The crush of afternoon traffic slowed Georgia’s drive home. She was hungry—she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She stopped at a convenience store, bought a banana and a candy bar, and wolfed them down. By the time she got home, no one was there. She was tired. She’d been on the run all day: first O’Malley, then LeJeune, and then the Blackstone’s home. She lay down.
Ninety minutes later she woke up. Dusk was settling, but she was alone. Surprised, she called Jimmy, then Vanna, then JoBeth. All three calls went to voicemail. Now she was worried. She checked her incoming calls. No messages. Where were they? Why hadn’t they called?
She pressed redial for all three of them. Again, the calls went to voicemail. She ran a hand through her hair. After school, Vanna would have ended up at JoBeth’s to pick up Charlie and come home. But she didn’t. Had they’d gone out to dinner? There were several restaurants within walking distance of JoBeth’s apartment.
And what about Jimmy? Was he still angry? She blamed herself. When it came to relationships, she was an emotional chameleon. She loved the romance and sex at the start. Over time, though, all sorts of insecurities and personality traits materialized on both sides that made her want to withdraw. Maybe Jimmy wasn’t as forgiving as she’d thought. Maybe he was fed up with her warm, cuddly moments on one hand, followed by her icy moods the next. She’d tried, she really had—except for losing it a few times, like last night. There was nothing she wanted more than to make it work with this man. Now this. She feared the worst—that she was a fundamentally unlovable woman. It wasn’t his fault.
She threw on a jacket, went to the car, and drove up to Northglen. She around Frontage Road over to South Happ, and headed to JoBeth’s apartment, which Jimmy had let her rent from him at a ridiculously low price. She remembered nights before JoBeth showed up when it was just she and Jimmy, the two of them getting to know each other’s bodies, thoughts, habits, and quirks. Was that over? Was the entire relationship?
The sight of Jimmy’s police cruiser parked on the street thrust her back to the present. She slammed on the brake. What was he doing here? A thousand thoughts flew into her mind, none of them good. She backed up, found a parking spot near his, and jogged to JoBeth’s building. She used her key and hurried inside. A sign was taped to JoBeth’s apartment door.
DO NOT ENTER. CRIME SCENE
The sign was inked on spiral-edged lined notepaper. Vanna’s notebook. Her skin went cold and her breath caught in her throat. Her heart rate was suddenly through the roof. Georgia banged on the door.
“Vanna? Jimmy? JoBeth? You in there? What’s going on?”
No response. She banged again. Nothing. She dug into her purse and pulled out her key to the apartment. She unlocked the door and opened it. She cautiously leaned in and gazed around the living room. Baby paraphernalia filled the place—a playpen, stuffed animals, Charlie’s baby seat. The only furniture was a sofa for JoBeth and a TV on a coffee table leaning against the wall. A baby bouncer hung from the molding between the living room and kitchen. A few dishes seemed to be in the sink, but she was too far away to tell for sure. Nothing looked disturbed.
A cell phone lay on the counter. Whose was it? Georgia called JoBeth. The cell on the counter rang. Georgia bit her lip. No one left their cell phone behind when they went out. Most people would rather be without shoes or clothes than a cell. So why was JoBeth’s on the counter? What the hell is going on?
Georgia closed the door, locked it, backtracked to the lobby, and exited the building. She looked up and down the street. It was a cloudy cold night, so she headed back to her car to figure out her next move. She crossed the street and was a few feet from her Toyota when she heard a female voice call out. “Georgia. Over here!”
Vanna.
On the sidewalk half a block away, Savannah was pushing Charlie’s stroller with one hand and trying to balance a white pizza box with the other. Relief washed through Georgia. She hurried over and grabbed the pizza box. Charlie was fast asleep.
“What are you doing here? What happened? Why didn’t you call?”
Even in the dim light from a street pole, Vanna looked pale. “I tried. It went to voicemail. It wouldn’t let me leave a message.” Her lips trembled as if she was barely holding it together.
Georgia would have to call the phone service and find out why. “I’m so sorry. I was working. What’s going on?”
“It’s Mom.” Now Vanna’s eyes filled. “She’s disappeared. I don’t know where she is. And she didn’t take her phone.”
“When? And why is Jimmy’s cruiser parked outside? Try to hold it together, sweetheart.”
Vanna took a long breath as if to steady herself, but her bottom lip trembled. “Around noon. I was in class and I got a text from her saying to come pick Charlie up right away. She didn’t say why. I took an Uber, and when I got here, Charlie was alone and screaming his head off. But he was okay. I tried calling you again, but when I couldn’t reach you, I called Jimmy. He drove down. He’s with the Northglen police right now.”
“Police? Why?”
Vanna’s face crumpled. “Because Mom wasn’t here, and I was scared.”
“Why is there a sign saying this is a crime scene?”
“Jimmy told me to put it up.”
“But why?”
Vanna burst into tears.
Recalling all the old doubts about her mother, Georgia went to her sister and put her hands on her sister’s shoulders “Vanna, listen to me. but Mom’s behavior—well—this is what she always did. She can’t hack being a mother, having a family, being a responsible adult. So at some point she makes a break for it.”
Vanna shook her head. “No. You’re wrong. She’s changed. You know that. I’ve watched you around her. She’s really different.”
“I don’t know. All I see is that she’s gone. Abandoned us.” Just like she did when Georgia was twelve years old. Georgia bit her lip.
“She never abandoned me.”
“Oh. And you think she’s a good mom for not doing that?” Georgia fell into step with Vanna and slipped her arm around her sister’s shoulder. “Look at the way she dragged you from city to city when you were a child. You never stayed in one place more than a few months.”
“Mom’s changed. I feel it. For one thing, she adores Charlie. You know that.”
“You saw her cell on the counter. She didn’t want us to track her. That’s why she left it.”
“No, Georgia. Mom would never leave her cell. It was her only way to communicate with me. Even when she was drinking, she never lost it. Something bad happened. There was blood in the kitchen.”
Georgia froze. “What?”
“That’s why Jimmy made me write that sign. He found a few drops of blood on the kitchen floor.”
Georgia thought about it. Would her mother intentionally prick her finger to make it look like she was in trouble? She couldn’t see it. Yes, JoBeth could be dramatic. Yes, she had been unreliable in the past. But she wasn’t sadistic. She wouldn’t want her daughters—or Jimmy—to panic because of her. It didn’t feel right. Maybe Georgia was allowing the demons of her childhood to defy logic. “Where is Jimmy now?”
“He’s talking to the cops. He wants some of them to come over and do something—I can’t remember what. He made me leave with Charlie. Told me to order a pizza and bring it back.”
“He wants to process the scene?”
“Yes. That’s it.”
Georgia nodded, more to herself than Vanna. It made sense. Jimmy knew Georgia was in danger. He would want to know if that danger now extended to her mother. And why. And whether the apartment held any clues. Georgia had to face the fact that she was wrong about her mother. To be honest, she was relieved. Maybe it wasn’t just her mother who was growing up.
“You’re absolutely right,” Georgia hugged her sister and composed herself. “I’m sorry for going nuclear. Tell you what. Let’s go into the lobby, have some pizza, and wait for Jimmy.”
They sat on chairs in the lobby of the apartment building. Vanna opened the pizza box and handed a slice to Georgia. Then she took one for herself.