A local woman missing- Mary Kubica

to climb, their movements in sync. After a half dozen steps, they
drop from view. I can’t see them anymore.
There is a door at the top of those steps, I remember. It must be
locked. The officers don’t ask this time; instead, I hear the
unmistakable sound of them breaking it down.
The scream that reaches my ears as the door bursts open is shrill,
terrified, female. A girl. The girl Josh and Leo are looking for. But
why? For what reason would Bea shelter this girl in her music
studio? I can think of none.
My knees buckle. My legs give. I sag onto the lawn. Josh breaks
into a run, but Leo tries stopping him, tries holding him back. Josh is
stronger than Leo. With Leo hanging on to his arm, he drags Leo
across the lawn and toward the studio door.
I’m frozen to the ground, horror-struck as the police officers return
with the girl. Except that when she emerges, she is not the same girl
that I’ve been seeing on the news. Bruised and battered,
malnourished, skittish.
She is the spitting image of Meredith instead. Flaming red hair, fair
skin, freckles, eyes the same as Meredith’s mineral green. She’s
Meredith in her mannerisms, in the way she carries herself, in the
way she stands. She’s clean, well fed, seemingly unharmed. She is
no longer a cherubic little girl. She’s developed into a lovely young
lady who takes my breath away.
Josh falls to his knees at her feet. “Daddy,” she cries out, lowering
herself to the ground, collapsing into him. Leo, at first hesitant,
rushes to them and together they hold each other and cry.
Delilah.
It’s Delilah.
I feel ashamed, deceived, horrified, hurt. Confused. How did
Delilah come to be here in Bea’s studio after Meredith killed herself?
For eleven years she’s been here, in my backyard, and I didn’t know.
I don’t have to wonder for long. Josh also wonders.
“How?” he asks. “How did you...?” He’s at a loss for words, unable
to grasp what’s happening. Meredith left a note when she killed
herself. Something to the effect of: Delilah is safe. She is fine. You’ll
never find her. Don’t even try.