The only sound was the wind and the intermittent waves sizzling against the sand, but my mind was crowded and loud. Sometimes I would close my eyes tight and try to push out the hundreds of frightening thoughts in my head, but then I would see Sasha. No matter how tight Jared wrapped his eyes around me, or how hard I tried to pretend we were in Little Corn, thoughts of demons, and Sasha, and bombs plagued me.

My cell phone rang several times. Beth’s phone number dominated the call log, and my voicemail, with her frantic pleas. Sasha hadn’t come to work, and it was clear she was also missing. Before long, other people began to call. Even Cynthia, although I assumed it was just to keep up pretenses for the police. As far as they knew, she was afraid I was dead or missing.

By the evening of the second day, Jared’s phone buzzed. “Ryel.” Jared listened for a moment, gave a quick affirmation, and then hung up. “The investigators expect the results of the dental records any minute. It won’t be long.”

“Well, that’s good news, I guess.”

Sasha’s family learning that it was her remains the police had found inside of my vehicle wasn’t a good thing, but it was a means to an end. It all was. The true good news was that I could finally call Beth.

Claire was right, within the hour, she texted a confirmation. When Jared gave me the go ahead, I dialed Beth’s number.

“Where in the hell have you been?” she wailed. “I thought you were dead!” Her breathing quickened until sobs developed in her throat, followed by a pause in the form of muffled noises before Chad came on the line.

“Uh...hello?”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I left a note. I thought everyone knew I was gone. Jared and I needed some time away, so I turned off my phone. I feel awful.”

The last bit was true. I could hear Beth sobbing in the background; hearing Chad try to comfort her only made me feel worse. Between consoling her, he tried to fill me in on what had happened. He described the scene at Titan, the police tape, the lines of employees waiting to be questioned, and the blackened asphalt where my BMW burned into the night.

Before long Beth took the phone back and put it to her ear. “My life has been miserable. Everyone at Titan either spread rumors, or spontaneously burst into tears, or alternating between irritated and hateful. Did you know Sasha is missing, too? It’s insane!”

“Missing?” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. The guilt weighed on me with every lie I told.