Rick Mofina - Into the Dark

On one end table the red light of a message machine blinked like a panicked heart. Claire did not think it was her place to listen to Amber’s messages.

Right, and here I am standing in the middle of her home .

Claire continued checking the rest of the house.

In the study, files were stacked neatly on the desk. Claire thought they looked like court and divorce records, causing her to wonder if Amber had been talking to Eric again.

The laundry room, pantry and family room were fine. The smaller bedrooms and bathrooms were empty with nothing out of the ordinary. The bed was also made in the largest bedroom, although it looked a bit sloppy, as if done in a rush. On the nightstand she saw a paperback copy of Madame Bovary and a business card for Officer Les Campbell of the Alhambra Police Department.

Maybe she went back to Eric? Lord, I hope not .

Claire went to the en suite bathroom. There was a toothbrush in its holder, clean dry towels on the rack. Claire returned to the bedroom and opened the large closet to clothes and a set of luggage on the floor.

It doesn’t look as though she packed anything.

Maybe she’s had an accident and is in a hospital? Or is lying unconscious somewhere?

Something’s wrong here, I feel it.

Claire put her hands on her hips and exhaled, thinking. As she inventoried the room, she froze.

The sunlight drew her attention to something she hadn’t noticed before on the gleaming hardwood floor. She got down on her hands and knees for a closer look, drawing her face to a trail of coin-sized circles that led from the bedroom down the hall.

They were bloodred.

“Oh, God.”

Alarm rang in Claire’s ears as she reached for her cell phone.

It took several attempts to call 9-1-1 because her hands were shaking.

Alhambra, California

“Would you like more water, Claire?”

Claire was lost in the numbing fog of her thoughts while sitting in the empty meeting room of Alhambra police headquarters.

Tammy Newberg, a uniformed officer with a perky ponytail, who looked more high school senior than cop, held a glass. Tammy had been with the wave of officers to come to Amber’s house, and had been quite kind. “How are you holding up, Claire? We’re trying to get a number for you to reach your husband. We understand his trip was unexpectedly extended in Canada and we’re waiting to hear back. Is there anyone else we can call for you?”

A whirlwind had ensued in the few hours since Claire had told a 9-1-1 emergency dispatcher that Amber was missing and that she’d found blood on her bedroom floor. A young patrol officer, Claire had forgotten his name, was first to arrive. He’d kept Claire at the kitchen table while he inspected the rooms. Afterward, the officer reached for his radio and time blurred as he made more calls before taking Claire’s initial statement, careful to ask her what she’d touched.

Events then blazed by as more police arrived, including Tammy, then Tate and Campbell, the officers who’d last had contact with Amber. All of them talked to the detectives and crime scene people. Claire had overhead one officer say, “Did you look under the sheets of the bed? There’s more blood, a lot of blood.”

Oh, God, she’d thought.

A detective caught Claire’s reaction and she had then been taken outside to sit under the umbrella of the patio table. The investigators, focusing on Amber’s history with her violent estranged husband, had advised her that they would need to take a fuller statement and obtain elimination fingerprints from Claire at Alhambra police headquarters.

A yellow plastic police line was stretched across the front of the house. Claire saw kids on bicycles and neighbors on the sidewalk. She’d read the concern etched in their faces as she was escorted into an unmarked police sedan. The car cut through the city, driving Claire deeper into a state of stunned haziness as one thought screamed over and over from the far reaches of her worried mind.

Where is Amber? Where is Amber?

Now ice cubes clinked in a glass and Claire sipped the water Tammy had poured for her.

“The guys shouldn’t be much longer,” Tammy said. “I got hold of your friend Julie. She’s on her way.”

Claire thanked her.

The door opened and the two detectives, Norm Seeton and Ed Belinski, entered, then positioned their chairs.

“Okay, Claire.” Belinski undid his collar button and loosened his tie. “Let’s take it from the last time you saw Amber to where we are now.”

Claire took a breath and let it go slowly before relating all that she knew about Amber. The detectives listened with sober, poker faces, saying little, asking an occasional question as Seeton took notes. When Claire finished she asked the detectives what they were doing to find Amber.

“We’ve circulated her photo and description across L.A., the county, the state and we’ve alerted the FBI,” Belinski said.

“Is that it? What about Eric, her estranged husband?”

“Given the case history, his violation of the protection order and the assault, he’s a person of interest. We’ve issued a BOLO for him.”

“What’s a BOLO?”

“For police units to be on the lookout for him and arrest him on sight.”

“Why don’t you just question him? He’s in Sacramento?”

“He was up until two days ago. Seems no one knows where he is now. He’s missed work and is in violation of his bail conditions for not reporting. He left Amber a message on her machine.”

Guilt pricked at Claire for not doing something about Amber’s revelation of the letter Eric had written-but that had been an ethical call.

Hadn’t it?

“You have to find him.” Claire stared at nothing. “What do you think happened?”

Belinski blinked as if deciding how far to go in answering.

“Amber hasn’t reported for work for two days. Her car’s in her driveway. We’re trying to reach her relatives in Orange County. For two days there’s been no activity on Amber’s cell phone, no activity on her bank or credit cards. It doesn’t look good. We’re still processing her residence. We’ve found a substantial amount of blood on the bed, but not enough to make it clear someone died there. The alarm system’s been defeated. She’s a missing person who may have come to harm.”

“Do you think Eric took her?”

“Anything’s possible. She could have hurt herself. She could have fled and could be hiding. Maybe she’s been in an accident and is in a hospital. She could’ve been taken against her will. Everything seems to have stopped after her last phone call to her in-laws in Sacramento.”

Claire covered her face, swallowed air and took a deep calming breath. The detectives gave her a moment before it was broken by the vibration of Seeton’s phone.

“Your friend’s here for you,” he said.

As Claire collected herself and her bag, Belinski passed her his card.

“Call us if Amber contacts you. Or you come across any new information about her or Eric-anything.”

Officer Newberg took Claire to the reception area where Julie consoled her with a hug before they walked to Julie’s car.

It was dusk.

“I can’t go home yet,” Claire said. “Can we just drive?”

They drove across the city and north along the coast. Claire knew her friend had a lot of questions but appreciated Julie letting her have the quiet. When they passed Malibu, they stopped at a roadside diner where Julie ordered a salad. Claire wasn’t hungry.

“I’m so sorry for what happened,” Julie said. “If there’s anything I can do to help, tell me.”

Claire thanked her.