“I felt like I was suffocating, being in the same city as her. It was like she drew all of the oxygen out of room, the building, the city.”

“But you only moved after you broke up with Martin Sklar.”

“There was a lot going on around that time.”

Jesse seemed to be taking a deep breath and getting ready to say something when my cell phone rang. The number was blocked but I answered it anyway

“Lily, it’s Sarah Lyons,” said a familiar voice. “Are you all right? I just saw in the paper that that Pakistani man, the crazy one who was at your sister’s apartment with you, was shot last night.”

“The police told me about it, but I haven’t seen him. He was shot twice in the chest, and he’s still in critical condition.”

“It says here that he was shot by Martin Sklar’s bodyguard.” Sarah’s voice sounded odd. “That wasn’t… that wasn’t the same Martin you told me about before, was it? Not your former fiancé?”

“Actually, it is.” I hadn’t intended to tell her Martin’s name, but I’d been rattled when I saw her and must have blurted it out. “Any reason you were wondering, Sarah?” With everything that had happened since, I regretted telling Sarah as much as I had.

“I’m sorry, Lily. I don’t mean to pry. Is there any news yet about Claudia?”

“Nothing, except that the police aren’t looking for her anymore.”

“What?” she practically shouted. There was a pause. “Oh, Lily, I’m so sorry. What will you do?”

“I’m still looking,” I stared at the snow-covered trees as if Claudia might pop out between them like a startled deer.

“Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” said Sarah. “Anything at all. Day or night, I’m here for you.”

Jesse and I needed thirty minutes to locate Idylhaven. Leafy and obscure, the gates sat a mile down an unmarked road between Pittsfield and Dalton. We must have driven past it a dozen times before we recognized it. There was no signage, and it was broad enough for one vehicle but not for two to pass. The naked trees should have made it easy to see, but layers of ice and snow blocked our view, and the little road wove around the trees, so it was impossible to see where it led. “They sure don’t wanna be found,” said Jesse, steering the car with surprising tenderness. It was a bumpy ride, suggesting an unpaved road beneath the fresh snow. As we cleared the forest I saw a grand fountain in front of the house, frozen in winter. The mansion itself was a three-story neoclassical wonder with towering columns and broad balconies.

“Here goes nothin’,” Jesse said as we climbed the steps.

❖