by Kelly Utt
“How about a phone?” the man asked. “You probably have your contacts saved in there. Do you have a phone on you?”
Eve shrieked now. She couldn’t understand why Tim was asking such strange questions. She just wanted to go to the doctor so he could fix her up. Then she wanted to go home. She wanted to get into her bed with her husband and forget that any of this had happened.
Maybe Tim knew where her pills were. Eve thought he probably did.
“My pills, Tim! They will help.”
Tears soaked Eve’s body, and she was once more aware of her nakedness. But she wasn’t upset this time. It was only Tim, after all. She didn’t have to cover up around him.
“I don’t have pills,” the man’s voice said. “I’m sorry. Do you want me to call anyone?”
Eve looked up at the man, his face finally coming into focus. To her horror, it wasn’t Tim after all. This man looked completely different from Tim.
Afraid and confused, Eve screamed as loud as she could for as long as she could until, finally, the man left her alone in the room. Exhausted, she dozed off to sleep in a haze as she struggled to stay lucid.
6
The Blackburns made their calls from various nooks and crannies in the lodge on the Brambleberry Fields property. When they had bits of information to share, they reconvened to discuss.
“Margaret hasn’t heard from Tim in weeks,” Holden said, his breathing heavy from worry. “She didn’t even know they were in the Keys. She said he called to wish her a Merry Christmas, but they didn’t talk long. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.”
“Damn,” Wilder said, placing a hand on Phoebe’s shoulder. “Not much luck on my end either. A customer service rep at the phone company walked me through the process of tracking Eve’s last recorded location and accessing her call records. She used her phone normally up until four days ago. Her last known location was Islamorada, Florida. After that, nothing. It’s like her phone has been completely turned off.”
“I wonder how she was posting on social media in the days since,” Holden said. “Maybe her battery died?”
“No,” Phoebe said. “Tim would have called or texted. Or Eve would have called using his phone.”
“Maybe that’s how she got on social media,” Holden offered. “Tim’s phone. But I tried it and it goes right to voicemail, just like Victoria said.”
“Jake? Any luck?” Holden asked as his brother hung up a call on his mobile phone and approached.
“I’m afraid not,” Jake replied. “I spoke with Tim’s boss. He was reluctant to share any information, but finally told me that Tim had been scheduled to return to work this morning. He didn’t show up. And they haven’t been able to reach him either.”
Phoebe’s hands shot up to her mouth. This piece of information alarmed her most of all.
Tim loved his job. He worked with a sustainability certification program for vineyards and wineries in the area. He had a PhD in environmental science and enjoyed every minute of both his studies and his career. It wasn’t like him to disappear. He was as reliable and dependable as they come.
“Phoebe, take it easy,” Wilder said. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
But Phoebe didn’t want to take it easy. She couldn’t. Her daughter needed her. Maybe Tim did, too. He wasn’t close to his own family. It wasn’t like he had bad feelings towards them. They just weren’t a particularly close family. But he had become integral to the Blackburns. They were the big, close family Tim had always wanted. If he was in trouble, Phoebe intended to do right by Tim, the same as Eve.
The meeting was still going on in the conference room, and the remaining team members were clearly very concerned about what was happening with the Blackburn family. A junior associate of Holden’s had stepped up to take over the meeting. But no one could focus.
Within minutes, the meeting apparently dismissed and colleagues came streaming out of the conference room. They made their way to the Blackburns’ sides, offering kind words and pledges to hold down the fort while things got sorted out. They were a close group. And nothing quite like this had happened before. At least, not as far as the employees knew. The family had successfully kept their personal business private until now.
Ty and Marcus rang Phoebe’s phone, calling to report from Tim and Eve’s house. With the ringer on full volume, the sound cut through the noise. The crowd cleared, giving the family the space they needed.
“Ty, son?” Phoebe answered, putting the phone on speaker so Wilder, Holden, and Jake could hear. “Are they home?”
“Mom,” Ty said, sounding concerned. “They’re not. But they’re supposed to be.”
“What do you mean?” Wilder asked, becoming alarmed now along with his wife. “How do you know they were supposed to be?”
“Because we talked to their neighbor, Mona,” Marcus added, joining his husband.
“Yeah,” Ty continued. “She was watching the house for them. They told her they’d be back yesterday afternoon. But they never came home. She tried to call them also. No answer.”
“Oh, my God,” Phoebe said.
“I don’t know, Mom,” Holden tried. “Maybe they decided to stay an extra day in the Keys. Or maybe they decided to hang out in San Francisco a while before driving home to Rosemary Run. You know… extend the fun a while longer.”
“Without telling Tim’s boss?” Jake added.
“Holden, I hear what you’re saying,” Phoebe said. “But the knot in the pit of my stomach tells me that isn’t what happened. We need to call the police.”
“Wait,” Ty inserted.
“Wait for what?” Phoebe asked, exasperated.
“Mona has a key,” Ty replied. “She offered to give it to us. I don’t want to overstep and invade their privacy…”
“Screw privacy!” Phoebe exclaimed. “Stay put. We’ll be right there.”
They practically ran to the parking lot, gravel crunching underneath their feet. The sound seemed to drown out everything else. They were one unit, marching into battle together. Even though they were all scared, their shared mission was a comfort. They were there in solidarity. Ready to do whatever was necessary to take care of their own.
“I’ll drive,” Holden offered.
Without even answering, the group of them raced to his SUV and piled inside. There was no time to waste.
They all knew that calling the police was the next logical step. If they couldn’t find clues in the house, they’d have no choice. And they didn’t want to think about a police investigation. Those rarely had happy endings. Any hope of this turning out okay had to come soon, or it probably wouldn’t come at all.
The heaviness of it sat on top of the family like a lead weight as they made their way to Tim and Eve’s house at 242 Crickett Lane.
Holden and Jake hadn’t even had a chance to call their wives yet. This was happening fast. It was not how any of them had intended to spend their Monday.
Ty and Marcus were waiting on the porch when they arrived, standing up with the key in hand. A solemn-looking elderly woman sat nearby on an Adirondack chair next to the front door.
“That must be Mona,” Holden said. “Anyone met her before?”
“No,” they replied in unison.
“Alright, then,” Holden said. “Let’s be extra nice to the lady. She’s doing us a favor here.”
Wilder and Jake agreed. Phoebe sat stoically, in an almost trance-like state.
“Mom?” Holden asked. “You okay?”
She nodded ever so slightly. She was in her own world. It seemed to her sons that Phoebe might have been meditating or somehow tapping into her extrasensory powers. The boys often gave their mom grief over her mysterious and witchy ways. But in this situation, no one minded. They needed all the help they could get.
Slowly, Phoebe stood, helped by Holden. He led his mom to the front door of his little sister’s house as Wilder and Jake followed closely behind.
“Mona,” Holden said as he reached out h
is hand to shake hers. “We can’t thank you enough for your help. I trust Ty and Marcus explained the situation?”
“They did,” Mona confirmed. “Nice boys, those two... You are a nice family. I hope Tim and Eve are okay.”
“Thank you,” Phoebe mouthed as Ty used the key to open the front door of the home.
They hurried inside, unsure of exactly what they were looking for, but compelled to find it nonetheless.
“What’s the plan?” Jake asked.
Again, Holden deferred to Phoebe. “Mom?”
She nodded her thanks. She knew that Holden was capable of taking the lead. And she knew he was inclined to. But Eve was her child. She appreciated the fact that Holden was letting her take charge.
“Split up,” Phoebe instructed. “Look for any clues about their whereabouts… schedules, itineraries, passwords. We’re past the point of being concerned about privacy. We have to find them. They’ll forgive us. Once they’re safe. I know they will.”
“Okay,” Holden said, heading to his sister’s home office to examine her computer.
“Got it,” Wilder said. He was becoming more and more shell-shocked as events continued to unfold. He appreciated his wife’s ability to remain calm under this kind of pressure. Especially because he was beginning to fall apart. “I’ll look around for an itinerary. Or plane tickets. Or whatever…”
Jake, Ty, and Marcus went into three different rooms, scouring the place for anything that might be useful.
For her part, Phoebe sat on the living room sofa and closed her eyes. She visualized success, seeing in her mind’s eye a piece of paper that would provide them some key information. It wasn’t long until such a paper was located.
“I’ve got something,” Marcus said from Tim and Eve’s bedroom. He rushed downstairs to tell the others.
“What did you find?” Holden asked.
“It’s their flight schedule from the airline. A print out was folded up on Eve’s nightstand. She must have left it behind accidentally. Thank goodness.”
“Bless you,” Phoebe said to Marcus, grasping one of his hands and giving it a squeeze. “What does it say?”
Marcus set the paper down on the coffee table for everyone to see. “It shows their return flight landing in San Francisco yesterday afternoon, just like Mona said.”
“Then what in the hell?” Wilder mused. “Where are they?”
“We need to find out whether they were on that plane,” Holden asserted. “That’s our next step.”
“Will the airlines divulge that information?” Ty asked.
“I don’t know,” Holden said. “But we’re about to find out. It’s the best piece of information we have to go on right now.”
“Anyone have connections that could get us that kind of access?” Wilder asked. “Any airport or airline connections? Now’s the time to use them.”
“I do,” Phoebe said, to her family’s surprise.
“Really?” Wilder asked his wife. “Who?”
“Monique Jackson,” she replied. “An old friend from school. I haven’t talked to her in years, but we’re friends on Facebook. She works at the San Francisco airport. She’ll tell me if they were on that plane or not.”
“Good!” Holden said.
“Do it,” Wilder urged. “Right away.”
Phoebe fumbled with her phone as she tried to hurry. “I have to contact her through Facebook. I don’t know how to do it any other way.”
“Fine,” Holden said. “In the meantime, everybody, keep searching the house. We might find something else that could help.”
7
When Eve woke again, she felt better. Different. Her head was clear. It still hurt, but she felt like herself again. She could think straight. Mostly.
“You’re awake,” the strange man said.
He was seated in a chair beside Eve’s bed. She jumped, but quickly collected herself as the memory of him came back.
“Yes, hello,” she said timidly.
“I’m glad you're up,” he replied. “I’ve been worried about you. Real worried.”
“No need,” Eve said. “I’m fine.”
The man looked at her curiously.
Eve could make out the fine details of his face now. He appeared to be older than her by a few years, but in her general age range. He had brown skin, darker than her own. He looked Hispanic. He was an attractive man with slick black hair and big brown eyes. Eve felt a twinge between her legs and suddenly had a memory of this man being inside of her.
What have I done?
“Eve, right?” he asked gently.
“How do you know my name?” Eve asked as she pulled the sheet up tightly under her neck. It was stained and bloody. Visions of what had happened were coming back to her. She felt embarrassed. She hated for anyone to see her when she got like that.
“You told me your name last night. Remember?”
Eve squinted her eyes as she worked to bring the memory forward.
Oh, right. The bar. The dancing. The drinking.
“Yeah, I guess I do,” she replied. “What’s your name?”
“Saul.”
“Okay, Saul,” Eve replied. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too,” he returned. “Eve… What’s your last name?”
Thank God I didn’t tell him that.
“Um… I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Saul asked, taking a sip from a blue coffee mug with the outline of a bird on the front.
“Say,” Eve began, “is that coffee? Do you have any more?”
“Sure,” Saul replied, then he left the room to retrieve a second mug of the warm beverage.
Eve kicked into high gear once he was gone, scrambling to piece together her belongings and get herself dressed. She was disturbed to realize that her phone and her wallet were missing. A vague memory of what had happened to them tried to present itself, but it was too painful. Eve pushed it down. Locked it away.
She managed to get her shirt and bra on successfully. She was pulling her stretchy jeans over her hips when Saul returned with the coffee. Her underwear weren’t anywhere in sight, a fact that concerned Eve.
“Here,” Saul said as he handed her a mug. It was red, with the same bird design on the front. They must have been part of a matching set.
“Who else is here?” Eve asked, taking a sip of the coffee. It was bitter. She should have asked for cream and sugar.
“No one,” Saul said. “Only the two of us. Why?”
“Just wondered,” Eve replied.
Saul leaned back in his chair. He had a gentle demeanor about him. Eve felt safe with him. If he were going to hurt her, he could have done it while she was out.
“So, back to your name,” he tried. “What’s your last name? We should probably call someone to look after you.”
Eve didn’t want Saul to know her last name. And she didn’t want him to call anyone. She thought her family would be disappointed in her when they found out. She wanted to avoid that ugliness if at all possible. She was disappointed enough in herself.
“What’s your last name?” she asked, turning it around on him.
“Milton. Saul Milton.”
That was easy.
“Nice to meet you, Saul Milton.”
“You, too. Eve…?”
She covered her face with one hand. “I’m shy, okay. I don’t want to say my last name. Not yet. Think of me as Eve Smith if it helps.”
Saul squinted his eyes and tilted his head again, trying to size her up. He didn’t know what to make of Eve. He’d never seen anything like this.
“Okay… I guess,” he said. “For now. But I really think we should call someone. I’ll bet you have someone who is worried about you right now. Parents? A roommate?”
Remembering Tim, Eve glanced down at her ring finger. Her wedding band was gone. A jolt of electricity shot through her as she realized. And not the good kind of electricity. This was physically painful, as if she’d actually received a shock.
“See… that right there…” Saul continued. “That reaction tells me there is someone. Let me call them. Please.”
Eve shook her head adamantly. “No,” she asserted, standing up from the bed with her purse in hand. “I’m a grown woman. I don’t need a babysitter.”
Saul stood up, too. “I don’t mean any disrespect,” he said. “I want to help.”
“Saul, we slept together last night, right?”
“We did.”
“We left Wingman’s Pub together, right?”
“That’s right,” Saul confirmed, unsure where this line of questions was going.
“Was I woman enough for you then?”
Eve stepped close to Saul, her breath warm on his neck. She traced a line from his sternum down to his belt buckle with her fingertips.
“Last night was amazing,” he said. “But you don’t seem okay…”
“Hush,” Eve said as she raised a finger up to his lips. She remembered those lips in another flash. They had felt good on her body. “How about you show me to a bathroom where I can get cleaned up and we’ll spend the day together?”
Saul tilted his head again, considering her proposition.
“What?” Eve asked when he paused. “You have somewhere else to be?”
“No,” he replied quickly. “I’m off work today. Nowhere else to be.”
“Then it’s settled,” Eve said. “The bathroom?”
Saul pointed. “Down the hall. Second door on the left.”
“Give me twenty minutes,” Eve said, winking seductively. “Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a repeat of last night.”
8
In Saul’s bathroom with the door securely shut and locked, Eve came undone. She paced nervously across the black and white tile floor, pulling at her red hair again as tears streamed down her face.
Eve felt stuck. Trapped. And helpless. She had no driver’s license. No phone. No money. She didn’t even know where she was.
Her only option was to call her family… assuming Saul would let her use his phone like he suggested. But Eve couldn’t face her family.