by Kelly Utt
Her parents would overreact like they always did. Holden would be smug and condescending. Jake would follow Holden’s lead, talking down to his troubled little sister. Ty and Marcus might be the best of the bunch to approach, but even they would scold Eve and make her feel worse than she already did. And Tim…
Oh, Tim.
As Eve stared out the tiny window into a courtyard with neglected landscaping, she decided she had no choice but to play nice with Saul and give him whatever he wanted. None of this made sense. But it didn’t have to. Eve told herself she would cope by taking it one hour at a time. One minute at a time, if necessary. Just like her therapist had taught her. She’d use what she did have at her disposal: her sex appeal.
The thought caused Eve to instinctively place a protective hand over her lower abdomen.
The baby.
She had nearly forgotten about the baby. No one knew about the baby yet. Eve herself didn’t even know if the baby was real. Not for sure.
Acting on impulse, Eve had purchased an early result pregnancy test at the San Francisco airport. It had been seven days since she and Tim first made love during what Eve had thought was this month’s ovulation window. Figuring it was worth a shot, she had peed on the test stick in a shiny, silver stall in the airport bathroom as harried travelers whizzed in and out around her, their rolling suitcases clanking against the hard floor.
Tim doesn’t know. I need to tell him.
Eve felt another wave of panic threaten to overwhelm her as she moved around Saul’s bathroom. Frantically, she dumped the contents of her purse out in the pedestal sink as she searched for her phone one more time.
I need to tell Tim. It can’t wait. He has to know about the baby.
Unable to find her phone and scared of losing her mind again, Eve leaned back against the glass shower door as she tried to calm herself. Remembering what her therapist had said about talking things through when she felt herself getting upset, Eve decided to improvise.
She turned the shower on as hot as she could stand, then she took off her clothes and stepped inside. Using the handheld shower head, she placed it against her ear like a telephone receiver.
“Tim? It’s me, Eve. Your Eve. I know… You’ve probably been worried about me. But I’m here. I’m okay.”
She whispered so only Tim could hear, the noise of the water masking her one-sided conversation.
“I have something important to tell you, my love. I took one of those instant pregnancy tests in the airport yesterday. And, Tim… There was a line for a positive result! It was a faint line, but it was there. I know it was. We’re having a baby!”
Tears came again as she talked, even more softly now.
“I can’t wait, Tim. If it’s a little girl, we could name her Isla. Get it? Because she was conceived in Islamorada? I think it’s the perfect choice. And if it’s a boy, well, we should name him after you. Timothy Fischer II. I’ve never known a better man.”
Eve placed her free hand against her heart. She had waited so long to be pregnant with Tim’s baby. She couldn’t understand why all of this other bad stuff was happening at the same time.
It wasn’t fair.
“But Tim, I’ve gotten myself into some trouble,” Eve continued, still speaking into the shower head. “I’m sorry. I can’t get back home to you right away. I lost some of my stuff. I’m not sure where... It doesn’t matter. But I’m with a nice man right now, and I think I have to play along so he’ll keep being kind to me. I wanted you to come get me. You didn’t…”
Eve looked up at the smooth ceiling, sky blue paint beginning to chip around the edges. She took a series of deep breaths to steady herself.
“I love you, Tim,” she said. “Remember that. Always.”
Then she returned the shower head to its mounting bracket above her head. She turned off the water without washing her body or her hair, despite the presence of an easily accessible bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap.
She got dressed again in her dirty clothes, ready to face Saul and to give him whatever he wanted.
9
“I’ve got something,” Jake said to the others as he bounded into the living room.
They’d been searching for hours, painstakingly combing through Eve and Tim’s belongings. They were growing weary, and anxious.
“Good man,” Wilder said to his son, patting him enthusiastically on the back. “What have you got?”
“I was able to access the voicemail box on their home telephone line,” Jake explained.
“Wow,” Wilder replied. “I’m surprised they still use a home phone.”
“Yeah, I’m glad they do, because there’s a message there from a man at the Islamorada hotel where they stayed,” Jake continued. “He said they have Eve’s mobile phone.”
“What a catch,” Marcus said. “That’s a big lead.”
“Right on,” Holden added, motioning with a thumbs up. “Good job, Jake.”
“Where did they find it?” Phoebe asked. “And when?”
“The voicemail said another guest turned the phone in after finding it in the sand, out by one of the cabanas. I got the idea they don’t know how long it had been lost. Meaning, they’re not sure how long it was out there.”
Jake had a tendency to restate the same idea more than once when he spoke.
“I wonder if the thing still works,” Wilder mused.
“I remember Eve mentioning that the hotel they were going to stay at had a private beach,” Phoebe added. “I believe it was a locally-owned resort. On the Atlantic side. Jake, do you know the name of the place?”
“No, but this guy… He said his name is Roger Wilson. He left a phone number.”
“Call him!” Phoebe said.
“I’ll do it right now,” Jake confirmed.
Less than a minute later, Phoebe’s phone dinged. It was Monique. She had received Phoebe’s Facebook message and was writing back with her phone number. She was willing to help. Monique’s cooperation was a major break, because Phoebe had already tried calling both the San Francisco airport and the airline. Citing privacy concerns, neither would tell her whether Eve and Tim had been on their scheduled flight.
“Hang in there, everyone,” Wilder urged. “We will keep working on this issue, and we will see it through. We will find them. I know we will.”
Jake went into his sister’s office to make his call while Phoebe made hers in the living room. The others gathered around, moving back-and-forth between the two rooms, eager to hear any scrap of information that would help them find Eve.
They all knew that the longer Eve was missing, the worse the trouble she was likely in. They also knew that darkness came early this time of year. They wanted to locate Eve during daylight hours if at all possible.
Holden stepped close to his dad while he waited for the phone conversations to take place. “What do you make of these new developments?”
Wilder widened his stance, standing with his feet more than shoulder width apart. He stared straight ahead at nothing in particular as he tousled the hair on the back of his head.
“I don’t know, son,” Wilder replied. “I guess I’m cautiously optimistic about Eve’s phone being found. Maybe that’s why she hasn’t been in touch. Maybe whatever is going on is no big deal at all, and it just seems like it is because of the lost phone.”
“Do you really believe that?” Holden asked.
Wilder shook his head, his body giving him away before his words did. “I don’t know. I want to. I’m pretty shaken up, truth be told.”
“I can see that,” Holden confirmed. “I hope this isn’t too much…”
Unbeknownst to most of the family, Wilder was dealing with a heart condition. Phoebe and Holden were the only ones he had told. He didn’t want to alarm anyone until he knew more about what was happening. All they knew so far was that Wilder’s heart would race so fast that doctors had to shock it to bring it back to a normal rhythm.
A number of options were on the table
, including medication and surgery. Wilder was a man who didn’t like to inconvenience people, especially not his beloved family. He had made Phoebe and Wilder promise to stay tight-lipped until the doctors made a definitive diagnosis.
“Nonsense,” Wilder said. “Don’t even think it. This is my daughter we’re talking about. And my son-in-law. My sole concern right now is making sure they’re safe.”
“Okay,” Holden replied. “But take care of yourself, Dad. The last thing we want is something happening to you as a result of all this stress. Eve would never forgive herself.”
“I hear you, son,” Wilder replied.
“Hear you about what?” Ty asked as he joined his dad and brother. “What are you guys talking about?”
Wilder shot Holden a warning look.
Luckily, Holden was good at thinking on his feet. He was also good at telling partial truths so as not to be caught in a lie. Not technically.
“We were just talking about how stressful this whole thing is,” Holden explained. “I don’t know about you, Jake, but I’m on edge. I’m seriously concerned for Sis right now. You know how she gets.”
“Yeah, I do,” Ty confirmed. “I’ve been thinking about it myself. I wonder if we relied too heavily on Tim.”
“That’s a possibility,” Wilder agreed.
“Think about it,” Ty continued. “With us watching out for Eve, we can divide the responsibility up amongst ourselves so that no one person has too much to bear.”
Holden nodded and continued his brother’s thought. “But for Tim, we’ve let the weight of that responsibility fall squarely on his shoulders. Damn. You’re right, Ty. We may have dropped the ball on that one.”
The three men looked at each other. No one wanted to say what they were all thinking.
“Do you suspect this will be as bad as last time?” Ty asked. He looked to his big brother and their father for reassurance.
Wilder hung his head and stared at the floor, content to let Holden answer for the time being. The two of them were in a strange place in life. Wilder was the head of the family and still capable, but Holden was doing such a good job as leader that the elder Blackburn found himself gradually relinquishing his role to the next generation.
“I don’t know, Ty,” Holden explained. “I’m not trying to be cagey. I truly don’t know. What happened before was a long time ago. Before Eve got connected with the professionals who helped stabilize her. I’d like to think that was all in the past and that this time is nothing more than a misunderstanding.”
“Yeah,” Ty agreed. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Holden echoed his sentiment. “I’d like to see Eve and Tim walk through that front door. I wouldn’t even care if they were mad as hell at us for rooting through their things.”
Wilder chuckled. “Right,” he added. “Let them be mad. I’d take it.”
“And if they can’t walk through that door for some reason,” Holden continued. “I’d like them to call us. Text us. Facebook message us. Anything.”
Ty and Wilder nodded their agreement.
“We just don’t know,” Wilder said solemnly.
As the men stood, staring, Jake finished his phone call and returned to join them.
“What’s up?” Holden asked. “What did Roger from Islamorada have to say?”
“Unfortunately,” Jake replied. “Not much. He offered to mail Eve’s phone back to her home address since it was already on record, but he insisted that he couldn’t share any additional information unless it was requested by law enforcement.”
“Let me guess,” Phoebe said, entering from the next room. “Privacy concerns?”
“Exactly.”
“What about you, Mom?” Holden inquired. “Anything useful from Monique?”
Phoebe took a long, deep breath before answering.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “But it isn’t exactly the news we were hoping to hear.”
“Okay,” Wilder said. “Get on with it then. What?”
Phoebe winced as she talked, closing her eyes tightly.
“Monique checked the passenger records for me. Eve was on the plane. She arrived in San Francisco yesterday afternoon, as scheduled.”
“Good,” Holden replied. “At least we know that much. Our girl made it back to California where we can get to her.”
Wilder could tell that his wife was holding back. “There’s more,” he said, raising a hand up to stop his son.
“That’s right,” Phoebe confirmed. “Eve was on the flight. Tim was not. In fact, Monique can’t find any record of him boarding a plane since they arrived in Miami. He didn’t make a return trip.”
10
Phoebe leaned on a wall to prop herself up as she and her family reeled from the revelation. Things were officially out of control. Dangerously so. Her daughter may have been an adult, but she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself like most adults.
Phoebe and Wilder never would have let her go all the way to Florida if Tim hadn't been with her. True, it was a lot to ask of Tim. But he had signed up for it. He chose Eve, and when he married her, he knew the responsibility he was taking on. He loved her despite her disease.
“Mom,” Holden said gently, his eyes full of worry. “It’s time to call the police.”
Phoebe shrugged her shoulders and pressed harder against the wall, as if it would keep her upright. “I don’t know,” she said.
Wilder walked over and placed his arms around his wife, scooping her into him. Holden placed a hand on his mom’s shoulder as her tears fell. Feeling the collective hurt, Jake, Ty, and Marcus joined in, each placing a hand on Phoebe’s back.
“Mom?” Holden tried again.
The officers and detectives on the Rosemary Run police force were some of the best anywhere. They were thorough, kind, and responsive. Holden knew a few of them from school. And several kept a watchful eye on Brambleberry Fields, even providing help with traffic management during large events.
“I know,” Phoebe said. “I know.”
“Holden,” Wilder said, leaning his chin on his wife’s shoulder as he held her. “Make the call, please. Start with Officer James Tatum. If he’s on duty today, ask him to join us here for a preliminary discussion.”
Holden nodded, then scurried to the next room to get it done.
“It’s okay,” Wilder said to his wife. “Whatever we’re facing, we’ll do it together.”
“I know,” Phoebe repeated. “But I can feel the dread in the pit of my stomach. This is bad.”
The group agreed. And they believed her. They trusted Phoebe’s instincts.
It was less than twenty minutes from the time Holden made the call until Officer Tatum showed up at Eve and Tim’s front door. He looked somber as he stepped inside the house and sat down on the floral-print sofa amongst the Blackburn family, his uniform crisp and firm. Although they weren’t close friends, James knew the Blackburns well enough to have been made aware of Eve’s specific vulnerabilities.
“Thank you for coming,” Holden said. “We appreciate how fast you got over here.”
“I’m happy to help,” James replied. “It’s good to see you folks. I just wish it were under better circumstances.”
Everyone nodded, too upset to spend much time on small talk.
“Let’s get right to the heart of the matter, then,” Holden prompted.
“Yes,” James agreed. “What’s going on?”
“Like I mentioned on the phone,” Holden began. “It’s Eve. And her husband Tim Fischer.”
“Okay. I don’t know Tim, but I remember Eve. She has that pretty red hair like my wife, Rebecca.”
Phoebe smiled. “That’s right. Gorgeous red hair. Both of them.”
Holden continued. “Sis— I mean, Eve— and Tim went away nine days ago for a vacation in the Florida Keys. Islamorada. Although, they moved between the Keys and Miami, so their activities were not confined to Islamorada. But that’s where the resort they stayed at is located...”
&n
bsp; “Got it,” James replied, listening closely and jotting down notes on a small pad taken from his breast pocket. “Do you know the name of the resort?”
Everyone looked at Jake, hoping he got the name when he spoke with Roger.
“Yes,” Jake inserted, referencing a note on his smartphone. “Keys Cove Resort and Marina. It’s a local place. Not affiliated with a larger hospitality company.”
“And you’ve spoken with them, I assume?”
“We have,” Jake confirmed. “Another guest found Eve’s phone in the sand on their private beach a few days ago. They have it at the front desk and can mail it here to her home address. But they won’t tell me anything else. Not without an inquiry from law enforcement.”
“Right,” James said. “Go on.”
James gestured toward Holden to continue, furrowing his brow as he moved. James was thinking, and the Blackburns appreciated his sharp focus.
“They were supposed to return home yesterday. They had a flight into San Francisco, arriving yesterday afternoon,” Holden explained. “Mom— Phoebe— has a friend who works at SFO. She looked into it and found that Eve arrived home on that flight, but Tim didn’t. And, well, Eve isn’t likely to do well without Tim.”
“And Tim isn’t likely to leave her,” Phoebe added. “Something is wrong.”
James pursed his lips. “I assume you’ve tried to contact them.”
“Yes,” Holden confirmed. “But Eve lost her phone. We don’t know what’s happening with Tim’s. His goes right to voicemail. And he didn’t show up for work today.”
James raised his eyebrows.
Wilder jumped in. “Eve’s phone is still on our family plan with the cell phone company, but Tim’s is not. We can’t get any info on his location or call records.”
“Does he have family around? Anyone he keeps in close touch with besides you folks?” James asked.
“No,” Wilder replied. “That’s the thing. We called Tim’s mom in Phoenix. She hasn’t heard from him since he phoned to wish her a Merry Christmas.”