The squawk of a seagull broke through the hum, and Roberta glanced upward to see the errant bird circling in wide, lazy rings overhead. She looked back at the file she was rereading for the dozenth time. When would Cody get home? She hadn’t managed to connect with him all day, and telephone tag was not her idea of a meaningful conversation. She picked up the last clipping in the file, the one summarizing the known events of Cody’s disappearance and return, but she didn’t read it. Instead, she replayed the unsettling visit with Allie this morning. Roberta had been surprised by how frazzled and tense Allie had appeared, in contrast to their first meeting when she had glowed with the joy of motherhood. Even the baby hadn’t looked the same. Was it imagination, or had the child really looked as miserable and sickly this time as Roberta had thought? And why? Roberta reviewed her conversation with Allie.
