It was another two hours to St. Boudin, and she wanted to get there quickly.

And once you do? she asked herself for the first time. What then?

If she found Jonathan living happily and doing his job, she would feel a bit foolish, but that would be okay; that would be just fine with her. She could stand to feel a little bit foolish.

By the time she had found the rental place, it was four o’clock, and the day was turning quickly towards night. She got what she hoped were rock-solid directions to St. Boudin from the front desk, as well as the name of a possible place to stay in town. Apparently, there weren’t any real hotels there, but a bed-and-breakfast could be found if you knew where to look. And as she got into the car and began her drive, an idea formulated loosely in her head. There must be someone in town associated with the plant, she thought. She could get in touch with them. They might know something about Jonathan.

That was how Amanda Seigel ended up calling David Pierce early Friday morning.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

He woke up in utter blackness to the sound of the phone ringing in a distant part of the house. The clock by the bed said six thirty-five. They didn’t have an extension for the bedroom yet, and he stumbled through the hallway to the top of the stairs, hitting the light switch and swearing at whoever it was calling this early. They had been in bed by ten, but he had only fallen asleep a few hours ago, the thoughts that revolved around in his head finally silenced by utter exhaustion.

He reached the phone downstairs on the seventh ring.

“Mr. Pierce, my name is Amanda Seigel,” the voice said. “I’m a psychiatrist from Boston. I’m sorry for calling so early, but I spoke with someone in Hydro’s Quebec offices who gave me your name and number. We need to discuss something, and it’s urgent.”

He was tired and pissed off and about to refuse, but something in the woman’s voice stopped him. Was it desperation? He wasn’t quite sure.

“I hope you don’t think I’m a flake,” she said, rushing on as if afraid that he might suddenly change his mind and hang up on her. “But I’m worried about one of my patients. He was employed by Hydro Development this winter, at the Jackson plant, and he was supposed to check in with me, and I haven’t heard from him—”

“Look, isn’t this a job for the police or something? Missing persons?” David’s tolerance was fading quickly, and he thought about how tired he would be when nine thirty finally rolled around.