Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan

Author:Stewart O'Nan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2010-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

The Long Weekend

He knew it was time to leave when the search teams switched to cadaver dogs, priming them with jars of death scent. The lieutenant warned him in advance, as if apologizing for the department’s lack of faith. Ed understood: It had been too long. If she was here they would have found her by now.

He gave them two days, following their progress in the chilled and windowless conference room of the ERV with Sergeant McKnight, praying it was a waste of time. She monitored the radio through a headset and calmly checked off the sectors with a dry-erase marker. At the end of the second day he thanked everyone, shaking their hands as they signed out, then went back to the Country Inn and emptied the drawers into his suitcase. He left the bill on his credit card, afraid of what their monthly statement would look like. Halfway to Cleveland he realized he was giving up on the only real lead they had. With every exit he passed he was leaving her behind.

While he was away, as if to make up for dragging his heels, Perry had personally overseen the search of Wozniak’s property and come up with nothing. Ed was angry that they’d done it without him. He didn’t care about the drugs, he wanted them to look for Kim. He wanted them to use dogs and the new ground sonar the lieutenant had shown him. He wanted them to drain ponds.

Wozniak was cooperative, Perry said, as if Ed was wasting his time.

“Then he won’t mind us looking again.”

After a pointed silence, Perry said, “I can ask.”

“Thank you,” Ed said.

In his absence Fran had cobbled together the reward—thirty thousand dollars, ten of which came from his brother. You couldn’t buy a rusting singlewide for that kind of money, but he understood, it was about publicity. They sent out a new flyer to the papers, Fran went on TV, and the tipline lit up. Along with the usual psychics, several private detectives offered their services—a temptation, since they were getting nowhere through official channels. He seriously considered it until he went to a few websites and saw what it would cost.

They could have used the money themselves. Among the bills on his desk was the invoice for Kim’s tuition, two weeks past due. For months he’d privately worried that they wouldn’t be able to cover both her and Lindsay’s education without resorting to a second mortgage. Now he wished he could just write the check and forget it. Instead, he took care of the smaller bills, waiting till the last possible day on their credit cards and then paying the minimum.

On top of everything else, he needed to see his mother. Summer was ending, and he’d promised. She was so close. They could take a day and visit her.

“You don’t have to convince me,” Fran said, because he was the one who couldn’t bear the hospital-like limbo of the retirement home. Besides her failing eyesight, his mother didn’t

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