Free The Day Will Come by Judy Clemens

Alexander had his way—was so outrageous that twice I almost cut off my finger instead of a broken wire. Fortunately, I realized before it was too late that I’d better take a break. I made it back to the house without any missing body parts, and found Lucy sliding a loaf of bread into the oven.
    “They interrogate you, too?” I asked.
    Her brow furrowed. “Bunch of strange questions, asking about Jordan’s demeanor and anything I know about him and Genna. I had no idea there was anything to him and Genna, other than knowing each other, and him looking for her last night. Was there?”
    I slumped onto a kitchen chair and put my feet up on the one across from me. “Not that he told me. All I know is I felt the vibes when we saw her backstage. She did her best not to look at him, and he ignored her, except for telling us her name. Of course, after the bomb scare he was practically hysterical looking for her. But the biggest thing…” I stopped, trying to put my mind around it.
    “What?”
    “Jermaine told me Jordan had set himself up at the police station saying he was waiting for news on his fiancée .”
    “Fiancée? But wasn’t that drummer guy her boyfriend?”
    “Um-hmm.” I leaned back and studied my fingers, thankful they were all there. “I didn’t tell the annoying detective any of this, since it’s all stuff I don’t really know. I’ve never heard it from Jordan.” I glanced at the answering machine. “I take it none of the Grangers has called? Or Nick?”
    “Nope.”
    I checked the clock. Nick should’ve been home by now, but I supposed it could still be a while before he had any answers from his doctor.
    I leaned back on my chair, trying not to overbalance as I reached for the phone. Lucy, rolling her eyes, walked over, grabbed the phone, and handed it to me.
    I took it. “Thanks.”
    She went back to the counter and began cleaning out the breadmaker, where she’d let the dough rise before taking it out and putting it in a real bread pan.
    I tried calling Jordan at home, but had no luck. Then I called all the Grangers, but none of them had heard from him, either. Jermaine told me Ma was about ready to take off down to the city herself if she didn’t hear anything soon, and they were all trying to talk her out of it. I reminded him to let me know if he heard anything, and gave him a heads-up that the cops were looking at Jordan as a suspect. Needless to say, this didn’t go over well. He gave me Jordan’s cell phone number, and I called it without getting any response.
    I pushed myself off the chair and hung up the phone, realizing I’d better get back out to the fences if I wanted to finish them that day. “I’m headed out. Can you come get me if somebody calls?”
    “You bet.”
    I was more under control now, and fence mending went quickly enough that I was back in time to help Lucy with milking. She usually took the evenings, but it was a routine I enjoyed, and I wouldn’t have felt right sitting in the house doing nothing while she was putting in the hours. By the time we were done, though, I was ready for my supper and my bed. Lucy’s bread was warm and soft, and the roast chicken she’d cooked in the crock pot went down easy.
    My stomach and I would be in mourning once next Saturday arrived.
    By the time I’d taken a shower and put clean sheets on my bed, Nick still hadn’t called. I said goodnight to Lucy, who’d sent Tess upstairs an hour earlier, and picked up the phone in my room. Instead of Nick, I got a computerized message telling me the cellular phone customer I’d dialed was not available, along with some numerical code. I hung up and tried again, hearing the same recorded message. Strange. Nick never turned off his phone. Maybe the battery had died in all his traveling and fatigue. Or he’d been told to turn it off at the doctor’s office and had forgotten to turn it back on. Or it had fallen out of his pocket and gotten run over by a bus.
    I hung up, not