He finally decided to follow the direction she was last seen walking—an empty road, flanked by trees and fog. A trucker who’d been refueling nearby said the same thing: “She looked upset, but she was walking.” The words lingered. He couldn’t even tell if the man was lying. What if he had done something to her?
He stood by the roadside for an hour, watching cars pass. The wind carried the smell of fuel and rain. Somewhere beneath that, faintly, he thought he could still hear her voice calling his name, until he realized it was only the sound of his own breath catching.