The Innocent. Amanda Stevens

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      “I heard Tess was here. I need to talk to her.” The poor woman had already been interviewed by Abby and by Dave Conyers, another detective in the Criminal Investigations Division, but there would be other investigators with more questions. Harder questions. Questions that delved into the most intimate details of Tess Campbell’s life.

      And that’s where they’d run into problems, Abby thought. Tess didn’t want to talk about her past. No one did really, but a child’s life was at stake, and no stone could be left unturned. No secret left unexposed. Tess Campbell’s privacy—and her secrets—would become another victim of this kidnapping.

      Naomi, her eyes deeply troubled, took Abby’s arm and pulled her away from the crowd. She’d helped on searches like this all over the state since Sadie had gone missing, but every abduction took its toll, this one even more so because of the similarities to her own daughter’s disappearance. “You have news?”

      Abby sighed. “No, and it doesn’t look good.” Her stomach knotted as she glanced in Tess Campbell’s direction.

      The woman had somehow regained her composure and was now stuffing flyers into envelopes. Her expression was almost fierce as she went about the mindless task, and her strength, like Naomi’s—like so many others—was amazing. Sometimes Abby wondered how they did it, these mothers. How they managed to hold on the way they did.

      “She shouldn’t be here,” Abby murmured.

      “I know, but she had to get out of the house for a while. She needs to feel a part of the search even in a small way. Besides, there’s a deputy sitting by her telephone.”

      “But if the abductor calls, he’ll want to speak to her,” Abby warned.

      “All right. I’ll drive her home. Just give her a few more minutes, okay?”

      Abby nodded. They both knew that at this point, it wasn’t likely the abductor would call anyway, but nothing could be left to chance. “How’s she holding up?”

      Naomi shrugged. “She’s coping. What choice does she have? But I don’t think she’s completely grasped the situation yet. About the anniversary, I mean.”

      Emily Campbell had vanished from the same school playground ten years to the day that Sadie had disappeared. If the same person who took Sadie had also abducted Emily, then Emily’s fate could be the same as well.

      “Try not to jump to conclusions,” Abby said. “We don’t know anything yet. And ten years is a long time.”

      “I keep telling myself it could all be just some sort of horrible coincidence.” Naomi ran a hand through her short hair. Even in her exhaustion, she still looked beautiful. She was still the big sister Abby had idolized all her life. And she was still enduring pain that was as fresh as the day her daughter had disappeared ten years ago.

      Naomi glanced back at Tess Campbell. “I know better than anyone the hell she’s going through right now. The terror she’s feeling. And the guilt. The unspeakable things that keep running through her mind. But at the same time…” Naomi’s eyes were anguished when she turned back to Abby. “I keep thinking this is the first break we’ve had since Sadie disappeared. We may finally have a chance to find out what happened to my baby.”

      “Naomi—”

      “Oh, I know. After all this time, I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Besides, I feel so guilty for even thinking such a thing. It’s Emily we have to concentrate on. It’s Emily we have to find.”

      “But you can’t help thinking about Sadie.” Abby took her sister’s hand. “She’s been on my mind, too. Ever since I first got the call about Emily.”

      “Ten years,” Naomi said in a near whisper. She clung to Abby’s hand. “Ten years, and I still can’t help believing she’s out there somewhere. I still can’t help hoping that somehow we’ll find her, that someday she’ll come back home to us.”

      Abby had never given up that hope, either, in spite of the realities she dealt with in her job. That hope was one of the reasons she’d joined law enforcement after college. It was one of the reasons she’d stayed in Eden when moving to a city would have afforded her more opportunities. She couldn’t bring herself to leave so long as the questions surrounding her niece’s disappearance went unanswered. If she left, Abby knew, it would be the same as giving up. It would be like losing all hope. There was no way she could ever do that to her sister.

      But there had been nothing she could do for Naomi when Sadie had disappeared, and Abby felt that same sense of helplessness welling inside her now.

      Glancing at her watch, she noted the time. It was just after three. The kindergarten class at Fairhaven Academy had already been dismissed for the day. She pictured the children in their little school uniforms lining up to go home or running about the playground. They would be laughing, talking, carefree. So very innocent. Like Sadie and Emily had once been.

      Tears stung Abby’s eyes, and for a moment, she felt an almost overwhelming need to rush to that school, to make certain each child returned safely to his or her mother’s waiting arms.

      But she had a job to do here, and for now all she could do was send up a silent prayer, a fervent hope, that there would be no more abductions. That a higher power than she was watching over Eden’s children.

      FIVE-YEAR-OLD Sara Beth Brodie stood in line behind her kindergarten classmates at Fairhaven Academy and folded her arms in disgust. She hated Wednesdays. Hated them so much she could just bust.

      Why did there even have to be such a thing as a Wednesday anyhow? It was a stupid, stupid, stupid day. She’d crossed them all off the calendar at home with a big black marker, but it didn’t seem to matter because she still had to go stay with her daddy today.

      That’s what happened when your parents got divorced, her friend, Brittney, had told her. You had to spend part of the time with your mama and part of the time with your daddy.

      Sara Beth didn’t care for the arrangement at all. She wanted things to be the way they used to be except without all the fighting. Without all the screaming and threats.

      She stared sullenly at the back of Christopher McMillan’s head and thought about pulling his hair. Just giving it a good hard yank for no other reason than because she was mad and Christopher was standing in line in front of her.

      But he was such a crybaby. He’d make a big fuss, and Miss Sheridan, who ran the school, might even call Sara Beth’s daddy.

      Sara Beth hesitated, thinking about what her daddy might do. Sometimes she almost hated him, but she knew she was a very bad girl for thinking such a thing.

      “Stop it!” Christopher complained loudly. He turned around and glared at Sara Beth.

      “Stop what? I didn’t do nuthin’,” she defended.

      “You didn’t do anything,” Miss Sheridan, who seemed to appear from nowhere, corrected.

      “I know,” Sara Beth agreed solemnly. “I didn’t.”

      “She did, too! She pulled my hair!”

      “Did not.”

      “Did, СКАЧАТЬ