went for a hike. Mt. Holyoke was a deep blue peak ten miles out 25
of town. A wide, gently sloping path wound up toward a breath-26
taking lookout. While Anna and Henry ran ahead, Callie and 27
Rick lingered. They strolled slowly, hand in hand, neither of 28
them talking. It meant something, Callie thought, when you 29
didn’t have to speak. Everyone talked about communication, the 30
importance of sharing words. But so often the need to fill a si-31
lence reflected the absence of something.
32
They reached the mountain’s peak, capped by the Summit 33
House. Once a fashionable hotel, it now served as a museum. The 34
windswept expanse of its balcony offered spectacular views: the 35 S
tiny, perfect town of Merritt, patchwork farms and fields, the blue 36 R
Connecticut River cutting through it all.
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Callie leaned against the railing, the sun warm on her face.
1
Down below, she could hear Anna and Henry calling out to each 2
other. Rick came up from behind and slid his arms around her.
3
For a moment they stood there, resting, taking in the view. Then 4
Rick pulled her gently closer, whispered into her hair. “So have 5
you been thinking about it? Getting married, I mean.” The world 6
seemed to darken slightly. “I have to think,” she said.
7
That night, after Henry went home, they watched a video. Over 8
Chinese food, Callie filled baskets for tomorrow’s Easter egg hunt.
9
Anna kept sneaking chocolate eggs until Callie made her stop.
10
“He ate more.” Anna pointed at Rick, who looked a little cha-11
grined.
12
“Well, I’m sure if his mother were here right now, she’d tell 13
him he’d had enough.”
14
Anna had already gone to bed when Rick got up to leave. “Are 15
you sure I can’t help?” he asked her, pointing to the baskets.
16
“No. It’s fine. Really. I do it every year.”
17
They kissed good night on the front porch. Callie went back 18
for the baskets.
19
The sky was a tumbled bowl of stars as she stepped down into 20
the grass. She paused a moment in the silence and breathed in 21
the crisp night. Her eyes sought out the Big Dipper, the white 22
crust of moon. Down the street, she saw another flashlight bob-23
bing in the bushes. Naomi or Morton Steinmetz. Or maybe 24
David Enderly. Callie waved toward the bouncing light, then set-25
tled down to work.
26
Kneeling down beside the porch, she shoved a basket under 27
the stairs. Anna had been attending the Easter egg hunt since she 28
was four years old. Callie had piles of snapshots, stuffed into 29
boxes and albums. Anna at five, looking horrified as she stared at 30
a bright blue egg. A smug eight-year-old Anna, surrounded by 31
rows of baskets. This hunt, however, would be Anna’s last. Ten 32
was the cutoff age.
33
As she stood up, Callie was hit by a sense of time’s rapid flight.
34
Each moment, so substantial and real, was gone before you knew S 35
it, consigned to an uncertain fate in the outposts of memory. This R 36
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evening, the warmth and laughter they’d shared, how long would 2
it be remembered?
3
For the next half hour, she moved around the yard, distribut-4
ing the baskets. Anna always complained that she made things 5
too easy, so this year Callie had come up with several new hiding 6
places. One basket went into a recycling bin, beneath a pile of plas-7
tic bottles. The next she hid in the mailbox. Okay, so it was obvi-8
ous, but she’d never used it before. She was especially pleased with 9
the niche she’d found for the final tiny basket. Squeezed behind 10
a bush, next to the house, she edged it into the drainpipe. The 11
basket fell out a couple of times, but she finally wedged it tight.
12
13
It seemed to have come from across the street, somewhere in the 14
Creightons’ yard. The crackling sound of branches breaking, then 15
a muffled thud. Frightened, Callie stood there, waiting for what 16
came next. But now there was nothing. Nothing unusual. Just the 17
faint, dim hum of distant traffic, wind moving through the trees.
18
Happy Anniversary, Rosamund.
19
The words rose up in her mind.
20
She glanced down the street, but the flashlight was gone. She 21
was all alone now. Walking quickly across the lawn, she headed 22
for the house.
23
Back inside, she locked the door, checked the burglar alarm.
24
Tried to forget the feeling she’d had that someone was watching 25
her. What she’d heard was maybe an animal or a branch falling to 26
the ground. No reason to get excited. Nothing to worry about.
27
h
28
29
After she vanished into the house, he waited for the light to 30
snap on upstairs. In a moment, he saw the golden glow seeping 31
out from behind her blinds. He was tempted to wait another few 32
minutes, to see if she might raise them. Sometimes, he knew she 33
did that, right before she went to bed, stood there staring into the 34
night, her expression cloudy and lost. A look she never wore dur-35 S
ing the day at times she might be seen. It was a private expression 36 R
confined to times she believed herself alone.
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For years, she’d assumed so much, with no justification. As-1
sumed that no one was watching her. Assumed no one could find 2
her. And, really, it had been quite simple. Just some basic com-3
puter searches. Her identity had stayed secret only because no 4
one had really looked. It had been the same with Diane Massey, 5
that false sense of control. All he’d had to do was chat up her 6
doorman, claim to be an old friend. The doorman didn’t have the 7
details, but he thought she’d gone to Maine. She’d talked about 8
Blue Peek Island in interviews. And sure enough, there she was.
9
He stared hard at the closed blinds as if he might see through 10
them. Then, regretfully, he turned away. It wasn’t safe to linger.
11
He crawled across the tree house floor until he came to the 12
opening around the trunk. Carefully, he lowered one leg until his 13
foot touched a wooden step.
14
Almost to the ground, he let himself drop into a t
hick bed of 15
leaves. A rich, moist odor floated up, moldering leaves and dirt.
16
The smell caught him by surprise. It was almost exactly the same.
17
Deeply inhaling the cool night air, he thought of Diane Massey.
18
Timex. Cartier. It doesn’t matter. Only time is fair.
19
Still crouching, he scanned the Creightons’ yard, making sure 20
no one had heard him. Another few seconds, then he started to 21
move around. Twigs and stones dug into his palms as he palpated 22
the ground, searching for the binoculars that had fallen from his 23
hands. He couldn’t believe that he’d let that happen, especially 24
with her right there. She’d actually heard the sound. Startled, 25
she’d wheeled around. Luckily he’d already ducked down behind 26
the tree house wall.
27
When he finally found the binoculars, he hung them around 28
his neck. Through a gate, he could see the Creightons’ backyard 29
sheltered by a tall white fence. The back door opened onto a 30
deck with a gas grill and picnic table. All the accoutrements of 31
family life, sturdy and ordinary. Yet the sense of safety, the perfect 32
calm, could be shattered in a flash. Dahlia had grown up in a 33
house like this, pretty and safe and secure. But none of that had 34
protected her on the night she met Steven Gage.
S 35
He crept through a dense wall of trees until he reached the R 36
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curb. Briefly he hesitated, then stepped into open space. Beneath 2
the glow of a single lamp, he quickly crossed the street. His foot-3
steps slapped against concrete, and then he was in her yard.
4
His destination was the shrubbery along the front of the house.
5
When he’d seen her disappear back there, he’d figured this was 6
the place. There was an opening between two bushes, and now 7
he slipped between them. Squatting beside wooden shingles, he 8
peered into the shadows. He ruffled the branches of a gnarled 9
shrub, then ran his fingers across the earth. She’d come back here 10
with just one small basket, and when she’d come out it was gone.
11
It had to be somewhere, he told himself. But where, damn it, 12
where? Then, at that instant, he caught sight of it, the pale scrap 13
of ribbon. Gingerly, he reached up the drainpipe spout until he 14
grasped the basket. It was wedged tightly in the narrow pipe, and 15
it took a while to dislodge. Impatiently, he pushed against the 16
straw until it fell away.
17
As the basket slid out of the chute, candy tumbled out. He 18
picked up a foil-covered chocolate egg, unwrapped it, and popped 19
it in his mouth. Sweetness melted across his tongue, as he 20
reached down into a pocket. From inside, he pulled out another 21
egg, this one made of hollow pink plastic. When he turned the 22
ends, the egg fell in two, and he looked at the object he’d placed 23
inside. He wondered how long it would take her to realize its sig-24
nificance. She was smart, he had to give her that. He doubted 25
that it would take long.
26
I am not a man, I am dynamite.
27
He smiled at the philosopher’s words.
28
After snapping the plastic egg back together, he placed it in 29
the tiny basket. The egg looked so innocent resting there. Who 30
could guess what it held? He took a moment to straighten the 31
bow before restoring the basket.
32
Once he was sure it was securely stowed, he climbed back to 33
his feet. Everything was in order now. Everything was ready. Now 34
it was time for him to go home, to get a good night’s sleep. The 35 S
only thing he had left to do was make sure that Anna found it.
36 R
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Sunday, April 16
An n a ’ s gotten so tall! How old is she now?”
1
“Ten,” Callie said. Across the street, she watched as Anna beat 2
through the Creightons’ shrubs, joining the horde of neighbor-3
hood kids in their search for eggs and baskets.
4
“So this will be her last one?”
5
“Mmm.” Callie felt a pang.
6
Naomi Steinmetz shook her head, short gray hair bobbing.
7
The thick lenses of her oversized glasses seemed to magnify her 8
eyes. A Latin professor at Windham, she’d recently retired. She’d 9
always reminded Callie of a large yet friendly insect.
10
It was one of those magical early spring days when time seemed 11
to stand still. The sky was a bright primary blue dotted with puffy 12
white clouds. All around kids laughed and shrieked as they 13
scrambled for hidden bounty. There had to be more than twenty 14
of them; the event had grown each year. Parents mingled in the 15
background, irrelevant and ignored, their smiles nostalgic and a 16
bit wistful as they watched the frenzied search.
17
“Mommy, I found another! Here.” Anna thrust a basket into 18
Callie’s hands, then dashed away again.
19
Naomi laughed. “A lot of energy, that one.”
20
“Yes,” Callie said. On days like this, when Anna seemed so 21
happy, she could almost forget the rest, almost convince herself 22
that Anna’s moods were simple growing pains.
23
As Naomi stepped away to find her husband, Callie walked to 24
the porch. She added Anna’s basket to the growing pile and 25
checked her watch again. After eleven-thirty. Rick was running S 26
late.
R 27
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From the porch, Callie watched the Henning twins toddle 2
toward a cache of eggs. One two-year-old twin stared straight at 3
them, then promptly turned away. The other ran a few short 4
steps, teetered, and fell down, at which point he lost all interest 5
in everything but his left shoe. He studied the sole with intensity, 6
then stuffed it in his mouth.
7
“Just wait ’til next year,” Callie called to their mother. “You 8
won’t be able to stop them.”
9
Across the street, Anna and Henry romped with a neighbor’s 10
dog. The puppy grabbed hold of an Easter basket, and galloped 11
across the yard. Camera, Callie thought. And went into the 12
house to find it.
13
As she came back out, she was putting in film, fiddling with 14
the roll. She closed the compartment and listened for the buzz 15
that would tell her the film was loading. As she held the camera 16
to her ear, she heard a noise behind he
r. But before she had time 17
to turn around, hands came down on her shoulders. In that in-18
stant, her blood seemed to freeze. She shrieked and wheeled 19
around.
20
But it was only Tod Carver standing there, wearing a sheepish 21
expression.
22
“Geez, Callie,” he said, abashed. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
23
She’d dropped the camera. He picked it up. “Hope this isn’t 24
broken.”
25
“It fell on the grass. I’m sure it’s fine.” She smiled at him, em-26
barrassed. “Sorry that I screamed. You just caught me by surprise.”
27
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason, but how was he to know?
28
“Kids here?”
29
Tod gave her his rueful smile. “Nope. I left Oliver and Lilly at 30
home and came to the Easter egg hunt on my own. Thought I’d 31
use my superior size and strength to beat out the other children.”
32
“And if that doesn’t work, you can always flash your badge.”
33
“Now you’re talking.” Tod grinned.
34
Callie grinned back, calmed by the familiar banter.
35 S
“They’re over there,” Tod said, pointing toward the Steinmetz 36 R
yard. Callie caught a glimpse of Lilly, with her long hair and pipe-7 6
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stem legs. Tod just adored his daughter, who was two years 1
younger than Anna.
2
Like Rick, Tod was an unlikely cop, low-key and warm. He was 3
boyishly good-looking, with an open face and hair the color of 4
copper. Looking at him, she couldn’t imagine why he didn’t have 5
a girlfriend. But Rick said the divorce had hit Tod hard. He still 6
wasn’t ready.
7
“Where’s Rick?” asked Tod, as if on cue.
8
“He should be here by now.” Again, Callie looked around.
9
“Hey, Tod, Callie!” Mimi Creighton swooped down on them, 10
a smile planted on her face. Gucci loafers, streaked blonde hair, a 11
Louis Vuitton handbag. Mimi might have left the city but she’d 12
kept all the trappings.
13
“Isn’t it a beautiful day?” Mimi looked excited, almost giddy, 14
her small eyes shining. Taken separately, Mimi’s features weren’t 15
pretty, but together, they somehow worked. She had a slight 16