Every Precious Thing Read Online Free PDF Page A

okay.”
    “It’s just…I’ve talked to everyone I’ve ever seen her with. No one knows what happened to her.”
    “Could be one of them is lying.”
    “I guess so, but I never got that sense.”
    “Was there anyone you couldn’t find? A friend or acquaintance you haven’t been able to talk to?”
    Alan shook his head. “I’ve talked to everyone I can remember. I realize someone must have helped her. I just have no idea who that could be.”
    “Can you show me the note?” Logan asked.
    Standing, Alan said, “It’s in my bedroom. I’ll be right back.”
    “Why don’t I come with you?” Logan suggested. He wanted to take a look at the rest of the house, and try to get a sense of what Sara’s place had been within it.
    Alan nodded. “Sure, okay.”
    Logan followed him into a hallway, and up some stairs to the second floor. The upstairs hallway was lined with framed photographs, or rather, it would have been if not for the dozen or so empty nails spaced sporadically among the pictures that were left. Remembering what Callie had told him, Logan guessed the blank spots were places where photos Sara had been in once hung. Six weeks on, and Alan had not replaced them with anything. Was he hoping she’d come back and everything would return to the way it was, including the wall? Or did he want the physical reminder that his wife was gone? Most likely, the emotional wound was still so raw he didn’t have the energy to do anything about it.
    The master suite took up the whole south end of the floor. In addition to the normal things a bedroom had, there was also a sitting area and a sliding glass door that led out onto a balcony.
    Logan waited near one of the chairs while Alan stepped into a walk-in closet. A moment later, he reemerged holding a wooden jewelry box.
    “This was my mother’s,” he said. “I gave it to Sara right after we got married.”
    He opened it, revealing an empty, black velvet-lined tray. He lifted this out and put it on the chair. Underneath, sitting on more velvet, was a folded envelope.
    Alan removed it and handed it to Logan.
    Carefully, Logan pulled out the letter and read it. Nothing in it seemed to shed any new light on the situation.
    “This was the only thing left in the car?”
    Alan was looking wistfully at the letter. “Yes. Everything else was gone.”
    “Callie told me about the missing pictures.”
    Alan’s face dropped. “You saw the hallway.”
    “Yeah.”
    “She cleaned out the photo albums, too. Even the computers.”
    “I assume they weren’t gone before you left on your trip.”
    “No. At least not the ones on the wall. The photos in the albums could have already been gone, and maybe the ones on the computer, too. I didn’t regularly check those.”
    Someone had come into the house while Alan and Sara were gone. The same person who’d taken Sara’s luggage? Or were there more than one other person involved?
    “So everything she was in?”
    “All but one with Sara in the background. It isn’t great, but…”
    “Callie mentioned that.”
    “It wasn’t mine. It was my sister’s. I had her email it to me after Sara left.”
    “Could you forward it to me?”
    “Of course.”
    “Besides the photos, what else did she take?”
    Alan absently glanced at the closet. “Not much. She left most of her things here.”
    “Really?” Logan asked, surprised. “What about the stuff from the place where she lived before moving in with you?”
    “She was in a furnished apartment. None of it was hers.” They were both quiet for a moment, then Alan said, “Yeah, I know. I guess that should have been a red flag, huh? But she said she was new to the area, and didn’t have any stuff yet.”
    A red flag, yes, but… “Don’t beat yourself up about it. I don’t think anyone would have thought twice about it. I wouldn’t have. Where did she say she’d moved from?”
    “Back east. Philadelphia.”
    “Did you meet any of her family? Old friends?”
    Alan shook