Lisa Gardner - The Neighbor

“So,” she said briskly, moving to the front of the classroom, where he imagined she felt most comfortable. “Phil announced this morning that Sandy has been missing since Wednesday night. He said the police aren’t sure what happened. No one has any leads.”

“I was covering a fire Wednesday night,” Jason supplied. “When I returned home around two, Ree was sleeping in her room, but the rest of the house was empty. Sandy’s purse and cell phone were in the kitchen. Her car was still in the driveway. But there was no sign of my wife.”

“My God.” Elizabeth staggered back a step, then braced herself against the side of her desk, her hands trembling noticeably. “When Phil announced it this morning, it was hard to take seriously. I mean, Sandy, of all people. I figured it was some kind of mistake. A miscommunication, maybe even a fight between the two of you.” She eyed him boldly. “You’re a young couple. Sometimes young couples need time to cool off.”

“She wouldn’t have left Ree,” he said simply.

The woman sagged again. “No,” she murmured. “Quite right. She would never have left Ree.” She sighed again, seemed to pull herself together. “Phil arranged for grief counselors for the kids and staff. There are protocols for these kinds of things, you know. We held a small assembly, got the news out. Better for the kids to hear it from us than from the rumor mill.”

“What did he say?”

“Just that Mrs. Jones was missing, that everyone was working really hard to find her, and if the kids had any questions, they should feel free to talk to their teachers. The police are doing everything in their power, and he hoped to have good news shortly, etc., etc.”

“I understand they are organizing a search party for tomorrow, meeting in the gymnasium.”

She gave him a look. “Are you going to help?”

“I’m not sure the police would welcome my efforts. I’m the husband, you know, the default person of interest.”

Elizabeth continued to regard him evenly, which he took as a hint.

Grieving husband, grieving husband. He spread his hands, looked down at them.

“I don’t know what happened,” he murmured. “I went to work as a husband and father, and I returned to a nightmare. Did someone abduct my wife? There is no sign of breaking and entering. Did she run off with some other guy? I can’t imagine her leaving Ree. Did she just need some time away to think? I hope and I pray, Elizabeth. I hope and I pray.”

“Then I will do the same.”

He took a shaky breath, into it now, needing to complete his mission. “We are a young couple,” he stated. “It’s not easy, juggling two jobs and a small child. I would understand if Sandy was unhappy. I could see that maybe she would be drawn to someone else.”

Elizabeth didn’t say anything, merely continued to regard him coolly.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said hastily. “If she needs time to breathe, hell, even if she’s found someone else… I can deal with that, Elizabeth. I will have to deal with that. I just want her back. If not for me, then at least for Ree.”

“You think she met someone,” Elizabeth said bluntly. “And you think she told me about it.”

He went with the helpless shrug. “Women talk.”

“Not your wife,” she informed him sharply. “And not with me.”

“Then with whom? Last I knew, you were her closest friend.”

Elizabeth sighed again, breaking off eye contact to glance instead at the clock. He found himself clenching his stomach, as if steeling for a blow. She would only look away for one reason-because she had something to say.

“Look, I respected Sandy a great deal,” Elizabeth began. “She’s an excellent teacher. Patient with the children, but also… steady. You don’t see a lot of that in young teachers these days. Especially the females. They bring their personal dramas to work, and maybe that gives them a certain cachet with the students, but it doesn’t buy them brownie points with the staff. Sandy was different. She was always composed, always reliable. I can’t picture her sitting around and gossiping with anyone, including me. Besides, when would she have the time?”

Jason nodded, dealing with that stumbling block himself. The simplest explanation for Sandy’s disappearance, of course, was another man. She’d run off with a lover, or she’d taken a lover who’d suffered a change of heart.

“Don’t do this. I still love you. Please…”

But Jason didn’t know how such a thing could’ve happened. So his wife took a “spa” break every six to nine months? He understood he did not meet all of her needs as a husband. But it was only a couple of nights a year. Surely, even a woman as attractive as Sandy couldn’t forge a relationship out of two nights a year.

“After school?” he murmured.

Elizabeth shook her head. “Sandy lingered only for staff meetings. Then she was out the door to pick up Ree, with whom I presume she spent most of her nights.”

Jason nodded. Aside from Sandy’s spa breaks, her afternoons and evenings were dominated by caring for Ree. And as he could attest from the past forty-eight hours, a four-year-old made an excellent chaperone.

“Lunch?” he tried.

“It would only work if the other man was a fellow teacher, and they found a broom closet,” Elizabeth said dubiously.

“What about the male teachers?”

“I never noticed her fraternizing with anyone in particular, male or female. When Sandy was here, she was about her students.”

“Free period, open period, what do they call it these days?”

“Every teacher has one free period,” she explained for him. “Most of us spend it grading papers, or preparing ourselves for later classes, though there’s nothing that says Sandy couldn’t have left the grounds. Though, now that I think about it…”

She hesitated, eyed him again.

“Starting in September, Sandy took on a special project. She was working with one of the eighth-graders, Ethan Hastings, on a teaching module.”

“A teaching module?”

“For his computer science class, Ethan was supposed to design a beginner’s guide to the Internet, which would be tested out on the sixth grade social studies class. Hence, Sandy’s involvement. The project ended months ago, but I still see the two of them huddled together in the computer lab. I had the impression from Sandy that Ethan is now working on something bigger and she was continuing to help him out.”

“Sandy… and a student?” Jason couldn’t wrap his brain around it. It was inconceivable.

Elizabeth arched a brow. “No,” she said firmly. “One, because young and pretty or not, I would never assume such a lack of professionalism from Sandy Jones. And two, well, if you saw Ethan Hastings, you’d understand point two. What I’m trying to tell you is that Sandy had only one free period each day, and hers was occupied.”

Jason nodded slowly, looking down at the floor, scuffing his toe. There was something here, though. He had to believe there was something here, if only because it was better than his other options.

“What about Thursday nights?” he asked abruptly. “When Sandy and Ree came to see the basketball games?”

“What about them?”

“Did she sit in the same place? Maybe beside the same guy? Perhaps she met someone during those nights, a fellow parent.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “I don’t know, Jason. I never noticed. But then, I haven’t made it to many of the games this season.” She gestured to her silvered hair. “I’m a grandma now, can you believe it? My daughter had her first child in November. I’ve spent most of my Thursday nights rocking my grandson, not sitting courtside. Though I can tell you who would know about Thursday nights. The basketball team picked up a new statistician for the season: Ethan Hastings.”