by T. R. Ragan
“I know you lied to me, but I’m not going to punish you.”
A growing sense of unease made her stomach quiver. “What did you and Dylan talk about?”
“You! Of course. He told me the two of you were in love and planned to marry.”
She could hardly breathe.
“You never should have lied to me.”
“I’m sorry,” she blurted, afraid of what he might do to her.
He waved off her apology with a flip of his hand. “No matter. He’s dead.”
“What?” she asked, certain she’d heard him wrong.
“I killed him. Stabbed him in the heart.”
No. It couldn’t be true. He’s messing with me. And yet . . . Carlin had been acting strange all morning. She willed her legs to hold her upright.
It was no use.
His voice faded as her knees buckled and her body hit the floor.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Just after nine o’clock on Sunday morning, Dani was in the kitchen when she heard an urgent knock on the door.
“Dani, it’s me, Quinn. Open up. Please!”
Dani rushed to the door, and when she opened it, Quinn was shaking uncontrollably.
“What’s wrong?” Dani asked, pulling her inside and shutting the door. “Is your grandmother okay?”
“She’s fine. It’s Dylan Rushdan.”
Dani frowned. She recognized the name as a friend of Ali Cross’s. “What about him?”
“He’s dead.”
Dani was stunned by the news.
“His body was found early this morning by someone boating on the river. He’d been stabbed.”
“Come on,” Dani said. “Let’s sit down.” She ushered Quinn into the main room, and they both took a seat.
“According to the news story,” Quinn went on, her voice hitching, “his parents hadn’t seen him since Friday morning. I might have been the last person to see him before he was killed.”
That got Dani’s attention. “You met with him?”
“After talking to a few of Ali’s girlfriends, I called the number Ali’s mom had given us when you and I paid Mary Cross a visit. Dylan didn’t have much time, but he agreed to meet me at the community college in West Sacramento where he’s taking extra classes to help him get into college.”
Dani blew out a sigh as she tried to think.
“What if his murder has something to do with Ali?” Quinn asked.
Dani considered the question before she said, “Mary Cross said they were friends.”
“And little sis said she saw them kissing. Friends don’t make out with each other. And besides, Dylan told me they were in love.”
Dani let it all swirl around for a bit.
“What are the odds of Ali being taken and her boyfriend being killed less than three weeks later?” Quinn asked.
“Okay. Let’s go with that line of thinking and say Ali’s abductor is responsible for Dylan’s death. What I want to know is, why he would take such a huge risk?”
“That’s easy,” Quinn said. “Because he wants her all to himself.”
Dani knew what needed to be done. She went to the kitchen and returned with her cell phone. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to give Detective Whitton a call and tell him what you told me.”
Quinn nodded.
A minute later Dani was talking to Detective Whitton, explaining what was going on. He wanted to talk to Quinn so she handed over the phone.
Dani listened to the one-sided conversation as Quinn repeated what she’d told Dani, that Dylan and Ali were in love and that despite the argument with her mother, he seemed confident that she never would have run away. Quinn also told him about a boy named Brent Tarone who was once obsessed with Ali, but Dylan thought he was harmless since he was now married with a baby on the way.
After Quinn had said goodbye and hung up, she handed the phone back to Dani. “Detective Whitton said there was no need for me to go to the station, but that he would call me if they had further questions.”
Dylan Rushdan being stabbed to death was something Dani didn’t want to think about. Wrong place at the wrong time? Or something else? And the most terrifying question that came to mind was whether or not his killer would strike again.
“What if Ali’s abductor was following me and saw me talking to Dylan?” Quinn asked, barging into Dani’s thoughts. “I could be the reason he was killed.”
“You can’t think that way, Quinn. You are not responsible for that boy’s death.”
“Ethan told me he felt as if he were being watched. And look at you,” Quinn said. “What if it’s all connected somehow, and the same person who stabbed Dylan was hiding out in your office, hoping to kill you too?”
“The intruder at the office was looking for something. If the person had meant to kill me, they would have.”
“I get that line of thinking,” Quinn said, “but then what were they looking for?”
“That’s the million-dollar question.”
Quinn’s phone buzzed and she pulled it from her pocket. “I better pick it up. It’s Mary, Ali’s mom.”
Dani nodded as she got to her feet and returned to the kitchen to put the kettle on the stove. When she came back to the living room, Quinn was already finished.
“Mary heard about Dylan, and she and Gracie are pretty upset,” Quinn said. “They’re antsy and need something to do to keep their minds off everything.”
Dani nodded. “Understandable.”
“Mary wants to help with the investigation. She made a list of local businesses that use cargo vans, but she doesn’t know where to start. I told her I would come by. I wasn’t sure if you were feeling good enough to come along?”
Dani was still standing. “I need to get out of the house for a while. Give me a few minutes to get ready.”
“Great. I’ll text her and let her know.” Quinn jumped to her feet. “I’m also going to run home and grab my laptop. I’ll be right back.”
Dani returned to the kitchen and shut off the stove. She thought about Mary and what she was going through. Dani knew the feeling. When Tinsley had first gone missing, she hadn’t been able to sleep or eat. If she had too much time alone, doing nothing, her mind would drift to the dark side, to all the horrid possibilities of what her daughter might be going through.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Mary Cross led Dani and Quinn into the dining room, where she had set up her laptop at the end of the long, rectangular table. A stack of notebooks and pens served as the centerpiece, along with a tray of pastries and coffee from a local café.
Ali’s younger sister, Gracie, walked into the room, her eyes puffy and red from crying. Dani wasn’t sure if Gracie had been crying because of what happened to Dylan or because she missed her sister and wanted her home, but it didn’t matter. Dani opened her arms and Gracie headed straight for her, wrapping her skinny arms around Dani’s waist. “I’m so sorry,” Dani murmured.
It wasn’t until she let go of Gracie that she saw a large whiteboard propped on an easel with a picture of Ali taped at the top. The setup reminded her of the type of command center detectives might use in a conference room.
“If everyone is ready to take a seat, we’ll get started,” Mary said.
Since opening the door to let them in, Mary had said nothing about Dylan. Nor had she commented on Dani’s banged-up face. Impressed by Mary’s straightforwardness and her ability to get right to it, Dani took a seat at the table and grabbed a coffee, hoping it was loaded with caffeine.
Gracie took a seat next to Dani and showed her the flyer she was designing. It was a picture of Ali, the same picture as on the whiteboard. In the top center was one word: MISSING. In the bottom center was the date she went missing and another line asking anyone with information to contact the Sacramento PD.
“I need to add the phone number,” Gracie said.
Quinn suggested Gracie add more detail to the flyer—where Ali was when she disappeared, along with a description
of the man Ethan saw driving a white cargo van.
Mary agreed.
Gracie looked pleased. “Mom said she would print hundreds of them, and we’ll put them everywhere.”
“The flyer looks great,” Dani told Gracie.
Once Quinn had taken a seat across from Gracie, Mary sat down at the head of the table and got started as Dani and Quinn set up their laptops.
“Ali has been missing for nearly three weeks now,” Mary said. “Hank Davine, the detective in charge of her investigation, wasn’t the only one leaning toward the idea that my daughter had run away. If I hadn’t met Ethan and listened to his story as he told me what he saw, I would probably still be waiting for her to walk through that door.”
Dani’s heart went out to Mary. When Tinsley disappeared, her case was high priority because of her age. Nobody questions whether a child ran away if they’re under the age of eleven.
“Quinn had mentioned it might be helpful to the investigation if I could look for Sacramento companies that might use cargo vans.” Her shoulders sagged. “Quinn was right when she’d said nearly everyone uses cargo vans these days—electricians, plumbers, construction crews.” Mary handed Dani and Quinn a piece of paper with a long list of companies and phone numbers. “As you can see by the notes in the margins, I’ve made my way through half of the list.”
“Impressive,” Dani said. “This is a great start.”
“Is it?” Mary asked. “It’s all so overwhelming. I did find myself wondering what the point was. Even if I end up with fewer than fifty businesses that use cargo vans, what then?”
“It is tedious work,” Dani said, “but it has to be done. It’s a matter of checking one item off the list at a time—one person, one business, etcetera.”
Quinn unfolded a piece of paper she’d pulled from her bag, smoothed it out flat, and asked Gracie if she could please tape it to the whiteboard next to Ali’s photo. “This is a drawing Ethan did of the logo he saw on the van. He believes there were at least two initials that were entwined in an elegant cursive font.”
Dani stared at the drawing. It almost looked like a child’s scribble, but it provided them with a way to whittle down the number of companies that used white cargo vans. “We can start by using Mary’s list to see if any of the businesses on the list have a logo that resembles Ethan’s drawing.”
“I have a laptop,” Gracie said. “Can I help?”
Mary nodded and Gracie ran off to grab her computer.
As Dani sipped her coffee, her gaze roamed to the sliding glass door that led to the backyard, reminding her that the front lawn had looked newly cut.
“What about lawn maintenance?” Dani asked. “I noticed how well maintained everything was when we drove up. Do you use a service?”
“I do. Earth Green comes twice a month. They use the side gate to get to the backyard.”
Dani made note of that. “Do any other maintenance people come to the house on a regular basis?”
Gracie returned with her laptop, sat down, and booted it up.
“We have a pest-control company that comes bimonthly,” Mary said.
“Do you recall the company name?”
“The Pest Control Experts.”
Dani made note of it. Everything about the house looked new and fresh. “Did you have work done here recently . . . more specifically, before or around the time Ali disappeared?”
Mary considered the question before shaking her head.
“The house was painted right before Christmas,” Gracie said. “I remember because we didn’t get a tree until after all the painting was done.”
“Not this past Christmas,” Mary explained to Dani and Quinn, “but the Christmas before that. So it was painted a year and a half ago, right after the floors were done.”
Dani made note of that. “Do you remember who did the work?”
“Green Haven Construction.” Mary shook her head. “We had the work done so long ago, I never thought to mention it.”
“I understand,” Dani said. “In cases like this, when evidence seems elusive, we need to think outside the box and look at every possible clue. Like I said before, it’s all about ticking off the boxes, one at a time.”
“I’ll be right back.” Mary got to her feet and walked away. She returned a few minutes later with a thick file and handed it to Dani. “Before my husband left us, we remodeled most of the house. I kept everything: pamphlets, quotes, receipts.”
Quinn glanced Dani’s way, a hint of excitement making her eyes gleam.
Dani could guess how Quinn might be feeling. More often than not, looking for a missing person was like finding a clean bed in a cheap motel. Almost impossible. So if and when a new lead popped up, no matter how tenuous, it could feel like striking gold.
“Should we tell them about the rats?” Gracie asked.
“I called in the exterminator six months ago.” Mary blushed. “I’m embarrassed to say that Detective Davine did ask me if I’d had any repairs done recently, but it never dawned on me to go back so far in time and think about who might have been in the house that long ago.”
“It’s okay,” Dani said. “I’m sure you were in shock. Why don’t you make a list of any repairs that were done during the remodel? The rest of us will start looking at company logos on the internet.”
Everyone agreed.
“I did talk to the principal at Ali’s school the other day,” Mary said as she looked through a thirty-six-month pocket calendar she had pulled from her purse, “and she invited me to talk before the next sporting event and ask the community for their help.”
“Whenever you can get the public involved,” Dani said, “that’s a good thing. It might also be helpful to post information about Ali in the newspaper. Tell the reader a little bit about Ali, her plans for the future, her hobbies, anything to make the reader feel like they know her.”
“Make sure to include where and when she was last seen,” Quinn added.
“Where should I put my flyers after they’re printed?” Gracie asked.
While they searched companies from the list Mary had made, looking for logos on websites and social media that looked similar to the one Ethan had drawn, they also brainstormed places where Gracie could post flyers. Gracie stopped what she was doing so she could use a big fat red marker to make a list on the whiteboard: schools, coffee shops, telephone poles, bus shelters, hair salons, and any business that would allow a flyer to be posted.
Quiet settled around them as they worked, and the day passed quickly.
When the pastries and coffee had disappeared, Mary had made everyone tuna sandwiches and iced tea. It was five o’clock when they decided to call it quits. Many of the businesses on Mary’s list didn’t have a website or a social media presence, so they were moved to a different list.
For now it was decided that Dani and Quinn would focus on five companies, the first three of which had company logos with decorative swirly fonts that looked similar to Ethan’s drawing. Green Haven Construction was added to the list because the company had been in charge of the remodel at Mary’s house, and they hoped the foreman might remember any subcontractors or crew members who drove a white cargo van with a swirly font. The exterminator was included because the website header included a picture of a white cargo van.
Grayson Electric (electrician)
Designology (interior designer)
Dwayne’s Fine Cabinetry (cabinetmaker)
Green Haven Construction (remodel)
The Pest Control Experts (exterminator)
If nothing panned out, Dani and Quinn would give Mary’s list another look and start the process over.
Mary and Gracie walked Dani and Quinn to the door. Everyone hugged before parting ways.
After they were buckled up in the car, Dani pulled away from the curb, surprised when Quinn said, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For everything you’ve done for me. For letting me get into the nitty-gritty of this investigat
ion. But mostly for always being there for me.”
Dani swallowed a lump in her throat. Where was this all coming from? “I’m proud of you, Quinn.”
“But we haven’t found her yet,” Quinn said. “You can’t be proud of me until I find her. And Tinsley. We must find them both.”
Dani wondered if Quinn’s expression of gratitude had something to do with her mom. Quinn didn’t often talk about that time in her life, but Dani knew, based on offhand remarks she sometimes made, that her mom’s absence and the events surrounding her departure weighed heavily.
“Do you think my mom regrets leaving me?”
Well, there you go, Dani thought. Bull’s-eye. “Definitely.”
“So why didn’t she ever try to contact me?”
Dani released a long sigh. “I don’t know, but I wish I could give you the answers you need and deserve.”
“Life really is fragile,” Quinn said.
The light ahead turned red. Dani pulled to a stop and turned toward Quinn. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” Quinn’s eyes appeared to be filled with pain and desperation as she said, “When we find Tinsley—because I’m certain we will, I feel it in my gut—I’m going to make sure she knows how lucky she is to have you as a mother. You’ve never given up on your search for her. Not once. And you never will. I’m going to make sure Tinsley knows that her mom would have stopped at nothing to find her.”
Dani swallowed a knot in her throat. “I’m lucky to have found you.”
“Sort of a silver lining?” Quinn asked, looking more vulnerable than Dani had ever seen her in all the years they had known each other.
“Definitely a silver lining,” Dani said. “When we do find Tinsley, you’re going to make a wonderful big sister.”
The corners of Quinn’s mouth turned upward. “Really? You think so?”
“I know so.”
The light turned green and Dani drove onward.
“I have come to realize that, despite the pain and struggles,” Quinn said, her voice low and thoughtful, “life is a gift. A random gift that we’re all given. One gift.”