I set down my mug.
“Your transportation,” I said.
She turned around.
She stared at me.
“My what?”
Two women got out of the shuttle.
Neat navy blazers. Khaki pants. Name tags. Clipboards. One older, maybe fifty, with gray hair in a bun. One younger, maybe twenty-five, with a ponytail.
Ezoic
The driver’s door of the Explorer opened.
A man got out.
Forties. Tall. Broad-shouldered. In a tan uniform. A badge on his chest. A radio on his shoulder. A folder under his arm.
CURRITUCK COUNTY SHERIFF.
My mother went completely still.
Then there was a knock on the front door.
Polite. Two taps.
I walked across the living room.
Past my father, who was sitting up on the couch now. Rubbing his eyes. Confused. The TV still on. An infomercial for a pressure cooker.
I opened the front door.
“Good morning,” the deputy said. “Ms. Reese?”
“Good morning,” I said. “Thank you for coming.”
