“You think something’s gone wrong, don’t you, Mike?” she asked him, even though she really didn’t want him to answer her question.
“Yeah. But I don’t know what it is. I was thinking that maybe Moishe got sick and Ross took him to the vet. And he just didn’t pull the door all the way closed when he left. Or Moishe got out somehow, and Ross is out there somewhere on the grounds, looking for him.”
“Oh, no!” Hannah gasped. “Sometimes the coyotes come down here at night. And we had a bobcat once! We’re way out here in the country. And . . .” Hannah stopped and her eyes widened. “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah. It sounded like a . . . a cat.”
“Moishe!” Hannah called out. “Where are you Moishe?”
“Come here, Big Guy,” Mike coaxed, using one of his favorite nicknames for Moishe.
A moment later, Moishe poked his head around the corner of the living room. His ears were back and his fur looked matted, as if he’d been hiding in a small space.
“Were you in the closet, Moishe?” Hannah asked, rushing forward to pick him up in her arms.
“Rrrrowww!”
“I looked in the closet and I didn’t see him.” Mike reached out to scratch Moishe’s ears. “Is he hurt?”
Hannah felt for broken nails, sore places, and the obvious signs of feline trauma. “I don’t think so.”
“Then what is it?”
“I think he’s just . . . just frightened.” Hannah walked over to put Moishe on the back of the couch. “I’ll be right back with the treats, Moishe.”
“Rrroww!”
“He sounds better,” Mike said. “But it’s hard to tell with a cat.”
“I know. Sometimes I wish he could talk . . . but if cats could talk, they probably wouldn’t.”
“He’s purring,” Mike said when Hannah came back with Moishe’s favorite fish-shaped, salmon-flavored treats.
“Good.” Hannah began to relax and then she remembered. “But where’s Ross? His car is here and it’s too late to go to the gym in the recreation room.”
“Yeah.” Mike sighed heavily. “Did you leave first this morning? Or did Ross?”
“We left together. Ross took Michelle and me out to breakfast at the Corner Tavern. Then Michelle and I drove back here to do a few things before we went to The Cookie Jar. As far as I know, Ross drove straight out to KCOW to do some editing.”
“But his car is here, right?”
“Right.”
“And he had it this morning?”
“Yes. We drove two cars. I took my cookie truck and Ross took his car.”
“Does Ross know anyone else in the complex? Someone he might have gone to visit?”
“Not really. We’ve only been back for a week and I haven’t had a chance to make any introductions.”
“Then you’d better come back to the bedroom with me, Hannah. I need you to tell me if anything looks different than it did when you left this morning.”
When Hannah stepped into the master bedroom, she gasped. Dresser drawers were open, the bed was piled with clothing, and a suitcase with several articles of clothing inside was open on the bed. “What happened? It looks like a tornado went through here!”
“You didn’t leave it this way this morning?”
“Of course I didn’t!”
“That’s what I thought, but I had to ask. Look at the cell phone on the dresser. I need to know if it belongs to Ross.”
Hannah walked to the dresser and stared down at the iPhone sitting there. “Yes, that’s his cell phone. I have a Samsung.”
“It’s not Michelle’s is it?”
Hannah shook her head. “No. She has a Samsung, too.”
“Okay. There’s a billfold there, too. Pick it up and tell me if that’s Ross’s billfold.”
Hannah’s hands were shaking as she picked up the billfold. It was the eel skin billfold she’d bought him in Puerto Vallarta on their honeymoon. “Yes, that’s his.”
“Open it and tell me what’s inside.”
Hannah’s fingers were shaking as she opened the billfold. “His driver’s license, the photo of us taken on the ship, his blood donor card from the Red Cross, and . . .” She pulled the section for bills open and blinked in surprise. “No money?”
“There’s a key ring over on the other side. Do you recognize those keys?”
Hannah walked over to retrieve the key ring. “Yes. There’s his key for the front door at KCOW, the key to his office there, and . . . that’s all.”
“No key to the condo?”
“No. It’s not on the ring.” When Hannah turned back to face Mike, there were tears running down her face. “Tell me what this means, Mike.”
“I don’t know for sure, Hannah, but it’s not good.”
“What do you think it means?”
Mike looked as if he didn’t want to answer, and was now staring down at the floor between his feet.
Hannah walked a bit closer to him. “Tell me, Mike. I need to know.”
“Sit down.” Mike sighed, and looked up at Hannah’s face, then he pointed to the chair next to the dresser and waited until she sat down. “Every case is different, but usually, when someone leaves without their identification, their cell phone, or their car, it’s because they want to disappear for a while and they don’t want anyone to be able to find them.”
“But . . . how could someone disappear without a car or a driver’s license?”
“They use another name, an alias, usually set up in advance. And because they don’t want to be found, they don’t take any of their old identification or anything that ties them to their old life with them.”
Hannah’s whole body began to shake and she grabbed the arms of the chair to steady herself. “But . . . why would Ross want to disappear?”
“I don’t know, but I plan to find out.”
Hannah heard the determination in Mike’s voice. “You think he left me, don’t you?”