by Roger Hayden
“Hello,” she said and leaned against the refrigerator.
Startled, Lou jumped and turned. “Oh. Hi!”
Miriam laughed. “Did I scare you?”
Lou set the pan down on the burner and shook his head defensively. “No. Of course not.”
“Sure thing,” Miriam said, approaching him.
He put his arms around her and pulled her close, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “How was your day?”
“Fine,” Miriam said in an exhausted tone.
Lou backed away and returned to the stove while addressing Miriam. “I know that you’re tired, but this is going to be one meal you don’t want to miss.”
“Oh, Lou,” she said. “You didn’t have to cook.”
Lou looked up, brushing back his slick dark hair. “It’s my pleasure, Miriam. We both need to take a break and celebrate.”
“We could have just ordered a pizza,” Miriam said. But the delicious aroma in the air made her glad they hadn’t. She glanced at their circular table in the corner of the kitchen and saw two unlit candles in the center with a basket of bread and two of the nicest plates. The sight warmed her heart in ways she couldn’t express.
“Now go relax while I get this ready,” Lou continued.
Miriam nodded, thinking. She hadn’t said anything about her plans yet. There was a lot to discuss, and in any case, she still hadn’t completely made her mind up about helping with the Texas kidnappings.
“It’s been a long day. I’m going to take a shower first,” she said.
“No problem,” Lou said. “This won’t be ready for another twenty minutes.”
Miriam thanked him and turned from the kitchen, looking around the living room. The house was organized and clean, just the way she liked it.
“Where’s Ana?” she asked.
“In her room doing homework,” Lou answered, pleasing Miriam, though she still needed to see it to believe it. Ana got good grades, but she was also growing slightly rebellious as she neared her teenage years, and Miriam was starting to notice.
She continued past the living room and down the hall—her and Lou’s bedroom on the left and Ana’s on the right, with a guest room next to it. Ana’s door was closed, but her light was showing in the space at the bottom. Miriam knocked several times before Ana called out for her to come in. Ana was sitting upright on the bed with a book in her lap and headphones hanging on her neck.
“Hi, sweetie,” she said, approaching Ana’s bed.
“Hey,” she replied.
Miriam noticed the textbook in Ana’s lap but wasn’t too keen with her doing homework in bed with her headphones on.
“How was your day?” Miriam asked.
Ana shrugged, looking down. “Okay, I guess.”
“What’s going on?” Miriam asked.
Ana avoided eye contact, furthering her mother’s suspicion. “You can tell me,” she said, patting Ana’s leg.
Her daughter closed her book and feigned a smile. “I’m fine, Mom. Really. Our teacher assigned us like four chapters to read tonight. She’s out of her mind.”
Miriam touched Ana’s knee affectionately while providing a comforting tone. “Oh, honey. Don’t say that. Your teacher works very hard so that you can learn things.”
Ana lowered her book and sighed. “Okay. I’m sorry. I’m better now. See?” She flashed a smile, but Miriam couldn’t tell if it was sincere.
“You’ll be fine. It’s just homework,” Miriam said.
A brief silence came over them as Miriam’s thoughts drifted to the more serious matter at hand, the Texas kidnappings, which she couldn’t discuss with Lou. Not yet.
He seemed to be in such a good mood, and she didn’t want to put a damper on the evening, though it would have to come at some point later on. That thought filled her with dread. For some reason, she felt more comfortable confiding in Ana.
“What if I told you that I was going to be away for a few days to investigate a kidnapping?” she asked.
Ana glanced up with no clear reaction, and at that moment, her silence said enough.
“Nothing about us would be exposed. No one involved in the investigation knows anything about us.”
“You’re not serious,” Ana said.
Miriam thought to herself and then provided not just an answer but her own plea. “There are two girls missing. Girls your age. The detectives leading the case want my help. One girl has been missing for over a week, the other a little over twenty-four hours.”
Ana sighed. “You told me that you were done with detective work. You promised.”
“I know, but this isn’t the same,” Miriam said. “I have to do something, Ana.”
She looked at Ana’s cherubic face and noticed that her eyes were watering, on the verge of tears. She then leaned closer, pulling Ana toward her in a tight hug. “I promise that I’ll be okay. Nothing will happen to you or me or Lou or anyone else. I guarantee it.”
Ana nodded and said that it was okay. “I understand. I hope you change your mind, but I know you won’t.”
Though Ana was obviously upset, Miriam felt better for having it out there while coming to the honest conclusion that it was something she had to do. Telling Lou, she feared, would be much more difficult.
***
After her shower, Miriam slipped into a nightgown and entered the kitchen, where dinner awaited. The candles were both lit under the dimmed kitchen lights. The Beef Alfredo at the table looked delicious. As she sat, Miriam couldn’t remember the last time they had eaten at the table. Lou, it seemed, was determined to make the night memorable. He got up and walked to the fridge and came back with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
“You thought of everything,” Miriam said, impressed.
“Not true,” Lou replied while twisting the cork. Then came the sound of a loud pop and champagne foaming to the surface of the bottle. “The violin player got stuck in traffic.”
Miriam laughed as he poured the wine, bubbling and cold, and handed her a sparkling glass. They ate slowly, enjoying the moment and being together.
She glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was ten past nine. She hadn’t mentioned a thing about going to Texas. It was the last thing she wanted to bring up. So, she continued to put it off.
Lou filled their glasses again, stood, and held his out for a toast. “To a remarkable woman. Thank you for making this past year so special.”
Miriam drank and then set her glass down as the candle flames flickered before her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Lou spoke first, beating her to it.
“I’ve been waiting for the right moment to do this. What better time than now?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny velvet case.
Miriam watched as Lou went down on one knee and revealed a glittering diamond ring. Her hands sprang to her face, covering her mouth.
“Miriam,” he continued. “I know we’ve only been dating a year, but I’m certain that you’re the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I hope you feel the same about me.”
In an instant, the nervousness of discussing the kidnapping investigation vanished, only to be replaced by an elation Miriam hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Miriam, will you marry me?”
As he remained patiently on one knee, ring in hand, his words struck Miriam like a bolt of lightning. She felt weak-kneed and faint. There had been times when she thought she’d never marry again, times when she was content with a life consisting of Ana and no one else. Now Lou was asking her to change all that.
Miriam closed her eyes for a moment, taking it all in as tears slid down her cheeks. She imagined Lou waiting for hours on one knee, teetering back and forth, while she pondered her decision, but such stamina on his part wouldn’t be necessary. Her heart was ready to make her decision.
“Yes, Lou. Of course I’ll marry you.”
She stood up, taking his hand in hers as he rose from the floor, his face beaming with joy. He took her face in his hands and ki
ssed her passionately as the candles burned beside them.
Miriam woke in the early hours of the morning when it was still dark outside. Her bedside alarm clock said 3:03 a.m. Lou lay next to her sleeping with his arm around her naked body. She felt relaxed, with lingering excitement from within. She and Lou were officially engaged. There’d be much to talk about, so much to plan and celebrate.
Despite her enthusiasm for the future, the missing girls, April and Natalie, came rushing back to her. She could still see their smiling faces from the wallet-sized photos Detective Hayes had shown her. Was it an emotional ploy to get her to join the case? If so, it was certainly working.
She had always wished she had been more vigilant in pursuing the Snatcher. She felt that she could have saved more of his victims before they perished. There was a predator out there, not entirely removed from her own world, and he was looking for her. Who was this person, and what was he looking for? Naturally, she was inclined to wonder.
Miriam took a sip from her glass of water on the nightstand and then tugged at Lou’s arm, trying to wake him.
“Lou…” she whispered. “Lou, wake up. I have to talk to you.”
“What is it?” Lou groaned. His eyes remained closed, and Miriam knew that he was barely awake.
“There’s a job I have to do tomorrow. Could take a few days.”
“Huh?” he said, not moving.
“An investigation I’m assisting. Two missing girls in a town not too far from here.”
“Huh?” he said again, opening his eyes. She guessed that her words had begun to sink in at that point. “What are you talking about?” he asked, lifting his head.
“I’ve been asked to assist in the investigation of two missing girls,” she repeated. “Only issue is that it’s out of state, and I could be gone a couple of days. Maybe even a week. I’ll need you to take care of Ana while I’m gone.”
Lou plopped his head back onto the pillow, staring at the ceiling as though he couldn’t figure out whether he was dreaming or not.
He sat upright, exposing his bare chest as the covers fell away. “You’re not a field agent anymore. What would you be doing assisting an out-of-state investigation?”
“Two detectives from Ector County, Texas, contacted me today and requested my assistance with a case,” she explained. “I told them I would think about it, and now I think that my mind’s made up.”
Lou twisted and turned, confused and agitated. “What are you talking about? They want you to look at files and stuff?”
“They want me to fly there and act as an advisor.”
Lou sat up, shocked. “And where in Texas exactly will you be going?”
Miriam took a deep breath. “A town called Odessa.”
Lou’s eyes widened, and he nearly jumped out of the bed. “That’s not going to work, Miriam.”
“Lou… listen to me,” she began.
“No,” Lou said, slicing his arm to the side. “We agreed that you’d stay away from field work.”
“That was your agreement,” Miriam said, rather defensively. “And that was over a year ago. I’m better now. I promise.”
“The trauma is still there, Miriam. I can see it sometimes.” He paused, frustrated, and then held an arm out across the bed. “I worry about you.”
“You don’t have to anymore. I can do this,” she said.
“Those detectives need to do their own job and leave you alone,” he said, turning to the window, where stars glimmered in the night sky.
“I have to help them,” Miriam said, her voice growing louder. “You know that.”
“Then I’m going with you.”
“No,” she said. “I need you to take care of Ana for me. Let me do this, and I promise no harm will come to us.”
Lou waved her off. “You can’t guarantee that.”
Miriam took his hand in hers with her eyes pleading. “You have to trust me. I need your support.” She paused, and silence came over them save for the circling ceiling fan above.
“Okay,” Lou said, conceding. “Sleep on it first.”
“I’m doing it,” she said.
Lou shook his head and pulled the covers back over himself. “How could your boss agree to this?”
“They want me to go,” she said.
Lou fell back against his pillow and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t know what to say, Miriam. If you must go, promise me that you’ll be careful.”
“I will.” Miriam took a deep breath, and a stillness again fell between them.
Lou leaned in and said, “But I want to know everything there is to know about this case and what exactly you’ll be doing.”
“Deal,” Miriam said as he pulled her closer. They hugged in the moonlight, holding each other tight, with nothing left to be said until morning.
***
Day 2
The next morning, Miriam made pancakes. She had already called Detective Hayes and confirmed that she was in. There was no going back now. Lou and Ana were both due at middle school within the hour. Miriam, on the other hand, was ready to take on a most unusual case. She poured their orange juice as they sat at the table and ate without speaking. As the grill steamed behind them, Miriam couldn’t help but see through her own ruse of earning their affection before she left on an investigation neither of them wanted her to be a part of. She hoped it wasn’t as obvious to them.
“Did you finish your homework last night?” Miriam asked Ana as local news played from a portable radio on the counter.
“Yes, Mom,” Ana said, taking a bite of her pancakes.
Lou turned around to face Miriam standing by the kitchen faucet. “What time are you heading to the station today?”
Miriam stared out the window, deep in thought, and barely heard Lou’s question.
“Hello? Earth to Miriam,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she said, snapping out of her daze and turning to face him. “I have to leave in an hour. Still need to pack though.”
Ana looked up from her plate, slightly sad. “How long are you going to be gone?”
Miriam thought to herself, trying to muster the best estimate she could. “My flight has been booked for four days.”
Lou pushed his chair out and stood up, walking toward Miriam with an empty plate, placing it in the sink. “I want you to call me every day. And please… please don’t try to do everything yourself. Let those detectives do their jobs.”
“I’m only going there to observe and assist. The kidnapper left a note with my name on it, and I want to find out why.”
“What?” Lou cried out. This was news to him.
Oh no, Miriam thought. She hadn’t gone into that with Lou, and now he was finding out there was more to it than he’d initially supposed.
“It’s nothing,” she said, placing her hands on his smooth cheeks. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to put myself in any danger.”
Lou sighed and looked down, both sad and upset. “I don’t know, Miriam. It seems like you already are.”
She suddenly felt arms hugging her around the waist only to find Ana, up from the table, squeezing tight. “I’ll miss you, Mom.”
Miriam’s hands lowered and rubbed Ana’s warm back. “I’ll miss you too, honey.”
Standing in the kitchen with her fiancé and daughter close now in a brief embrace as if consoling each other nearly brought Miriam to tears. For a moment, she considered backing out, but she knew that if she did, she’d regret it for far too long. She had enough regrets as it was.
Lou and Ana said more goodbyes, with more kisses and reassurances, and then they were out the door, and she heard the car starting up and pulling out. She enjoyed the bittersweet feeling of the warmth in the sunlight of the kitchen window, if only to take a little piece of them with her. She assumed that once she arrived in Odessa, she’d need it.
Miriam arrived at the station later that morning with a small suitcase resting in the back seat, packed with four days’ worth of clothes. She had to check i
n with Captain Watterson, close out some things at work, and call Detective Hayes to ensure that her flight was set up—so many things to do with so little time.
The detectives planned to pick her up at the Midland International Airport near Odessa, where she would check in at a local hotel for the duration of her stay. Hayes didn’t elaborate on who was paying for it all, but the money was most likely coming from their department.
Miriam asked Detective Hayes what exactly they wanted from her again, and he reiterated that they were asking for nothing more than her guidance and expertise.
“I trust you,” she had told him over the phone. “But if anything changes, I’ll be back on the first flight out of Odessa.”
“Understood,” he had replied.
Her supervisor, Captain Watterson, was all for it, strangely enough, and Lou and Ana had come to terms with her decision. What else was holding her back?
April Johnson had been missing for more than a week, and Natalie Forester had vanished from a Food Mart parking lot only yesterday. There was no evidence that linked the disappearances of the two girls, but Miriam had a hunch that they were related.
Detective Hayes had sent her a text image of the “ransom note,” with the letters cut and pasted from a magazine.
Though lacking any distinct handwriting, the message was clear: the person intended to strike again. The arrogant, assured tone was reminiscent of how the Snatcher had carried himself. Whoever had taken Natalie had left the note, and they knew of Miriam some way or another.
“Four days,” she said to herself. “Then I’ll go back home.”
She stepped out of her car and into the busy station parking lot. It was already half past nine. She grabbed her purse and approached the Phoenix PD office—a large, three-story brick building. She swiped her card at the front entrance and walked into a busy lobby full of police officers and civilians going about their business.
Dressed in her black business-casual slacks and long-sleeved purple dress shirt, Miriam made her way down the long gray-carpeted hallway toward the elevators and headed to the third floor, where she worked alongside Records and Accounting.