Rosemary Run Box Set

by Kelly Utt

  Nell stepped closer to Eve and extended a hand for her to shake, but Eve turned away, refusing.

  “Is Elaine someone in your family?” Nell asked. “Can I call her for you?”

  Eve raised her eyebrows at this. She had thought about calling Elaine. But she didn’t know her therapist’s number. And Eve had lost her phone. She quickly dismissed the idea. She had bigger problems to deal with.

  “No.”

  “Okay, then,” Nell said. “How about something to drink?”

  Hell, no. I will not party with this woman. Look what happened to Saul.

  “No drinks,” Eve said.

  “No problem,” Nell replied. “Saul told me you had dinner together last night.”

  We did. Wait…

  A bolt of lightning went through Eve as the impact of Nell’s line of questioning settled over her.

  She’s testing me. Trying to catch me in a lie.

  “Eve, I was thinking it might be time to call the police to see if they can help you find your way home. Saul thought it would be a good idea.”

  Struggling to make sense out of what was happening, Eve descended into paranoia. She suddenly felt like Nell would blame her for Saul’s death. And turn her into the police.

  The bloody knife. The drugs. The vomit. Saul’s dead body. Tim’s dead body.

  It all swirled in Eve’s head like a horrible, bad dream that she couldn’t wake up from. Whoever this Nell was, Eve didn’t trust her. Not for a minute.

  Eve thought back to what had happened when she was a teenager. How that boy, Josh Tolbot, had died. And police had blamed Eve. She certainly didn’t want to go through that again. She had disappointed so many people. And Josh… he lost his life. The two of them had been depressed and suicidal together, commiserating with each other.

  Misery loves company.

  They had even made a suicide pact. They would meet on the roof of one of Rosemary Run’s tallest buildings downtown, the one that housed Decker’s Department Store. They’d jump together, flying like free birds through the air until it all came to an end. All the suffering. All the pain. It would all be over.

  Eve remembered the day like it was yesterday. It was winter, dreary and gray. In fact, the anniversary was coming up soon.

  She could still remember Josh’s goofy smile as he talked about how he’d feel moving through the air like a bird. He had even talked Eve into getting matching bird tattoos on their wrists. They’d skipped high school and had gone all the way to Sacramento that morning to get the ink. Using simple black lines, the tattoo artist had added a single bird in flight to each of their left wrists.

  Eve looked down at her wrist as she remembered, the tattoo faded but still there. Her mom had suggested she get it removed, but Elaine thought Eve should keep it as a reminder of her own strength. She had lived, after all.

  Closing her eyes now, the memory washed over Eve. She could see Josh looking over the edge, then smiling back at her as she prepared to step up on the ledge with him. He had been her first boyfriend. Her first love. And her first time making love. She remembered taking his warm hand and stepping up beside him, the hard pavement of the sidewalk looming below.

  She remembered their countdown. She remembered how— at the last second— her parents had burst through the door to the roof, crying and calling her name, horror on their faces. Eve had hesitated as she turned to look at them, while Josh jumped.

  Tears came to Eve’s eyes as she remembered the horrible thud Josh’s body made as it hit the sidewalk. She remembered being arrested, the cold handcuffs hurting her wrist where it was still sore from the tattoo. She remembered the look on Josh’s mom’s face as she spit and said it was all Eve’s fault.

  I’ve got to get out of here. Nell thinks I killed Saul.

  Frantic, Eve began scanning the room for an exit.

  I can’t let them get me.

  She knew she had to leave. She didn’t know where she was or where she would go, but there wasn’t time to worry about that now. Eve simply had to get out.

  Eve stood and like a frantic animal, ran towards the sliding doors on the far side of the room. They led outside, she was sure of it.

  “Wait!” Nell called. “It’s cold out there...”

  Slowing down long enough to open the doors this time instead of slamming into them, Eve made her way out into the bitter, wintry weather wearing nothing but the clothes on her back. She didn’t have a coat. Or shoes. Or her purse and what little contents remained inside that might have reminded her of her old life.

  The air burned as it entered Eve’s lungs.

  She wrapped her arms around herself as tightly as she could, then ran through the cold, wet grass.

  26

  At five o’clock, Wilder, Holden, and Jake gathered in Tim and Eve’s living room alongside a slew of volunteers. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch Sharonda’s story on the evening news.

  Phoebe was still sleeping hard, so Wilder let her be. He knew the news segment would be uploaded to the station’s social media accounts shortly after it aired, and a volunteer had offered to get a rough recording by holding up her smartphone in front of the TV.

  Sleet was turning to snow outside, and it pelted the windows furiously. Several volunteers remarked how strange it was to see the winter weather in Rosemary Run, falling on green grass, no less.

  Wilder, Holden, and Jake knew that the weather meant more dangerous conditions for Eve. They tried not to dwell on it. They were doing everything they could. After the news, they planned to check in with Luke and Neil to find out if there had been any new developments.

  The familiar tones that accompanied the evening news rang out from the television, and a hush fell over the house. The mood was somber, but hopeful.

  As promised, Sharonda had succeeded in making sure the Blackburns’ story aired first. She and her male co-anchor looked sincerely concerned as a picture of Tim and Eve occupied the space between them on the screen.

  Sharonda opened by saying that she had spent the afternoon in Rosemary Run with the family, then her cohort explained Tim’s tragic death. A network affiliate in Florida had apparently assisted, because they cut to an interview with Roger Wilson in Islamorada, the wooden sign for the Keys Cove Resort and Marina in view behind him.

  Seeing Roger and the resort sent a jolt through the Blackburn men. It had been one thing to hear about the place and talk to Roger on the phone. It was quite another to see the man and the place with their own eyes. It brought a fresh wave of sadness for everything Tim and Eve had been through.

  Sharonda quickly shifted the focus to the search for Eve, a compelling b-roll compilation of mementos from the house playing beside her as she spoke. She looked into the camera and explained that Eve was a vulnerable adult who was suspected of being off her medication. She pleaded with viewers to be on the lookout for the young woman, then played the interview where Wilder had cried.

  “Look at that sorry son-of-a-bitch,” Wilder mumbled when he saw himself on screen.

  “Come now, Dad,” Holden said. “You did well. It’s moving.”

  Jake nodded to confirm, and Wilder seemed appeased.

  A series of additional interviews played through the television, followed by the tip line for the Rosemary Run Police Department, just as Sharonda said they would. It was well done, without a doubt. The piece lasted more than five minutes. For evening news, the Blackburns knew that was an eternity. Sharonda had done right by them.

  “That should help a lot,” Holden said. “Thank God.”

  “I think so, too,” Jake added. “Now, we need to get right back at it. Everyone we talk to should be reminded that we’re referring to the same story Sharonda covered on the news. Let’s really drive that home.”

  “You’re exactly right,” Holden added. “We want to keep top of mind presence, as they say in marketing. We want people thinking about Eve at all times until she’s found and brought home.”

  “I’ll give Ty a call a
nd make sure he and Marcus know to mention it as they hand out fliers,” Jake offered.

  “Good,” Holden said, crossing his arms over his chest as the three of them stood up to get busy again. “And see if they need warmer clothes. Or a break. Coffee, maybe. They must be cold out there.”

  “Will do,” Jake confirmed, then left the room.

  It was less than five minutes until he came back, a look of distress on his face. Holden and Wilder were standing and looking out the window at the snow as they talked about next steps.

  “What’s wrong?” Holden asked his brother, seeing his alarm.

  “Is it… Eve…?” Wilder asked.

  It seemed like he had to muster his courage before he could speak his daughter’s name. He wanted to know. And he also didn’t.

  “No,” Jake said.

  “Then what?”

  “It’s… Margaret, I guess.”

  “What do you mean?” Holden asked. “Is she okay?”

  “I just got a text from Victoria,” Jake explained, looking perplexed. “I think Margaret is okay, yes. But Victoria says she turned on us.”

  Wilder winced. “I was afraid of this. She was itching to take her anger out on us.”

  “What did Victoria say?” Holden asked.

  The three of them looked at each other for a long, heavy moment. They could guess. They knew how Margaret could hurt them if she really wanted to.

  “She says Margaret went to the other news station in Sacramento. They just aired a piece opposite Sharonda’s that wasn’t... as flattering.”

  “Right,” Holden said, biting a knuckle and resisting the urge to punch the wall next to him. “Dammit.”

  They rushed to the computer Jake had been using in Eve’s home office and hurriedly searched for the clip. It was there. The headline made their heart sink:

  Rosemary Run Suicide-Pact Woman Strikes Again. Husband Found Dead in the Florida Keys.

  The three of them felt sick as Jake pushed play and they braced for what was to come. They knew it wouldn’t be conducive to creating good feelings for Eve. Quite the contrary. This might actually impede the search process.

  A female-male anchor team appeared just like Sharonda’s had, only this pair looked angry instead of concerned. They introduced the story by immediately showing footage of Margaret in tears outside the police station as she clasped framed photos of Tim in her arthritic hands. She was shivering, pale, and her hair was a disheveled mess. It was obvious she was purposely being made to appear feeble.

  “How low,” Jake muttered as he paced at the back of the room. “I can’t believe it. Except, I can. Tim wouldn’t want this. I know that much for sure.”

  Wilder raised a hand to quiet his son so they could hear the rest.

  As the news piece continued, Margaret talked about how she had just learned her son was killed, days after the fact, without having been informed by his wife who knew almost an entire week prior.

  “That’s not fair,” Jake shouted. “Come on!”

  “Quiet,” Wilder said, watching, his own anger rising in his chest.

  After a brief silence on screen as Margaret was shown crying and clinging to the photos, the anchors returned and flashed Eve’s mugshot. It was from the time she had been arrested as a teenager, after Josh Tolbot had died by suicide. Eve looked bewildered in the mugshot, her eyes hollow and empty. It had been just weeks before she received a diagnosis and was prescribed the medication that had allowed her to achieve stability and to lead a relatively normal life.

  “Those evil… Assholes,” Wilder said under his breath. “All of them. Pure evil.”

  The anchors described what had happened the day Josh died, then showed footage of Margaret saying she didn’t think her son’s death was an accident. She continued, talking about how disturbed Eve was, and going as far as to say that she thought Eve had encouraged Tim to put himself in harm’s way, just like she had with Josh.

  The piece concluded with the anchors asking viewers to contact the Rosemary Run Police Department if they had any information that would bring Eve to justice, specifically mentioning foul play leading to Tim’s death.

  Holden sat stunned, speechless. Jake continued to pace the floor.

  Wilder slammed his fist down hard on the desk, in a rare expression of physicality. “How dare they?” he asked. “Of all the lowdown, dirty things to do…”

  “We have to figure out how this happened,” Holden said.

  “How what happened?” Phoebe asked, rubbing her bleary eyes as she entered the room. “Is it Eve? Has she been found?” Her voice escalated with each word.

  “No, Mom,” Holden said. “I’m afraid not. We’ve had a… complication with the media coverage of Eve’s disappearance, that’s all.”

  “Okay,” Phoebe said skeptically.

  Wilder shook his head as if he could shake some of the frustration out. “Nothing that can’t be handled, my dear,” he said, taking his wife’s hand and then wrapping an arm around her waist. “You look like you have something to say.”

  “I do,” Phoebe replied. “I had another dream. It was Tim.”

  “Really?” Wilder asked, excited. “Tell us! Did he tell you how we can find her?”

  “It was strange,” Phoebe explained. “He didn’t say, exactly, but as I looked at him I got a feeling… a knowing… I’m not sure if it was Tim telling me or not.”

  “And?” Wilder asked.

  “She’s in the snow… nearby,” Phoebe continued. “And she’s still in grave danger. Out of her right mind. But I think we will get a phone call this evening that will let us know where to search. When it comes, we must be ready to move quickly. We need to gather a group of people who are willing to help search, on foot.”

  27

  Without waiting, Wilder, Phoebe, and Holden, drove to the police station.

  They wanted to speak to Luke and Neil. And they wanted to be ready when the call came in. They knew the call Phoebe sensed would probably be directed to the police station rather than to them personally.

  Big, fluffy flakes of snow fell on the windshield of Holden’s SUV. The sun had set, and it was nearly dark outside.

  Jake stayed behind at the house to rally the volunteers and coordinate a search party willing to get out in the cold, snowy weather.

  They didn’t say it out loud, but after seeing Margaret’s anger spewed publicly in Eve’s direction, Wilder, Holden, and Jake were afraid some volunteers would turn against them and refuse to help. It was a harsh reality of human nature. Not to mention, a harsh reality of how easily things could get twisted in the media.

  Margaret’s statements on camera had been mostly true, but they were shrouded in misunderstandings and exaggerations. The news station had apparently believed her without bothering to learn the other side of the story. Or worse, they just wanted the ratings. Producers had to have known that their coverage was far more inflammatory than Sharonda’s.

  Sharonda’s treatment of the story had been ethical. And responsible. It was a shame all reporters and media professionals couldn’t hold themselves to the same standard.

  Wilder handed Phoebe the news clips to watch on his smartphone as they drove. First Sharonda’s, then the other one. Phoebe remained strong as she watched, comforted by her dream and the thought of the call that would lead them to Eve. Her strength impressed them all. Many mothers would have fallen apart in Phoebe’s situation.

  When they walked into the police station, the place was bustling more than ever. Pamela looked tired, but she was still bobbing around, conversing with officers and answering phones.

  “Oh, good!” she exclaimed when she saw the Blackburns. “You’re back. Luke wants to talk to you. Follow me.”

  They did as they were told, weaving around desks as they made their way to Luke’s office. Phoebe thanked Pam, who winked in return.

  Maybe there was good news.

  Luke greeted them with a similarly enthusiastic response. “Come in, folks,” he said with a caut
ious smile. “We have a break.”

  Phoebe’s legs nearly collapsed under her upon hearing this.

  “Did you find our girl?” Wilder asked.

  He hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, but Wilder had been experiencing chest pain all afternoon. He thought it was likely due to stress. He wondered how much more he could take before having to go to the emergency room. The last thing he wanted was to be out of commission when his family needed him most.

  “Not yet, but I think we’re close,” Luke confirmed. “Just a few minutes ago, I received a call from a peer counselor named Saul Milton. He works with a new crisis center that’s affiliated with Berryhill Community Medical Center, down by the bay.”

  “Okay?” Phoebe asked eagerly, slapping Wilder’s knee.

  “The call,” Holden said. “There it is.”

  Luke continued without stopping to ask what they were referring to.

  “Saul is on his way here right now to make a statement. The crisis center he works with is sectioned into apartments where patients can detox or rest in a calming environment. Eve was found without ID on Sunday evening and shuffled through the hospital system, eventually landing in the crisis center. She was a Jane Doe. She wouldn’t tell them her name. She didn’t have a phone or ID on her. Staff members finally figured it out thanks to Sharonda’s news piece.”

  “I knew the news would do it,” Wilder said. “Oh, thank God.”

  “They initially thought Eve was an addict,” Luke continued. “Apparently, she’s been out of it much of the time. And she’s been suffering from hallucinations. Saul stayed with Eve until another peer counselor named Nell Caraway took over this afternoon.”

  “So, they have her?” Phoebe probed.

  “That’s the thing,” Luke said. “A little while ago, she ran out of the center and disappeared.”

  “Into the snow?” Holden asked, incredulous. “She’ll freeze to death.”

  “We have officers en route as we speak,” Luke said. “They’ll search the area. She couldn’t have gotten far on foot. Saul tells me she wasn’t wearing a coat or shoes when she left. They’ll find her.”