Missing. Lynette Eason
offered the best traffic where the most people would see it.
A shadow passed by the door and she turned, expecting to see someone enter.
No one did.
She went back to her pacing.
Again, movement by the glass door caught her attention. Strange movement, like someone bobbing up and down.
Thinking someone needed help opening the heavy door, she walked over to it, and pulled it open. No one was there.
Huh, that’s odd.
Just to make sure, she stepped outside to look to the right.
Nothing.
As she looked to the left, something slammed into her lower back propelling her against the wall. The breath left her so fast, she couldn’t even scream. In shock, she felt her face scrape the side of the building.
Before she could gather her stunned wits, a voice whispered in her ear, “She’s mine now and you’ll never find her.”
Fear careened through her and she struggled to turn around on legs that felt like jelly. Her face burned and her back felt bruised.
The blue sky turned dark and for a moment she was afraid she would pass out.
Running footsteps echoed back to her, mocking her, letting her know she was helpless. With a frustrated and angry cry, she slid down the wall to sit on the ground and weep for her lost child.
Mason ground his teeth in frustration at Georgia’s refusal to cooperate. The fact that she even had to attend the summer session due to a flunking grade in English had already spiked her attitude. Being questioned about a wreck she claimed to have nothing to do with sent it skyrocketing.
Her wide gray eyes flicked back and forth between the three adults staring at her. Her lips clamped together in a tight snarl. Mason thought they might need a blowtorch to pry them apart.
The principal had asked to stay in the room. Since Georgia was over fourteen, they didn’t need parental permission to question the girl although they had given her mother a courtesy call.
She was on the way.
He briefly wondered how Lacey was doing, then focused his attention back to Bethany’s stubborn friend. Her body language and uncomfortable shifting when questioned about the wreck all suggested she was lying about not being there.
He leaned forward. “Look, Bethany’s missing. From all appearances, she wouldn’t run away. In fact, from what her mother says, she was scared of something, nervous all the time. She felt like her life might be in danger. That, coupled with her disappearance, sends up a big red flag. She might be counting on you to help find her.”
Georgia licked her lips. Some of the attitude faded as she finally looked him straight in the eye. “I don’t know where she is, I promise!”
Deflated, he realized he believed her. She didn’t know where Bethany was. But she sure knew something. “What are you afraid to tell me? To tell us?”
Georgia jumped to her feet. “Nothing! There’s nothing to tell!” Tears leaked down her cheeks and she palmed them away leaving black streaks of mascara behind. “If I could help you find Bethany, I would. But you’re right about one thing. She was scared of someone.”
“Who?”
The girl slumped back into the chair and slapped a hand on the table. “I don’t know! I wish I did, but I just don’t. But she can take care of herself. She’s got a first-degree black belt in karate, you know?”
Mason started. Lacey hadn’t mentioned that. “What?”
“Yeah, she’s like addicted. Does all kinds of competitions—and wins. So she can handle whatever comes along.” Frustration slid over her face. “But I don’t know where she’s hiding out. I promise.”
“Hiding out?” Mason jumped on those two words. “So she left on her own?”
Georgia groaned. “No! I don’t know! I don’t know what she’s doing or where she is. She didn’t say anything about leaving before she disappeared. That much I do know.”
Catelyn blew out a sigh and looked over at Mason. He shook his head. They weren’t going to get anything from Georgia. However, he had to ask, “Were you with Kayla the night of the accident?”
“No! Why do people keep asking me that? No! I wasn’t there, all right?” Her breath came in pants and sweat broke across her upper lip.
She was lying. But he wasn’t going to get her to admit it. Yet. “All right, thanks for meeting with us.” He slipped her his card. “But if you think of anything at all, will you please call me?”
“Sure.” She slipped the card into her back pocket.
Mason stopped her. “Do you feel like you’re in any danger, Georgia? Because I can help, if you do.”
“No,” she mumbled. “I’m not in any danger. Now I gotta go.” She escaped the room as fast as she could. Her mother hadn’t even arrived yet.
Mason looked at Catelyn. “She’s definitely scared.”
“But of what? Of who?”
“I don’t know, but I think Lacey may have been on to something when she said that Bethany’s disappearance had something to do with the car accident. Georgia was involved in it—no matter how adamantly she denies it—and she’s scared to death about something. Bethany was probably with the two girls, too, and now she’s missing.”
“Kayla is dead, Bethany’s missing and Georgia’s scared. I think I’m going to have an officer keep an eye on her for her own safety.”
Mason tapped his chin and watched Georgia disappear into the throng of students ready to get out of the building and go do something fun. “I think that’s a good idea. I also think we need to revisit that accident. Who was the lead investigator in it?”
“My partner. Daniel Ackerman.”
Mason felt his gut clench. He hadn’t spoken more than three sentences to Daniel since the day he’d caught Lacey kissing his friend. Even though it wasn’t Daniel’s fault that Lacey had come on to him, the man was a reminder of one of the most painful times of his life.
And even though Daniel had married and moved on, Mason couldn’t get the betrayal out of his mind.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Then let’s find Daniel and get all of the evidence about the accident back out. I want everything sent back to the lab. Since it was ruled an accident, the forensics people probably didn’t go over everything quite as thoroughly as they would a murder.”
“If that car wreck wasn’t an accident, then it was murder.”
“Yeah.” His phone rang and he saw Lacey’s number pop up. His heart squeezed. “Hello?”
“Mason?” Her shaky voice put him on instant alert.
“What is it, Lacey?”
“I was attacked.” She sobbed. He heard her trying to catch her breath. “But I think I have something to add to the investigation. Can you come?”
Heart in his throat, he promised to be there in less than a minute. He looked at Catelyn. “Come on, this is a police matter.”
He raced from the room, Catelyn following along behind him, his mind looping with Lacey’s first three words, I was attacked… and realized with some surprise that he wanted to hurt the person who’d hurt her.
Forty-five seconds later, when he saw her sitting against the side of the building with an ice pack on her cheek, the rage inside him tripled and he knew without a doubt that past or no past, betrayal or no betrayal, he was going to fall for Lacey Gibson once again.
And wondered how he was going to keep his heart from being ripped in