A local woman missing- Mary Kubica

and to the front door. She knocks on the storm door. The sound of it
is empty, hollow. It would never get someone’s attention. She rings
the doorbell instead and immediately the sound of footsteps on the
other side of the front door startles me. I’d been wishing no one was
home.
The door pulls abruptly open. Jason Tebow stands there before
us. There’s an infant in his large arms, drinking from a bottle that
Jason holds. He’s bullnecked. He’s not tall, but he’s well built and
wide. He fills the doorway, the storm door still separating us.
I can tell straightaway that he’s annoyed we’re here. He huffs,
curses under his breath. “For fuck’s sake,” he says, words full of
vitriol, and instinctively I step backward. Bea doesn’t. She’s not
scared. I don’t think there’s a thing in the world that could scare Bea.
He scowls and asks, “What’s the problem? Can’t you read?” while
pointing to a No Soliciting sign on the front door. Truth be told, I
didn’t see the sign. But I don’t know that it would have stopped Bea if
she did. He looks us up and down, taking in our sweatshirts and
jeans, our sneakers.
“We’re sorry to bother you,” Bea says. “Mr. Tebow, isn’t it?” she
asks, introducing herself and then me. I watch the manner in which
he holds that baby. It’s awkward and stiff. He doesn’t know what to
do with it.
“Our friend,” Bea begins, “has been missing for almost a day.
Since yesterday morning. We’re out knocking on doors, to see if
anyone has seen her.”
At this, Jason Tebow turns gray. He swallows hard, his Adam’s
apple prominent in his neck. I watch him. Jason is built like a
bodybuilder. His arms are as big as my thigh.
“Is this some kind of fucking joke?” Jason asks, stepping outside,
letting the storm door slam shut, as the baby begins to cry. The
bottle has moved from its mouth and is dripping milk onto its cheek. I
don’t know if the baby is a boy or girl because the onesie it wears is
white but dirty, stained with spit-up.
There’s hardly a person in town who doesn’t think that he did
something to hurt his wife. Twice that I know of he’s been hauled
down to the police station for questioning. At random times, police