Claire Montgomery couldn’t sleep. She hadn’t slept most of the night. The newscaster on the Channel 8 news had reported on a body find in central Oregon. There was little reason for Claire to think it might be Sara, but she couldn’t help but wonder. For the past five weeks, any mention of a body being discovered captured her attention and didn’t let go until the police made a positive identification. Although the police weren’t releasing information, a camper was describing the gruesome find to the local media after alerting authorities. The red numbers on the clock radio told her it was only 6:00 a.m. Saturday. She could have stayed in bed for at least another hour. Probably should have, but there might be new information. Being careful not to wake Allysa, with whom she shared the guest bedroom, Claire eased out of bed and dragged on her bathrobe.
Downstairs, she plucked the Oregonian off the front porch and perused the headlines. The body, a woman, found near the Warm Springs Indian reservation, had not been identified. The medical examiner and police were not available for comment. That didn’t keep the reporters from speculating on the preliminary information from the man whose dog found the body. The reporter had listed several local women and reiterated the circumstances surrounding their disappearances. A college girl from Eugene, a middle-aged woman from The Dalles. And Sara. Tears blurred the page, and the familiar heartache settled into her chest.
She brushed aside the tears and put on the coffee, then settled into a chair at the table in the breakfast nook, where the sun was already brightening the predawn sky. Soon she’d make breakfast for the four of them as she always did. During these past few weeks, they’d settled into a routine—like family, yet not like family. With Sara still missing, they were more like robots carrying on, doing what needed to be done and little more. Normally, she spent her days caring for Chloe and Allysa, cooking and cleaning, comforting and encouraging Scott and the others, and working when she could slip in a few hours alone.
She didn’t want the body to be Sara’s. She wanted Sara to come home. More and more, these past few weeks of hearing nothing had led to a number of speculations. The most likely scenario was that she had been abducted and murdered.Others, primarily those who didn’t know her well, thought she might have run away to start a new life.
“You’re up early.” Scott’s deep voice startled her and, at the same time, brought comfort.
“Couldn’t sleep. So I got up to read the morning paper, and . . .” Her throat caught and she nodded toward the paper. “They found another body. A woman.”
He stood behind her for a moment and then went to the cupboard, pulled out two mugs, and filled them with coffee. Setting one in front of her, he lowered himself into the chair beside her. “Do they think it’s Sara?”
“There isn’t enough information. Just this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I want her to be alive, but. . . .”
“Not much chance of that.” His gaze focused on the paper, but he wasn’t reading. “I know this sounds callous, but I just want it to be over. I want to know what happened once and for all.”
“It’s not callous.” She placed a hand on his arm. “I want the same thing. So do the others. Waiting is the hardest part.” She moved her hand and reached for her coffee. “I’ll call the FBI agents again this morning. Maybe they know something the papers don’t.”
Scott’s gaze drifted up to hers. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For being here. Picking up the slack.” He set down his cup and, elbows on the table, dropped his face into his hands. “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
Claire settled an arm around his shoulders. “It’ll be all right, Scott. No matter what happens, we’ll be OK.”
The words had a hollow ring to them. How could things ever be right again? After a few moments, she got up and took her coffee into the kitchen. She’d made baked oatmeal the night before, and all she had to do this morning was heat it and cook some sausage. Taking care of Scott and Chloe was the least she could do for Sara.