He nodded and put the gun back into the box carefully, respectfully.
“I still can’t believe she just disappeared like this,” he said, taking off his baseball cap and running a hand through his close-cropped hair.
“I know,” Ruthie said. “It’s not like her. She’s a little odd, but she’s so … dependable. Stuck in her ways. She barely ever goes to town, and now she’s gone and vanished off the face of the freaking earth. It doesn’t make sense.”
“So what’s your plan? I mean, if she doesn’t show up?”
“I don’t know.” Ruthie sighed. “I had been thinking that I’d call the cops if she wasn’t back by tonight, but then we found this stuff. Now I truly don’t know what the hell to do. What if she’s caught up in something … illegal?”
Buzz nodded. “Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t call the cops. Finding the gun and wallets—it does make you wonder.”
“I know,” Ruthie said weakly. It seemed impossible—the idea that her mild-mannered, herbal-tea-loving, middle-aged mother was involved in something criminal.
What else didn’t Ruthie know? What else might be uncovered if she did call the police?
Buzz was a quiet a minute. “Maybe it’s the aliens.”
“Goddamn,” Ruthie spat. “I am so not in the mood for any alien theories right now.”
“No, no, really. Alien abduction. It happens all the time. They suck them up in these tractor beams and do experiments and probe them and shit, then let them go, sometimes miles from where they were taken, memories wiped clean. And you know what me and Tracer saw out in the woods, not even a mile from your place.”
Ruthie remembered the shadowy woods, the rocks jutting up like teeth that made her feel as if she were on the verge of being swallowed up.
“Come on, Buzz. I could use a little sanity here.”
“Okay. But can I just point out something kind of obvious?”
Buzz asked.
She shrugged, but didn’t protest.
“Well, do you ever think about the way you guys live? You know, you’re kind of cut off from the world out here—barely any visitors, unlisted phone number, no-trespassing signs everywhere.”
“You know my mom. She’s a total hippie freak,” Ruthie said. “My dad was the same way, too. That’s why they moved out here from Chicago when I was three. They didn’t want to be a part of the machine. They wanted to go back to the land, live this happy hippie utopian dream with chickens and an herb garden and fresh whole-grain bread.”
“What if it’s more than that?” Buzz asked.
“What are you saying?”
“That sometimes, if people don’t want to be found, there’s a damn good reason for it.”
They were quiet a minute.
“I’m gonna go check on Fawn,” she said. “When I get back, we can try to get the closet open.”
She padded down the hall to Fawn’s room. In the soft glow of Fawn’s night-light, she found her little sister curled up under a quilt, Roscoe purring contentedly on top of her. Mimi had fallen onto the floor.
“Hey, old man. You looking after Fawn?” Ruthie asked, stroking the cat. “Good boy.” She reached down to feel Fawn’s forehead. Still warm, but the fever was down. She picked up Mimi, tucked her in right next to Fawn, and pulled the quilt up to cover them both.
“I think her fever’s down,” she reported to Buzz back in her mom’s room.
“That’s good news.”
“Yeah. Poor kid. It sucks that she’s sick now, when Mom’s not here.”
Buzz smiled. “Fawn has you.”
“Yeah, well, Mom better show up soon. I can’t take care of a kid. You should have seen me trying to figure out how much Tylenol to give her. I didn’t even know what she weighed—I had to ask her.”
Buzz took her hands in his. “You’re doing just fine,” he told her. “Quit being so hard on yourself.”
“If you say so,” Ruthie said. “Now let’s see about that closet.”
Buzz grabbed the crowbar Ruthie had found in the barn and went to work. Ruthie stood back and watched, suddenly nervous about what they might find inside. In less than five minutes, Buzz had both the top and bottom boards off.
“You want to do the honors?” he asked, stepping away from the closet door.
Ruthie shook her head. “You go ahead.”
“All righty, then,” Buzz said. Keeping the heavy metal crowbar in his right hand, just in case, Buzz turned the knob and slowly pulled open the door.
“Nothing.” He stuck his head in for a better look. “Just a bunch of clothes.” He stepped back and went to sit on the bed with his beer, clearly disappointed.
Ruthie came forward to peer in.