She's Not Coming Home Read Online Free PDF

so.’
    ‘Do you have a picture of her I can take?’ Weber asked.
    ‘Surely.’ Matt flicked through a letter rack behind the TV and pulled out a picture. It was a vacation picture of him, Ruth and Nathan. ‘All three of us,’ he said as he passed it to Weber. ‘Down at Busch Gardens, Virginia last summer.’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Weber as he put the picture inside the notebook and stood up. ‘We’ll get it copied and return it.’
    ‘So what next?’  asked Matt.
    Weber scratched his nose as he spoke. ‘This is what happens now. I take this information back to my Captain. He then passes everything to the MPU. The Missing Persons Unit.’
    ‘And then?’
    ‘And then they follow their procedures. Even though I have a lot of information here,’ – he tapped his notebook – ‘somebody from the MPU will be in touch with you. Most likely tomorrow. May have other questions to ask you. Then will liaise with you, keep you in the loop. They’ll also give you a contact number just in case you think of any other information that might be helpful. Or if your wife reappears.’
    ‘Okay,’ said Matt. ‘Thanks for your help. And for coming so promptly.’
    ‘No problem,’ said Weber, making his way to the front door. ‘Hope it all gets sorted for you.’
    He paused and glanced up the stairs. ‘How’s your son?’
    ‘I told him Ruth had to work late. He’s expecting to see her in the morning.’
    ‘Don’t focus on the worst case scenario. There could be a perfectly good explanation.’
    ‘Sure. Thanks again,’ said Matt as he let the Lieutenant out.
    Matt slowly shut and locked the door, then quietly made his way upstairs to check on Nathan.  His son was sound asleep, sharing his pillow with a pterodactyl.  Matt moved the dinosaur onto the dresser and ran his fingers through Nathan’s hair. Nathan stirred slightly. Matt leaned over and kissed him gently on the temple. Stepped over to the window, parted the drape and looked out.
    Their neighbourhood was on a hill, and from Nathan’s bedroom, Matt could see the lights from the vehicles travelling along Charles Street. He could also make out the flickering of light from a vessel on the Charles River Basin in the distance. It was a clear night, and the sky was full of stars, and the white and red lights from a couple of aircraft in the sky.
    Yes, as the Lieutenant said, there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation. Maybe she had gotten fed up with him, but to leave Nathan?
    His thoughts went to a guy he used to know years ago at High School, and a phrase he would always be using. For once, it was apposite.
    I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Chapter Six
    Matt slept very little that night. After the Lieutenant had left, and he had checked on Nathan, he tried Ruth’s cell phone one more time. Then Gail’s. Again, both phones went direct to voicemail.
    In bed, he lay awake for hours, thinking over some of the things Weber had asked, and why he had asked them. He had assumed there was nobody else; at any rate, not as far as he was concerned, and Ruth had said or done nothing to indicate anything of that nature. In any case, walking out on him was one thing; leaving Nathan was another. In fact, the only variation on their normal routine was her getting up before him that morning. Hardly an indication that something was wrong.
    After three or four hours’ fitful and restless sleep, Matt came to just before six. Instinctively, he turned over to Ruth’s side of the bed. It was empty, and cold: it hit Matt that she really was not around; it had not all been a dream. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. What to do first?
    He had to return to work for one thing; then try Ruth’s phone again. If not her cell phone, then her work landline. Maybe try Gail again if he had no luck there. Presumably he would hear from the Missing Persons Unit Lieutenant Weber spoke about last night. And then there was Nathan. What to tell him?
    By the time Nathan woke