Bell sighs. ‘Emma deserves a break. I’m not gonna call her just on a hunch. She doesn’t need to deal with all this stuff again—’
‘Are you being deliberately stupid?’ Kristin blinks at him. ‘Travis, you’veseenthe pictures of the victims. Small, slim, dark-haired, college-aged …’
Something crackles behind Bell’s eyes. ‘She’s in Columbus.’
‘That’s only three hours from Pittsburgh.’
Now, at last, a little panic in his face.
‘Okay,’ Carter says. ‘I hear what you’re saying, Miss Gutmunsson, but let’s not rush into anything. Let’s complete the review, the cross-referencing—’
‘You really think she’s in danger?’ Bell blurts.
Kristin is saved from replying when the phone rings.
CHAPTER THREE
Once Emma is settled in her favorite chair in the living room, Audrey Klein brings out a bowl of fresh raspberries. ‘Here, enjoy. Last crop of the season.’
Emma Lewis knows Audrey has kept the fruit because she cares, that it is a gift freely given. ‘Ah, geez. You know I love these.’
‘Go on, eat as many as you want.’ Audrey settles carefully into her own comfortable wingback, with the crocheted lap blanket. The blanket helps with the arthritis in her knees. ‘Thanks for making time for our session today.’
Emma shrugs. She and Audrey are friendly because the therapeutic relationship is an exercise in trust, but this is a scheduled appointment, not a social call.
‘How was Labor Day with your folks? Roberta’s all right?’
‘Yeah, everyone’s good. Robbie said she’s seeing someone. Won’t tell me who, though.’
‘Big sisters like to torture you with that stuff.’ Audrey smiles. ‘Now, have you been trying to walk, like I suggested?’
‘Yes.’ Emma eats another raspberry, corrects herself. ‘I mean, I start off walking. I always start that way.’
‘And then what happens?’
‘I get a … It’s like an itch. A burn in my calves.’ She looks out the window, thinking of the long, late-fall grass brushing her legs. ‘One minute I’m walking. And then I’m striding. And then I just … It’s like all this energy comes to the surface and I have to move. Like something inside me is saying,Hurry, hurry.’
Audrey pours them both tea from the big jug. ‘When you came back from Virginia you were running every day.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Sometimes twice a day.’
‘I know.’ Emma accepts her glass.
‘Until you threw up.’ Audrey sips from her own glass. ‘So sometimes running brings no relief.’
Emma tries to think of how to phrase it. ‘Some days I run, and that’s all there is. Just the road, and my feet, and it’s quiet. Other days it’s like … something is pulling me forward. Like I could run forever and never find it.’
‘What are you thinking you’ll find?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Do you think the running helps somehow?’
‘I don’t know if it helps.’ Emma’s eye turns inward. ‘I don’t know what it’s supposed to helpwith. It just is. It’s just what I need to do.’
‘Okay, let’s talk about something else now. I want to ask you whether you feel you’re regaining balance.’
