CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

It wasn’t Kyle, it was Peter Burns, Chief of Police and a long-time friend to both. Peter walked in, came over and sat next to Megan. He was a large man in his early forties, almost six feet two, with dark brown hair, brown eyes. Peter was methodical, smart and stable. He balanced Officer Doting’s hot nature and had stayed close from the beginning of this nightmare. It had been good having him here.

Megan and Peter had known each other for years. She and Kyle had been friendly with Peter and his wife, who he’d lost to cancer last fall. They’d all volunteered at community functions. Peter’s son Alan played with Megan’s daughter Mallory after school.

“How you doing?” he said to Megan as he sat beside her on the coach.

Officer Doting walked back into the room, interrupting.

“We’re coming to the end of this round of question,” he said to Peter. “But it’s not working. It doesn’t play.”

Chief Burns looked at him calmly. “It’s going to take time for things to fall into place.”

“And time’s something we’re running out of fast,” Officer Doting said, rubbing his big hands on his legs. Then he stood up. “I’m going to check back at the station now. You been there recently? New leads coming in?”

“Calls are coming all the time,” said Peter, matter of factly.

“Thrill seekers,” Officer Doting muttered. “No one, so far, knows a damn.” Then he turned his back to both of them. “You take care of her while I’m gone.”

Megan was surprised. “The last thing I thought he cared about was taking care of me,” she said.

“Of course he cares, but he’s got a job to do,” Peter said quietly. “He’s become the public face for the case and people out there are waiting for answers.”

Megan appreciated Peter’s quiet ways. They calmed her down, made her feel that the entire world hadn’t gone completely haywire.

“How’s Mallory doing?” Peter asked softly.

Megan appreciated that someone cared about her daughter as well as her.

“She misses her father,” Megan said.

Peter put his hand on Megan’s shoulder for a moment.

“Of course she does,” he said kindly.

“It’s awful to watch,” said Megan, her stomach twisting into a knot again. The toll this took on Mallory hurt most of all.

“I know how hard it is to see the kids in pain,” Peter answered, then becoming silent for a moment.

He dealt with the same thing every day with his son, Megan realized. Peter had been a single father since his wife had died, only nine months ago.

“I’m sorry, Peter,” Megan said softly, “it must be terrible for you, too.”

“It is,” said Peter, appreciating her warmth. “But terrible becomes something you learn to live with. You get used to things, Megan.”

Megan looked at him through startled eyes.

“I’ll never get used to something like this,” she murmured, “never.”

Megan had grown up here in a world that was simple and beautiful. The homes were made of wood grown in the region, blending into the natural habitat. One gorgeous season followed another. People became friends, arguments got settled, difficulties didn’t get exaggerated. The world was natural, it followed an order, made sense. But nothing about Kyle’s disappearance fit. It was as if a storm had come turning over a huge boulder, leaving a gaping hole in the earth that anyone could fall into.

“I want you to talk to me off the record,” Peter said in a hushed town. “We’re alone for the moment.”

Megan closed her eyes. “What more can I tell you? I’ve told everyone everything.”

“There’s always more,” he eased the pressure up gently. “There’s always one little detail you never thought was important that can unlock something big,”

Megan seat up straighter on the sofa. “What do you want to know?” she asked, drawing on her last ounce of endurance.

“I want to know what you don’t even realize you know. The answers are waiting inside you.”

Megan shivered and brushed her hair back from her forehead. It felt tangled and sticky, from the heat.

“It’s so hot, too hot, Kyle hated the heat,” Megan said as the large fan on the ceiling kept that whirring, moving the thick, humid air around. “Kyle had loved that fan. He installed it himself. He loved his home. Tell me what you’re after and I’ll tell you what I can.”

“This may be uncomfortable,” Peter started. “Don’t take it personally.”

Megan turned sharply and looked at him.

“Nothing is more uncomfortable than what I’m going through now. Go ahead, ask me!”

“You were the last one to see Kyle alive,” Peter started, looking down at the papers in his lap. “What did he say to you before he walked out of the door?”

Megan’s mind started spinning. She couldn’t actually remember.

“I’m not sure.”

“Think about it.”

“He said have a good day.”

“That’s it? Where were you? In the kitchen? At the door with him? Did you kiss him good bye?”

Megan clenched. No, she hadn’t kissed him good bye. It wasn’t part of their early morning routine. She didn’t kiss him hello either, when he returned from work.

“I was in Mallory’s room, getting her dressed for school. Kyle had his coffee and then peeked into her room before he walked to the door. Is something wrong with that?” Megan began to feel uneasy.

“He didn’t say I love you?” Peter pressed on a bit.

Megan sat up straighter. “Not at that moment. He was on his way to work. He had other things on his mind.” For a second she wanted to ask Peter if he had said I love you to his wife every morning, but thought better of it.

“What about when you both woke up? Did he say I love you then?” Peter pursued it.

“What are you getting at, Peter?”

“What was going on between the two you in the marriage?” Peter was forthright. “Really?”

Megan took a deep, excruciating breath. “That again.”

“No, not that again,” said Peter. “I’m not looking for the party line. Tell me, truly.”

“We were fine. We were happy. Things were normal.”

“What’s normal?” Peter looked at her from beneath furrowed brows. “I know he spent lots of time on the weekend with his guy friends, tennis, swimming, hockey, running.”

Megan’s eyes grew wide. “That’s the way it was from the beginning of our marriage. We were accustomed to it. He was happy with that.”

“And you?”

Peter was trying to get her to tell him that she was lonely, that Kyle was gone too much, he didn’t really meet her needs. But it hadn’t been like that. She worked all week teaching fourth grade and enjoyed the time she had to herself with Mallory and with her friends. She enjoyed hiking along the trails near the river on the weekends, collecting wood, pine combs, rocks and leaves for the collages she loved to make. Megan had started making these collages when she was young, collecting all kinds of scraps and pasting them together in unusual patterns. She even thought she would be an art major one day. But, Megan chose not to leave Tom’s River for college but stay local and become a teacher instead. She loved teaching the kids and they loved her as well.

“I wasn’t lonely in my marriage,” Megan finally said to Peter. “I was settled, content.”

He looked at her oddly and Megan wondered if he’d found something out he wasn’t telling her.

“Weren’t you living two parallel lives?” Peter continued. “He had his world, you had yours?”

“I never thought of it that way.”

“Did you love him, Megan?”

She wasn’t going to let these questions rock her world. She wasn’t going to begin to wonder what their love was or what it could have been.

“Of course I loved him.” Actually, all these years, she hadn’t thought much about it. It was just understood, always there, like the lining of a coat you wore that kept you warm. You didn’t pick up the coat and keep looking at the lining.

“How about your sex life? Did it go well?”

Megan wondered what Peter really had on his mind. Her face got red and she ran her hands through her tangled hair. In the beginning, of course their sex life was new, exciting. But then life took its course. Now it was ordinary, natural. After so many years she didn’t think about passion. There were times it was better, other times disappointing, routine. Sometimes it became something to get over with, for both of them. She’d figured it was that way with all married couples as the years went by. She and Kyle didn’t talk about it. There was no reason to.

“It was okay,” she said to Peter nonchalantly, “about par for the course. Not better or worse than anyone else. Are you wondering if Kyle took off with another woman?”

“We have to cover all bases,” Peter said. “That’s a common reason guys disappear. They start getting hungry.”

“Because they’re not getting enough at home?” Megan felt the heat of anger rise.

“Because the fire dies out,” Peter said sadly, as if he knew what he was talking about.

Megan was offended. “You think that’s why Kyle disappeared? Because I didn’t give him what he needed. That’s ridiculous. I can assure you he didn’t run away with anyone. He wasn’t a ladies man. It was the last thing in the world he cared much about. He loved sports, his daughter, his gun collection. Did you know he was an avid gun collector?”

“No, I didn’t.” Peter wrote it down. “How about finances?”

“We were fine,” Megan said. “I already told them.”

“He had a twin brother who recently died?” Peter said then, from out of nowhere.

“About a year ago,” Megan said slowly, surprised that Peter was bringing him up now. “It hurt Kyle a lot. How did you find out?”

“We’re digging into everything,” Peter looked at her keenly.

“His brother lived in Chicago, near the father. Kyle’s mother died when he was in college. She never saw him get married. His father re-married and moved to a suburb of Chicago and Kyle’s twin brother moved close to him. He never married either, just worked in the family business and invested his money well. He and Kyle stayed close, they talked all the time. Then, his brother died young too. A sudden heart attack, like the mother. Family genes, I guess.”

“How did Kyle handle it?”

“Shocked at first, sad, troubled. He got quiet for about a month or so. Kyle wasn’t the kind to dwell on problems or talk about his feelings. I brought it up sometimes and he just said, that’s how life goes. Little by little he came back to himself again.”

“Where is Kyle’s father now? How’s he holding up?”

“He’s coming for the vigil this Saturday,” Megan said. A vigil was being planned for Saturday evening, candles, prayers, pleas for Kyle’s safe return. “He’ll stay here at the house with us.”

“Good, I’ll need to talk to him as soon as he gets here,” Peter said.

“Of course,” said Megan.

Peter looked at her slowly. “You have a lot on your plate. You have to stay strong.”

“I am strong,” Megan said sharply. At the moment she said it, she realized it was true. And, she’d actually had no idea at all where this strength was coming from, how she was bearing up so well.

“I mean very strong,” Peter hung his head for a moment. “We’re not sure yet what we’re looking at. It could be we have a missing person’s case. Or –.”

“Kyle could be dead,” Megan said.

“You’re going to have to accept the possibility,” Peter spoke quietly.

“I will not!” Megan defied him, her eyes steaming with a mixture of anger and pain. She got up off the couch and stood tall, like a mountain, defying the pull of gravity. “I will never accept that Kyle is dead. He was too young to die, there’s no reason for it.” Megan’s heart beat faster. “He’s alive. I know it. And nothing you can say will change my mind.”

When Kyle’s father, Edward, arrived the next day, he walked through the front door which had been left open and let himself in. Then he put his straw, summer hat on the table alongside the door. Kyle’s father never traveled without wearing a hat. He was a finely groomed man, slender, considerate and successful, who said little and thought a great deal.

“Any one home?” Edward walked a few steps into the house and called out loud.

Immediately a flurry of activity greeted him. Mallory came running out of the kitchen, followed by Megan’s mother. Mallory wanted to see her grandpa. He immediately bent down, lifted her up, and hugged her. Then he looked around, almost as if he expected to see Kyle there too.

Megan stepped closer welcome him. It was strange for Megan to see Kyle’s dad here, without Kyle around.

He put Mallory down then, and she ran back into the kitchen.

Megan, her mother and Edward stood there looking at each other for a long moment. Then they went to the couch to sit down. Not a word had been said yet about Kyle’s disappearance, when the front door opened and someone else came in.

Megan’s mom jumped up startled, “Who can that be now?”

Megan had forgotten to mention that Peter Burns would be coming, wanted to talk to Edward, too.

Before Megan had a chance to say a word, he simply walked into the room. Peter had gone home and freshened up and looked vigorous and attractive. Both her mother and Edward stared at him.

“This is Chief of Police Peter Burns,” Megan said to her father in law.

“Sorry to interrupt the gathering,” said Peter, “but I appreciate the opportunity to talk to Kyle’s dad. Hope it’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” Kyle’s father half stood up off the sofa.

Megan’s mom got up, as if she were planning to go.

“I’d prefer you stay,” Peter said to her, “you may have something to add to the conversation as well.”

“I doubt I have anything to say that could be of help,” Megan’s mom’s voice got thin. She couldn’t bear facing trouble head on.

“Just stay,” Edward chimed in, then turning his attention to Peter.

Peter sat on a wooden chair opposite them all, then turned directly to Edward.

“Tell me all you can about Kyle,” Peter started.

Edwards face turned pale. “Well, that’s a tall order. There’s a whole life to tell. What exactly do you want to know?”

“Anything you can think of. Whatever you tell me from a father’s point of view may be able shed light on what happened. Were you two close?”

“Reasonably close,” said Edward. “We went through stages, like all fathers and sons. Of course, once he married and settled down, we drifted a little.”

“You’re married to a second wife, aren’t you?” asked Peter.

“Yes, I am,” Edward seemed uneasy. “What has that got to do with anything? Kyle’s mother died when he was young. I was alone a few years and then re-married. Kyle got along well enough with my new wife. His twin brother Sean was closer to her though. Sean never had girlfriends. He stayed close to home and moved to the town I live in.”

“Was Kyle close to the twin brother?” Peter kept probing.

“Very,” said Edward. “They were close their whole life long. It was a great blow to Kyle when Sean died so suddenly last year.”

The entire room grew silent. The specter of death hung over them again now, an unspoken possibility that began to loom larger.

“Sean did of a heart attack, suddenly,” Edward continued. “I never saw Kyle as distressed as during the funeral. He kept pacing back and forth in the living room, banging his fists on his chest.”

Megan had no memory of that. She had stayed outside in the garden after the funeral, speaking to others. Kyle had rushed off, wanting to be alone.

Peter seemed taken aback by that piece of information. “Did you feel Kyle wanted to do himself harm?” he asked.

“No, nothing like that,” said Edward, “not at all! He was just distressed. Understandably so. It was his twin brother, they were always close, had business dealings together. Kyle did say some strange things at the funeral, though. Fantasies, he was prone to them.”

“What did he say?” asked Peter.

“Said he always knew Sean would die young. Gave me the shivers too, when he said it. Guess it was a secret fear of his.”

Megan shuddered, she didn’t remember his saying it. This was not the Kyle she knew.

“And, when the will was read,” Edward continued, “we learned that Sean left everything he had to Kyle. It was quite a lot, too. You’d have thought Kyle would have been happy about it, but it upset him all the more.”

“What?” said Megan. She felt as though the wind were knocked out of her. She had no idea that Kyle’s brother had left him money. “Would you repeat that please?” she asked in a shocked tone.

“Sean left Kyle his fortune,” said Edward.

Megan’s palms grew sweaty. Kyle must have had his own private bank account where he kept the money. Why wouldn’t he have told her? It didn’t make sense.

“You didn’t know about the inheritance?” Peter was quick on the uptake.

“I had no idea,” said Megan, feeling weak.

“Well, that’s odd,” said Edward. “I was certain you had that information. Kyle received a small fortune from his brother. He didn’t leave me a cent though.”

“This is important,” said Peter. “It adds a new twist. Kyle could easily have taken off of his own free will then, and supported himself with this cash.”

“Or someone could have wanted him killed for the money,” Edward piped up.

“Sordid, sordid,” Megan’s mother babbled.

“What’s sordid about it?” Edward took exception.

“It’s not like Kyle not to let us know about an inheritance!” she insisted.

“Was somebody blackmailing him?” Edward burst out.

“Of course they weren’t!” Megan’s mother was horrified. “Kyle was a good man. He was good to Megan and Mallory. I don’t want you painting all kinds of dark pictures of him, Edward.”

Edward stood up stiffly and stared at her. “What kind of dark pictures? I didn’t come here for a party, I came for a vigil, I came to be helpful. I’m giving you facts and I want my son found, dead or alive!”