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Landon Bell looked ready to lose it when he answered the door. His face went white and his eyes instantly reddened. He looked over his shoulder.

“Wait here for a second,” he whispered, then disappeared inside the house. Geneva’s car was parked at an odd angle on the far end of the driveway. Landon came back and opened the door, inviting me in.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure Dad was sleeping. I didn’t want to upset him.”

“Do you know why I’m here?”

“Let’s go in the living room,” he said, still half whispering.

He sat. I didn’t have the patience. “Landon, I can’t get Geneva to answer my calls. Is she here?”

Landon buried his face in his hands for a moment. “I was hoping you were coming here to tell me you knew where she was,” he said.

“What?”

“I can’t get a hold of her either. She didn’t come home last night. She hasn’t called. I don’t know what to do. Is something happening?”

I felt queasy. This felt all wrong.

“Yes,” I said. “I came here to give her a heads-up. There’s been a break in her case. I’m sorry I can’t go into too much detail. Law enforcement is involved again.”

“I don’t understand,” he said.

“How much did Geneva tell you about why she hired me?”

He shrugged. “I know she’s trying to remember more about that night. The shrink she was seeing told her it would help her move past it all. I know she thinks someone’s been following her. Over the last few days, she’s been worse, Mercy. I’m scared. This is what happened before.”

“What do you mean?”

“After the murders. You know she was really messed up. Mentally, I mean. She wouldn’t talk for weeks. She seemed okay or better for a while. Then it started up again. She wouldn’t leave the house. Then she wouldn’t even come out of her room. She wouldn’t let anyone in. Not even me. Then ... then one morning we woke up and she was gone. Did she tell you that? She didn’t make some plan. She just ran away in the middle of the night. It’s been like that again.”

“Her car’s here,” I said.

“It was here the last time,” Landon said. “She left behind almost everything she owned, except some clothes. She didn’t even leave a note. It wasn’t until a few days later that she called my dad and told him she’d gone to Chicago and planned to stay there and get a job. Then we didn’t hear from her for months. I didn’t see her for years. I don’t think you get it. When she came home this time, it was the first time I’d seen her in eleven years.”

I didn’t like this.

“What about now?” I asked. “Did you check her room? Did she pack anything?”

“I don’t ... I haven’t looked.”

“Come on,” I said. “Get up. Show me.”

Landon moved like a zombie. He took me down the hall to Geneva’s room. We passed by the primary bedroom. The door was slightly ajar and I saw Kevin Bell sleeping in his recliner, his walker right beside him.

“We have to keep it down,” Landon said. “My dad doesn’t think anything is wrong. I didn’t want to alarm him. Not yet.”

Geneva’s bedroom looked like it must have the last time she lived here full-time. She had posters on the wall. Panic! at the Disco. Twenty One Pilots. A shelf on one wall displayed various ribbons and trophies she’d won in high school track.

The room itself was a cluttered mess. There was laundry strewn all over the floor. The garbage can in the corner was overflowing.

“Ginny’s always been kind of a slob,” he said. “She’d kill me if she knew I let you see this.”

“Where is her luggage?” I asked. “What did she carry her things in when she came back?”

“Um ... she had an orange suitcase and an overnight bag. I don’t know where she put those. We keep our luggage in a closet in the basement.”

“Do you mind if I look around a little?” I asked, feeling uneasy going through Geneva’s things. If she’d run away again, I needed to know. Dan Holland already mistrusted her. This would only reinforce his wrong opinions of her.