I walked up to Emma and pulled her away from a boy she was flirting with. I told her she needed to take me home or I would make our mother come, and then she would be in big trouble for causing such an inconvenience. She was furious, but I think she secretly wanted to go home to see Hunter, to see if he really went out to meet friends or if she could engage in more warfare with him, even if it was just pulling his attention further away from Mrs. Martin.
We did not go inside the house. We were done screaming at each other and we both needed to calm down. Emma said she was going to the basement from the back door because that was where we hid our vodka and cigarettes. Emma was hoping Hunter had also left some pot there. The light was on in the kitchen, so we stopped before we got to the window. Emma peeked her head around just enough to see. I did the same from beneath her. If Mrs. Martin was in there, we would crawl past the window.
Dr. Winter
They left the Martins in a state of disbelief. Judy had come to trust Abby, which had been Abby’s plan. She had been kind to her, flattering to her. It was not hard to earn her trust this way. Abby knew what to do and what to say. And so Judy believed her. She had no reason not to.
She had tried to feign elation that her daughter had been found, but she was not able to pull it off with conviction. They could hear the commotion from outside the house as they walked to Abby’s car. Judy yelling at her husband. A door slamming.
They stood by the car, looking up at the master bedroom. The shades were drawn.
“Here we go,” Leo said.
Abby was light-headed. Her breaths were quick and short. She leaned against the door and hung her head.
“Hey”—Leo’s voice was concerned now—“it’s going to be okay.”
Abby looked up again, exhaling slowly as the wave of panic subsided. “What if I’m wrong?” she asked.
Leo shrugged; then he smiled. “What if you’re not?”
Cass
Emma and I looked in that kitchen window at the same time. And we saw the things we saw at the same time. Mrs. Martin leaned over the counter, her pants around her ankles. Hunter having sex with her from behind, his hands on her bare hips. It was indescribable, the horror we both felt, and yet we could not stop watching. Our mother was holding on to the edge of the counter with both hands. Her mouth was making a narrow, closed smile like a Cheshire cat as her body thrust back and forth into Hunter. Her eyes were wide open and staring right at us, though seeing only the darkness of night reflected from the window. As for our stepbrother, his eyes were closed. His mouth was gaping wide. He looked satisfied with himself, and I understood why he’d come home. Why he’d been treating our mother with the one thing she couldn’t stand. Indifference. He knew she would do whatever was necessary to get back the attention she had become so addicted to over the summer.
And once she did what was necessary, he would have something that would kill my sister inside—he would have Emma’s kryptonite in his arsenal.
We sat on the ground when we couldn’t watch anymore. I stared at Emma’s face, not sure what she was going to do. Cry, laugh, scream. She just sat there staring into the darkness and shaking her head. Then she took my hand and pulled me toward the basement door so we could drink and smoke and try to erase what we had just seen.
Dr. Winter
They waited in Abby’s car down the street from the top of the driveway, toward the end of the cul-de-sac, which had no outlet. A row of wild shrubs protruding from the woods hid the car from view.
They had supplies—sandwiches, chips, coffee. They were prepared to wait out the night, and the next night and the next.
Talk of the investigation got them through the first few hours. The blood found on the dock and the bow of the boat matched that of Richard Foley. Agents were interviewing employees at the major train and bus stations, and a plea had been made to the public to help find the missing couple, Emma Tanner and her daughter.
After that, the silence set in. There were many things Abby wanted to say, things about the past, her rush to judgment, how she’d shut out Leo and his family, who had been so good to her. It made sense in her heart, but when the words began to form in her head—words that could explain what she had felt when he hadn’t backed her up before, and what she felt now as he put his own career on the line for this crazy hunch—they sounded absurd and she could not bring herself to say them.
And so they sat in the darkness. Watching. Waiting.
Cass
On the night they told us Emma had been found, my mother finally lost control of herself. It had been building the whole time I had been home.
Emma would have been proud of me.
When Emma came to me in the night, she would tell me about the future. One day when we’re older, we will tell her the truth. We will tell her that she’s not that pretty and that she’s not that smart, and that she is not a good mother. We will tell her that she’s old and ugly and stupid and horrible and mean. And she will not believe us at first, but our words will eat at her like acid until there is nothing left.
When she said these things, I could feel her heart pounding so fast against me and I could feel the heat of her breath like it was coming from a fire. I could feel her scream in the night when she came to my room. And then I would feel my own heart break because nothing I could do or say could ever make it better.
On this night when my mother broke apart, I heard her and Mr. Martin fighting again. I could not make out their words except for fucking idiot! Mr. Martin yelled that a few times before their voices grew hushed, and then finally stopped. I peeked my head out and saw them as they disappeared into the mudroom, Mr. Martin pulling my mother by the elbow.
When I heard the garage door open, I ran down to the mudroom and found my mother’s keys hanging on the rack. I waited for Mr. Martin’s car to disappear down the driveway and then I took her car and followed them. I kept the lights off until we were on North Ave. Then I just stayed far enough behind so they wouldn’t notice me, although I don’t think they would have noticed an alien spaceship hovering over them that night. They were lost in their anger. Lost in their fear. Lost in the past.
Dr. Winter
“Here we go,” Leo said quietly when they saw the car pull out of the driveway. Abby started the engine and began to pull away from the brush, but then they saw the second car.
“Cass?” she said.
Leo was watching the cars begin to disappear down the road in front of them. “Just go.”
Cass
They parked at the river gorge and got out of the car. Mr. Martin was carrying a shovel in one hand and dragging my mother by the arm with the other hand. She was screaming, I don’t believe you! You’re lying to me! You’ve been lying all this time! And he was seething with anger. You’ll ruin us both! You fucking idiot!