I was in the middle of doing some house repairs. I recently inherited a cabin, up in the mountains - I was out there by myself, so they might not have realized I'm gone just yet.

[It's a little bit of a disturbing notion. Getting a search party together as soon as possible is important. Not that it'll matter this time - they're not going to find him. But Brett knows exactly how they'll worry, how they're going to feel when they do realize.]

But I have friends in town, and, ah - [There's a quick second where he glances at Forrest, looks him over.] - my husband was gonna come up in a few days.