Page 12 of Twice Missing
"What?"
"I caught the last one back at Kerri's home."
"It's not a dig if it's true."
"Cut me some slack. I'm doing the best I can," Noah said, frustration creeping into his voice. "You wait, if you make it through police college…"
"If?" Mia's tone sharpened.
"There is the chance?—"
"You still don't believe I can do it, do you?"
"I never said that."
Without another word, Mia grabbed her mug and left the room. Noah called after her, "Mia. C'mon. I didn'tmean it like that." He groaned, realizing he'd put his foot in his mouth once again.
Noah knew the statistics. Many aspiring officers never made it through police college, not just due to academic failure, but because the reality of the job didn't match their expectations. Some days, Noah felt more like a glorified pen pusher than a crime-fighting hero, spending more time on paperwork than catching criminals.
As the silence settled over the house, Noah's thoughts drifted back to the Carter case. The discovery of Emily's body after all these years would undoubtedly stir up old wounds and raise new questions. He thought about Nathan Carter, working at his motel, unaware that his life was about to be upended once again.
Then there was Ed's uncharacteristic outburst. Who were the woman and child? What had caused such a heated argument? In a small community like theirs, personal dramas had a way of intersecting with professional investigations. Noah made a mental note to check on Ed again, when tempers had cooled.
For now, though, exhaustion was winning out over curiosity. Noah forced himself up from the chair, his body protesting every movement. He made his way to his bedroom, pausing briefly outside Mia's closed door. He considered knocking, trying to smooth things over, but decided against it. Sometimes, space was the best solution.
As he turned to head to his own room, a soft voice called out, "Dad."
Noah glanced back to see Ethan inside his dark room,the glow of his phone illuminating his face. Noah entered, standing at the doorway.
"Yeah?"
"Did she die like mom?"
The question hit Noah like a punch to the gut. He swallowed hard and moved to sit on the edge of Ethan's bed. "What are you talking about?"
Ethan's eyes, so much like his mother's, looked up at Noah with a mixture of curiosity and fear. "Mia was saying that the Carter woman was found in her truck beneath the ice. Mom was found in water. Did someone kill Emily like they did mom?"
It never got any easier. In some ways, Noah wished he'd told them a lie, that their mother had simply drowned. But he'd refused to shield them from the truth, knowing they would eventually discover it on their own. Both of his children were smart, a trait they'd inherited from their mother — or as Hugh would say, from the Sutherland side of the family. Though at times, Noah wasn't too sure about that.
"I don't know," Noah admitted, his voice soft. "But I plan to find out."
Ethan sat up straighter, his brow furrowed. "Do you think Aiden was responsible for her death too?"
"For Emily? No."
"But you can't be sure."
Noah hesitated, caught off guard by his son's perceptiveness. "I..." he stumbled for a second over his words. "Listen, these are matters for me to dwell on, not you. C'mon. Turn off your phone. Get studying. Back to school tomorrow."
Ethan complied, sending the room into darkness as he shut off his phone. Noah leaned in, kissing his son's forehead before heading out.
"Oh, Dad."
"Yes, Ethan."
"We need to go Christmas shopping."
And like that he could switch away from something so traumatic to something so normal.
