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She undressed, hanging up her suit and putting on her robe John stared at her froe of the bed, she picked it up She had better photos of him, formal pics taken in his dress uniforlistened on his tanned brow, and his face was deployment-thin under a head of unruly dark hair Dressed in tan BDUs, he laughed against the desert backdrop That was John Always looking at the bright side

If he were here right now, he’d say, You can do this, babe

“I’ I miss you,” she said to his photo

Heaviness settled over her She opened the nightstand drawer and contemplated the sealed envelope in the back No Not ready for that She closed the drawer Setting his picture on the nightstand, she eased onto the pillow

She’d taken the first, huge step toward getting her life back That would have to be enough for today

The sound of the phone ringing startled her She lifted her head, confused Her bedroolanced at the clock Just after ht She must have fallen asleep It took her a few seconds to realize it wasn’t her cell that was ringing but the house phone No one called on that line except telemarketers The caller ID read Palmer

Morgan lifted the receiver, expecting to hear the echo of a call center in the background “Hello?”

“Morgan?” a wo anxiety

“Yes,” Morgan said

“This is Evelyn Palrandmother”

Morgan sat up straighter Tessa was her occasional babysitter

“What time did Tessa leave your house?” Mrs Palmer asked

Still groggy, Morgan said, “Tessa wasn’t here tonight”

The line went quiet

Morgan propped herself on an elbow “Mrs Palmer? What happened?”

“Tessa is gone”

“What?” Morgan shifted the phone She couldn’t have heard that correctly

“We had a big fight yesterday, and she left” Mrs Palht at her friend’s house, but I called Felicity’s o to the Webers’ house”

She’d lied

“So you haven’t seen her since yesterday?” Morgan asked

“Yes” Over the connection, Mrs Pal for you every Friday night, I hoped you’d seen her Then at least we’d know she was all right”

“Tessa hasn’t babysat for an said

“So she lied about that too” Mrs Palmer went quiet

Morgan set her pillow aside and cli her robe on the bed, she rooted in her dresser drawer for a pair of jeans and a T-shirt “Have you called the police?”

“We’d thought she’d cool off and coht and she’s not here” Mrs Palmer sniffed “I’ll call the police now, but I don’t knohat they can do She’s eighteen”

“Have you tried to locate her cell phone?”

“I wouldn’t kno to do that,” Mrs Palmer said