Page 49 of Forever Gone

“Mr. Mercer?” Selena asked.

“Yes.”

She displayed her credentials. “Special Agent Selena Raven, FBI. This is Sheriff Connor Chase.”

Connor said, “We received a report that your wife is missing.”

Phil nodded quickly and opened the door wider. “Come in. Please.”

The living room had been arranged around a love of old movies. Framed posters covered the walls. Jaws hung above the sofa. Close Encounters of the Third Kind occupied the space beside a bookcase. Across from them, Indiana Jones swung from a whip beneath the title of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Connor slowed.

An original E.T. one-sheet hung near the hallway. Beside it, the truck from Duel bore down on the small red car beneath a sun-bleached sky.

Connor pointed before he could stop himself. “You’ve got Duel, too.”

Phil noticed. “That one’s a reprint.”

“Still hard to find with that artwork.”

“You know your early Spielberg.” For a moment, some of the strain left Phil’s expression.

Connor continued longer than he should have. “My dad took me to see a re-release of Raiders when I was eight. I spent the next month trying to turn every rope I found into a whip.”

Selena cleared her throat. “We have work to do.”

Connor turned. “Right. Sorry.”

Phil managed a tired smile. “Normally I’m the same. Right now, I’m just sick with worry.”

Connor indicated the poster above the bookcase. “The Raiders one is original?”

“Original domestic release,” he said mournfully.

Connor stepped closer. “Really?”

“Yeah. Took me three years to find one in decent condition.”

Selena cleared her throat again.

Connor turned. “Right. Sorry, Mr. Mercer. I get carried away.”

They sat. Phil took the armchair nearest the front window while Selena and Connor used the sofa. Both investigators opened notebooks.

Selena checked the paper from Cheryl. “Your wife is listed here as Linda Mercer.”

Phil rubbed both palms over his jeans. “Yeah.”

“What’s Linda’s age?” Selena asked.

“Thirty-nine.”

“Can you give us a recent photograph?”

Phil unlocked his phone and passed it across.

The image showed a woman standing on a trail beneath autumn trees. She had shoulder-length brown hair, a narrow chin, and a wide smile that creased both cheeks. A green jacket covered a blue sweater. She appeared around five feet six, with an average build.