and turned around, holding the folded newspaper. “Call if you have any problems.”

  He closed the door, and Vivian thought she heard it lock. Maybe it’s a secret bathroom. She smiled to herself and high-tailed it downstairs. Wendy and Kate were playing with Austin when Vivian pushed open the screen door. “Let’s boogie.”

  They got into the rental, leaving Austin behind, looking sad.

  Wendy gave Kate directions to the bus station, and as Kate parked, she said, “This looks more like a strip mall.”

  “I guess Lake Placid isn’t a hotbed for Greyhound.” Wendy got out of the SUV.

  The strip had an insurance agency and a place called LPTs, both closed, and a place that looked like a convenience store. A sticker on the window said “Bus Tickets Sold Here.” Benches lined the front of the store with metal dividers sticking up every so often. Vivian guessed it was to prevent people from lying down. “This must be the place,” she said and opened the door for her friends. A small bell jingled on the inside doorknob.

  The girls walked straight to the counter where a kid who looked all of 19 sat on a stool, staring down at his phone. His long, gangly legs were practically up to his chin, and unkempt, stringy black hair fell down around his face. A skateboard was propped up behind him.

  The girls waited a good 30 seconds before Kate cleared her throat.

  Skater Dude put the phone down. “Can I help you?”

  Kate had a picture of Lucy at the ready and put it in front of him. “We’re looking for this woman. We think she may have bought a ticket earlier today.”

  He squinted at the phone, pushing his hair out of his eyes, then flopped his head to the left. “Huh. I dunno. I sell a lot of tickets.”

  “Really?” Wendy said, looking around. “Really?”

  “Morning is pretty busy. I usually sell eight or nine an hour.”

  “I see,” Wendy said. “Booming bus business.”

  Kate waved her off, zoomed in on Lucy’s face and stuck it in Skater Dude’s face. “Please think really hard. We need to find her.”

  He squinted his eyes and looked again, then snapped her fingers. “Oh yeahhhh, I do remember her. She had pretty eyebrows. And eyeballs. I dig green eyes.” He nodded goofily, like a chicken walking around the barnyard.

  Vivian smiled. “Yeah, she does.”

  “She almost missed her bus, but I was able to ring her up super-fast and she made it.”

  “Do you remember where she was going?”

  He looked up at the ceiling, concentrating. Suddenly he jerked, slapped his knee and yelled. “Buffalo! She went to Buffalo!”

  The girls looked at each other, then Kate said what they all were thinking.

  “Who the hell’s in Buffalo?”

  17

  The girls asked questions of the laid-back convenience store guy for a couple of minutes, not getting much information other than Buffalo. They bought a newspaper from him and walked back to the car.

  “Maybe she switched her plane ticket to fly out of Buffalo,” Wendy said, checking on her cell which airlines used the airport. Lucy had flown into Albany on Southwest, and it had gates in Buffalo. “I bet that’s what she did.”

  Vivian sighed. “It’s my fault.”

  “Don’t be silly. In her note she said she was leaving to be with someone who understands her loss. Is she talking about losing Steve?” Kate asked.

  “I think so. What else could it be?” Vivian said. “And here I am, being Ms. Flirty McFlirt Flirt with Mr. Hotty McHot Hot yesterday.”

  “Whatever,” Wendy said as Kate pulled out of the parking lot. “We all know that’s how you are and guys eat it up. It’s kinda disgusting actually.”

  “I could tone it down.”

  “You could,” Kate said. “But that’s not what this is about. It’s about Lucy.”

  “Then it has to be the divorce and moving out of the townhouse,” Vivian said. “She worked so hard renovating it, just to have to leave. That sucks.”

  “That’s life, Vivian.” Kate looked at her in the rearview mirror. “You know that better than all of us. Things don’t always work out the way we planned.”

  “True. True.” Vivian turned her attention to the newspaper. The cover photo was a picture of the trailhead where Austin had dug up the jawbone. Crime scene tape wrapped around trees blocked the entrance.

  Vivian read the story, summarizing as she went along. “Essex County sheriffs responded to a call that human remains had been found by hikers near Haystack Mountain. Crime scene technicians, sheriff deputies and volunteers scoured a perimeter around the area.” She scanned down the page. “Four people have gone missing from the area in the last 20 years. Timothy Walker, a handyman, left a job site in his truck and never went home. His roommate thought he may have chased down his ex-girlfriend in New York City and decided to stay gone. Bobby McFarland, a sixteen year old high school student. Margaret Jackson, a pharmacy tech and avid hiker, left for work on a cold and icy morning and was never seen again. And then there was Rebecca Holt.”

  “Holt!” Kate said, stopping for a red light. “Did Brandon have a sister, or is this another relative?”

  Vivian sucked in a breath of air and had to reread the last few lines to herself before reading them out loud. “Holy crap! Listen to this. ‘Rebecca Holt, wife of Turlington Farms proprietor Brandon Holt, went missing almost seven years ago. Brandon left early in the morning to go fishing, and she was gone when he returned in the afternoon. None of her belongings were missing and her BMW was still in the garage. Continued on p. 4.’ ”

  “Wife!” Kate turned up the air conditioning even though it was in the 50s outside. “What the heck? I wonder if it’s her.”

  “A cop came to the house last night,” Wendy said, drumming her fingers on the console between the front seats. “But remember he told Brandon he couldn’t say more? Maybe something identifying, like a driver’s license, was buried with the body and they’re working to confirm it.”

  “Brandon was awfully relaxed this morning for a person who just found out his long, lost loved one might have been found dead.” Kate looked morose and tightened her grip on the wheel. “I’m really beginning to get creeped out. I was okay at first, maybe I was in shock after finding the jaw, but now I think the whole situation is really creepy.”

  “It is creepy.” Vivian flapped the paper down. “It could be the other missing girl, Margaret Jackson, buried up there. Or someone else completely.”

  “The remains might never be identified,” Wendy said. “That is an unfortunate reality.”

  Kate slammed on the brakes and jerked the rental onto the shoulder, fishtailing to a stop. A car honked as it passed. Kate breathed hard.

  She jumped out of the car and ran toward the trees lining the road.

  Wendy and Vivian chased after her and made her sit on a fallen tree.

  “She’s hyperventilating. See if there’s a bag or something she can breathe into,” Wendy said, pointing at the car.

  Vivian ran back to the car and grabbed the plastic bag from the convenience store that the newspaper had been in. “Will this work?”

  “Better than nothing,” Wendy said and took it from her. She handed it to Kate and gave her instructions for breathing in and out of the bag. She stayed next to her, rubbing her back and fanning her.

  Tears streamed down Kate’s face. “Those women, those women” was all she could say between breaths.

  “Do we need to get you to a doctor?” Wendy asked softly.

  Kate shook her head, lowered the bag and took a little deeper breath.

  Vivian paced in front of them, feeling helpless. She had only been tested in the emergency action realm once when Audrey had fallen off the metal bleachers at one of Rick’s softball games. Audrey cut her lip, and blood spilled from her mouth. Vivian handled the situation pretty well until she saw blood on her own T-shirt. Then she had to pass Audrey off to a stranger and put her head
between her legs so she didn’t faint. Rick came out of the game to help.

  After a minute, Kate was breathing normal again, but she was still trembling.

  “You better?” Vivian asked.

  Kate nodded.

  “Come on,” Wendy said, getting up. She held out her hand to help Kate. “I’m driving. Let’s get back and pack up. We’re not staying there another night.”

  Vivian and Kate both agreed, and they got back in the car. Kate laid her seat back and closed her eyes.

  They were quiet driving to Turlington Farms. In the back seat, Vivian tried to call Lucy two more times. Both went straight to voice mail. She’s probably on a plane. She gave up with the phone and flipped through the paper to p. 4, finding the continued story on Rebecca Holt. Since Kate was so upset, she decided not to share with the other girls what she read.

  Questions remained surrounding Rebecca’s disappearance. Many in town suspected Brandon. They married less than a year after Mary Beth’s death, and Rebecca disappeared less than a year into their marriage. Brandon had her declared dead after three years. People also wondered about Mary Beth being a strong swimmer and yet drowned.

  Wendy pulled up to the house, and they got out of the car. Austin bounded up, excited to see them. His demeanor was a contrast to what the girls felt, but they each patted his head anyway.

  Vivian’s legs felt like they weighed 200 pounds each as she dragged up the porch steps. She opened the door and the aroma of breakfast meats and sweet rolls enveloped her, making her mouth water and putting a little energy in her step. Pans clattered in the kitchen.

  “You stay here, Austin,” Wendy said and gave him a gentle pat. “Be a good boy.”

  Vivian turned to Wendy and Kate. “Let’s get one last breakfast out of this, then pack up.”

  “I’m going to lie down,” Kate said. “Y’all go on ahead.”

  “Are you sure?” Wendy looked at her. “I’ll go up with you.”