Sundown

It’s completely empty.

Pain and confusion war in my chest. She was with me the entire night… as far as I know.

How long would it take for her to slip out and help commit this crime?

Did she know about it?

Was she awakened at some point in the two hours while I slept to help Molly escape?

I don’t know the right answer. I don’t know what makes the most sense. I’m blindsided and confused and fucking pissed as hell.

I’m a police detective.

I have to get my shit together and investigate this.

Stepping across the hall to Molly’s stateroom, I find the identical situation. The space is swept bare. No toiletries, clothes, books, devices. Everything is gone.

Turning, I head back to the front of the train. Passing quickly through the dining car, I stop where the conductor is on the radio with the closest authorities.

My backup.

Allowing him to continue his business, I enter my stateroom. I didn’t know what was happening when I was roused from my bed earlier. I didn’t know to look for clues here, the last place I saw her.

The last time I held her in my arms.

The last time I loved her.

My insides recoil. It can’t be the last time…

Stepping through the door, my eyes sweep the perimeter. I stand in the doorway where she dropped to her knees and looked up at me, eyes round and filled with what I now suppose was a preemptive apology.

My stomach tightens, and I step further in, to the place where I swept her off her knees and carried her to the mattress. It’s a small room. I don’t require luxuries, and I only travel this line once a year for a two-night maximum trip.

Standing in front of the bed, I look down on the mattress where I lay with her spread across me like the promise of a better life. I remember her rising onto her knees to look out the window.

She had commented how the blizzard never stopped. I had let my eyes run down the length of her body, admiring the curve of her breast, the sweep of her hair down her lower back, the glow of her skin in the moonlight.

I pulled her down to me and made love to her. She held me and called me by my name as I dreamed of another life.

A life where I was more than her hero.

A life where I saved her from the demons.

We will have that life.

I’m going to find her, and this time, we’ll finish it for good.

“The Bright Lights Duet” is Mark & Lara’s complete story.