Anita was sitting in her car when Jen arrived, and she got out and stood waiting while Jen parked in the space next to her. Jen assumed at first that her friend had delayed going in because it was still early and she didn’t want to be alone with Dr. Wilson, who was not the most approachable person even under the best of circumstances. But neither the optometrist’s Mercedes nor the rental car he’d been driving for the past few weeks were in the small lot on the side of the office, and when Jen got out of her Accord, Anita said to her, “He’s not here yet.”

She closed the car door and locked it. “Didn’t you bring your key?”

“Of course. And I tried to get in, but he changed the lock.”

That was a surprise. “When did this happen?”

“I have no idea. He doesn’t tell me anything. When’s the last time you used your key?”

“It’s been awhile,” Jen admitted.

“So do you want to call him or do you want to flip for it? Because I sure don’t want to.”

“I don’t either.”

“We flip, then.”

Jen opened her purse, looking for a coin, but Anita pulled out a quarter before she could find anything. “Call it in the air.”

She tossed the coin, and Jen called out, “Heads!”

“Damn,” Anita said, picking her quarter off the ground. “Okay. I’ll call him.”

Jen was pretty sure neither of them had ever tried calling the optometrist anywhere except the office, but they both had his cell number in case of emergency. Anita put her phone on speaker so they could both hear, and after five rings it went to an automated voicemail. She looked like she was about to leave a message, but at the last second, she ended the call instead. “I didn’t know what to say,” she admitted.

“I wouldn’t either. ‘Where are you?’ ‘Why are you late?’ I don’t think he’d respond well to anything like that.”

“Should we go to his house? Maybe he overslept.”

“Either that, or we could wait here in the parking lot.”

“You’re right. Maybe we should wait,” Anita said. “Because if he shows up and we aren’t here…” She didn’t have to finish the sentence.

They were both dancing around the real worry. Because the truth was that Dr. Wilson had never been this late. And he had been acting strange lately.

Jen broached the subject. “Maybe we should call the sheriff…” She paused. “In case something happened to him.”

These days, that was not a suggestion out of left field.

“Let’s just wait. Give it…” Anita looked at her watch. “Ten minutes. After that, we’ll see.”

Jen nodded.

“Maybe you should try your key,” she suggested. “Just in case.”