The next morning, Molly was walking on the Buckeye Trail herself. Scott was running the same trail, much faster and farther ahead. Molly was not at all a runner like Scott but knew the value of time alone in nature, even if it was 6:00 a.m. and she was wearing a headlamp. It was dark in the woods in the mornings and she didn’t want to trip over a rut in the path or a tree root. Scott’s headlamp matched the lamp that Molly wore, but his had much more prominent sweat stains.
Neither she nor Scott had slept well the night before. It may have been some of the alcohol from their dinner at the Scottish Ferret, but Molly rarely had a hard time staying asleep after a couple of cocktails. She couldn’t get Trevor’s face out of her head when she was awake. And when she was asleep, she kept having dreams in which Brooks, the runner, and Archie, the editor, were chatting at the shop. They both were admiring Trevor’s walking stick in the dream. She yelled at them to do something, to help find Trevor, but they just continued to discuss the walking stick. She hated that the stick was broken and that, as far as she knew, they had no leads about where he was. They had to find him. Had he been kidnapped? He couldn’t be dead; he had to be missing. Unpleasant situations always seemed to be so much more extreme in the middle of the night.
And so the couple had admitted defeat and decided that physical activity would be better than chasing sleep that refused to come in the early morning. Scott said that his conversation with Craig at dinner inspired him to run the trail that day. They drove to the garden center and took the trail in the direction leading away from the crime scene. They agreed to turn around after twenty minutes and meet back at Scott’s car.
The cool morning air and dawn light were a welcome change of mood for Molly. The drops of dew were so pretty on the leaves and grass in the early hours of light. She admired the artistry of spiders but tried not to actually look for the arachnids. Molly sipped her travel mug of coffee with a touch of cream plus a few melted chocolate chips. Coffee with chocolate was her favorite daily combination. Molly checked her phone again for the twenty-minute timer. She only had a few minutes before she should turn around and wondered if she should text Scott to keep going because she was enjoying the quiet of nature so much.
Her headlamp lit up something shiny in the leaves along the side of the trail. It took Molly aback when she saw it. Litter was very rare on this stretch of trail. A dedicated hiking club affiliated with the Buckeye Trail Association meticulously maintained the trail, and Molly often felt guilty for not joining and attending the local chapter meetings. Without thinking, she bent down to inspect the shiny object. Molly wasn’t a germaphobe, but picking up litter with her bare hands also wasn't something she usually did. Awkwardly using the bottom of her mug to shift the damp leaves, she uncovered an earring. No longer worried about germs, Molly picked it up and adjusted her headlamp to see it clearly.
She knew this earring. It was a rose-gold hoop very similar to the earrings that Shannon had worn the day before, with two strands of metal filament twisted together. Goosebumps sprouted on Molly’s arms, despite her jacket. She looked around, suddenly feeling like someone was watching her from among the trees. This early there should be other trail users, but she had only seen one other person since starting out. Her phone alarm went off. Molly jumped, almost dropping both her coffee and the earring.
Pocketing the rose-gold hoop, Molly turned around to walk back to the trailhead. Was it really Shannon’s earring? What time had Shannon been in the shop the day before? Molly couldn’t place when her cousin was there—was it before or after the drama with the trail runner and the police? It must have been before. Was she wearing both earrings when she was there, or just one? Molly did distinctly remember her wearing a hoop just like this and also remembered noticing the sweat on her neck. Was Shannon on the trail yesterday when Trevor was, too? But it was the wrong direction, the wrong side of the trail. The damaged bridge was on the other side of the trailhead, Trevor’s belongings had been found nearby on that side. Shannon was not an outdoor enthusiast and was unlikely to spend any time on the local trails. In fact, Molly was sure that Shannon didn’t even own hiking boots. A few minutes later, she heard Scott’s familiar heavy running gait behind her and swung her head around to look over her shoulder. She must have really slowed her own walking speed if he was already catching up to her.
“Hey there, pokey,” Scott said, adjusting his pace to walk next to her, and patted her back. She still had goosebumps. He was breathing hard but gave her a quick kiss on the temple, which he knew she did not want to return because he smelled and was sweaty. She smiled at his guarded affection for her benefit.
“Scott, I can’t believe this. I think I just found Shannon’s earring on the trail,” she told him and took it out of her pocket.
“Well, that seems unlikely. Shannon?”
“She was wearing earrings exactly like this yesterday. I know she was.”
“Seems crazy that she’d be on the trail the same day of a big incident,” Scott said as he took the earring and held it up in the light of his headlamp. The sky was brightening, and the trail was nearly fully visible.
“Do you think she’s okay? Maybe she’s missing like Trevor and we don’t even know? Maybe the same person kidnapped them both. Do you think I should tell the police?” Molly asked, biting her lip. The worry that had been rolling around in her mind forced her to continue. “Or do you think Shannon has something to do with Trevor being missing? Like, she’s somehow involved with his disappearance?” She didn’t know what she was thinking. She felt like everyone was a suspect and hated how responsible she felt for whatever had happened to Trevor.
“I mean, I don’t think you need to jump to the very worst conclusion, even though she is Shannon. Call her or text to see if she responds. And if she doesn’t, maybe you should tell Joe. He’s a detective and might even get assigned to the case. Maybe you can tell him in an unofficial capacity? You don’t have to blame Shannon. Just inform Joe about your concern.” Joe was May’s husband and served on their local police force. Scott handed the earring back to Molly.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll call her in another couple of hours. She never seems to be awake very early.”
“Yeah. We don’t need two people missing on the Buckeye Trail. Tell me what you find out later today. I’m going to finish up.” Scott patted her shoulder again and continued running.
Molly bit her lip again. Could two people really have gone missing on the trail? Could Shannon have kidnapped Trevor?
Molly arrived back at the parking lot outside the garden center well after Scott. It seemed that he had already finished with his post-run stretching routine because he was looking at his phone. Molly had thought of nothing beyond the earring during the rest of her walk and flipped it mindlessly between her fingers. She had made the decision that she needed to tell her twin sister about the find. Her mind always worked best in tandem with May’s.
“I forgot I need to pick up a book at the library today,” Scott mumbled to Molly as they stowed their headlamps in the trunk of his car. “I got an email reminder. Too bad they’re not open now.” Molly wasn’t really paying attention, her mind more on the earring than books. Scott was an avid reader and very much preferred the feel of a real paper book to an e-reader. In fact, he collected fancy hardbacks with gilded spines. Molly thought a Kindle was just fine for reading herself but enjoyed the hunt for the golden books as gifts for her bookish husband.
“What do you think?” Scott said as he slammed the trunk closed, jolting Molly out of her worries about Shannon. “Should I make bacon and pancakes for breakfast? Or should we stop by the café for an even greasier first meal?” He was smiling broadly, proud of this unhealthy decision so early in the morning after a run.
“I like the idea of your pancakes and bacon this morning, Scotty.” She kissed his sweaty mouth despite herself.