“She sure hasn’t.” A TV played in the background, and I expected Karen to place her hand over the phone and ask Bill to turn the volume down like always. But she didn’t. “Bill is out right now running an errand. Ryan, can you tell me what’s going on over there exactly? I’ve started seeing these things on the news, and then you call here like you don’t know where Amanda is.”

“That’s because I don’t know where she is.”

“Ryan, they’re saying that someone tried to kill you. That you were mixed up in an accident that caused a girl to get killed when you were in college.”

My throat constricted. Mallory. I couldn’t imagine the pain the news summoned up in her and Bill.

“I was there, yes. A girl was killed in an accident. Another girl was hurt.”

“Were you driving?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

There was a long pause. I thought she might hang up on me.

“Ryan, you know Bill is a very good listener. If you’d like to, come over sometime and talk to him. Or maybe the two of you could go out for a beer or something when he gets back, even though it’s early. I could take Henry to the park and leave the house to you. It’s important to talk. Maybe you could get some perspective. We know Amanda very well, and she can be difficult if she feels she’s been betrayed. She seems very rational and calm most of the time, and she is. But betrayal and dishonesty can really get her. She just needs time to come to her senses—”

“Karen. Karen, it’s fine. Just take care of Henry for us. Okay? It gives us peace of mind knowing he’s with you.”

I hoped the flattery would work, that it would redirect her away from the questions about the events of the last couple of days. It did.

“Well, you know we just love to have him here. He’s a doll.”

“Yes, we know. Now, are you sure Amanda didn’t say anything about where she was going today? Anything at all?”

“She was pretty evasive. . . .”

The volume of the TV increased. It felt like Karen had moved closer to the set, almost like she’d placed the phone up against the speaker. I angled my phone away from my ear to get some relief.

“Karen?”

“Ryan, is Amanda okay? I’m concerned about all of this. She’s our daughter . . . our only . . . and if you can’t find her and she didn’t tell us where she was going, then we’re going to start worrying. All these things you men do. The drinking and the driving. The stuffing away of feelings. It ends up hurting people. Please tell me something that will set my mind at ease.”