"What do you mean, she ran away?" Krista eyed Tamara with a mixture of shock and disbelief. "I've never known Sara to run away from anything," she exclaimed as they jogged through the park.
Krista had not particularly felt like running, but Tamara said it helped clear her head. Krista wasn't going to begrudge Tamara her methods, but Krista wasn't going to feel better until she found her sister.
"I don't know what to tell you. We had a huge fight. I left her alone in the bedroom to cool off, and when I came back she was gone."
Bedroom? Is Tamara embarrassed to admit that her and my sister were alone in a hotel room last night?
Krista's mind raced. She thought back over the events of the previous night, trying to piece everything together in a way that made sense. She could believe Sara had left Tamara. That much was confirmed by Sara's voicemail. Sara had definitely wanted to leave Tamara. What was it she had said?
Tamara was a mistake.
Krista had been elated to hear from her sister. She and Sara had barely spoken for months, and she was beginning to think she may never hear from her sister again. In fact, the close relationship between Sara and Tamara had been one of the worst things that could have happened to her.
Krista had lost her sister and best friend at the same time. She wasn't entirely sure why Tamara had dropped off the map. Was it guilt over dating the sister of her best friend? Or was Tamara staying away in order to appease Sara. Krista had been hesitant to broach the topic.
When Sara had called her out of the blue, Krista hadn't even taken the time to tie her shoes. It was a decision she had come to quickly regret. While hurrying into the garage, she had attempted to open the door while simultaneously stepping backward out of its arc.
She'd ended up slamming the door directly into her shin. Yet, she had barely slowed. Now, she glanced down absent-mindedly, trying to ignore the pain she felt with each stride. When she'd received the voicemail, she hadn't even taken the time to fully process it. The only thing she'd needed to know at the time was her sister needed her.
She would have to make it up to Madison, of course. Last night would have been their first official date. But given the circumstances, she was sure Madison would understand. They had been hanging out a lot, so Madison would hopefully give Krista the benefit of the doubt.
Despite rushing immediately to the hotel, she had found no evidence of her sister. The hotel staff prided themselves on guest privacy. Normally, Krista would have considered this a laudable policy. However, in this particular case, it had made them utterly useless. They wouldn't even confirm that Sara and Tamara had been guests at the hotel, much less help Krista discover anything useful regarding her sister's disappearance. Krista had gone to great pains to explain the severity of the situation, but they were firm in their insistence on a court order before giving Krista more than the time of day.
Krista had only just begun scouring the parking lot for the second time when she had received the second mysterious phone call of the evening. Sara had called again, but this time from the house phone. However, she had gotten disconnected before offering more than a simple greeting.
"Did Sara have a car?" Krista asked, trying to make sense of the timeline. The hotel was too far to walk--at least in the time between the phone calls. It had taken Krista a solid 20 minutes on the interstate to reach the hotel. A trek like that would take the better part of a day on foot, yet she had called Krista the second time no more than an hour after the first call.
"No," Tamara replied, pulling Krista's attention back to the conversation. At least, I don't think so," she huffed, out of breath. "She didn't take our car, anyway," Tamara amended quickly, noting the look of confusion on Krista's face.
"Would she have called anyone?"
"Erm-no, I don't think so. She didn't really have any friends. She didn't even have a cell phone."
"No cell phone?" Krista was incredulous. She couldn't recall Sara ever being without a cell phone.
"It broke," Tamara quickly volunteered. "Fell into the toilet."
Krista couldn't help but laugh.
Now that sounded exactly like Sara.
"Couldn't she have used your phone?" Krista asked, her grin slowly fading as she became all business again.
"I--I mean, I suppose she could have," Tamara replied slowly.
"Great! So can we check your call history?" Tamara's mouth hung open for a brief moment, speechless.
"Well, uh-yeah, I suppose," Tamara hedged. "But I left it at home. We can take a look once we finish our run."
"Great, lead the way," Krista exclaimed.
"Actually, you know what," Tamara paused in mid-step. "I just remembered it died last night--it still needs to be charged."
"Can't you just plug it in," Krista suggested anxiously.
"My charger stopped working," Tamara replied quickly.
"Oh," Krista said simply, thinking. "What if I bring over mine?"
"No," Tamara said tersely. "The connection is different." After an awkward silence, she continued. "I can go to the store in a couple of hours. Everything is probably closed now."
Krista sighed, feeling slightly deflated before perking up again.
"What about her room? Can we look through her things to see if we can find anything?"
Krista saw a flash of an emotion she couldn't quite identify pass over Tamara's face.
"Look, the state our bedroom is in right now--well, you would learn a lot more than you would lot about your sister and me. Trust me when I say it would be more comfortable for everyone if you let me look through her things. I'll let you know if I find anything.
"Alright, that makes sense, I guess." Krista looked dejected yet again as they finished their run in Tamara's driveway.
"You said she was at your home last," Tamara pointed out as they walked to the front door. "Why don't you look there and let me look here?"
Krista had barely acknowledged the plan before the door slammed in her face.
Tamara watched Krista drive away, pulling her phone from her pocket and glancing at the time.
She had just enough time for a quick shower before she had to leave for her hair appointment.
*****
"I'm sure Sara just needs a little time, and then she'll reach out to you." Madison said softly, trying to comfort Krista. "Break-ups can be rough."
"Do you really think so?"
"I know so. No one in their right mind would leave you behind." Madison's hand brushed hers. The light touch of her soft skin made Krista's own skin tingle.
"I'm glad I called you." Krista's pinky gently caressed Madison's pinky.
"I've got two hamburgers: one vegan and one with bacon and pepperjack," a voice announced, startling them. Krista's hand shot to her side, a guilty look on her face.
"The vegan is mine," Madison volunteered. She didn't looked bothered by Krista's abrupt withdrawal. If anything, she looked amused by Krista's embarrassment.
Krista chastised herself. She had nothing to be ashamed of, after all. So why had she pulled away from Madison?
As the waiter put the burger in front of her, she closed her eyes and took in the smells. She didn't normally order pepperjack. It had been a favorite of Sara's, and eating it now reminded her of missing sister. It was a stupid piece of cheese, but it was strangely comforting.
The next thing she knew, she was crying.
"Are you OK?" Madison looked at her with concern.
"I'm--I'm just worried about Sara. She wasn't acting like herself, even before she--ran away."
The words felt wrong in her mouth. Why couldn't she just admit it? Her sister had ran away. And the sooner she could accept it, the sooner she could--what? Move on?
Fuck that.
"After we get back to your place, why don't we sit down and talk it through. Maybe I can help, even if it's just as a sounding board."
Madison's hand returned to Krista's, and she smiled warmly. This time, Krista didn't pull away.
*****
"So where does that leave us?" Madison asked, standing at a wall in Krista's room.
"I don't know anymore," Krista sighed, collapsing backward onto the bed. "We've been over this dozens of times, yet we're no closer to an answer."
It had been a month since Sara disappeared, and Krista was beginning to fear the worst. Either something had happened to her sister or Sara had left and hadn't looked back. Krista wasn't sure which made her feel worse, but she refused to give up until she heard it from her Sara's own lips.
"OK, so--your sister was dating Tamara, your best friend. Something happened between them and now she's gone," Madison recited, trying to look for some small detail they had missed. "Maybe we need to take a step back? Look at this a different way."
"There's nothing!" Krista exclaimed with frustration.
"Credit cards? Phone? Friends? Ex-friends?"
"All dead ends!" Krista fumed. "There's been no activity on her credit cards, her phone was destroyed, and none of her other friends have heard from her."
"Any other accounts you both shared?"
"Nothing! The only account we've ever shared is the bank account our parents left us when they died!" Krista trailed off. "The account our parents left us--"
Krista pulled out her phone. "I never check this account," she exclaimed. "Sara and I agreed to save it for an emergency." Her eyes went wide as she stared at the screen. "Fuck! It's empty!"
Madison was shocked. She'd never heard Krista swear like that before. "Empty?"
"There's like, 23 cents in here." Krista continued punching at the phone screen. "It was withdrawn--almost a week after Sara left."
"So, what does that mean?" Madison furrowed her eyebrows.
