Not a day had passed in the three years since Maggie had been missing that Lorraine Clarke didn’t think or talk about her daughter. She wanted to believe Maggie was still alive; her guilt over leaving Maggie alone that one day never stopped consuming her.
The Clarkes had moved on with their lives, if there was such a thing after losing a child. They were doing the best they could to resemble a normal family. Lorraine and Rob’s marriage had been put to the test. Each of them dealt with Maggie’s disappearance differently. Rob wanted them to focus on Keith and being a family again. Lorraine wanted the same, but she was unwilling to let go of the ghost of her missing daughter. Because of this, Rob and Keith bore the burden of her unhappiness.
It was Halloween when Rob approached her. “Lorraine, I think we should consider selling this house and starting over somewhere new. We’ve come a long way, but you know as well as I do that we need to try something different to make our marriage work. There are just too many reminders of Maggie here. It makes Keith feel like an afterthought. So what do you say? Would you consider starting over somewhere new?”
Lorraine was appalled, a reaction Rob hadn’t quite anticipated. “You’re fucking kidding me, right? Are you actually suggesting that we leave this house so when Maggie tries to come home, she can’t find us? My God, Rob! What the hell is wrong with you? How can you give up on our daughter so easily?”
“I haven’t given up, Lorraine. I never will. But this life we’re living, it’s just not healthy for any of us. You’ve made a fucking career out of searching for Maggie. We can’t go on like this. What about Keith? Huh? What about him and what’s good for him?” Rob argued.
“There’s nothing wrong with Keith. He’s a well-adjusted little boy. I love him with all my heart, so don’t you dare insinuate that I’m neglecting him,” she yelled back.
Seeing that Lorraine wasn’t capable of having a rational conversation, Rob decided to let the subject rest until another time. “Well, we aren’t done talking about this, Lorraine. We have to do something before we lose everything. Losing Maggie was the worst thing that could have happened to us. We made it through that together. We might be holding onto this marriage by a string, but we are still here, the two of us, together, trying to get our lives back,” Rob said. “I love you, Lorraine, but your inability to cope with this horrible loss is destroying our family.”
Since their argument on Halloween, the couple had grown further apart. Lorraine was unwilling to consider leaving their home, and Rob was incapable of spending another year there with the spirit of his beloved daughter haunting him day in and day out.
A few days before Christmas, Detective Harker paid the Clarkes a visit. Lorraine threw open the door after she saw him through the peephole. “What is it? Did you find her?” Lorraine shot at him.
“Well, hello to you too, Lorraine. It’s good to see you again,” Harker said, trying to lighten the moment.
Lorraine glared at him. “Well? Did you?” she persisted.
“Can I come in, Lorraine?” Detective Harker asked.
Lorraine stood to the side while Rae Harker entered, and she followed him into the living room, where he sat down on the sofa. “First, we did not find Maggie,” Harker started. “However, last night, the Camden police picked up a prostitute. She was high on coke and wouldn’t stop talking. She told her cell mate she had been kidnapped and put into sex trafficking. She said there were other kids with her, and one of them was named Maggie.”
Lorraine’s hands flew up to her chest. “Where is this girl? What’s her name? Can I speak with her?”
“Her street name is Shana. Her ID shows her as…” Harker pulled his notepad from his pocket. “Let’s see…Emily Quinn. They ran the name. No record or prior arrests. The thing is, we don’t know if that’s her real name or not. These pimps have cornered the market on fake identities. The hookers never have real IDs, and they won’t tell the police they were kidnapped or are being held against their will. Their pimps make sure they keep their mouths shut by threatening to kill them and their families,” he explained.
Detective Harker paused for a moment, giving Lorraine time to absorb the information.
“Shana is back on the streets. Her pimp bailed her out. When the police asked her about what she told her cell mate, she denied all of it. Told them she was a runaway, and since she had ID that showed she was nineteen, they couldn’t hold her,” Harker explained.
Shimmying up to the edge of her seat, Lorraine pressed on. “What else did she say about Maggie? Did she say where we can find her?”
“No, she only said there were five of them,” Harker said, “which is consistent with the five inhabitants we believe were held at the old prison. The girl said they were moved from the prison and kept in the basement of a house, and she was sold to a pimp in Camden. That’s all I know, and I wanted to come here so you have the same information.”
Just then, Rob and Keith walked through the front door. Seeing Detective Harker, Rob sent Keith up to his room and joined them in the living room.
“Detective Harker was just saying they picked up a streetwalker who said she was with Maggie,” Lorraine said with an in-your-face attitude.
“Well, that’s not exactly what I told you, Lorraine,” Harker said. Then he repeated the information to Rob.
Lorraine was charged with a renewed sense of hope. After Detective Harker left, she found Rob in the kitchen. “See? I told you, Rob. We can’t give up. Maggie’s out there. She’s alive, and someday she’ll come home.”
Rob sat silently for an uncomfortable amount of time. When he spoke, he was calm and deliberate. “Every time we get a piece of information—some of it bullshit, by the way—you open yourself up to being hurt all over again. This is the whole point of leaving this house, Lorraine. When we heal one little bit or take a tiny step forward, we get some piece of information that makes our hopes soar. And then, when it doesn’t pan out, we go back to that dark place in our lives again. It undoes any good we were able to establish. It’s a never-ending cycle. I wish Harker wouldn’t come here unless they actually find Maggie. I feel like we’re living in one of those movies where the character is running down a long hallway and, just when he’s about to reach the door, the hallway grows longer.”
Lorraine looked at him in disbelief. “We just got news that another girl was with Maggie a couple of months ago. It means our daughter is still alive!”
“It means that a cokehead hooker said she was with a girl named Maggie! That doesn’t mean it was our daughter. You know what? I’m done with this conversation. Lorraine, it’s time for us to move on. You need to decide if you’re with us or not,” he told her.
“Are you threatening to take Keith away from me? Is that what you’re doing?” she demanded.
“No, Lorraine, I’m telling you that our son deserves a life where he’s as important as his missing sister. I’m telling you that if I have to move on without you, then I will,” he said firmly and left the room.
Lorraine slumped into the closest chair. What was happening to her family? How could God have done this to them?