Page 21 of She Didn't See It Coming
“Maybe she was just very good at keeping them,” Jayne suggests gently.
Paige replies, “Bryden didn’t keep any secrets from me, and I didn’t keep anything from her.”
“What can you tell me about her marriage?” Jayne asks.
“I know that Bryden and Sam are good together. They’re happy.” She adds, “Neither one of them would ever cheat.”
But she’s glancing away and to the left as she says it. Jayne finds that interesting. It’s an indication of a lie.
Now Paige is meeting her eyes again. “Sam had nothing to do with her going missing, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“What about admirers?” Jayne presses. “Maybe Bryden isn’t interested in other men, but maybe someone is interested in her? Did she ever mention anything like that?”
Paige shakes her head, “No, I’m sorry. She didn’t.”
Kilgour asks, “Did she ever mention anyone here in the condo building—anyone she had a problem with, or who made her feel uncomfortable?”
Paige answers, “She’s never mentioned anyone making her feel uncomfortable. She likes it here. And other than Angela, she didn’t really know anyone in the condo, except to say hello to, you know? There aren’t many young families living here.”
Paige’s cell phone rings and she quickly reaches for it and shuts it off.
“What about people at work,” Kilgour asks. “Did she mention anyone there particularly?”
Paige shakes her head. “She likes everybody at her office, as far as I know. I can’t think of any problems there either.” She adds, “Honestly, I’m as much at a loss as you are.”
They talk a while longer, but Paige has nothing useful to impart. Jayne gives Paige her card and lets her go, asking her to please call if she remembers anything that might be helpful.
Not long after that, Jayne and Kilgour leave the apartment. As soon as they’re in the elevator, Jayne says, “I think she was lying, about the cheating.”
“That’s what I thought,” Kilgour agrees.
“She said, ‘Neither one of them would ever cheat.’ So who do you think Paige thinks is cheating—Bryden or Sam?”
“Could be either, or both.”
She nods. “Everyone is painting a perfect picture here. But I’m not buying it. A woman is missing, and there’s got to be a reason.”
“Shall we talk to her again? Push her a bit more?” Kilgour suggests.
“Yes. But before we start hammering the inner circle hard, I want to search the building again, with the K-9 unit.”
13
Donna is waiting in her daughter’s condo, telling herself that Bryden walked out that door yesterday of her own free will and that she’ll come back at any moment, with some completely reasonable explanation, something simple that none of them have thought of. Like she went for a walk and fainted—maybe she’s pregnant, she fainted a bit with Clara—and hit her head and someone helped her but didn’t take her to the hospital because she didn’t have any ID, and just took her home to take care of her and as soon as she’s over her concussion she’ll remember her phone number and call them and they’ll all just laugh in relief.
But then the facts intrude—she would have taken her keys and her phone with her if she’d gone out for a walk, and her keys and phone are here. There’s always some fact that gets in the way of these fantasies. But they are the only thing sustaining her right now.
She spoke to Bryden a little over a week ago. Now that she thinks of it, she didn’t speak to her this past Sunday, like she usually does.Should she have mentioned that to the detectives? But Bryden doesn’t call every Sunday. She could ask Sam what they were doing Sunday, around dinnertime. Maybe they were busy.
But the last time she spoke to her daughter, the week before, everything was fine. She seemed her usual self. A little worried about Clara—she’s such a sensitive child—but nothing unusual about that. Donna is worried about Clara now. What will happen to her if she doesn’t get her mother back? But she can’t let herself think that way. She can’t bear the thought of losing her daughter, and the idea of her granddaughter losing her mother at the tender age of three is even worse.
Sam wouldn’t be able to cope on his own, she thinks. He’s a good father, Bryden always said so, and it looks that way to her, but Bryden is the more hands-on parent by far. But it’s so often like that, she thinks. The mother doing most of the childcare. That’s the way it was for her, although she knows dads are expected to do more these days. She thinks Sam should be more careful about what Clara is exposed to right now. She’s grateful that Angela is able to take her when the police are here, so that Clara doesn’t hear things she shouldn’t. But maybe she’s being unfair. Sam’s a mess, it’s obvious. What could be worse for a man than to lose his wife and the mother of his child? And he loves her, they all know that.
She glances at her watch. She still wears a watch although most people these days just seem to look at their phone all the time. It’s almost five o’clock, time to start thinking about supper for everyone. Paige has already left. Lizzie and she will figure it out together. Thank goodness for Lizzie.
She leaves Jim in the living room staring at the floor and enters the kitchen to find Sam and Lizzie, heads together in quiet conversation. She seems to have interrupted something because they look up guiltily.
“What is it?” she asks uneasily.
