Dan's face changed. The anger and tension drained away in favor of something else, something that almost resembled fear.
"What about her?"
"I read an old newspaper article about her, written right after she disappeared. In the article you said that it looked like she was taken, that there was nothing to indicate she ran away. You sounded so certain. But in your office you told me that she ran away. Why the change?"
"You've never changed your mind?" he said, but he didn't sound convinced.
"Tell me what's really going on, Dan. Somebody took that girl, Margie Todd. She didn't run away. She was having an affair with her boss, John Bolton, and then she disappeared. What do you think happened?"
"We investigated Bolton, and we cleared him. He had an alibi. Solid as rock. You know, not every girl who has an affair with her boss is an innocent victim."
"What does that mean?"
"Maybe Margie Todd pursued him. Maybe she broke it off and ran away. Lots of girls run when the going gets tough, Diana. It happens."
Diana felt the tears burning her eyes again, and again she fought them off. She wasn't going to let them out here, not in front of Dan. Not again.
"As I recall, you made the first move," she said. "And I'm sure John Bolton did the same. It's an old tradition."
A car turned the corner and came toward them, its headlights cutting through the night. Dan squinted against the glare, then turned to Diana again.
"You ask me what's going on here, Diana? I want to know what's going on with you. Showing up at my house. Digging in my front yard like a rat. And then accusing me of things, suggesting I know something about a crime but am choosing not to do anything about it." He gestured behind him. "My house is in order now, finally. Maybe you need to get yours in shape. Get a job or go to school. Or move on. It's a big world, and you can do a lot in it, but you won't do anything if you keep chasing after ghosts. The Foley girl was kidnapped. And we'll find who's responsible. Soon. Margaret Todd and your sister...they're long gone. You don't want to turn into a lonely old woman with nothing to keep yourself company except bitter feelings about the past like that Todd woman."
"Or my mother," Diana said, mostly to herself.
The car had stopped in the street, and the driver's door opened. Diana looked up. It was Jason. He looked confused and worried, and he took two quick steps toward them and stopped.
"Are you okay?" he said. "I've been looking all over."
"She's fine," Dan said. "Make sure she gets home okay."
"Sure thing, Captain," Jason said.
Dan turned and walked back to his house, and Jason draped his arm over Diana's shoulders. He started guiding her to the car like she was a child, but she wriggled out of his grip.
"I'm okay," she said. "Don't listen to what he says. I'm okay."
*
Diana drove herself home, with Jason following close behind. His headlights filled her rearview mirror like giant, watchful eyes, ones she couldn't escape. She simply wanted him gone. She wanted to be alone, to not think anymore about everything that swirled around her. Maybe Dan was right. She should focus on her own life and let the problems of others go. If not, she'd be Kay Todd in forty years, filling a broken-down trailer with cigarette butts and resentments.
After she pulled into the parking lot, she turned off the ignition and waited without getting out of the car, hoping that Jason would take the hint and drive off. No such luck. He took a spot near hers and climbed out of his car, which meant she had to deal with him at a time when she had no capacity to deal with anyone. She opened her door and stepped into the cool night.
Jason just stood there.
"I'm fine," she said. "You can go on."
"Are you really?" he said.
Diana could read the mixture of concern and confusion in his eyes. She understood but didn't have the patience for it.
"Yes, I am."
"What were you doing at the captain's house? I mean—" He stopped himself. "It's none of my business, but if you're starting something up with him again, I'd just as soon know now."
"So that's what you're really worried about, whether I'm shacking up with the Captain again? You're not really worried about me."
"I want to be prepared, you know, for when everything falls apart again." Jason shrugged, a helpless gesture. "Can we talk inside rather than out here?"
"No, I don't want to talk. I just want to be left alone."
Jason let a long breath out through his nose. He placed his hands on his hips.
"You know," he said, "I thought about you all day. I thought about how much you care about that girl who disappeared, Margie, and how much you want to find her."
"Jason."
"And I found myself wishing that I could care that much, that I could do for this Foley girl what you're trying to do for the Todd girl. You know? And it kept me going all day, through all the woods and all the fields and all the bullshit, it kept me going. And you know what else, Diana? They're wrong about the Foley girl. They're wrong. They're looking in the wrong place."