Page 38 of Circle of Strangers
“Just a nosy neighbor,” I say with a small smile, trying to keep things light. In all seriousness, I add, “And someone who has a keen way of observing things about people. I notice things most people don’t. Since I don’t know either of you that well, I was hoping you could fill in some blanks. Maybe I’ll be able to add a more objective angle to all of this for you. Or I can at least try.”
He huffs, shaking his head. “Sorry. That was a dick thing to say.”
Staring into his empty glass, he’s lost in thought for a moment. Then his lips press flat. “I think she was talking to someone else.”
The knot in my stomach grows painfully tight. “Why do you think that?”
He leans forward, elbows resting on his knees.
“I caught her cheating on me not too long ago. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t quite sure yet what I was going to say. It’s not the first time and she would’ve denied it anyway. So I guess in an attempt to make myself feel better, I went on that stupid dating app a couple weeks ago.” His voice is low, edged with shame. “Honestly, I just wanted to get back at her. It felt good, knowing I still could if I wanted to. I wasn’t going to date anyone.”
I sit quietly, letting the weight of his words settle between us. He says that—but he still showed up.
“The day she disappeared, she must’ve seen the app on my phone,” he says. “Because I realized later that day, it had been deleted. The whole damn account, just like that. I don’t know what would’ve possessed her to even look at my phone that day ... do you?”
The night air is heavy, thick with unspoken truths. I shift, uncomfortable on the concrete step.
“I know what you’re implying,” I say. “But you couldn’t be more wrong.”
Rising, he staggers to his front door, shooting me a look I can only describe as drunken indifference.
Still, it chills me to the bone.
26
“Did you see it? The news report on Mara?” Sozi’s ponytail swings as we walk, energy crackling off her like static.
I tug my sweatshirt over my head, the morning air cool against my cheeks. “Yeah. I couldn’t believe how brief it was.”
“Six days,” she says, more to herself than to me. “People don’t just vanish like that. Not unless they want to ... or not unless someone wants them to.”
The words hang heavy between us.
Six days.
No texts.
No calls.
No sightings beyond the gate.
Mara’s missing, but Phoenix is a place where news has the lifespan of a fruit fly. The city has already moved on, distracted by another hit-and-run, a fire downtown, a local celebrity caught in a scandal. Mara’s face—smiling, oblivious—only appeared on the TV screen for a few hours before it was replaced by something shinier. The article posted on the news station website is already buried by sixteen other articles and a variety of flashing internet ads.
We walk in silence for a block, the rhythm of our steps falling into sync.
If the “M” in Will’s phone is Mara, she hasn’t texted him in six days—a damning coincidence. But also, if Will were having an affair,what reason would he have to kidnap or murder her? It’s extreme and unnecessary and the antithesis of who Will is at his core.
Then again, he’s a product of Jacqueline.
And Jacqueline had us all fooled.
“I feel like she’ll be back,” Sozi says, though her words lack confidence. “I bet she’ll have one hell of a story to tell, too. It’ll all make sense.”
“Is that what you believe or is that what you want to believe?”
“A little of both maybe.”
It’s quiet again, and we stride past another block of sprawling ranches in silence.
