“I forgot about them until Tucker asked if I was sure Penny missed his funeral.”
Ryley lifts the lid, and I have to fight my instincts to yank the box away from her to look at the contents myself. Ryley pulls out four stacks of photos, each one tied in navy blue ribbon. It only takes her a second to grab the stack she’s looking for. Everything she’s doing is painstaking slow and hidden from my view. Evan isn’t watching either as his eyes are focused on the wall in front of him. It’s fucking morbid to see pictures from your own funeral, and if I didn’t know any better I’d think I’m having an out of body experience.
“Years ago I’d say these are the images from your funeral. I don’t remember Penny or Claire being there, but I don’t remember much from those first few days. She’s not in the pictures here.” She hands me the stack and I take them without breaking eye contact with her. I don’t want to see what’s on them because the heartbreak of knowing my wife wasn’t at my funeral is a lot to bear. I should look because there may be a clue in one of the photos. Not that I’d know what I’m looking for.
“Who took my flag?” I ask as I thumb through each picture. I have very little family, having been raised by my grandmother. I got word while deployed that she had died and that Penny had followed her wishes for cremation. Sitting here now I don’t even know if that’s true or not.
“I don’t know,” Ryley says, shaking her head. “I don’t remember. I’m sorry, Tucker.” She sets her hand on my wrist and gives it a squeeze.
I nod, letting her know it’s okay even though she realizes none of this is far from being all right. I’m not sure any of us will ever feel normal again, or feel like we don’t have to watch our backs.
“Do you know anything about my grandmother?” I ask, hoping that Ryley may know something.
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“While we were deployed, Penny … Frannie wrote, well typed a letter saying that she had died. Knowing what we know about the lies, I guess I’m wondering if that’s even true.”
“I don’t. Frannie really never discussed you or Justin, once we buried you guys. After a while we stopped talking about you all together. It was too hard.”
Evan stands and starts pacing. His hands are pulling at the ends of his hair and he’s muttering to himself. There’s something on his mind, but he’s not ready to tell us about it yet. I’ve seen this from him before.
“Evan?” Ryley says his name only for him to hold up his hand. When he finally drops it, it’s a pissed off Evan Archer staring back at me.
“What?” I question, eager to know what he’s thinking.
“We have to find Frannie.”
“Isn’t she dead?” It’s more of a statement than fact. I think we’re all hoping she’s alive, but we don’t know.
He shakes his head. “I don’t believe she is and she has all the answers. She knows where Penny and Claire are.”
I stand slowly as I match his posture.
“Frannie sent you pictures of Claire. Hell, she sent you report cards with teacher’s comments. She’s either a fucking whiz on the computer with age progression, has some really deep ties, or knows where your wife is and is able to get pictures of Claire. I give Frannie a lot of credit, but she assumed the lives of so many people, writing out comments about Claire and not repeating herself would be almost impossible.”
As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. Frannie is the key, which ties everything together. But if the Feds haven’t found her, how will I? My resources are that of a gnat.
“Babe, did Frannie ever take vacations while we were gone?” Evan asks Ryley, who is now standing right along with us.
“Yes, although I don’t know if they’re vacations. But every couple of weeks she’d disappear, it was odd.”
“How so?” I ask.
“Well, it was like this … each day she’d come over for coffee or be there when I’d have a doctor’s appointment. Every couple of nights we’d have dinner, go to the movie, or do game night with Nate and Cara when they were still together. And then she’d say things like she’s going to visit her sister and niece, but when you went to her house there were never any pictures of anyone besides her and River. I know not everyone is like me and has pictures of their family everywhere, but I found it odd. And her sister never came to visit either, especially after River’s funeral.”
“That’s because she was probably visiting Penny and Claire,” Evan blurts out before I can get the words out of my mouth.
“I’m thinking the same thing, and if that’s the case, how do we find Frannie?” I ask, ready to do whatever I have to.
“I don’t think it’s a question of finding her, but drawing her out. I have a feeling she’s close by. The sociopath part of her wants to know what we’re doing. She had control over everyone’s lives for so long that she won’t be able to let go.” Evan seems so sure that it’s hard for me to doubt him.