CHAPTER ONE

5:30pm, Thursday – Oxford County, Maine

Suzanne Wegner was 5' 1" but carried herself like she was a towering 6' tall. She always had a confident look in her eyes that, combined with her proud and self-assured walked makes her a force to be reckoned with when it came to business matters. However, she prided herself in being able to leave that confidence in the office and come across as soft and approachable in the examining room. Her sweet smile gave her the reputation of being the best cardiologist for infants; she could instantly comfort any young or new mother.

She finished filling out her report for her last patient and was more than ready to call it a night. She walked into the metal-walled waiting room and past the reception desk, giving a little wave. "Have a good night, Grace. Don't stay up all night studying in here." She laughed at the fake scowl the young college student shot back at her.

"Trust me, Dr. Wegner, I'm going home as soon as I finish these last file" Grace answered, running her fingers through her straightened hair to get it out of her face.

"In that case, don't stay up all night studying at home." With that Suzanne pushed the office door open, stepping into the tiled hallway of the large building. Her heels clicked loudly down the powder blue hallway, a few lights still shining from inside the other office spaces in the hallway. She pulled her purse higher up on her shoulder before pushing the huge glass doors open and stepping into the cold and rainy evening.

She grabbed her tan trench coat, pulling it tighter against her body, truly regretting not grabbing a heavier jacket. She dug through her purse till her numb fingers wrapped around her cell-phone. She dialed it quickly and held it between her shoulder and ear as she reached back into her purse to dig around for her keys. As she unlocked the doors of her car the person on the other end picked up.

"Hey honey. I'm leaving work now…I know…will do…see you in a bit...Love you too. Bye." She hung up and began driving out of the parking lot.

After driving for ten minutes she ended up on a large stretch of road that was bordered on one side by a large and dense forest and on the other side, empty fields that were backed by more trees. She turned throw a particularly sharp bend and felt her car jolt to the right.

"Crap" she muttered as she looked in her side-mirror and caught a glimpse of an obviously flat back tire. "You have got to be kidding me."

She pulled off to the side of the road and threw her hazards on. She popped the trunk and climbed out of the car. She stomped her foot and let out a litany of curses when the fact that she had no spare tire became apparent to her. She pushed her wet hair out of the face and climbed back into the front seat. She quickly turned on the car, cranking up the heat as high as it could go. The minute or two she had spent outside had already chilled her to the bone and thoroughly soaked her hair. She pulled out her phone from her pocket but quickly threw it into the passenger seat, letting her head drop against the head-rest. No signal.

"Shit…Shit, shit, shit!" She muttered, closing her eyes for a few minutes to collect herself. She opened her eyes just in time to see a pair of headlights reflecting in her rearview mirror. For a split second she thought about locking her doors but when she looked back in her side-mirror she smiled and rolled her window down. "Just my luck!" She said out the window as the figure smiled back at her, now standing in front of her door.

10:30PM, Thursday – Oxford County, Maine

Jonah Nasser paced paced back and forth in his living-room, unsure of what to do. He had called two hours ago and been told to wait some more but waiting was the one thing he couldn't do.

They told him it was probably nothing he knew something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. Something had to be wrong because here he was, in his quiet apartment, all alone instead of with her. eaten, and in the fridge, not cold and sitting forgotten on the kitchen table. By now he was supposed to be lounging on his bed, not panicking in a way he never imagined.

He couldn't wait any longer and grabbed the phone off the couch where he had thrown it in frustration the last time. He waited for someone on the other line to pick up. As soon as they did he rushed to get the words out.

"I'd like to report a missing person…yes…my fiancé, Suzanne Wegner."