Chapter 62

I BOLTED UP, confused but also afraid. It didn't make sense. "She said she had a trial, Claire. I'm sure of it."

"She did have a trial, Lindsay. She just didn't show. They've been looking for her all day."

I pressed my back against the headboard. When I thought about the possibility of Jill bagging work, not calling in, it didn't fly.

"That's not Jill," I said.

"No," Claire answered, "that's not Jill at all."

Suddenly I was worried. "Claire, do you know what's going on? What happened with Steve?"

Claire answered, "No. What are you saying?"

"Stay where you are," I said.

I hung up the phone and sat there for a second. "I'm sorry, Joe, I gotta go."

A few minutes later I was driving at full speed down Twenty-third over to Castro. I ran through the possibilities: Jill was depressed¹. She needed some space. She'd gone to her parents'. Any of them could be true. But Jill would never - never - not show up for court.

I finally pulled up in front of her town house on Buena Vista² Park. The first thing I noticed was Jill's sapphire³ blue 535 still in the driveway.

Claire was waiting on the landing and we hugged. "She doesn't answer," she said. "I rang the bell, banged on the door."

I looked around, didn't see anyone. "I hate to do this." Then I broke a pane⁴ in the front door and reached inside. I was thinking that Steve could have gotten inside, too - easily.

Immediately, the alarm sounded. I knew the code, 63442, Jill's state employee number. I punched it in, trying to make up my mind if the alarm being armed was a good sign.

I flicked⁵ on a light. I called, "Jill?"

Then I heard Otis barking. The brown lab ran from inside the kitchen.

"Hey, boy." I patted his back. He seemed happy to see a familiar face. "Where's Mommy?" I asked. I knew one thing. Jill would never leave him. Steve maybe, but not Otis.

"Jill... Steve?" I called around the house. "It's Lindsay. And Claire."

Jill had just re-done the place in the past year. Patterned couches, melon-colored walls, a tufted leather ottoman for a coffee table. The house was dark and silent. We checked around the familiar rooms. No reply. No Jill.

Claire exhaled⁶ and said, "This is really starting to give me the creeps."

I nodded and squeezed her shoulder. "Me too.

"C'mon," I said to Claire, "I'm going up to check upstairs. We're going to check."

Climbing the stairs, I couldn't put aside the thought of a crazed Steve charging out of some room like in some teenage horror movie. "Jill...Steve?" I called out again. I tugged⁷ at my gun just in case.

Still no answer. The master bedroom lights were off. The big four-poster bed was made. Jill's toiletries and makeup⁸ in the bathroom.

When I last spoke⁹ with her she was going to bed. I was about to go back into the hallway when I saw it.

Jill's briefcase¹⁰.

Jill didn't go anywhere without her "traveling office." It was a running joke. She didn't go to the beach without her goddamn work.

I took a cloth and held it by the strap¹¹, loosely. I met Claire back in the hallway. She'd checked the other rooms. "Noth-ing..."

"I don't like this, Claire. Her car's in the driveway." My eyes drifted to her case. "This...She slept here, Claire. But she never left for work."

1 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

2 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

3 sapphire   

n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的

参考例句：

• Now let us consider crystals such as diamond or sapphire.现在让我们考虑象钻石和蓝宝石这样的晶体。
• He left a sapphire ring to her.他留给她一枚蓝宝石戒指。

4 pane   

n.窗格玻璃，长方块

参考例句：

• He broke this pane of glass.他打破了这块窗玻璃。
• Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.他们呼出的水气，在冰冷的窗玻璃上形成一层雾。

5 flicked   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
• I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。

6 exhaled   

v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气

参考例句：

• He sat back and exhaled deeply. 他仰坐着深深地呼气。
• He stamped his feet and exhaled a long, white breath. 跺了跺脚，他吐了口长气，很长很白。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

7 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 briefcase   

n.手提箱，公事皮包

参考例句：

• He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
• He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。

11 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。