In the office again, Abby left the door open in case Tiffany called out to her, then decided to keep an eye out for the file Tim had asked about while she continued searching Eric’s desk. Not finding anything out of the ordinary in the first two left-hand drawers—or Tim’s paperwork—she moved on to the bottom drawer, but when she pulled it open, her brows rose in surprise.
Stacked inside were pictures that she had no memory of placing there. Lifting them out, she spread them on the desktop, then looked through the pile, reliving the memories associated with each one
The sound of soft footsteps startled her.
“Mom?”
“Tiffany. You scared me half to death.” Abby swiveled in her daughter’s direction. “Are you feeling better? That was a short nap.” She pulled her nine-year-old daughter onto her lap.
Tiffany laughed. “Mom, I’m too big to sit on your lap.”
Abby smiled. “I know. How are you feeling?”
“Good.”
She was happy to hear that. “Mr. Phillips gave me some work for you to do if you feel up to it.”
Tiffany stood. “Okay.” Her gaze wandered over the top of the desk where the pictures were spread out. “I hope I see Dad tonight.” She smiled. “I want to tell him I passed my multiplication test.”
“That’s wonderful, Tiff.” Abby tried to distract her daughter from the subject of her father. “I guess studying paid off, didn’t it?”
“Do you think Dad will be home earlier tonight, Mom?” Tiffany persisted.
“I don’t know, sweetie. Now, let me get those papers Mr. Phillips gave me.”
Looking uncertain, Tiffany followed her mother out of the office.
Chapter Eight
Eric had only been alone one day, but already he hated the solitude. Desperately wanting to let Abby know that his disappearance wasn’t due to what she thought—at least what he assumed she thought—his fingers itched to pick up the nearest phone and call her.
It’s not due to drugs, my sweet Abby. Unfortunately, it’s much worse than that.
Forcing his thoughts away from his wife and what she had to be thinking, he pictured the items in his safe-deposit box. He’d gone to the bank that morning to make sure everything was there. Everything was as he’d left it.
Now, as he glanced around the library, he thought about all that had happened and what the consequences would be if he didn’t do this right. Shaking his head in frustration, he leaned over the keyboard and continued searching on the Internet, grateful no one at this branch knew Abby or him. At least he hoped they didn’t. He pulled the cap lower on his forehead and hunched his shoulders, trying to make himself invisible.
It was difficult to concentrate on what he needed to do when all he could think about was his wife and what she was going through. Sometimes he thought she would have been better off with someone else. He knew he was selfish—if he wasn’t he would never have allowed her to fall in love with him. He knew she could do better than him.
I love her so much. I can’t imagine my life without her. But what kind of example am I setting for my children? Running when things get tough.
He stared at the monitor, trying to focus his thoughts. Plausible deniability. He had to keep remembering that phrase. If Abby were confronted by anyone about anything he had done, her denial had to be believable. He was confident it would be. She knew nothing.
He pulled up the search engine and began typing.
After Tiffany and Susannah were tucked into bed, Abby strode into the kitchen and picked up the phone. It was time to call her mother and sister to let them know what was going on. As much as she didn’t want anyone to know her secret fears, her family, dysfunctional as it was, was her only safety net. Even so, calling her family was something she had hoped to avoid. Especially the call to her mother.
Her mother, Barbara Kincaid, had been opposed to Eric and Abby’s marriage from the start. Barbara had felt Eric wasn’t good enough for Abby and had made sure he knew it, too.
After Eric had made his confession when they were dating, Abby had made the mistake of recording it in her journal. Jennifer, her snoopy younger sister, had read the entry and told their mother about Eric’s past.
Barbara Kincaid couldn’t fathom her daughter marrying someone with such a shady past. Immediately confronting Abby, she’d demanded that she stop seeing Eric. Of course that had only pushed Abby into Eric’s arms. Still, doubting whether her continued dating of Eric was to spite her mother or because she really loved him, Abby had gone to her father, Martin Kincaid, and confided her concerns about her growing relationship with Eric.
Martin had always been understanding, and he and Abby were close. After she’d poured out her soul to him, he’d counseled her to listen to her heart, and when Eric had proposed a few months later, she did listen to her heart and accepted Eric’s proposal. They were married six months later.
Though Barbara attended the ceremony, there had been tension between Abby and her mother ever since, not that she and Abby had ever gotten along very well. Barbara had always made her strong opinions known to all, including her opposition to Abby’s marriage. Consequently, Abby had consistently avoided her mother during the years since her wedding.
Now, as Abby picked up the phone to call her mother, she hoped her mother would somehow be there for her, although she braced herself for what her mother might say. Abby never could guess what her mother’s mood might be. No one ever could. She’d often thought her father must have been a saint to put up with Barbara all those years.
The phone rang several times before the voice of her mother came on the line.
“What do you mean he’s missing?” Barbara shouted after Abby explained what was happening.
Abby held the phone away from her ear to distance herself from her mother’s wrath. Apparently she was not in one of her better moods this evening. Abby tried to be patient. “I told you, Mother, he didn’t come home last night and I don’t know where he is.”
“I knew he was no good. Didn’t I try to tell you he was no good?”
Abby bit her lip to keep back the angry response. “Mother, please. I’m worried. Can’t you at least try to understand that?”
“He’s probably gone back to those drugs. I told you those drugs would be a problem.”
Abby tried to muffle a sigh and said in a quiet voice, “I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Good-bye, Mother.”
She hung up the phone to the sound of her mother’s tirade about what a rotten husband Eric had always been. It had been a mistake to call her mother, she realized. If she was looking for any support, she was looking in the wrong place. She felt more alone than ever. It seemed as if there was no one to comfort her or help her. She didn’t want to worry Eric’s father, and she couldn’t count on her own mother. Eric was an only child and his mother had been killed in a car accident when he was a teenager.
Abby went into the adjoining family room, sat on the couch, and stared into space. She thought about when she and her sister were young. They would fight over whether Jennifer was Mom’s favorite until they were both in tears. Then their father would pull them both into his arms and tell them he and their mother loved them both very much. Abby had believed he loved her but wasn’t as sure about her mother’s feelings. That was one of the reasons she had been so devastated when her father had died eight years before.
Her gaze took in the room before her and she smiled sadly, remembering the letter she had received soon after her father’s funeral. He’d written it a short time before he’d died, as if he’d known his time was coming to an end. He’d told her how much he’d always loved her and what a wonderful mother she was to Tiffany, who was only a year old at the time.
But now he was gone.
Thinking about her father, she knew her family was her best option. She gathered her courage and decided to call her younger sister and perhaps get the moral support she needed. Abby thought about her sister and wondered what her reaction would be. Jen
nifer was three years younger than Abby and had always been much more willing to do their mother’s bidding than Abby had been. As a result, Barbara had more openly favored Jennifer, which had made it difficult at times for the two girls to be friends. Even now, with Jennifer married and a mother herself, the sisters didn’t have much contact. It made Abby sad and she tried to be fair with her own girls so they would never have to feel the pull of competition over their mother’s love.
The last time Abby had talked to Jennifer was to tell her about her current pregnancy. Jennifer had expressed happiness for Abby, but they hadn’t talked much since. Jennifer lived many miles south of Abby, in Los Angeles, and had only been to the Breuners’ house twice since they had moved in. Both of those visits had also involved their mother, which had ruined any opportunity for the sisters to become better friends.
Not knowing what kind of response she would receive, Abby picked up the phone anyway. Jennifer answered it on the second ring.
“Hello?” She sounded out of breath.
“Jennifer? It’s Abby.”
“What a nice surprise.”
“Do . . . do you have a minute?” Abby was afraid she was interrupting something. Jennifer always seemed to be on the go.
“Yeah, sure. We just got back from a play at the kids’ school. Why? What’s up?”
Abby hesitated, not sure if she wanted to tell her sister, with her model family, what had happened in her less-than-perfect one. She bit her lip in indecision. “Ummm. I have a small problem.”
Jennifer laughed. “What? You don’t know what to name your baby?”
If only it were that. She tried to swallow the tears that threatened to displace her forced calmness. Her throat hurt from the large knot forming there. “Eric’s missing, Jennifer. I don’t know where he is.”
“Oh, Abby. How awful. What happened?”
For the third time that day Abby explained what had occurred.
“I can come up and stay with you. Would that help?”
That wasn’t what she had been expecting, and tears rimmed her eyes. “What about your kids?”
“Rick can take care of them. He’s been talking about taking time off. This would be the excuse he needs.”
“Oh, Jennifer, it would be great to have you here. When would you be able to come up?”
“I’ll call the airlines right now and see what’s open tomorrow. Is that soon enough?”
“Yes. But I have to go to work at eleven in the morning. Do you think you can get to the airport by nine thirty? That will give me enough time to pick you up and still get to work on time.”
“What do you mean you have to work? How can you go to work when your husband’s missing?”
“It’s not that I want to go to work, Jennifer. But what choice do I have?”
“Can you take tomorrow off?”
“No, I can’t. I already got on my supervisor’s bad side when I came in late the other day.”
“She can’t be that coldhearted. She can’t expect you to carry on like everything’s normal when your husband is missing.”
Abby shook her head. “She doesn’t know, and I don’t want her to know. In fact I don’t want anyone to know.”
“Why on earth not? If more people know, the chances are better he’ll be found.”
Abby hesitated. On the one hand, she needed moral support from someone who already knew her flaws and wouldn’t judge her too harshly. On the other hand, she didn’t need someone to constantly second-guess her.
The need for help outweighed her other concerns and she asked Jennifer to just support her decisions. Jennifer must have sensed Abby’s mood, because she agreed, promising to call back.
As she waited for Jennifer to call back, she was jerked out of her thoughts by the shrill ringing of the telephone. She picked it up before it could ring a second time and was greeted by the deep voice of Mr. Phillips.
“I was calling to see how Tiffany’s feeling.”
Abby was surprised he cared enough to call. “She’s much better. Thank you.” She paused. “Do you always call your students to see how they’re feeling?”
“Uh, no.” He sounded as if the question had caught him off guard. “Not always. She just seemed to become sick so quickly. I was worried a new virus might be starting the rounds in my classroom.”
“Oh. I guess I can understand that. But don’t worry, Tiffany’s fine now. She should be back tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s good. I wonder why her sickness was so sudden. Is she under any stress at home . . . or . . . she mentioned something about her father being gone, and I didn’t know if your family needed help.”
Abby froze at his words, but before she could determine whether he was seeking gossip or if his motives were truly philanthropic, her other line beeped. “I’m sorry, that’s my other line. I’m afraid Tiffany is just a daddy’s girl, so she misses him overly much while he’s out of town on business. But thank you for your concern.”
Mr. Phillips apologized for asking a personal question and assured her he only meant to help.
Abby accepted his words, then clicked over to the other line. It was Jennifer, calling to tell Abby her flight plans, and after hanging up, Abby yawned, suddenly exhausted. She went to the stairs, stopping in the entry hall to look at the picture of Eric. Any good feelings that had come from talking to Jennifer instantly vanished as she gazed at the picture of her handsome husband staring back down at her, the ever-present grin on his face.
She plodded up the stairs and checked on the girls before going into her own room. Her shoulders felt weighed down with worry and concern, and after putting on her nightgown she slipped into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
Sometime during the night Abby woke with a start, certain someone was in the room with her. Paralyzed by fear, she tried to convince herself no one could possibly be in the house because the alarm would have sounded. When her eye caught movement in the mirror she nearly screamed, then realized she had left the window open.
The fluttering curtains swayed in the night breeze, reflected as dark silhouettes passing across the vanity mirror. She shut the window, but wondered if she had remembered to set the alarm. Hurrying downstairs, she realized she hadn’t and quickly did so. Assuring herself she must have been dreaming, she nonetheless felt grateful the dream had spurred her awake and sent her to the alarm. When she climbed back into bed, she drifted off to sleep very relieved.
Chapter Nine
The shrill ring of the phone woke Abby early the next morning. “Hello?” she mumbled in a sleep-filled voice.
A young child’s voice asked, “Daddy?”
Abby’s eyes snapped open. “Hello?”
“Daddy?” he said again.
“Who is this? What’s your name, honey?”
“Alex Breuner,” the boy said. There was a noise in the background and a woman’s voice filtered through. Then the line went dead.
Abby dropped the phone as her heart thudded dully.
What was that all about? Was it a simple coincidence? Was it related to the hang-ups I answered earlier?
“Why is Auntie Jennifer coming, Mommy?” Susannah asked, excitement making her voice louder than normal.
Tiffany gave her sister a withering glance. “She’s just coming to visit Mom.” Tiffany looked at Abby, her spoon poised above her cereal bowl. “Right, Mom?”
Abby was surprised at the look of worry on her older daughter’s face. She wondered how much Tiffany was aware of, and after what Mr. Phillips had reported, Abby had finally told the girls their father had gone out of town for a few days, which was true as far as she knew. They’d been disappointed but hadn’t complained. Now Abby looked at Tiffany and tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Yes, Tiffany. I haven’t seen Jennifer in a long time. Don’t you think sisters should visit each other once in a while?”
The girls nodded solemnly.
Abby went on. “I hope the two of you can be good friends when you grow up. Maybe you’ll
be neighbors.”
Tiffany and Susannah looked at each other across the table before continuing to shovel cereal into their mouths.
“Are you girls almost done? We need to get going. Jennifer’s flight comes in later this morning and I want to get your room ready for her, Tiffany.”
Tiffany’s lips turned down into a pout and her voice came close to a whine. “Do I have to stay in Susannah’s room?”
Susannah looked hurt by the question. “I cleaned it up, Tiffany. I even made room on my dresser for you to put your stuff.”
Tiffany favored her younger sister with a tiny smile. “Okay, I guess.”
Abby smiled in relief—her girls were on the right track.
Abby waved to the girls as they walked to their respective classrooms, glad Tiffany was well enough to go back to school—she had too much to do to have to worry about a sick child.
First, she drove to the police department to see if they had any word on Eric. The same officer was sitting behind the desk, papers spread out around him. He glanced up as Abby approached, no glimmer of recognition in his eyes.
Abby smiled nervously, afraid to hear what he might say.
“I don’t have any information for you, ma’am,” he said after she’d given him Eric’s name.
“Are you sure?” she asked, certain they must have something.
“Unfortunately, your case isn’t very high on the list of priorities.” He paused. “I’m sorry.”
As she walked out the doors of the police station, she wondered how her life had come to this point.
The drive to the airport took over an hour and gave Abby time to think. The radio played quietly in the background as she thought about Eric, and about her relationship with her sister.
She glanced in the rearview mirror to change lanes, not noticing that the same vehicle had been several car lengths behind her since leaving home.
Short-term parking at the San Jose airport was nearly full and Abby had to park a distance from the terminal. Resigning herself to the long walk, she tried to enjoy the sunny morning, but when she finally reached the doors to the airport, she was breathing hard and in need of something to quench her thirst.
No Way Out Page 6