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It’s dawn before I stumble bleary eyed back to my house to fall into my bed, but my sleep is restless and short. It’s fine. The earlier I get to Paducah the better. Before I go, I stop by Calli’s cabin to fill her bird feeders and note that her bird bath needs to be cleaned out soon. I’ll do it tomorrow when I finish getting the last of our firewood stacked.
It doesn’t take me long to find the address I’m looking for. Chris Handleman is supposed to be living with his mother, Grace, while he’s on parole. An easy internet search gave me her address. Maybe it’s a good thing that Calli is gone for a littlewhile longer. It gives me time to figure out if Handleman is the thief that terrified her in the woods.
My plan is simple. Park and watch the house to see if he’s living there, then follow him. See where he goes, if he’s coming anywhere near my house, and maybe locate my ATV, though that’s low on the list.
Fortunately, his mother lives on a busy road lined with houses and duplexes. With the constant flow of traffic and people, a man sitting in his truck all day won’t be suspicious. Nobody comes or goes from the small house with the crooked front porch for three hours. I’m about to take a break and find somewhere to get a coffee when the door opens.
It takes me a moment to recognize her when she steps out. With her shoulders slumped and her head down, she doesn’t look up once as she trudges to a small white car and gets inside. Grace Handleman is a husk of the woman who once stood over me and told me to rot in hell. Of course she is. Look how much she’s lost, what I took from her.
After she drives away, I stay well past dark, but there’s no sign of anyone else, and the lights only go on inside the house when Grace returns. If Chris is living here, he isn’t around today.
That’s how I spend the next week, watching the Handleman house at different times of day and night, trying to catch a glimpse of him. The only people who come and go are Grace and a few other older women.
It doesn’t tell me much, other than he’s probably not staying where he’s supposed to be while on parole. Maybe plans changed and he’s nowhere near here. Who knows? Nothing else has happened at my place, and I’ve kept a close eye on Calli’s cabin as well. Nothing has shown up on the trail cameras. I’m not sure what to think anymore.
It’d be much easier to watch Calli’s place if I put her cameras up, but I’d need to get inside. After shopping for a new ATV thatwill be delivered tomorrow, I stop by Lucky’s Diner just before closing time to talk to Silver.
The place is empty. Silver sits behind the counter, grinning at something on her phone and does a double take when she sees me walk in. “Do you have a pick-up order? I didn’t get anything.”
“No, I was hoping to talk to you for a second.”
Her eyebrows raise a bit, but she nods and lays her phone down. “Did something happen?”
“No, but you know about the thefts we had and everything?”
“Of course.”
“I put some trail cameras up and security cameras around my place. I have some for Calli too, but I need to get inside her cabin to connect them to her internet. Mine won’t reach.”
“So call her.”
“Uh, yeah,” I sigh, running my hand over my chin. “She doesn’t really want to hear from me right now. I thought if you could let me in long enough to?—”
Silver holds her palm up. “Let me stop you right there. You want me to let you put up cameras monitoring the home of my friend who won’t talk to you.”
“Calli knows I ordered them, and she wants them installed. I’ll hand over the access to them when she returns, and she can reset the passwords.”
“Absolutely not. First of all, I assume that’s illegal. My mother might own the house, but we aren’t living in it. That permission needs to come straight from her.” She bats down my next suggestion before I can say it. “And I’m not interrupting her fun to ask her for you. Wait until she gets back. Let her have some time without worrying about that shit.”
She’s probably right about that. I know Calli wouldn’t have minded the cameras being put up, but she asked for space. “You’re right. It can wait.” The next question out of my mouthcan’t be stopped. “Have you heard from her lately? Is she…doing okay?”
“She’s having the time of her life. Lots of pictures at the beach and backstage at a concert.”
“Good. Okay. I’m going to go.”
“Hang on a second,” she says as I start toward the exit. She disappears behind the kitchen door then emerges with a bag in her hand and holds it out to me, her lips twitching into a restrained grin. “Had some extras.”
Two big apple fritters sit inside. “Thank you.”
It’s been eighteen days since Calli left and I haven’t heard a word from her. She said a couple of weeks, but what if she’s decided not to come back at all? I’m afraid I’ll see a mover’s truck pull in instead of her car.
The discussion over whether to install cameras at her cabin became moot a few days ago with a notice from our internet provider. The good news is that we’ll be getting much better high-speed internet on our entire street. The bad news is it will be down for two weeks while they work on it and install new cables or some shit. The cameras won’t work. It also means I can’t livestream.
I posted an announcement that there would be no live videos for a while, then spent the last couple of days getting videos scheduled to post during the interim. I’ve spent my time watching Handleman’s house, helping Lee with a few repairs, stocking firewood at Calli’s place and mine, getting the hives ready for the cold months, and drawing all night—staying as busy as possible so I don’t think about her.
I haven’t had the heart to sit by the fire like I used to, but tonight I make my way through the graveyard and up the hill. We’re having a spurt of warm weather, the last gasp of fall before winter sets in. No reason to waste it.
The night is cloudy, and I’m almost glad for that. The stars aren’t the same without her. The name Calliope suits her, but Persephone would fit as well. When she leaves, she takes all the beauty of the world with her.
