“Beth?” He asked suddenly, “how long have I been gone? You act as though it’s been a long while...”
“A long while, darling.”
“How long?”
She looked steadily at him for a moment, her eyes deep with seriousness. “Thirteen months,” [p34] she whispered, her voice shaking.
Thirteen months! He relaxed heavily in the straight backed chair and stared at her dumbfoundedly. Over a year! Where had he been? What had he done? Why hadn’t he been located before now?
“Thirteen months,” he croaked, unable to say anything else.
She nodded. “Oh, Nick, every police agency in the country has been looking for you. I’ve had detectives out hunting. Nolan Brice has been doing everything he can to locate you. But they couldn’t. No one could. It was as though you had disappeared from the face of
the earth.”
“Nolan Brice?” Nick asked.
“Your best friend...” When she realized that he knew nothing of the man, Nick could see her starting to cry. Her eyes began filling and he could almost see the hopelessness within her.