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  “Don’t let her bully you into feeling like you have to be here next week,” Laura said after Samantha was out of ear-shot. “I’m sure I’ll be just fine.”

  “I’m sure you will, but it’s always nice to have someone around just in case. The actual radiation treatments are no big deal, just like going in for an X-ray. You won’t feel a thing.”

  Laura assumed that Henry knew about radiation treatments because of his wife’s ordeal several years ago. She wanted to ask him more questions, but didn’t want to impose.

  “It varies from patient to patient and the areas they’re planning to zap, but you might feel a little queasy a few hours after your treatment,” Henry continued. “But it usually goes away after a few hours. Have they drawn the targets on you yet?”

  Laura pulled her sweater around her and hugged herself tightly. It was obvious by her reaction that they had. In fact, it had been done earlier that day at the hospital. They had weighed and measured her precisely and had drawn lines on her chest which would be used to align the equipment so they could make sure the radiation precisely hit the areas they wanted. Laura had looked at herself in the mirror when she got home and felt like the poster she’d seen at the grocery store which showed where the various cuts of beef come from. She desperately wanted to wash all of the markings off but they had told her to leave them there until all of her treatments were completed.

  Henry had wanted to make Laura feel more at ease about her upcoming radiation treatments, but he was now worried that maybe he was having the opposite effect. It was hard to know how much information anyone needed or wanted. Sometimes not knowing was worse than the actual event, but other times it seemed like a person is better off not knowing what lay ahead for them. Henry sensed that Laura had now reached her threshold, at least for now.

  “I should probably get going,” Henry said, glancing at his watch and rising from the couch. Laura followed him to the door.

  “Thanks again for supper,” he said as he slipped on his coat. Henry reached out to give Laura a hug and kissed her on the forehead as he pulled her in close. She continued to hug herself, but liked how Henry’s arms felt around her. She somehow felt more protected from anything bad that lay in her future when Henry held her.

  “You’ll be fine, trust me,” Henry said, trying to reassure her. “I’ll be back next Tuesday. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything in the meantime.”

  Laura lingered in his embrace a little longer, but then seemed to will herself to be strong again. After Henry left, Laura watched him through the peep-hole as he walked down the hallway towards the elevators. She continued to watch until he got on the elevator. She was glad that Henry would be coming back again.

  *** Chapter 17 ***

  On Wednesday morning, Henry sat at the kitchen table reading the newspaper as he ate breakfast. There was still a headline on the front page about Edward Bronson’s plane being missing, but there were only a few lines of text before referring the reader to an inner page for more details. That’s because they really didn’t have anything more to report. They had expanded their search area but had not found anything yet. Henry folded the paper under his arm as he headed for the door. He would read the rest of the paper on the train as it headed into Toronto. When Henry opened the front door, he was surprised to see a strange car in the driveway and two people walking up his front steps.

  “Good morning sir,” said the first man. “Are you Henry Shaw?”

  “Yes,” Henry replied, looking confused.

  “Are you the brother of Alan Shaw?” said the stranger, continuing his questioning.

  “Yes,” Henry replied. “What’s this about?”

  “I’m Detective Benedetti and this is Detective Fleming,” he replied, as both of the strangers pulled identification out of their pockets and showed it to Henry. “Could we step inside to explain?”

  Henry nervously invited both of them into the living room, fearing what they were going to say next. “Are you aware of Edward Bronson’s plane having gone missing?” Detective Benedetti asked.

  “Yes, I was just reading about it in this morning’s paper,” Henry replied, pulling the newspaper out from under his arm.

  “We have reason to believe your brother may have been on that plane. Have you spoken to your brother in the last few days?”

  “No, I’ve been out of town,” replied Henry, trying to remember the last time he’d spoken to Alan. “I tried calling him last weekend, but I just got his voice-mail, but that’s not out of the ordinary.” Henry pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pressed the keys to select Alan from his list of contacts, desperately hoping that Alan would answer and this would all to be proven to be a mistake, but the call went directly to his voice-mail.

  “Do you know if your brother was an acquaintance of Mr. Bronson?” Detective Benedetti asked. Henry noticed that the other detective had taken out a notebook and was taking notes on everything that Henry said.

  “My brother works at a menswear store in Toronto and I know that he sold some suits to Mr. Bronson,” Henry said, recalling the day he’d seen him at the store several weeks ago. “But I didn’t think he really knew him personally, at least not well enough to be flying with him on his plane. What makes you think Alan was on the plane?”

  “We reviewed video from the airport the night Mr. Bronson’s plane went missing and your brother was seen talking to Mr. Bronson. We don’t know if your brother got on the plane with him or not, but the footage shows them heading out toward the plane together. Could you let us know immediately if you hear anything from your brother?” The detective pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Henry.

  “Certainly,” Henry replied.

  “There must be some mistake,” said a voice from the hallway. Henry turned to see his mother standing there looking as white as a ghost. She had been listening to the whole conversation. “Alan wouldn’t have gotten on that plane. He was afraid to fly.” Her voice started to crack as she said the last few words.

  “This is our mother,” Henry said, explaining her presence to the detectives.

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Detective Benedetti said, trying to reassure her. “But we have to follow up on all possible leads. We’re sorry to have troubled you.”

  “Please call me if you hear anything,” the detective said, turning his focus back to Henry.

  Henry watched as the officers headed to their car and drove off. He then turned to his mother and gave her a reassuring hug. “I’m sure it’s all a mistake,” he said.

  Henry told his mother he was heading off to work, trying to give the impression that this was just a minor hiccup in a normal day. He must have called Alan’s number twenty times on the train ride into Toronto, but they all went immediately to voice-mail. Alan’s mailbox was now full so he couldn’t even leave another message for him.

  When he got to Toronto, he didn’t head into work, but headed immediately to the menswear store hoping he would see Alan measuring someone up for a new suit. But he didn’t. His co-workers said they hadn’t seen him for a few days and he had already missed several of his scheduled shifts.

  Henry then headed off to Alan’s apartment. He convinced Manuel, the superintendent, to let him into Alan’s apartment. Maybe Alan had gone off his medications again and he would be found sleeping in his apartment. But he wasn’t. Manuel said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Alan, but he thought it was at least a week ago.

  Henry called Jenny next. “Have you heard anything from Alan in the last few days?”

  “No,” Jenny replied. “Why, what’s the matter?”

  Henry explained the visit he had received that morning from the police. He told her that he’d already been to Alan’s work and his apartment and there was no sign of him at either place.

  “I know he was supposed to go to a hockey game in Buffalo last week with some old friends from high school,” Jenny said. “Maybe he’s off on some bender with them.”

 
“Do you know which friends?”

  “I know Marty was one of them and Stoney was the guy who got the tickets. I don’t know their last names. Do you remember them from high school?” Henry didn’t know Marty’s last name either but he knew “Stoney” was the nickname for Terry Stonefield, as Henry had gone to school with his older brother. Henry found a telephone number for him on the internet and he confirmed that they’d all gone to the hockey game and come back together on a shuttle-bus. He hadn’t seen or spoken to Alan since that night.

  No one knew where Alan was. Henry feared the worse.

  * * *

  On the following Tuesday morning, Henry picked up a newspaper at the small store in the airport while he was waiting for his flight to Chicago. He had already read his regular paper at home that morning, but he picked up a different one hoping it might have some additional news about Edward Bronson and his brother that wasn’t in the first paper. He had been checking the newspaper every morning and Detective Benedetti had called him that morning to give him an update.

  “We don’t have anything more to report,” Detective Benedetti said, “but I thought I’d give you a heads-up that we released your brother’s name to the press.” In the first reports about the loss of the plane, it had only mentioned Edward Bronson’s name. Then a few days later it said Mr. Bronson and an associate were missing, but they didn’t name the associate. The detective explained that releasing Alan’s name wasn’t to give the newshounds something more to nibble on, but he was hoping that someone would come forward with additional information about his brother. “We still don’t have any confirmation that Alan was ever on that plane with Mr. Bronson and I hope we’re wrong, but it becomes more and more likely with each passing day without any sign of either of them.”

  Even though he had been warned that it was coming, it was still hard to read Alan’s name in the paper. It made it harder to believe that this was just going to turn out to be some kind of mistake. His mother refused to read the articles in the paper, perhaps pretending that if she didn’t read it that it would mean that it hadn’t really happened.

  Henry hated leaving his mother at this time and Jenny had agreed to stay with her while he was out of town. In some ways, Henry was glad to be getting away to Chicago. Of course, he was looking forward to seeing Laura but it also gave him the opportunity to put his worries about Alan on hold for a while.

  The partners at the firm had told Henry that he could have cancelled his trip to Chicago and stayed closer to home until his brother’s situation was resolved. But Henry had told them he thought it was best to try to continue with some kind of normal work routine. He hadn’t told them about his other interest in going to Chicago.

  When Henry got to Chicago, he spent most of the day doing “busy-work”, things like approving timesheets and invoices. He had trouble keeping his focus. Midway through the day he tried calling Laura to see how she was doing, but he didn’t get an answer. Henry knew that Laura would have had her first radiation treatment the day before. He decided to call Samantha.

  “Hi Samantha,” he said when she answered. “It’s Henry. Sorry to bug you during your work day but I was wondering how Laura did yesterday. I tried calling her myself, but didn’t get an answer.”

  “The radiation treatment went really well,” Samantha answered. “She had her treatment about 4PM and came out beaming that it was no big deal at all. But then she started feeling bad after supper and spent the night throwing up. I felt guilty leaving her this morning, but she seemed to be sleeping soundly when I left the condo.”

  “She shouldn’t have eaten supper,” Henry said.

  “Yeah, they had suggested that at the hospital but Laura said she felt great and was starving. Big mistake, I guess. You’re still going to be there tonight, right? I’m leaving shortly for Denver for my work project but I’ll be back on Thursday.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be heading over to her place after work today,” Henry said.

  “Thanks so much. I’ve got to run. I can see them standing at the elevators waiting for me. Take care.” The line went dead before Henry had a chance to say anything more.

  When Henry arrived at Laura’s condo after work, he was pleased to see her looking good when she opened the door. She noticed the bag of groceries he was carrying. “You didn’t have to bring groceries. I’m not completely helpless you know. I’ve got enough food in the house so we don’t starve over the next few days.”

  “Yeah, but do you have these?” Henry asked as he pulled what looked like the world’s biggest box of Rice Krispies from the shopping bag.

  “Let me guess,” she said. “This has been your favourite cereal since you were a kid and you won’t start your day without them. Whatever turns your crank.”

  “Actually, they’re for you. Samantha told me you had a rough night last night and I think you’ll find these will help.”

  “That was my own fault,” Laura said. “They told me at the hospital to watch what I eat after the treatment, but I felt fine so I thought I’d be able to share a pizza with Samantha. Not one of my smartest moves. I’m going to skip supper tonight altogether but there’s plenty of food here so you can make something for yourself.”

  “You’ll have to eat something later on tonight or else you’ll just get run down. You can’t give up eating completely for the next three weeks.”

  Sure enough, Laura said she was feeling a little green around the gills about 7PM and headed off to her bedroom to lie down. Henry plopped himself down on the couch and watched a Blackhawks game that was on TV. Laura emerged from her bedroom about 11PM, but still looked a little queasy.

  “How are you feeling?” Henry asked.

  “A little better,” Laura replied.

  “Care to join me for a bowl of Rice Krispies?” Henry asked as he opened a few cupboard doors until he found the bowls.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea? I’m not sure I’m really up to eating anything yet.”

  “Trust me,” Henry said, as he poured cereal into both bowls. “I think you’ll find this will settle your stomach for the night.” Laura took a few mouthfuls and was surprised that she started feeling better almost immediately. She poured herself another bowl when she finished the first.

  “So, it seems I told you my life’s story the other night but you carefully avoided divulging anything,” Henry said.

  “You noticed that, did you?” Laura said. “I’d like to tell you more, but I think I’m feeling a little queasy again.” Laura flashed a sly smile.

  “Nice try,” Henry said.

  “So what would you like to know?” Laura asked, a little apprehensively.

  “Anything,” Henry said. “Well, everything actually - but let’s start with relationships.”

  “I’ve never been married,” Laura said. “I lived with a guy for almost six years. It was great for both of us while we were together. We were both focused on our careers at the time. I don’t know why I was surprised when he proposed, but I told him I needed some more time to decide. I couldn’t think of a single reason why I shouldn’t marry him, but I never did say yes. He eventually grew tired of waiting.”

  Laura seemed lost in thought for a moment as if reliving the day that she had come home to find that Todd had left. “I’ve had a couple of brief relationships since then, but nothing serious,” Laura continued. “I’m an only child. My mom died in a car accident when I was twelve. My dad is still alive and remarried almost ten years ago, but I never really hit it off with his new wife so we’ve gradually drifted apart. Samantha’s my best friend and has been since we were little.”

  “So what do you do for fun?” Henry asked.

  “You mean, besides picking up guys in airport bars?” Laura replied. “Actually, I don’t do much other than work, or at least up until now. Work was my whole life and now I’m not even sure if I want to go back.”

  Laura paused again as if searching her mind trying to figure out who she was or who’d she become. “You must have th
ought I was a real slut when I approached you at that bar,” Laura said. “I’m not really like that. I’m not sure who that person was. It was almost like someone else had taken control of me and I was just going along for the ride.”

  “At first I thought you were a hooker,” Henry said. “My logic was telling me that I should have just walked away, but I couldn’t help myself.”

  “And look where it’s gotten you now” Laura said as she picked up the bowls and placed them in the dishwasher. “It’s still not too late to make a run for the door.” But Henry knew he wasn’t going anywhere. He was hooked and he knew it.

  Laura looked at the clock over the stove and noticed it was now past midnight. “I should let you get some sleep,” she said. “You’ve got to work in the morning. Thanks for the Rice Krispies. You were right, I feel much better now.” She gave Henry a hug before she headed off to her bedroom.

  On Wednesday morning, Henry was trying to be as quiet as possible as he showered and got ready for work because he didn’t want to wake Laura. However, she poked her head out of her bedroom door just as Henry was going out the door of her condo. “I’m sorry I didn’t get up in time to make you breakfast,” Laura said. “I guess I was more tired than I thought. Did you find everything you needed?”

  “Yes,” Henry replied. “I just made myself some toast and I found some jam in your fridge.” Henry stepped back inside the condo and gave Laura a hug. “So, do we have another midnight date tonight for a bowl of Rice Krispies?” Henry asked as he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

  “Absolutely,” Laura said.

  * * *

  When Henry arrived at the condo after work that day, Laura greeted him at the door but she didn’t look quite as chipper as she had previously. “They moved my radiation treatment from 4PM to 3PM today,” Laura said. “They said something about having to do maintenance on the equipment later in the day. Anyway, I find myself getting queasy two hours after my treatment. You can almost set your watch by it. If you don’t mind, I’m going to go lie down for a while.”