She had stood on the balcony wondering what to do next and whom to call. Finn’s parents were dead. He had no other family to speak of. She had stared out at the ocean sky as the full force of her terror seized her. And then she had called the police, who reluctantly agreed to send someone out but seemed to think that perhaps she and Finn had gotten their signals crossed, that surely he and Bear would turn up. Then she had called Gram. And then she had called Caitlin.
Eventually, of course, the report had been filed, and, when it became clear Finn hadn’t left an easy trail to follow, the proper authorities were notified. Gram flew down to hold vigil with Violet in Sunny Isles, but being so many miles away was torture for both of them, with no reason to think Finn and Bear were still nearby. After the first forty-eight hours, the Florida authorities agreed that it made sense for Violet to come home, and the FBI field office in Asheville took the lead on the investigation. They had already searched the home and the computers, but there was more digging to be done—so many questions to ask and so many people to ask them of—and Violet was of more use back in North Carolina.
Caitlin had immediately driven down to be with her there, and of course the FBI had wanted to talk with Caitlin too. Surely there would have been signs that the marriage was off track. Caitlin told them that she believed Violet when she said she was blindsided, and that she was just as mystified herself. This wasn’t something she could imagine Finn doing. Caitlin had known Finn longer than she’d known Violet, a lot longer. Hell, she’d encouraged Finn to pursue Violet, a fact she now wondered if she should regret. But she’d never regretted it before. Finn and Violet were a great couple. She’d been their next-door neighbor and their landlord for years. She had come to know them both so well, to love Violet as if she were an old, dear friend too. If their night-and-day proximity and mutual fondness for Finn hadn’t ensured their friendship, being pregnant at the same time had. Caitlin had given birth to the twins only weeks before Violet had Bear. The ordeal Violet had gone through then, the way Finn had held vigil at her side in that hospital room—it was impossible to imagine Finn doing this just a few short years later. What could possibly bring him to want to leave Violet, let alone take their child from her? Violet was the kind of mother every child deserved. And Finn was that kind of father. None of it made sense.
Caitlin had gone into the interview hoping that her testimony would help Violet, would swing the agents to be more sympathetic toward her. But afterward she had the feeling that the FBI felt them both to be na?ve, stupid women, either suckers or people with something to hide.
It was not a good feeling for her, so she couldn’t even imagine how it must have made Violet feel.
She could only hope that where agents in Cincinnati were doing due diligence, seeking out Finn and Violet’s former friends and neighbors, George’s testimony would carry good weight. In politics, where the bar for an expected level of corruption was set embarrassingly low, his family’s reputation was gold—almost beyond scrutiny. Maybe after talking with George, the beloved and respected senator’s son, the agents would be satisfied enough to leave Violet well enough alone and focus wholly on finding Finn’s trail and bringing Bear home.
The long days in Asheville were beyond awful. Caitlin felt useless, sitting at the table with Violet’s grandmother, eating but not really tasting the food brought by friends—mostly Gram’s neighbors from her “independent living” center—while Vi herself lay upstairs in Bear’s bed and sobbed. Caitlin and Gram took turns shooing away the few curious reporters who came by, but that didn’t last long—apparently people were running off with their own kids so often that it wasn’t sensational enough to draw much interest. There was some light local coverage in both North Carolina and Florida of the curious claim of the midvacation abduction, but without real reason to think Bear was in danger, let alone a description of a vehicle Finn might be driving, the FBI couldn’t even file an AMBER Alert. Caitlin wasn’t used to being unable to do something to help a friend in need. She found it maddening.
Eventually, she thought she might busy herself by giving the place a good thorough cleaning, but Violet stopped her in a panic of flailing arms, shrieking that she was “going to scrub Bear out.” The only helpful thing she’d let her do was to log on to the bank account to pay the household bills. Finn hadn’t withdrawn any unusual sums before disappearing—only five hundred dollars the day they’d left for vacation, which Violet said was the amount they’d agreed they should have on hand while traveling. He hadn’t withdrawn anything since. Caitlin paid the electric and the cable, but looking at the ordinary evidence of her friends’ ordinary domestic lives made her feel sick. She logged off as quickly as she could, making a mental note to talk with George about lending Violet some money. Gram had already offered what savings she had as a reward for information that would lead to Bear’s return. The hotel and air charges from Violet’s ill-fated trip were steep, and without Finn, no paychecks would be coming in.
Caitlin left feeling ashamed of the relief that washed over her when she was belted safely in her car and pointed toward home. Caitlin and the twins had worn a path to Asheville since Violet and Finn had moved there, visiting as often as they could, usually when George was out of town, but that afternoon, she cut a full thirty minutes off her usual drive time. Caitlin ran through the door and engulfed the boys in a hug so hard they cried out in protest. “Too hard, Mommy! You hug too big!”
“There’s no such thing as hugging too big,” she told them, tears in her eyes, and then she gave each one a giant bowl of ice cream like the one Violet had told her, sobbing, that she never got the chance to give Bear that afternoon.
And now here she was back at the office. Trying to shake off the unshakable concern for her friends and move on with what was supposed to be her normal routine. Because it was the only thing left to do.