Her mother nodded, then wiped her eyes with her hand before she turned to look at her daughter. She was obviously composing herself for her sake.

  “It’s nothing, honey. Don’t worry about it.”

  Jade sat down on the side of the bed. “You’ve been crying a lot lately. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  Her mother’s hand landed on her arm. “I’m fine. It’s just… well, life sometimes, you know?”

  Jade stared at her mother. She had always believed she was the most beautiful woman in the world, even now that she had been crying. But all children thought that she guessed. Jade didn’t always go easy on her, and she knew that. Just this morning, they had been in a huge fight, and Jade had ended up yelling at her that she hated her. But she didn’t mean it.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “For what?” her mother asked, surprised.

  “For being such a teenager. Am I making you cry?”

  Her mother shook her head. “Oh, no, sweetie. You’re fine.”

  “Then, what is it?” Jade kept at it, unable to let it go. “Why are you so upset?”

  Her mother scoffed, then shook her head. “I’m just being silly. I think it’s my hormones. I feel so wacky half of the time, you know?”

  Jade nodded. Yes, she knew all about that. She could barely control herself or her emotions half of the time either. Her mother’s eyes suddenly grew serious.

  “Life is just hard sometimes. It doesn’t always go the way you want it to. And whatever you do, think twice before you marry, okay? Make sure he’s the right one for you.”

  Jade nodded when a voice came from downstairs.

  “Knock, knock. Hello? Is anyone home?”

  Her mother grimaced. “It’s Billy. He can’t see me like this.”

  Her mother jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, where she heard her wash her face and take out her makeup kit.

  Billy soon poked his face inside the bedroom. His face lit up when he saw Jade. He was in uniform, holding his hat between his hands. The sight of the gun in his belt made Jade wince, partly in fear and partly in excitement.

  “Well, hello there, sweetheart. What are you doing in here? Is your mom not home?”

  Jade blushed, then looked down. Billy was so handsome, and he had that glint in his eyes. The way he looked at her made her feel warm.

  “She’s in the bathroom.”

  The door opened, and her mother came out. She pretended to be surprised by the sight of Billy. She corrected her hair and bit her glossy lip.

  “Oh, it’s you. What’s up?”

  What’s up?

  Jade almost dropped her jaw. Her mother had never used that expression before. As in ever. And was she blushing?

  “I was just checking in on my favorite ladies. There has been a break-in in a vehicle two blocks down and wanted to warn you to lock up at night.”

  “That is sweet of you, Billy. Thank you. We’ll remember to lock up. We always do.”

  “That’s great. Say, is that chicken that I smell?”

  Jade’s mother nodded.

  “Oh, you make the best chicken in the world,” he said.

  “You should stay for dinner,” her mother said. “Please, do. We’d love to have you. Right, Jade? Tell Billy how much we’d love for him to stay. We have more than enough food.”

  Her mother looked at Jade, who lowered her eyes shyly.

  “Sure.”

  Her mother clasped her hands together. “It’s decided then. You’ll stay for dinner. I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Billy threw out his hands with a smirk. “Guess I’m staying then.”

  Chapter 9

  “I thought she was dead.”

  Charles Henry looked up at us from his chair. We were sitting in the waiting area outside Nancy’s hospital room while she was sleeping. Charles fumbled nervously with a plastic cup between his hands. It was empty, and it made an annoying noise.

  “I truly believed she was dead. Or I wouldn’t have married Tanya. And now what? What am I supposed to do?”

  I stared at the man in front of me, unable to answer. I couldn’t blame him for being out of it. Finding out your wife is alive after five years when you thought she was dead had to be confusing.

  “How long have you and Tanya been married?” I asked.

  “Four months. We had to wait until we could declare Nancy legally dead after five years of going missing.”

  “But you dated for longer than that, I take it?” I asked.

  “Yes. For a long time, I hoped and prayed that Nancy was still alive,” he continued. “But even the police said they believed she was dead. Tanya was my secretary at the time. She helped me through it, and we fell in love. It wasn’t like it was planned. It just happened. But does that mean that I’m married to two women now?”

  “I don’t know the technicalities,” I said.

  “I’m pretty sure your last marriage will be annulled,” Matt argued. “But you might need to look into that at some point.”

  Charles rubbed his face with a groan. “Why is this happening now? Couldn’t she have come back a year ago? Then I wouldn’t have remarried. Now, everything is complicated. How do I explain this to Tanya? What do I do? I mean, I didn’t do anything wrong, did I? In remarrying?”

  “Not legally,” I said. “But Nancy might see it differently since in her mind you’re still married.”

  “Argh,” he groaned and leaned back in his chair, squeezing the plastic cup tightly. “Just when things seemed to settle down for us. Just when life was getting good again. This happens.”

  “You almost sound like you’re not happy that she’s back?” I asked, puzzled.

  He looked at me. “Of course, I’m happy that she’s back. Are you kidding me? I have waited for this moment for five years. I’m ecstatic. It’s just that… well, a lot has changed since she left, including my love for her. I am in love with someone else now, and I can’t just turn that off. It’s not like there’s a switch you can flip, you know? But how do I explain that to Nancy? And to be honest, I can feel myself getting a little angry with her. Is that wrong of me? I feel upset that she doesn’t remember where she has been or that time has passed.”

  “Do you think she might not be telling the truth?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No, no. Nancy isn’t someone to lie like that. It’s just…well, I would really like to know what happened to her. To better understand her. You know? Oh, I’m not making much sense here. It’s been hectic the past twenty-four hours. You’ll have to excuse me for babbling like this. I’m usually a much more composed man.”

  “I’m sure,” I said. “But now that we have you, I’d like to go over the night that Nancy disappeared with you.”

  “Oh, no. I’ve told this story a gazillion times to you people,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Can’t you just read the old reports?”

  “I’ll do that too, but I’d like to hear it from you as well. There might be something the investigators missed back then. If you don’t mind.”

  Chapter 10

  “I stayed late at the office, even though I knew that Nancy had prepared a nice dinner for us. I just couldn’t leave.”

  Charles sighed nervously, then looked up at me.

  “Was Tanya your secretary at this point?” I asked.

  He nodded. “You mean, were we already having an affair then?”

  “Yes.”

  “We weren’t. Tanya and I grew close after Nancy disappeared, not before. I am not that kind of man.”

  “Okay,” I said. “But did Nancy maybe suspect that you were with another woman? Was she jealous?”

  That made Charles stop to think. “Come to think of it; she might have been. She did ask me occasionally if I had another woman when I came home late.”

  “So, she could have believed you were cheating on her even if you weren’t,” I said.

  “I guess so.”

  “All right. Now, back to the day she disappeared. You were at the office, and she was making dinner, thinking you’d be home on time. Then what?”

  I was stuck with a ton of paperwork that needed to be done, clients that I needed to get back to, stuff like that, so I texted her to let her know. She wrote me back that she was disappointed and that dinner would be ruined.”

  “And what did you answer to that?”

  “I might have been a little harsh. I told her I was working and that whether or not dinner got cold was of little importance. In harsher words, perhaps, but you get the picture.”

  “So, you basically told her what she was angry about was of no importance,” I said. “Women love to hear that.”

  He sighed. “I know. You don’t have to tell me that. But I was dealing with some real trouble with a client that couldn’t wait. When sitting with that, it was hard for me to worry about whether or not I would make it home for dinner.”

  “Go on. What time did you leave the office?”

  “At ten-thirty,” he said. “I drove directly home. I let myself in, and that’s when I saw it. The house was a mess like there had been a fight in the living room, which I believe there had been. There was blood on the floor. Nancy was nowhere to be found. I called the police, and they arrived shortly after. And that’s basically it. The police later found out that the intruders had probably come in through the door leading to the patio in the back, which we usually left open when we were at home.”

  “Was anything stolen?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No, everything was still there—even her phone and all her jewelry. There was money in a jar on the kitchen counter that no one had touched. Nancy might have surprised them by being at the house, and they either killed her and took the body with them to get rid of, or they kidnapped her, maybe for trafficking. That’s what we were told.”

  “And the children? They were teenagers at the time. Where were they?”

  “They were with friends. It was a Friday night, and they were having sleepovers. Nancy had arranged for them to be out of the house because she wanted it to be a special night for us…a night for us alone.”

  “And that’s why she cooked dinner and expected you to come home earlier,” I said. “Was your marriage in trouble?”

  He looked up. “Excuse me?”

  “Were you having problems and trying to solve them? Was that what the dinner was about?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. I thought we were doing fine, but I guess when thinking back on it like I have done a lot over the past five years, yes. I guess we had drifted apart. Nancy had started modeling, and I wasn’t too happy about that. I didn’t think she needed to; it’s not like we needed the extra money. But she wanted to, she said for her own sake. I guess she needed to feel pretty again. She was a model when we met. It made her feel young, she said. So, I agreed to it, but it made me miserable. My wife didn’t have to work. That’s why I worked so hard, so she wouldn’t have to.”

  “But maybe she liked it,” I said.

  “I know. I should have been happy for her. She was quite successful. I just didn’t…think it was necessary.”

  I nodded, then noted it on my pad. It wasn’t unusual for a couple in their situation or stage of life to struggle in their marriage, but it was still worth noting.

  “Did you ever wonder if she just walked out on you? If she chose to leave?” I said, looking up from my notepad. His eyes met mine, and he hesitated before responding.

  “Every day,” he said. “I wondered if she had staged it to look like she was taken. My wife had a penchant for drama. For a long time, I wondered if she’d just come back on her own once she was done with her little spectacle.”

  “But, she never did.”

  “Until now,” he said. “Now, she’s back, and I don’t know what to think of it, to be honest.”

  “Dad!”

  A young man came up toward Charles. Charles’ face lit up at the sight of the boy who was very obviously his son. As they hugged, I saw a young woman who had to be his sister come up behind him. She hugged Charles as well. I knew both of them were away for college, and it had taken a while for them to get here.

  “Is it really true?” the man asked.

  His father nodded.

  “She’s back?” the girl said.

  “Yes, yes, she is. She’s sleep…”

  Tears sprang to both of their eyes as their father spoke like the realization was just beginning to sink in.

  “But…I don’t understand,” the girl said, her voice quivering. “How? How is she suddenly back…now? After all these years?”

  Charles sighed and pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay, sweetie. I don’t understand it either. I don’t understand anything right now, to be honest.”

  Chapter 11

  “I don’t get it. Where were you?”

  Nancy lifted her glance and locked eyes with her daughter. Charles had brought them in, and now they were staring at one another, not really knowing what to say.

  “I told you,” her father said. “Mom doesn’t remember anything.”

  Her daughter narrowed her eyes, biting her cheek. She didn’t want to come close enough for Nancy to reach out and touch her.

  “How does she not remember? How can you be gone for five years and not know where you’ve been? It makes no sense.”

  Nancy tried to smile. The look in her daughter’s eyes was hurtful. “Tinkerbell, I…”

  Her daughter winced at the sound of her old nickname. Nancy had called her that since she was two years old and dressed up as Tinkerbell every day for almost a year. Her daughter used to love being called that. It had later evolved to Tinker or just Tinks. Just like her brother had always been Bubba or just Bubs. It was what he had called himself once he started to talk, so they had adapted it.

  “No one has called me that in five years,” she said.

  “We don’t use that anymore,” Charles said.

  That brought tears to Nancy’s eyes. She had missed out on so much of her children’s lives. Five years had gone by, and now they were both so grown up. In this instant, she realized she knew absolutely nothing about them. So much could have changed in this time. What did they like to do? Who were their friends? Did they do any sports? Did Tinks still play the cello? Did Bubba still swim? All she knew was that they had both left for college, and that was why it took a while for them to get there once she showed up. It wasn’t exactly the reunion she had hoped for or looked forward to while lying in the hospital bed, dreaming about them.

  “I’m not sure, I can…to me, you’ll always be Tinks,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. Nancy reached out her hands toward her daughter, but she pulled away. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being away.”

  Bubba walked up to her, then put his hand in hers. His soft brown eyes locked with hers, and she could tell he was struggling to keep the tears back. He had always been the sensitive one. People said you couldn’t love your children equally, but that wasn’t how Nancy felt. She loved them the same amount. She just liked Bubba better because he was easier. He always had been easier.

  “My sweet boy,” Nancy said and kissed the top of his hand.

  Bubba’s body started to tremble as the tears overwhelmed him. He still tried to keep them back, resulting in his body almost convulsing. Nancy pulled his hand, and he came closer, but not enough for her to hug him.

  Nancy let go of the boy, and he pulled back, hiding his face between his hands. Nancy looked at Tinkerbell, but she wasn’t going to come any closer. Her arms remained crossed in front of her chest, and she stared at Nancy like she didn’t even want to know about her. Only the occasionally sniffle revealed that she too was struggling to keep the tears back.

  “Tinks, listen…” Nancy said, but the girl turned away, so she didn’t even look at her.

  “I’m going back to the house,” she said, addressed to her dad. “I don’t have anything to say to her.”

  “Tinkerbell, please…at least give me a chance to ex…”

  She turned around and looked at her mother, eyes ablaze. “No. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t believe this act of yours. Not for even a second do I believe you can’t remember anything.”

  That hit Nancy like a punch in the stomach. She could barely breathe as she watched her daughter rush out of the hospital room.

  “She’ll come around,” Charles said, forcing a smile. “Just give her a little time.”

  Chapter 12

  We waited until the family had their reunion, then walked in and asked if we could talk again with Nancy. The tension in the room was so thick I could have cut it. The dad and the son were the only ones there, and they said goodbye to Nancy, then left.

  “How did it go?” I asked and approached her. I hoped she’d be ready to talk some more, but she barely lifted her eyes to look at me.

  “Not well, huh?”

  “What do you want? I’m in a terrible mood.”

  “I just thought maybe we could talk some more about the night you disappeared and what you remember,” I said.

  She lifted her glare, and her eyes met mine. “Why? Why do you want to know?”

  I narrowed my eyes, not quite understanding the question. “The sheriff has asked us to help investigate what really happened to you. I thought you’d want me to find out. Don’t you want to know?”

  I sat down on a chair, scrutinizing this woman. She was hard to read.

  “I don’t know,” she said and reached out her hands. “I don’t know what I want right now. Or maybe I do. I want to get back to be with my family, but they don’t want me anymore. I’ve been replaced by some other woman, apparently, and my daughter won’t even talk to me. Right now, I’m just trying to survive.”

  I nodded. “I understand. But we think it’s very important to find out what happened, so it won’t happen to someone else. Our job is to make sure that if someone hurt you, which we think someone did, then they’re brought to justice.”

  Nancy’s eyes landed on my stomach. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”