No Way Out

by Christine Kersey

  Abby stopped pacing and walked into the kitchen, convinced Eric would have called by now if something had come up. She called his cell number, but it went straight to voice mail.

  “Hi, it’s me,” she said. “Just wondering where you are.” She tried to hide her irritation. “I’m at home. Did you forget our lunch date? I have the ultrasound for you to see, and if you want to know whether we’re having a boy or a girl you’d better get home soon. I don’t know what we’re having, but I have a surprise for you if you want to know. Please call me back.”

  Eric, of all the days to not answer your phone, today is the worst. Abby looked at the tiny green origami bird. I want you here so we can find out together if we’re having a boy or a girl.

  Wondering if someone at Eric’s work might know where he was, she picked up the phone again and dialed.

  “Central Valley Construction,” a cheery voice answered.

  “Accounting department, please,” she said, trying to keep her voice pleasant.

  When she reached the right department she identified herself and asked for her husband.

  “One moment,” the voice told her.

  Abby tapped her fingers on the counter and glanced at the clock.

  The woman came back on the line. “I’m sorry. He’s at lunch. Do you want to leave a message?”

  “Can you tell me how long ago he left?” At least he’s on his way.

  “One moment, please. I’ll see if I can find out.”

  Abby sighed, wondering if Eric would walk in the front door before the secretary came back on the phone.

  “Mrs. Breuner?”

  “Yes, I’m still here.”

  “I came in late this morning and I haven’t actually seen him yet. I’m afraid I don’t know when he left, but I would expect him back anytime. Would you like to leave a message on his voice mail?”

  Glancing toward the door to watch for his arrival, Abby shook her head. “No. He’s probably on his way now.”

  She hung up the phone and walked to the front window, looking in the direction Eric normally came from. No one was on the street. Abby checked her watch and saw that her lunch break was rapidly ending.

  Chapter Two

  Abby waited another ten minutes before eating lunch without Eric. Angry with him for not showing up or calling, she could hardly taste her chicken salad sandwich.

  Who does he think he is? He’s not the only one with a schedule to keep. Does he place so little value on my time and my job that he can’t bother to let me know he had something more important to do than meet me for lunch?

  Shaking her head, she decided she would have a talk with him that night. If he couldn’t remember she had a job to get back to, maybe he was ready for her to quit. That was fine with her, but in the meantime she did have a job and she got back in time to run into Nadine.

  “Did you have a nice lunch?” her supervisor asked, a surprisingly pleasant smile on her face.

  Abby wasn’t about to admit her lunch had been a total failure. “It was fine, thanks.”

  “You’re going to stay an extra half hour to make up for the long lunch, right? That, plus the ten minutes you already promised?”

  Opening her mouth to protest, she watched, dumbfounded, as Nadine turned and walked away. A short while later as she sat on a chair and arranged the books on the shelving cart in the proper order, she thought about the rest of her afternoon. That’s when panic hit. Normally she got home at least half an hour before her daughters got out of school—now they would arrive home before she did.

  Catherine Spencer. Relief swept over her as she thought of her neighbor. I’ll call Catherine. She has a third-grader in Tiffany’s class. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind letting the girls come to her house until I get there.

  No one answered at Catherine’s house. Leaving a message, Abby groaned and hung up the phone, then wondered if her job was worth it. I’m going to talk to Eric tonight. At the thought of her husband, she bristled. If he’d called to let me know he wouldn’t be able to make our lunch date, I could have come right back to work and I wouldn’t be late getting home this afternoon. Trying to put aside her anger and annoyance, Abby shelved the nonfiction books that were on her shelving cart.

  Later that afternoon Abby checked her watch and realized it was decision time. Catherine had not called back, and school would be getting out in a few minutes. Though she was supposed to stay at work for another twenty-five minutes, if she did, her daughters would come home to a locked and empty house.

  I should have arranged for this type of situation a long time ago. Putting away the half-finished shelving cart, she set off to find Nadine, but she found Mary first. “Have you seen Nadine?”

  “She left early today.” Mary’s eyebrow arched in comment.

  Letting out a breath of disdain, Abby shook her head. “It figures. Well, that makes my decision easier. I’m cutting out of here early too.”

  “Ooh, are you sure?”

  “I need to get home before my girls do. I don’t have a choice. Besides,” she said, her mouth turned down in a frown, “what’s she going to do, fire me?”

  “Uh, I wouldn’t put it past her.” Mary chuckled. “I think that’s her favorite part of the job.”

  Abby laughed, drawing a sharp look from one of the librarians. She covered her mouth with her hand, then waved silently to Mary and went to get her things before heading home.

  Susannah and Tiffany were sitting on the porch when Abby arrived. After she pulled into the garage, they ran to her. Seven-year-old Susannah’s eyes were red, as if she’d been crying, but nine-year-old Tiffany seemed calm.

  “Mommy, where were you?” Susannah cried, fresh tears coursing down her cheeks.

  They couldn’t have been waiting for more than five minutes, but Abby knew five minutes could feel like an eternity to a young child. As she gazed at Susannah’s tear-streaked face, Abby’s anger at Eric for throwing off her whole day rekindled.

  She pulled her daughters into her arms and hugged them. “I’m sorry I’m late, sweethearts. I got here as soon as I could.” Abby was glad she hadn’t stayed any longer—there was no telling what kind of state she would have found Susannah in.

  “I tried to tell her you’d be here in a minute, Mom,” Tiffany said, pulling back from her mother and shooting a look in her sister’s direction. “But she wouldn’t listen.”

  “Thank you, Tiff.” Abby let Susannah go as well and stood. “Let’s go inside and have a treat. How does that sound?”

  Susannah perked up and ran into the house.

  After Abby fixed them a plate of cookies, she went into the office to check for messages. She hoped Eric had called to explain his behavior.

  The button was blinking. Abby pressed PLAY and listened as Eric’s voice filled the room. “I . . . I guess I just missed you. I wanted to tell you that I love you and . . . I’m sorry.” Abby immediately realized it was the message from that morning. In her haste to be on time to her appointment she must have forgotten to erase it.

  Before her anger could revive, another message began playing. It was Eric’s coworker, Timothy Meher. “Eric, this is Tim. You’re not answering your cell, so I thought I’d tried your house. Call me when you get this message.”

  Wanting to talk to her husband as well, Abby tried his cell phone, a whole list of questions flooding her mind, but when he didn’t answer she decided to call his office. Carly, the secretary, informed her that she hadn’t heard from Eric yet, and had no idea where he was.

  “Are you sure he didn’t have an appointment today or something?” Abby asked as alarm began to replace her earlier irritation. She could hear the woman typing on her keyboard.

  “No, it doesn’t look like he had anything scheduled. I’m sorry, Mrs. Breuner.”

  “Do you know if he came in this morning?” She rubbed her cheek as different scenarios raced through her fertile imagination.

  “I’m not sure. I could ask around and call you back. Would that help?”<
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  Grateful for her suggestion, Abby felt calmer. “That would be great.”

  Abby tried to busy herself in the office while she waited for the phone to ring, but after a few minutes she went to see what Tiffany and Susannah were up to. Seeing they were nearly done with their snack, Abby asked them to get started on homework.

  “I need help, Mom,” Tiffany said, pulling out her daily folder.

  Trying to put aside her worries about Eric, Abby walked over to her older daughter and looked over the assignment. It was a multiplication worksheet. “What do you want me to help you with, sweetie? Do you want me to get the flashcards so you can practice?”

  Tiffany groaned. “No, I want you to help me figure these out.”

  “I’ll tell you what. Do all the ones you know, then we’ll see where you are, okay?”

  “Okay,” she agreed, obviously not happy with her mother’s answer. Nonetheless, she bent over her paper, concentrating intently.

  When the shrill ring of the phone broke the quiet, Tiffany jumped from her chair and raced to the phone before Abby had a chance to get it.

  “Hello?” Tiffany said, apparently hopeful it would be one of her friends so she could get a break from her dreaded homework. “She’s right here.” Tiffany frowned and held out the phone to her mother. “It’s for you. She says her name’s Carly or something.”

  “I’ll take it in the office. Please hang it up in a second.” She hurried to pick up the office extension. “This is Abby.”

  “Mrs. Breuner, this is Carly at Central Valley Construction.”

  “Yes,” she said as she heard the click of the other phone being hung up.

  “I’m afraid no one has seen Eric today. In fact, he had a meeting this morning and didn’t show up.”

  Shaking her head to try and clear her mind, she wondered if she’d heard Carly correctly. “Are you sure he never came in?” Her stomach churned at the news.

  “It appears that way, yes.”

  “That can’t be right,” she whispered.

  “I beg your pardon?” Carly asked.

  “Nothing. Thank you for your help. Good-bye.” Abby slowly hung up the phone, puzzled at what was happening. Eric was an accountant and rarely left the office. She wondered if Tim, one of the other accountants, would have any answers.

  When she called the office again, Carly said Tim wasn’t there, but she gave her his cell number. Dialing Tim’s number, Abby wondered what could be going on, and when he didn’t answer, frustration welled up inside her, but she kept her voice calm as she left him a message asking him to call her back.

  Confusion swirled inside her as she stared at the walls of Eric’s home office, and though she would have liked to hide out in her bedroom and think through what was happening, she had two children in the next room who were depending on her to make their world okay. Smoothing back her hair, she calmly walked into the kitchen, trying to hide her very real feelings of apprehension.

  Apparently she looked like her usual self because Tiffany smiled and asked, “Did you find out if we’re going to have a baby brother?”

  A sharp pain flared in her heart as she thought about Eric and his desire to have a baby boy. Keeping her composure, she said, “I don’t know yet, honey.” She didn’t mention the little origami bird, not wanting to explain that they were waiting for Eric before opening it. At the thought, her mind jumped to horrible conclusions and she couldn’t seem to stop herself from assuming the worst.

  Abby spoke to the girls in a soft voice. “If you want to take a break from homework, you may watch TV if you’d like.”

  The girls cheered and raced into the adjoining family room, thrilled at the unusual privilege. Then they began arguing over which program to watch. The sound of them fighting stretched Abby’s already taut nerves to the breaking point and she took several deep breaths to keep from screaming at them to quiet down. Just as she was about to yell at them, they settled on a program and were soon peacefully watching TV.

  The phone rang and Abby snatched it from its cradle. “Hello?”

  “Abby, this is Tim Meher.”

  Disappointed that it wasn’t Eric, she was still glad to be able to talk to someone who might know where her husband was. “Thank you for calling me back. I’m really starting to worry.”

  “What’s going on? Is Eric there?”

  “No. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Have you seen him today?”

  “No, I haven’t. But it’s urgent that I speak to him as soon as possible.”

  It’s urgent that I speak to him as soon as possible too. She closed her eyes as discouragement shot through her. Opening them, she focused on the new plant she had recently bought, from a time when her worries were few.

  Bringing her mind back to the distressing conversation, Abby forced her voice to remain calm. “I haven’t heard from him since this morning. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.” She shifted her gaze to the clock. It was a quarter past four. “He was supposed to come home for lunch today and he never showed up or called. Is it possible he went on an errand for someone there?” Abby unconsciously held her breath as she waited for Tim’s reply.

  “Anything’s possible, I suppose. But I seriously doubt he’s on an errand. Besides, I asked around earlier and no one had seen him.”

  She exhaled abruptly. “Well, as far as I know, he went to work this morning.”

  “I wish I could help you, Abby. Like I said, it’s very important that I speak to him right away.” He paused. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but have you tried calling the police to see if there have been any accidents?”

  “No,” she whispered in a shaky voice.

  “Well, you might want to give that a try.” He paused, then asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

  “I don’t know.” She fought her racing thoughts. “I don’t think so. Thanks for asking.”

  “Will you keep me posted?”

  “Yes.” Abby tried to control the panic that welled up inside her and a moment later she hung up. Tim’s suggestion of an accident was more than she could bear. “Girls,” she called out over the blare of the television.

  They turned to look at her.

  Abby stared back for a moment, the weight of her concern paralyzing her.

  “What, Mom?” Tiffany asked as Susannah turned back to the program they were watching.

  “I’ll be up in my room if you need me.”

  “Okay.”

  Going to the entry hall, Abby couldn’t avoid noticing the family photograph hanging on the wall. The photo had been taken the previous summer when they had gone on a picnic. They were all sitting on a log, looking off into the distance. Next to Eric were his three girls, as he liked to call Abby and their daughters. His blond hair was cut short and his blue eyes sparkled as if he had a surprise he was about to share.

  Seeing his handsome face smiling down at her, she felt his absence more sharply and the sense of dread became stronger. She tried to push the feeling away as she trudged up the stairs, turning right on the landing. As she entered her bedroom she felt calmer, the design of the room doing its intended job. This room was her sanctuary and she always came here to relax at the end of the day.

  Nestled in a small alcove under a shuttered window were a love seat and a small end table. A cordless phone sat in the middle of the oak and glass table. The alcove was where Abby enjoyed relaxing with a good book.

  Even now, under the stress she felt, she found herself automatically walking over to the love seat, sinking into its soft fullness and leaning back against the cushions. She allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment and felt her baby kick.

  The motions of her unborn child reminded her of all the responsibilities she had, and she felt her stress level edge up a notch. She opened her eyes and picked up the phone, staring at it as she realized she didn’t know where to start. She set the phone down and leaned back, forcing herself to relax.

  A moment later the phone rang.

  She jump
ed at the sudden noise, her heart racing, but then a tiny smile lifted the corners of her mouth as she picked it up, imagining Eric on the other end, chagrined and apologetic. “Hello?” she said, feeling a cheerfulness that had been lacking all afternoon.

  Silence greeted her.

  “Hello?” she repeated, her smile fading.

  Still no response.

  “Who’s there?” She gripped the phone with both hands as she listened to what sounded like muffled breathing on the other end. “Eric? Is that you?”

  She heard a click and knew the caller had hung up. She stared at the silent device, alarm and uncertainty beginning to grow within her, and when she looked at the Caller ID it said Unavailable.

  As she thought about Eric and the trials they had experienced in their marriage, a familiar fear mixed with the worry she had already been experiencing. Abby stood and began pacing, stopping at her bedroom window and gazing toward the street, hoping against hope that Eric would pull into their driveway and put all her concerns to rest.

  Maybe I should call the police like Tim suggested. She immediately dismissed the idea, not yet ready to believe her husband could be hurt. Besides, if the police knew Eric was in an accident, wouldn’t they call me? Staring into the empty street, she felt completely alone.

  She lay on the bed, trying to push away the sense of unease. Then, as she thought about an incident about six years earlier, she became more worried.

  Could he be in some kind of trouble?

  The noise of the girls bounding up the stairs broke Abby’s troubled meditation. The sound faded as the girls went toward their own rooms.

  Restlessness pushed Abby off the bed, and after a moment she found herself in her bathroom standing in front of the medicine cabinet. As she pulled the door open, her gaze was drawn to Eric’s things. His shaving cream and razor were there as well as his cologne.

  She reached in and touched the cologne, hesitating for only a moment before pulling it out and unscrewing the cap. Tilting it toward her nose, she breathed in the musky scent. As she smelled the fragrance he had worn ever since they’d met, emotions and memories intermingled. She thought back to the secret Eric had shared with her soon after they had started dating, then replaced the cap and set the bottle back on the shelf, not wanting to consider that just now.