No Return

43

Wes’s phone rang, bringing him back to the here and now. He pushed himself up off the ground next to Mandy’s grave and pulled his cell out. It was Anna.

“We can call off the dogs,” she said.

“You found him?”

“Not exactly. But Dori saw him this morning. Said he was heading up to Mount Whitney for the day with some friends he’d met.”

“Thank God,” Wes said, relief washing over him. “Where are you?”

“We’re back at the hotel.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

As he drove away from the cemetery, he passed a sedan pulled to the side of the road. Thinking someone might have broken down, he slowed, but it appeared to be empty, and he didn’t see anyone around. He also didn’t remember it being there before, but of course his focus had been on other things. Tony. Mandy.

The past.

Half a minute later, he’d forgotten all about it.