Chapter 13
The most horrible part was, Tony realized he wasn’t surprised. He should have seen it last night, should have realized that the funeral yesterday had been too much for her,the responsibility of taking on another lost soul when herswas in such a precarious place.
He wasn’t surprised. It didn’t mean he wasn’t terrified.
“Nobody’s seen her at all this morning?” he demanded.“The kids, nobody?”
Peaches decided to be in charge. “She’s always up beforethe kids when she works. Leaves ’em notes if need be. There ain’t no notes this morning. Nothin’ but that wine bottle sheleft last night.”
There had been no wine bottle when Tony had turned off the kitchen lights. Raking his fingers through his hair, Tonytried to think. Tried to work his way past the instinctivepanic. She was gone and he didn’t know where. He didn’tknow where to find her or how to save her.
“You were supposed to help her,” Peaches accused.
“I know that!” Tony snapped. “I thought I was. Ithought…”
“Yeah, you thought. Now what do we do?’’
“What do you mean he was supposed to help her?” Nadine demanded, her posture, if anything, more aggressivethan Peaches’s.
Tony ignored the question. “Have you talked to Johnnyand Jess yet?”
Peaches answered. “Just did. We thought she might bewith Johnny. He and Pete just got back from somewhere, but they didn’t see her. So we just kinda asked had they talked to her. Didn’t want to scare ’em. Not yet.”
Tony nodded. Not yet. There’d be plenty of time for thatlater.
Disappeared.
“Is her nursing bag in the house? Did it look like sheheaded for work?”
“Purse and bag are gone,” Peaches informed him. “Nothin’ else.”
“So she wasn’t planning on moving out.”
Nobody laughed. Tony’s brain headed into overdrive.
Claire, dealing with Pete, with the revelations she’d made,with Johnny’s passion to fly, with the war. Claire headingoff one morning to work in her fast red car and not makingit.
“Have you tried the police yet?” he asked. “Other hospitals?”
Claire with a husband who’d run into a bridge abutmentto quiet his demons.
“We were just fixin’ to do that now.”
Instinctively Tony turned for the house.
“Not there,” Peaches barked. “Don’t scare those kids.”
“One of those kids is mine,” Tony informed him. “Shecan help without giving away too much. Now, call the police. I’ll be over at her office in a minute.”
“What do youmean,” Nadine demanded again behindhim, “you were supposed to help? Help what?”
Gina was in the kitchen making tea. Tony could hear therustle of other bodies upstairs. When he walked in, sheflashed him a knowing frown. She knew about the men who met at the vet center. She’d heard about the furies that couldwork free, the sudden cataclysms that forced middle-agedmen to form posses in the middle of the night.
“Is she all right?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know, honey. I just found out. I’m going to workwith Peaches to find her. Can you keep the troops occupied?”
Gina nodded. “Jess is frantic.”
