Teddy shakes his head. He’s been different ever since she closed the pharmacy early, she thinks. Normally he is voluble and affectionate, easy to please. These last few days, though, he’s become withdrawn. She knows he’s worried about her, because he’d said as much when they were getting into bed last night.I don’t know what you’ve got yourself mixed up in, but you need to be careful, Suzie.
“You’d better answer it, hon,” he tells her, sitting back in his chair. “It’s probably important.”
“Teddy—”
“Just go and see what she wants, Suzie. Please.”
Suzie composes herself before opening the door.Deep breath, she tells herself. Teddy’s right, she’s been so wrapped up in all this craziness that she’s forgotten herself.No more, she thinks now, unlatching the door.I’ve done as much as I can. You’re on your own now, Cathy Ma—
“I know where she is.”
Cathy is standing beneath the bright scrutiny of the security light, shivering in a thin jacket and trainers. She has her phone in one hand, holding it outward. Suzie is too stunned to speak. The two women stand that way for a beat, snow hard and glittering around them.
“Cathy, listen—”
“Take a look. Just look at it, Suzie. Tell me I’m not going mad.”
“I can’t. I can’t do this anymore. It’s affecting my work, my marriage.”
Cathy opens her mouth and Suzie knows her heart is going to break just by looking at the despair etched onto her face.
But then a hand falls on Suzie’s shoulder, and Teddy’s voice, soft and gentle, is saying, “You must be Cathy. Why don’t you come on in, out of the cold? We were just finishing our dinner.”
Teddy stands aside so she can walk in. He doesn’t insist that Cathy take her shoes off, as he would any other guest. He doesn’t offer to take her coat or mention how unusual it is to have an unplanned visit.
He simply smiles and pulls out a chair so that Cathy can sit down. “I can make some tea,” he tells her, “or maybe you’d like something a little stronger? You look like you could do with warming up.” He lifts the bottle of whisky down from the shelf and catches Suzie’s eye, giving her a small, supportive smile.
Sometimes, she thinks, watching him pour a measure for Cathy and then one for herself, his steadfastness still has the capacity to surprise her. The thought gives her a warm, soothing feeling, like a balm.
“What were you saying, Suzie? Outside?” Cathy looks up at her. Her eyes are sheened as if she has been recently crying.She knowswhat I was going to say, Suzie thinks,she just wants to hear me say it out loud. But then there’s that prickle of curiosity again, the one which got her into so much trouble when she was younger, crouched behind the car on Beeker Street. Sometimes she just can’t help herself.
“You first.”
“I got a message.” Cathy sniffs and wraps her hands around the glass. “A pin drop, Danny called it. He said Hazel sent it to me to mark her location.”
“Danny?”
“He’s my eldest.” Cathy turns in her seat to face Teddy, who is leaning against the counter behind her. “I’m not very good with tech stuff, but he saw the message come up on my phone. Here, see?”
She hands her phone to Teddy, who removes his reading glasses from his top pocket. Suzie stares into her glass.
“How do you know it’s from Hazel?”
Cathy blinks at Suzie. “Her name came up on the screen.”
“No, honey. What I mean is, how do you know she was the one who sent it? It could have been anyone.”
Cathy’s face blanches. She looks from Suzie to Teddy and back again. Now her voice is halting, hesitant. “But it came from her phone.”
“All right, let’s assume it was Hazel.” Teddy passes the phone back to Cathy, but it’s Suzie he’s looking at. “That pin drop is in the middle of nowhere. There’s no landmarks, no road, nothing. I don’t know where you’d even start.”
“Ah, now. I’ve got good news about that. You remember we looked at that footage of the truck this morning, Suzie? Well, look at what Danny found out in the woods this autumn.”
Cathy shows them both the video Danny had sent her, pausingthe footage when he discovers the truck half-buried under branches and leaves.
Suzie gasps when she sees it, clapping her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, that’s it! The same truck! It’s got that tarp over the back, look!”
“Well, hold on a minute.” Teddy holds up his hand. “How do we know it’s the same truck? You got the reg plate? Any identifying marks? This is a town full of gardeners, landscapers, and arborists—there’s trucks like that one driving around all day.”