A local woman missing- Mary Kubica

yesterday was the first time Meredith called in sick. I watch Josh’s
reaction. He’s a tall man, a brunette with cool blue eyes. His eyes
are moist, the blue turning somehow even more blue because of his
tears. Leo, wherever he is, has the same eyes.
The woman feels stupid. She turns red. She’s misspoken. She
fights for words, saying, “It’s just that yesterday was like the third
time in two weeks that Meredith has called in sick. You didn’t know?”
she asks Josh, and he shakes his head. “We were worried. Until a
couple weeks ago, Meredith was always so conscientious. This
wasn’t like her. We thought there was some real health crisis, like
cancer or something,” and it sounds to me as if she’s trying to make
light of that—Meredith having cancer—though I wonder if cancer
would be preferable to whatever’s happened. With cancer she’d
have a fighting chance. With this, I don’t know.
Another woman speaks. She introduces herself as Jeanette, a
midwife with whom Meredith works on occasion. “If I may,” she says,
explaining that Meredith had very recently made the decision to cut
back on her workload, to spend more time with her family. She told
Jeanette a week or so ago that she’d be taking on fewer clients, and
asked for recommendations of other doulas that she could send
inquiries to.
I see in Josh’s reaction that he didn’t know this, either. His
expression turns thoughtful, contemplative, but also sad. He runs his
fingers over a mustache and beard. Frown lines appear between his
eyes, one deeper than the other. Josh, like Meredith, must be in his
midthirties, just slightly older than Bea and me. He’s not yet forty. I
remember a conversation about whether they would go somewhere
exotic when they both turned forty. It wasn’t around the corner, but
something they had time to think about and decide, years away but
still on the horizon.
Bea is the one who comes up with a strategy. It’s so like Bea to
take charge and be a planner. She divides us into groups with plans
to search the town. Bea tells people to drive around looking for
Meredith’s car, to stop in restaurants and shops and see if Meredith
or Delilah has been there recently. Josh gives us the make and
model of Meredith’s car, as well as the license plate number. The
volunteers carve up the town among themselves, using major roads