The Anniversary by Amy Gutman Page A

yes again. And finally, he’d proved it.
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    Again, his eyes drifted to the splayed body, tossed across the 7
    path. He’d have liked to stay there for quite some time, letting 8
    the image sink in. But even though the island was all but de-9
    serted, he couldn’t dispense with caution. He had to finish up 10
    with the body, then head back to the boat. He’d brought it in un-11
    der cover of night, he’d leave the same way. He needed to stick to 12
    his schedule, to take care of things and get out.
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    Formula of my happiness: a Yes, a No, a straight line, a goal.
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    The familiar words echoed in his brain, reminding him of his 15
    purpose. He had to wind up his work here, to get back to Merritt 16
    in time.
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    Tuesday, April 11
    Ca l l i e sat on the side of her bed, picking fuzz balls off her 1
    sweater. There was something calming about the task, its total 2
    mindlessness. She’d finally cleared the right side and turned now 3
    to the left, plucking off the furry bits of wool and flicking them 4
    into the trash. When at last she looked up, she felt vaguely dazed.
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    Twenty minutes had passed.
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    She’d been this way for almost a week now. Preoccupied. Dis-7
    tracted. The world around her had come to seem more and more 8
    unreal. It was at night, as she lay unconscious, that she sensed re-9
    ality. The old nightmare returned now almost every night. Steven 10
    Gage in the parking lot, his hands exploring her body. The heat 11
    of desire, the fear of death, intertwined in sleep. Even worse, the 12
    dream was mutating, as if it were a living thing. Sometimes 13
    Steven was Lester Crain. Once he’d had Rick’s face. This last 14
    shift had appalled her. It had felt like a betrayal. Moments after 15
    she’d snapped awake, she’d gone to the toilet and thrown up.
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    She was no closer to deciding what to do than she’d been last 17
    week. She’d spent hours on the Internet, seeking news of Lester 18
    Crain. But just as she’d thought, there was very little that she 19
    didn’t already know. She told herself this was reassuring; he 20
    might be dead, after all. All the experts agreed that a killer like 21
    Crain wouldn’t have simply stopped. Yet during the years since 22
    his escape, no crimes had been linked to him.
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    If only she had someone to talk to, but there was no one now.
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    She thought of her parents back in Indiana, how much older 25
    they’d seemed last Christmas, her father’s skin pouched around S 26
    his eyes, her mother somehow fragile. After everything she’d put R 27
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    A M Y G U T M A N
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    them through, she couldn’t dump this on them. Besides, even if 2
    she talked to them, what could they possibly do? They’d only worry 3
    as they had before, as they had for so many years. And once again 4
    they’d be helpless to protect the daughter they loved. Imagining 5
    how she’d feel in their place, she was filled with guilt. She couldn’t 6
    think of anything worse than fearing your child was in danger.
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    Her older sister, Sarah, had always been her closest confidante.
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    But calm, perfect Sarah now had problems of her own. Sarah and 9
    her husband had been sharply hit in the nineties tech-stock crash.
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    Gary had been laid off, and Sarah, a doctor, had gone back to 11
    work full-time. She had two young children, one of them autistic, 12
    and wanted to be home with them. Instead, the kids were in day 13
    care, while Gary looked for work.
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    The only other possibility was her ex-husband, Kevin Thayer.
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    At least he knew the history. She wouldn’t have to explain.
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    Kevin with his round pink face, his smell of Ivory soap. Strange, 17
    that of all the options, he was the most appealing. She and Kevin 18
    had barely spoken for years. Their