and into her chest. Barbara rushed into the kitchen. âDeborah, are you all right?â
âShe will be,â Evan said.
âIâll bet Steve walks through that door in the next ten minutes,â Barbara told her.
Deborah looked at her through a haze of tears. âNo, he wonât. I knew it when we came back from shopping. Deep down I knew it.â
âYou did not,â Evan said as if he were speaking to a child. âYouâre just scared. Anything could have happened. Steve might be stuck someplace with a flat tire.â
âHe knows how to change a tire, Evan.â
âWell, some kind of car trouble.â
âYou donât believe that or you wouldnât have told me about Artie Lieber.â
âMaybe I jumped the gun. I should have kept my mouth shut about Lieber.â
âLieber?â Deborah looked up to see Pete Griffin standing in the door, his face red from the cold, his thinning hair mussed. âSorry to burst in on you like this, but Adam said you were worried about Steve, and every time Iâve called your phoneâs been busy, so I decided Iâd come and check on things for myself. I thought I was going to have to present identification to that guy who opened the front door. Now what the hellâs going on and whatâs this about Lieber?â
âArtie Lieber is in town. Iâm afraid heâs gotten to Steve.â
Peteâs face sagged. âHow? When?â
âThis afternoon. And I donât know how.â
âDeborah, it could easily be something else,â Evan said. âYou mentioned that he had an appointment this afternoon. But you donât know who it was with, do you?â
âNo. Iâm not even sure there was an appointment. He didnât sound like he was telling the truth. I think maybe he was just trying to get me off his back about going to the mall Christmas shopping.â
âYou two didnât have a fight, did you?â
âNo. Weâve had about five fights since weâve been married. Over stupid stuff. And today we had words because he was acting so mysterious about this so-called appointment.â
Evanâs expression stiffened. âSo you two had a bad argument today?â
âNo. We were irritated with each other, thatâs all. Weâve never had a real argument. Just a few infrequent spats.â
Her eyes filled with fresh tears. Barbara took her shoulders in her firm hands with their short nails. âWe shouldnât have come here and scared you like this over nothing.â
âI think I needed to know that Lieber is in town and maybe got to Steve,â Deborah said raggedly. âOh God, now I understand. We had a prowler last night. Someone hiding in the evergreens. Steve acted like a wild man, running out there barefoot. Now I know why. I also know what he was saying as he circled the trees â Lieber. He thought Artie Lieber was out there. And he must have been. He just waited until he got Steve alone. And then heââ
âLook, Deborah, the police are already in on this,â Evan said crisply. âNormally a person isnât officially declared missing for twenty-four hours, but Steveâs an assistant prosecuting attorney and under the circumstancesâ¦well, they arenât going to let it slide until tomorrow afternoon.â
âIâm glad. But I think itâs too late.â
âStop saying that,â Pete ordered. âItâs probably nothing. Maybe Steve went to a movie.â
âOh, Pete, you know he never goes to movies. He says he canât stand the sound of people chomping on popcorn and slurping soft drinks while the film is showing.â Deborah held her glass out to Evan. âAnother shot, please.â Evan hesitated, then poured. She sipped this one more slowly and spoke, almost to herself. âHe was a very serious, reserved man, and sometimes he could be inconsiderate without