Chapters (68)
- Dedication
- Title Page
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Copyright
“Yeah. We were going to grab a bite in the food court. They’ve got that movieplex there now and we were thinking we’d check out what was playing, maybe see something.”
“What time were you going to meet?”
“Eight. That’d give us time to eat and see what the shows were.”
“Okay.”
“I got there about quarter to eight. I went to the food court first, in case she was early, but I didn’t see her there, so I decided to look in a couple of stores first, and go by and see what the movies were. But I got right back to the food court for eight, and she still wasn’t there.”
Trevor was trembling as he spoke. Maureen put her hand on his arm as he continued talking.
“So I sat down and started thinking about what I would get to eat, but then it was five after eight, and then ten after eight, so that was when I texted her. You know, like, I’m here, where are you?”
Duckworth nodded. “Did she get back to you?”
Trevor shook his head. “Nothing. I kept looking to see if the text was delivered, and it didn’t come up that it was. So then I phoned, and it went straight to message.”
“She must have turned off her phone,” Maureen said. “Sometimes I turn off my phone, meaning to restart it, and then I forget, and your father’s trying to reach me and I’ve left my stupid phone off.”
“Yeah, but it’s more than her phone being off. She didn’t show.”
“What happened next?” Duckworth asked.
“I started looking around the mall, wondering if she’d gone shopping and lost track of time, always circling back to the food court to see if she was there. But she wasn’t. And the whole time, I’m holding my phone, you know? In case I get a text or anything. But nothing.”
“How long did you wait?”
“Except for the theaters, the mall closes up at nine. So when it got to be nine, I stood for a while where people were buying tickets, thinking maybe Carol got held up and she’d show up at the last minute, but there was no sign of her. So I left the mall, and looked around the parking lot for her car.”
“What does she drive?”
“She’s got a little silver Toyota. A Corolla. It’s about five years old.”
“Did you see it?”
Trevor shook his head. “So I decided to go by her place.”
“Where does she live?”
“She’s got an apartment in Waterside Towers?”
Duckworth knew it. A condo development about half a mile downstream from the falls, in the town’s core.