By midnight, it had been established that Sedona was missing and that her mental stability was uncertain. Bob had notified the police on the east coast, since the last anyone had heard she was bound for home, and Maggie contacted the Denver and Colorado police, municipal and state.

* * *

It was quite early in the afternoon when Dakota walked into the bar. He usually couldn’t make it before five on one of his workdays. “Cody!” Sid said. He sat up at the bar in front of her and she looked over each shoulder to see who could be watching, then leaned toward him for a kiss.

“That’s nice,” he said, giving her a half smile. “Right out in public.”

“What are you doing here? Did you get fired?”

“Something came up, Sid. I don’t know where to start to explain. There was something going on with my sister Sedona, when she was here for Sierra’s wedding. Something I didn’t know about. I understand she didn’t want her siblings to know but somehow Cal and Maggie figured her out. She’s been battling some kind of mental illness and I don’t know how serious it is. That’s yet to be determined, I guess. Our father is schizophrenic but he’s never been treated or medicated, at least not since he was very young. Well,” he said, chuckling without humor, “he’s been smoking pot almost his whole adult life. Keeps the special friends quiet. According to Cal and Maggie, Sedona is not schizophrenic but she has some disorder that could be very serious if she doesn’t get some help and—”

“Oh my God, what’s happened? Spit it out!”

“Maggie got her checked into a psychiatric hospital, where she stayed for ten days, but then she decided she didn’t need to be there, so she checked herself out. She told her doctor she was going home. Bob and the kids are in Connecticut and haven’t heard from her. We can’t find her. The police have been notified. They’ve traced her movements a little bit but then all activity stopped.”

“What activity?” Sid asked.

“Well, she hired an Uber from the hospital to Maggie’s house. She stopped at an ATM, got some cash, stayed at Maggie’s house for a few days, made a plane reservation to go home, hired an Uber to take her to a nice, quiet restaurant, where she had a meal, and that’s where we think we lost her.”

“You think?”

“There was some activity on her credit card but it was all over the place. Someone could have taken her purse or just lifted the card number from the car service or the restaurant. But she isn’t answering her cell, and because she didn’t communicate with anyone, we don’t know if she’s okay or—”

He exhaled. “I’m hoping she’s taking a breather. Apparently there were troubles in the marriage that she didn’t want to talk about, didn’t want to tell me about. I don’t blame her. We’re not close. Maybe she just ran away for a little while.”

Sid shook her head. “From what I saw, Sedona seemed too invested in her family. Even in this Colorado family. Do you know what the doctors said her disorder was?”

“The police are looking into that and we’ll know soon. The thing is, she was last seen in Denver. Cal has a baby, Sierra has a baby, so...” He stopped and just shook his head.

“So?” she asked.

He straightened. “I’m going to find her. I’m going to find my sister. And I’m about the last person she’d want to be found by. I haven’t been a good brother.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sid said. “You want something to eat? Drink? A beer?”

“I’d like a sandwich, if you can. And a cup of coffee. I’m leaving from here.”

“Of course. BLT? Grilled cheese? Club?”

“Yeah, club. With oatmeal and fruit.”

She smiled at him. “I want to hold you,” she said. She felt tears come to her eyes. She had never said that to a man before. Her husband, David, seemed to have a million problems. No, he had irritants. She had never wanted to or offered to hold him.

For a split second, she let herself ponder if she hadn’t done enough. Then she remembered how selfish he had been and let it go. “Let me get your food. Then we can talk a little while.”

She went to her computer and keyed in the order, then anxiously turned back to Dakota.

But who was suddenly sitting on the bar stool next to him? The fancy woman. Neely. She was all smiles. Sid heard her say, “Well, what a surprise! I never would have thought I’d run into a friend at this time of day!”

Dakota gave her a look that said he was disgusted with her. And then he did something Sid would never have expected or predicted. He was completely rude to her.

“Not playing your games today, Neely. I have things to work out.” He stood from his bar stool and walked down to the end of the bar near the kitchen door. The look on Neely’s face was priceless. She was stunned.

Neely snapped her fingers at Sid. “Hey! Can I get a chicken Caesar?”

“Absolutely!” Sid said. “Coming right up!” And she went back to her computer. Then she brought Dakota a fresh cup of coffee. “I assume you were kidding about the oatmeal and fruit.”

“Kind of,” he said. “Waking up with you is heaven, even if it means eating oatmeal. Listen, I don’t know what this is going to take. I don’t know how long. I talked to Tom Canaday and he’s not that busy right now so he’s going to take my shift on the truck for a while. He said the money will come in handy.”

“Will you call me?” she asked.

He grinned and she knew why. “We don’t talk on the phone,” he said. “We meet in the bar or at the food bank but we don’t whisper into the phone like lovers do.”

“This seems to be a good time to start. What do you think?”

“What I think is, I could pathetically need you.”

“That would be okay. I’d like to be with you on this journey, in spirit if not in person. I think this is a good thing you’re doing. I hope she’s okay.”

“I don’t know what to expect, Sid. I always thought Sedona was the most stable kid in our family. I had no idea she was a little fucked up in the head. I mean, I did, but I didn’t. You know?”

“You have no idea how well I know,” she said. “Tell me what you’re planning.”

“I have a recent picture from Sierra’s wedding. I emailed it to a print shop and they’re making flyers for me. I’ll go to the restaurant where she had dinner. I have an appointment with the doctor—hopefully she’ll give me information I can use to help find her. Cal contacted a private detective to help us and the police have been very supportive. I asked them not to publicly mention her fragile mental state—I’m afraid if she hears that it will drive her away. She’s so secretive and proud. I didn’t know she was struggling.” He looked down into his coffee. “Sedona drove me crazy. Not as a kid and big sister, she was okay then. But once she got married and had kids, man. She drove us all crazy.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. She ran a tight ship. Her husband was too quiet and preoccupied, her kids too polite and disciplined, her house too perfect, her schedule too rigid—the polar opposite of the way we grew up.”

“But isn’t that reasonable? If she didn’t want the mirror image of the way you grew up?” Sid asked.

“Sometime, later, after we get Sedona back, I’m going to have to tell you more about my childhood and adolescence. It affected each one of us differently. The funny thing is, I thought Sedona was completely unaffected. She glided right off that farm, got scholarships and earned herself a degree in psychology, then a master’s and PhD, then a nice husband and a house out of the city. She went back to the farm twice a year to check on our parents. She took her kids a couple of times but I never heard of her taking her husband. I thought she was the most normal one of us. Now I find out...”

“She might have hit a snag,” Sid said. “Sometimes you think everything is okay. Not fabulous but perfectly satisfactory. As good as it’s going to get. Then something happens and you find out you were barely holding it together.”

“Is that what happened to you?” he asked.

“I was keeping a lot of balls in the air,” she said. “I dropped the most fragile one. Then the rest of them just went down.” There was the sound of a bell. “Excuse me a second.”

She turned away from Dakota and went to the counter to get the salad and Dakota’s sandwich. She looked around the bar. Neely was gone.

She took the sandwich to Dakota. “Did you see her leave?”

“I wasn’t paying attention. Bathroom, maybe?”

“I wasn’t paying attention, either,” Sid said. She put the salad at the place Neely had occupied, giving her a chance to come back. Then she picked up the coffee urn and refilled Dakota’s cup.

“She’s another thing I should talk to you about. Neely. I’ll give you some details when there’s more time, but don’t trust her. She’s not all right. She’s not what she seems.”

Sid frowned. “I think I could’ve guessed that the first time she snapped her fingers at me for service. Not all right how?”

“I gotta take care of Sedona first, then I’ll tell you a story. I was never involved with her in any way. Since I’ve been here, there’s only been you.”

“I’m still surprised by that,” she said with a smile that felt sentimental. “I hope you’ll be okay, Cody. I hope you can find her right away.”

He took a big bite of his sandwich. She casually watched the bar to see if there were customers in need and took note that Neely had not returned. He washed down about half the sandwich with water.

“Can I pack up anything for your drive?” she asked. “Drinks? Food?”

“I’m covered. I really hate to leave you. Now that I have to go, I realize how many things I want to tell you. Want to ask you.”