Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Back at home, I scrolled through my online banking from my laptop, looking over the transactions I’d missed over and over again.
One thousand dollars, once a month. I’d never noticed.
As quickly as money came into the account, Ben had drained it.
The savings I’d been so worried about halving with him was running lower than I’d imagined.
I thought he’d been putting money into it each month, but from the looks of it, the only money he was moving was going out.
I’d moved past self-deprecating. No longer was I blaming myself, but instead, I was filled with fury for what he’d done. How he’d tricked me. What he’d let me believe.
Dannika had hesitantly left to eat dinner with Ty and the kids, trying to convince me to come along, but I couldn’t do it.
I didn’t know how to function when my child was missing.
I didn’t know what I was allowed to think, what I was allowed to feel.
I couldn’t help being numb to it all. It was the safest option.
Happiness was far away, like a distant memory. Anger was predominant.
I opened up Kat’s Instagram, searching through her recent posts.
To my surprise, she hadn’t posted anything new since the day she rated the cheesecake.
I searched through her posts. It was rare there weren’t at least two posts a day, but now she’d gone several days without any new content.
It was as if she’d fallen off the face of the planet, much like my husband. Much like my son.
Where are you, Ben?
I clicked to view her website, where she’d posted a few of her favorite restaurants and a handful of her reviews.
It wasn’t as active as her Instagram, but each post contained several comments from happy fans.
She’d done well building a brand for herself.
I was incredibly tempted to comment on something—to demand that she come forward and tell me what she knew, but I stopped.
I couldn’t lash out. I wanted things to be amicable.
I wanted my child to come home. I had to play their game, no matter the cost.
My phone began buzzing from across the room where it was charging, and I leapt up. The storm was brewing outside, the sky dark and thunder rumbling. Normally, I loved storms. Since the day of their disappearance, the weather made me feel more isolated than ever.
When I saw the number on the screen, my stomach went tense.
“Hello?”
“Palmer? It’s Officer Kessler.” She paused. “Listen, I have some news, and I wanted to be sure you heard it before the news stations start picking it up.”
My throat was suddenly dry, chest tight. I couldn’t quite catch my breath. “Okay…”
“Can you meet me at the marina?”
“Please tell me what it is,” I begged, my heart thudding in my chest. “Please. I can’t make the drive down without knowing.” I placed my fingers over my lips, their trembling enough to make me mad.
“I…they found a boat, Palmer. A boat washed ashore a few hours ago. We think it was Ben’s.”