“That’s what his name tag said,” she says, shrugging as she walks away.
When Cara is out of sight, I step in and instead of going to my bike I open one of the boxes holding Claire’s clothes. I pick up a pink dress with ruffles on the bottom. I’d like to think I remember her wearing this, but I don’t. I bring it to my nose and inhale deeply, imagining the sweet smell of my baby girl. I know it doesn’t smell like Claire, or a baby, but I’m telling myself it does because I need to believe I’m going to find her. I need to have faith that this Amy Jones is going to be or know where my wife is. I put the dress down and pick up a pair of socks, putting them in my pocket. If I can’t have my daughter with me right now, I’ll carry a piece of something she used to wear. It’s stupid, I know, but I need it.
My bike looks clean even though there’s a layer of dust on it. I find a rag and wipe it down before climbing on. She feels good between my legs—it doesn’t feel like I haven’t been on her for six years. I think about starting her up, but would rather do it out in the open. Pushing the kickstand back and dropping into neutral, I roll out until I’m in the middle of the alley.
After closing the storage door, I hop back on and make my way to the front office where Cara is. She’s standing by her car, talking on her phone, which reminds me to call Marley. I pull out the cell phone Evan gave me and dial her number. It rings and rings until her voicemail comes on.
“Marley, it’s McCoy. Call me. I think I found something.” I decide not to leave any details because I’m still fearful that she’s being watched, although if Frannie is hounding the storage owner, she can’t be messing with Marley. I wouldn’t put it past Frannie to have a fucking team of assholes working for her though.
The gate opens, allowing me to take my bike through. By the smile on Cara’s face, she approves that I’m on it.
“Have you started it up yet?”
“No, I was waiting until I was out here. If I need a tow truck this area is accessible. Plus, I left the key in the car. Did you get what you needed from Buzz?”
Pulling out her notebook, Cara nods. “I just verified what he said earlier and I asked him about the tags on your motorcycle. He says they came from the DMV every year. I asked him how he knew to put them on and he said the last time he saw Penelope, she asked him to take care of the bike and only let you in there.”
“So he recognized me?”
“Yeah, he must’ve. Did you call your PI?”
This time I’m the one nodding. “Left a message to have her call me.”
“It’s a good lead, McCoy. Come on, let’s go get some food. I’m starving.”
After I get the key out of the red box I hop back on my motorcycle and turn the key, engage the clutch, and push down on the kick-start. She roars to life underneath me, and for the first time in I don’t know how long, I’m smiling. This is a small step, but it’s monumental one.
IT’S BEEN A few days since my blackout, and thankfully Ray seems to have forgotten about it and so has Adam. He hasn’t said anything the last couple of times he’s been in the store and for that I’m thankful. I couldn’t quite figure out why Ray was so sour about my blackout until I went to work the next day and everyone was asking if I was okay. If I was being asked here, then that means Ray was being asked at work and he likely didn’t want to take attention away from his students. Plus, hearing your wife is blacking out is probably cause for concern. I can’t really blame him.
Of course the day after the blackout, which let’s be honest was really my mind going elsewhere, I didn’t get any work done. The store was full of concerned neighbors and citizens; even the town’s resident doctor stopped by to make sure I was okay. It was overwhelming and I’m hoping it’s now behind us. I don’t want to be treated with kid gloves or have people staring at me, wondering if it’s going to happen again. That day with Adam was an isolated incident.
I thought about taking a few days off, but that would only prove to be troublesome for me. Being alone in my house with my thoughts with nothing to occupy my time would defeat the purpose of forgetting about everything and that’s what I need to do, forget.