Page 28 of Clear Path

Diana pinched the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses, thinking. “You know where it is?”

Julie grimaced. “Well, not exactly.”

Diana fell silent for a beat. Then she recovered her manners. “Bodhi, this is Julie Mason, she’s a local developer.”

“CEO of Mason Property and Development,” Julie interjected, reaching for Bodhi’s hand.

“Nice to meet you,” he said before turning to Evan. “And we met at the history center, but we weren’t formally introduced.”

“Ah, yes. You’re the gentleman I shooed out of the exhibit so I could close up. Evan Jeffries. Apologies for chasing you out.”

Bodhi laughed. “No apology needed. I was there for a long time. The exhibit had a powerful effect on me.”

Evan’s face lit up with pride. Then he blinked at Bodhi from behind his glasses and gestured toward Rory’s apartment across the way. “Are you aware of what’s happening here?”

Bodhi shook his head. “No. I couldn’t miss the crowd, but I don’t know what all the excitement is about.

Diana gazed across the courtyard. Dusk had crept in and she could no longer make out the photographs in the dim light. Apparently, neither could anyone else.

Evan leaned forward, eager to explain. “Rory created a guerrilla exhibition of her work after her gallery show in Pittsburgh was canceled. She’s been documenting displacement along the Great Allegheny Passage—families and businesses pushed out by developers.”

Diana didn’t miss the sideways glance Evan gave Julie. Neither did Julie, who stiffened but said nothing.

“This afternoon, she unveiled the exhibit across the way in her apartment and then posted on social media that she planned to document more sites along the trail. That explains why she’s out on the trail,” Evan finished.

“It doesn’t explain why she left her bike and camera behind,” Diana said. “Or why she’d wander off wearing only one shoe.”

“There’s no way she’d leave her camera voluntarily,” Julie agreed.

“It also doesn’t explain the blood.” Bodhi gave voice to what the rest of them wouldn’t or couldn’t.

After a beat, Diana said, “No. It doesn’t.”

“You didn’t find her phone?” Evan asked.

“No phone,” Bodhi confirmed.

Evan pulled out his cell phone and tapped a number eagerly, activated the speakerphone function, and placed the device on the table. They all leaned over it, waiting for it to ring. But the call went directly to voicemail without ringing.

“You’ve reached Rory. I rarely check my messages. Please text me instead.”

Evan deflated as he jabbed the phone off. “It didn’t even ring. It’s either turned off or she doesn’t have coverage.”

“Or her battery’s dead,” Diana added. “Go ahead and text her anyway, Evan. It can’t hurt.”

As the professor thumbed out a text, Bodhi dropped his voice. “Did she have any history of mental illness? Depression? Suicidal ideation?”

“Not that I know of,” Diana said.

“She wouldn’t hurt herself,” Julie said firmly. “That’s not Rory.”

“So if the police won’t look for her, what do we do now?” Evan asked as he stowed his phone in his pocket.

“We look for her,” Diana responded simply. “Do you think you could lead us back to her, Bodhi?” She asked the question to the table in general instead of attempting to make eye contact with the man in the fading light.

He turned toward her, positioning himself so that he was in her line of sight. Then he answered her question and asked one of his own. “I can find the cave again. If you don’t mind my asking, how advanced is your AMD?” he asked.

His directness startled her. “What gave it away?”

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