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Nora
Nora knew before she left the police station that Levi wasn’t home. She knew it all the way home, and she knew it as she walked into her quiet house and down the hall to his bedroom. Yet, when she saw his still-empty bed, the disappointment was crushing. Maybe she had harbored some hope after all.
Levi’s cat sat on his windowsill, looking out at the street. She was waiting for him too.
Nora leaned back against the paneled wall and closed her eyes. Think, Nora, think. How am I going to find him? Her eyes popped open. The phone.
She rushed to the laptop. Their cell service provider had a phone tracking feature in case someone lost their phone. When she’d first heard about it, she’d been creeped out. She didn’t want people being able to track her location, though why anyone would need to, she had no idea. She was never anywhere but at home and at work. But now she could see the value of such a creepy feature. She tapped her foot impatiently as their slow internet service brought up the page.
Finally, there it was, and she chose his phone number from the dropdown menu. A map of the entire country appeared.
Not helpful.
A blue wheel spun and spun on the screen, and she started to doubt that this was going to work. Of course it wouldn’t be this easy. A fresh tear slid down her cheek. If this didn’t work, what was she going to do? What could she do?
But then there it was. The blue wheel had turned into a blue dot in the middle of nowhere. She had to zoom out on the map to see any roads, but there was one, and then another. He was still in Carver Harbor, thank God, apparently on Clark Cove Road. She zoomed out some more, trying to get her bearings. The name sounded familiar, but where was Clark Cove Road exactly? The map loaded, and her bearings fell into place. She knew where he was. And she knew where he was in relation to her location.
She practically flew to the car. The rain had picked up and it pinged her in the face as she ran. She got behind the wheel dripping wet, again hoping her son was inside somewhere, out of the weather.
She jammed the key into the ignition and cranked it.
Nothing happened.
This was not unusual, and it usually wasn’t a big deal, but right now it was unacceptable. She turned the key again. Nothing. She let her head fall to the steering wheel, and a sob burst out of her. The sound didn’t sound like it could have come from her. It sounded like someone sitting really close to her had been stabbed. Someone so close they were sitting right in her seat. “Please, God. I’m begging.” She turned the key, and the engine sputtered to life.
She sprang up and threw the car into reverse, and then backed out of her driveway with too much speed and too little control. She didn’t care. She only cared about one thing right now—the same one thing she’d been prioritizing since he had arrived in her womb.
Once she got a hold of him, she was never letting go again. He was grounded for life. The thought of being able to ground him made her smile. He was going to be okay, she told herself. He was going to come home, and then she could ground him.
She got to the east coast of the peninsula and slowed. She wasn’t sure which way to turn. She considered the GPS but decided that would take too long. She turned left.
Her guess proved out. The little green sign that read Clark Cove Road came into view. She stepped on the brake. As she made the turn, her eyes scanned the larger sign that stood on the end of the road. “Private Road” it declared, with small wooden tags hanging from it in neat rows. Each stained tag bore the name of one of the camps or homes on this private road. She hadn’t driven down here in ages and didn’t know what was down here now. What rich person’s camp would he be at? Or had some other kind of building sprung up on this road in recent years?
The summer homes were few and far between, and she slowed as she passed each of them. They all looked deserted with a thick layer of wet leaves on top of tall dead grass. She saw no signs of life. She reached the end of the road, where two mansions sat. She didn’t know if they were technically mansions, but they seemed it to her. There were vehicles in each yard. She couldn’t imagine a scenario where he would be in one of those sprawling houses. So where was he? Should she go knock on those doors? Or should she go check the empty camps? “Where are you, Levi?” she said aloud, chewing her lip.
How specific was that tracking app? She opened it again and waited for the blue dot to appear. If it was correct, he was nowhere near these mansions. He was farther up the road. Holding the dot in one hand, she headed that way, proceeding at a crawl, watching the dot more than she watched the road in front of her.
It led her to a spot with nothing but clearing on either side. Her heart started racing. Was he lying down in the grass somewhere? She climbed out into the rain. Her keys dinged in the ignition, and this annoyed her unreasonably. She hurriedly slammed the door, straining her eyes, pushing them to see something, anything, that would tell her where her heart was. “Levi?” she called out. She knew she’d been loud, but her voice felt small in the unpopulated area, lost in the sound of the rain. “Levi?” she called again, trying to be louder. She stepped down into the small ditch and then up into the tall grass. Her gut told her he wasn’t here. Or was her gut telling her that to protect her? Because if he was here, he was lying on the ground.
She started walking, scanning the ground to either side of her as she went. When she reached the trees, she looked down at her phone and sure enough, she had passed the blue dot. But she hadn’t seen anything! Was the blue dot lying to her? Everyone was lying to her this morning. She was soaked through to the skin now. Please, God. Wherever he is, let him be under cover.
A thought occurred to her, and she almost slapped herself. Why hadn’t she thought of it earlier? She dialed his number and out of habit held the phone to her ear. Realizing this worked against her current task, she dropped the phone to her side and listened.
All she could hear was the rain. Was rain always this loud? A sound she usually found comfort in now made her feel claustrophobic, paranoid. She started walking, still listening. His phone went to voice mail. She hung up and dialed again. She kept walking, annoyed at how loud her Dansko knockoffs were in the grass. She tried to walk more softly. And then she heard it. To her left. She turned and ran.
And even though she was looking as she moved, suddenly the noise was behind her and she spun around so fast she lost her balance and almost fell. The tears returned then. His phone went to voice mail, and her cold fingers hurriedly hung up and redialed. And then she was moving toward the sound again.
And then she was looking down at his phone in the wet grass. A sob shook her chest hard enough to hurt as she bent to pick up the lonely phone. She straightened and slowly spun around, searching her surroundings. “Levi!” she screamed. “Levi! Where are you? Are you here?” She slid the phone into her pocket and waited for an answer, an answer she desperately needed.
But he wasn’t there.
Yet his phone was. Which told her something.
She wasn’t a detective. She’d never been into reading or watching mysteries, had never felt the urge to solve any crimes—and yet she knew something now, knew it in her bones: Levi wasn’t just missing. He hadn’t just wandered off or gotten himself into trouble. Someone had done something to him. He’d been the victim of foul play. She hollered at the forest one more time and then turned and headed back to her car.
And then, much faster than she should, she started back toward the police station.
