After fifteen minutes, I resign myself to the fact that I may have to travel to Orlando and show up on this woman’s doorstep, when she calls.
“Hello, Rebecca?”I say into the phone.
“Yes.Hi.You were married to Lindsay?”
“I was.”
“So you’re divorced?”
My heart drops.“No.She passed away.”
She gasps.“God, I’m so sorry.She disappeared after graduation.I… I’ve thought about her over the years.I never imagined…”
“I apologize.”I rub at my forehead.“I thought you knew.Someone named Becca posted on her Facebook memorial page.”
“That wasn’t me.I’ve never gone by Becca or Becky.Just Rebecca.”
Fuck.“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”
“Oh, it’s okay.I mean, I haven’t seen her since high school, but like I said, I think about her from time to time.Wonder how she’s doing.”She sighs.“I guess I know now.I’m not on social media, so I never heard about this until just now.I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.It was a while ago.Nearly three years now.”
“Damn.Again, my deepest condolences.”Another sigh.“May I ask what you’re calling about?”
“I’m hoping you can help me.I need to locate her old boyfriend, Ronny Burgundy.”
“Wow,” she says.“Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in forever.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.He fell off the face of the earth, too.”
“Did he?Do you have any idea where he might be now?”
Rebecca is silent for a moment.“Last time I heard anything about him, he was heading out west,” she tells me.“San Francisco, if I remember correctly.”
“San Francisco,” I repeat, filing that information away.
“Yes.”She pauses again.“But it’s been years.I’m not sure if he’s still there.”
“It’s a start,” I say.“Thank you, Rebecca.”
“Sure.”Her voice cracks.“God, again, I’m so sorry to hear about Lindsay.She was so pretty and smart.Of course I spent a few years hating her for abandoning me and never reaching out.”
“She had her reasons.”
“Ronny?”
“Yeah.He wouldn’t leave her alone.She had a restraining order and everything, but he continued stalking her, so she and her parents moved to Colorado after graduation.She went to college here, and that’s where she and I met.”
“Wow,” Rebecca murmurs, sounding stunned.“I had no idea.She always seemed so strong, so fearless.”
“She was,” I say.“But everyone has their vulnerabilities.She couldn’t take it anymore.She wanted to live her life.”
Live her life.The irony of my words hits me like a ton of bricks.
Lindsay should be alive, damn it.
