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Fumbling for the pen and small pad on the night table, I managed to jot it down.
“Thank you, Officer.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am. I strongly suggest you don’t attempt to visit him with the blizzard. The roads up here are already icy and slippery, and with the whiteout, visibility is nil. Stay safe and I hope your husband pulls through.”
The call ended. I came to my senses. I immediately called the hospital. Matt had severed his spine and was in surgery. The nurse I spoke to had no idea how long it would last. She said someone would call when he was out. If he came out. I gave her my number in case she didn’t have it.
Next, I called Matt’s parents. They were away in Italy, but they needed to know. I speed- dialed Marjorie’s number, hoping she’d pick up, despite my new, unrecognizable mobile number. I’d forgotten to give it to her. The phone rang several times, then went to voicemail. I left my mother-in-law an urgent message. “Marjorie, this is Natalie, calling from my new cell number. Call me as soon as you get this message. Matt’s been in a skiing accident and is undergoing surgery.” Given that Rome was nine hours ahead of us, making it close to midnight, it was likely they were asleep and wouldn’t get the message until the morning.
I paced the room. Who else did I need to call? I bit down on my lip. Of course…the children. I had to tell them. Questions tore through my head. How was I going to break this terrible news to Will and Paige? How would they react? How would I comfort them when I was divorcing their father and couldn’t comfort myself?
God, give me strength.
I sucked in a breath and speed-dialed Paige. No answer. The call went straight to her voicemail. I didn’t leave a message and quickly speed-dialed Will. He picked up on the first ring.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Will, is Paige with you?”
“No, she hasn’t come b—”
“Have you heard from her?”
“No.”
Worry pulsed through me. She should have been back a half hour ago. Maybe she was stuck in traffic on account of the weather conditions. Traffic could reduce to a crawl during a snowstorm.
“Are you okay, Mom?”
“Will, I’ve got to go. Call me as soon as your sister returns.”
“Okie-doke.”
With a jab, I ended the call, suddenly remembering I could check Paige’s whereabouts with the locator app I’d installed on her phone. Find Me. For all I knew, she could be hanging out in the hotel lobby.
But before I could do that, another call came in.
The San Bernardino Police.
Why were they calling?
There was only one answer.
Act normal. Stay calm.
FIFTY-EIGHT
PAIGE
The snow was coming down hard and heavy. Faster than my wipers could clear it from my windshield. Swoosh. Swoosh. Gripping the steering wheel with my gloved hands, I kept my eyes superglued to the road and drove slowly. Thank goodness Tanya didn’t distract me and sat in the passenger seat, chewing gum and occupied with her phone. Likely texting Lance, who was vacationing in Cabo with his family. The sooner we got back to the hotel, the better. Fingers crossed she wouldn’t dawdle in the ski shop, trying on a gazillion pairs of boots.
“There’s the shop,” I said, pulling over in front of it. “Why don’t you go inside while I wait here.” Keeping the engine running, I reached inside my phone case. “Here’s my debit card. Make it quick, and you better not use it for anything else.”
With a snort, she unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out of the car. Just as she disappeared inside the store, my phone pinged with a Google Alert—a link to an article in The Desert Sun. With bated breath, I clicked it open. It was short and hardly front-page news.
A month since two teenagers found a charred body in Tahquitz Canyon, the Palm Springs Police Department has ruled that the body is likely that of Billie Rae Perkins, the fifteen-year-old girl who went missing after her parents were brutally murdered in an Indio trailer park twenty years ago. While dental records could not be matched up, the decomposed bone matter coincides with the time she disappeared. No other girls were reported missing in the area at that time. The police are investigating whether she was a victim of foul play and if her death is connected to the unsolved murders. No suspects have been apprehended.
I closed the alert and felt a sense of closure, though unsettling. Poor Billie Rae. A shiver shimmied down my spine as I tried to imagine all she’d been through. If someone had set her on fire and left her to die, I hoped he or she would be found and get what they deserved. That they’d burn in hell. I was about to call Will and then Mary Burton to tell them what I’d learned when I eyed Tanya exiting the store.
