“Yeah, sure. What’s going on?”
Michelle’s mind kept bouncing between things Sheriff Fisk had told her about Pink, and his wife. Was Isabelle her name? Michelle wasn’t sure. “It’s Cliff. He’s missing.”
“Missing?”
Michelle told Darcy about the night before.
“When I woke up, he wasn’t here,” she said. “I thought he’d gone for a walk this morning like he usually does, but when he wasn’t back by noon I got concerned. I called the sheriff.”
“Do you want me to drive up?” Darcy asked.
“No, thanks. I’m okay. The sheriff’s here.”
Michelle couldn’t understand why, but her mind kept drifting back to Pink Souder, why he’d left town. And Isabelle? If she wasn’t dead, where was she? Something must have happened for authorities to think Pink had killed her.
“Darcy, the sheriff told me the wildest story about the cabin, about this Pink Souder guy who built it,” Michelle said. “He was supposed to have killed his wife . . . and buried her here somewhere.”
“That’s creepy.”
“Yeah,” Michelle said, unable to understand her own interest in Pink Souder and his wife, and why was she making them her business? There was no need to find a place in her life for their drama. She had her own.
“Anyway, the sheriff and a bunch of guys were up here with dogs looking for Cliff.”
“Dogs? Wow. Are you worried?”
“Well, yeah, Darcy. It’s like a fricking Brazilian rainforest up here. Don’t you remember how remote it is?”
“You know he’ll show up. He probably found some chick hiking in the woods and—oh shit, Chelle, I’m sorry. That was fucked up. I’m so sorry.”
Michelle said nothing. She hadn’t considered that. Maybe Glenda had driven up and Cliff’s whole light-down-the-hill chest-pounding and bluster bullshit was nothing more than a ruse to go to some motel in town so they could fuck their brains out. He could be there right now.
“Chelle? Are you there? I didn’t mean to be such a bitch.”
Michelle went to the nightstand and pulled out her emergency pack of Chesterfields. She fumbled with the lighter a moment then drew hard. She’d questioned her decision to stay after the affair. Had it grown from a desire for the marriage to work or merely the lack of courage to end it? Worrying about him now brought up a tangle of emotions she lacked the energy to unravel.
“Yeah, no, I’m fine,” Michelle said, exhaling, the hurt rushing back.
“You aren’t smoking again, are you? Michelle, you’re not a smoker.”
“Fuck, Darcy, if he’s back with Glenda, I mean it . . . I . . .”
“He’s not. Even Cliff’s not that screwed up.”
Michelle drew hard again. “If he is, Darcy, I’m serious, Cassie and I are buying fucking Harleys and driving to California. And you can come with. You’ll get one too and—”
“Harleys, Michelle? Really? Cassie’s only fifteen, so she can’t even drive one. And when I was dating Tank, you wouldn’t even take a ride on the back of his.”
Michelle was only half-joking about the Harleys. But the thought of Cliff’s cheating provoked some renegade inside her. The idea of the motorcycles sounded freeing even though she was petrified of them.
“Yeah, Tank,” Michelle said, feeling the smoke leave her chest. “He was a real winner.”
“I can sure pick ’em, can’t I?” Darcy said,
“It’s in our genes, Darcy.” Michelle heard a loud rumble outside the cabin. She dropped the cigarette into her coffee cup. “Hey, Darcy, I need to call you back. I think they sent the Army.”
“Okay, call me later, Chelle.”
Michelle went to the door and saw the deputy standing outside the car talking on the radio, above them a police helicopter. She was surprised it had gotten dark in the short time she’d been talking with Darcy. The craft hovered so close to the roof she could feel the thumping blades pounding in her chest. The rain had turned to a misty drizzle and Michellle wished she’d slipped her coat on over her sweater.
“Where is it, ma’am?” the sheriff shouted, coming up onto the deck holding his hat on his head.
Michelle walked to the rail and pointed down through the trees. She held her hair back from her face with her other hand, the rotors churning out a stiff wind. “Right there,” she shouted over the noise. “I know that’s Pink Souder Road. See the driveway? It’s not that far away.”
The sheriff looked over at the deputy. “All righty then,” the sheriff shouted, walking to the rail. “Elmer, ask Dell if he can see that light below us.” Michelle glanced toward the chopper lights against the black sky.
The deputy spoke into the hand-held microphone. He yelled up to the sheriff that Dell could see it. The helicopter sliced down the mountainside and paused above the curious light.
“Have Dell turn on his searchlight,” the sheriff yelled to the deputy. “See if he can land.”
A bright light snapped on, burning the trees in a glassy white light, as if the branches were neon. The deputy stood for a long time talking into the radio, shaking his head. “Trees are too thick to land, but . . .” The deputy looked down at the ground, then back up at the sheriff.
The sheriff walked to the rail. “What is it, Elmer?”
“Maybe you should come talk to Dell.” Elmer hunched down, his yellow rain slicker a beacon in the fog.
Michelle heard the sheriff sigh. Fisk went to the police car and stood in the driveway next to Elmer, walking as far as the cord of the mic would stretch. A few times the sheriff glanced over at Elmer, but mostly he toed gravel and listened. The chopper’s searchlight went off, darkness returning to the forest, but Michelle could still hear the thrum of its rotor.
“Do you want to come, ma’am?” The sheriff said, fixing his hat on his head.
Michelle was glad he’d asked. She was tired of waiting and feeling helpless. “Let me grab my coat.”
In a few minutes they were easing along Pink Souder Road, the headlights cutting a path through the dark woods. Michelle sat in the back seat, leaning forward, her arms resting on the top of the front seat. Static on the radio made it difficult for her to understand what was being said.
“Another hundred yards or so,” Elmer said to the sheriff, pointing ahead. As the police car passed the trees, a liquid blackness slid in behind the glare of the headlights, sealing the night behind them.
“Stop here,” the deputy said.