Missing. Lynette Eason

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СКАЧАТЬ She sucked in a deep breath. She couldn’t just blurt it out. “I’ll get to that in a minute.” Oh Lord, I need your help and guidance on this. Right now, please.

      Twisting the tissue between her fingers, she drew in another breath and looked him in the eye. “Some strange things have been happening lately. To Bethany. And I think they’re related to the car wreck that happened a couple of months ago.”

      “What wreck?”

      “It was during spring break back in April. Bethany’s best friend, Kayla Mahoney, was driving and she ran off the road, hit a tree and—” she pressed shaking fingers to her lips “—died.”

      Mason’s sharply indrawn breath stabilized her. “Wait a minute, I think I heard about that.”

      Lacey swiped a tear away. “Anyway, after the accident, Bethany was having trouble dealing with it. So, I looked into getting her some help. She started counseling with our pastor and seemed to be improving. And now this.” Through clenched teeth she gritted, “But no one seems to be interested in helping me!”

      She fought the wave of tears as she looked at Mason.

      He rubbed a hand over his face then caught her eye. “And you said weird things started happening after the wreck?”

      “Yes.”

      “Like what?”

      “Bethany started acting very strange. She jumped at the slightest noise, refused to go out by herself, became my shadow if we went out together. It seemed she was constantly watching her back, but she adamantly refused to talk about it. She started losing weight, having nightmares. I thought she might be suffering from depression after everything that happened.”

      “It would certainly be understandable.”

      Lacey nodded. “Then someone tried to break into our house one night. Bethany came screaming into my room in the middle of the night that someone was climbing in her window. I called the police and they came out, but found nothing that indicated someone tried to get in. But there are bushes and mulch and—” She waved a hand. “It would be impossible to say if there was or wasn’t someone out there. The police blamed it on youthful pranks.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

      “What else?” he probed.

      “About a week later, she said she thought someone had followed her home from school. We live near the high school, so she walks to and from school. Only in the last few weeks I’ve had to start taking her and picking her up. She’s gotten so frightened that she’s refused to go to school unless I drive her.”

      Mason started pacing again. “Did you report it?”

      “Yes.”

      He frowned. “And that’s it?”

      Exasperated, Lacey stood and paced to the fireplace then back to her seat. “Yes—and no.”

      “Meaning?”

      “Meaning I think there’s more to it.”

      “Such as?”

      “I don’t know!” Lacey threw her hands up in frustration.

      “But I think there was someone else with Kayla that night. I think her friend Georgia Boyles and—” she swallowed hard “—Bethany were in that car that night.”

      Mason’s brows shot up. “Why do you say that?”

      “Because Georgia’s mother came to my house to ask Bethany if Georgia had been with Kayla that night.”

      “Why did she suspect that?”

      “Because Georgia came home around three in morning, scratched up and with bruises she couldn’t explain. The police also found her cell phone in the car. When they returned it to her she said she’d left it in there earlier that day.”

      “Could be.” Mason shrugged with his good shoulder. “Is that it?”

      Frustrated at his apparent lack of concern, she clenched her fists. “Yes! That’s basically it! But come on, Mason, there’s got to be more. Bethany wouldn’t just disappear like this. I’m really afraid she’s in trouble, hurt…or worse.” Just saying the words nearly brought her to her knees. “And then, there was the thing taped to my door last night,” she whispered.

      His eyes sharpened. “What thing?”

      Rummaging in her purse, she pulled out the yearbook page. “This.”

      He took it from her and his brows shot up as he studied it. “And it was taped to your door?”

      She nodded. “I was up pacing and praying and just… I couldn’t sleep. Mom and Dad were upstairs sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb them so I went downstairs. I heard something at the door and thought it was Bethany. When I opened it, that was there.”

      “This is a picture of us.”

      “Along with twenty other students who were involved in building the homecoming float.”

      “Still, you’re right. It’s kind of weird that someone would tape this to your door. I wish you hadn’t touched it. I doubt we’d be able to get any prints off of it now. We’ll take it in and see what the lab can find—after we convince someone to do some serious investigating.” He left for a minute and came back with the page in a brown paper bag.

      “Might as well protect it as much as possible from here on out. They’ll need to take your prints to rule them out.”

      “Fine. Whatever it takes. I just want to do something, have somebody doing something. Now.”

      Mason studied her and sighed. “All right. I can see why you’re concerned, but I still want to know why you’ve come to me. Why ask me for help now after all these years with no contact?” He held up his hands, and for the first time since entering his house she thought she saw pain in his light blue eyes.

      She had to tell him.

      “Because, not only are you in that picture that was left on my door, Mason, you’re the man I promised Bethany she could meet. You’re her father.”

      TWO

      Mason’s knees nearly gave out. He fumbled for the chair behind him and sank onto it. Staring, he searched his mind for a response and came up blank.

      A daughter? Him?

      When she’d said she had a fifteen-year-old daughter, he’d immediately assumed his best friend from high school, Daniel Ackerman, was the father. But to hear her say that he was the father was almost more than he could process. In fact, the ringing in his ears made him wonder if he’d heard her right.

      The expression on her face said he had.

      “She’s my…” He couldn’t say the word.

      Lacey blinked against the tears, but he noticed they just kept coming. He couldn’t even think to offer her СКАЧАТЬ