“No. I told you, she went to the car to get her coat.”
“It was freezing in that building,” Kate piped up.
“They won’t let me turn the thermostat any higher,” Fred Garcia explained. He’d joined the small group when he noticed the police chief’s car in the parking lot.
“Did anyone see her leave?” Sam asked.
“You mean leave the cemetery?” Alex asked. “We were all in the chapel when she left to get her coat.”
“You saw her leave the chapel?” Sam asked.
“What are you getting at, Sam?” Garret snapped. “All of us were together outside the chapel, including Adam and Sophie. Then we all went inside for the service, but Sophie headed back out to go get her coat. A girl is missing. You need to do something.”
“Garret, she can hardly be classified as a missing person. She may be wandering around the cemetery looking at headstones right now for all we know. Have you looked through the cemetery yet?”
“What, and leave her purse sitting in the car with the door open?” Kim snapped.
“Maybe she meant to lock the purse in the car and got sidetracked,” Sam suggested.
“I saw her,” Fred spoke up.
“You did? When?” Sam asked.
“Like Adam said, she came out of the building before the service started and headed toward the parking lot.”
“Did you speak to her?” Sam asked.
“No, why would I?”
“Did you see her come back?”
“No.”
“Did you see anyone else go out to the parking lot around that time? Someone we might be able to talk to?”
“Just Angela Carter,” Fred said.
“Angela?” Adam and Kim said in unison.
“Where was Joe Carter?” Garret asked. “I thought they were together.”
“I noticed Joe in the chapel during the service,” Tommy spoke up. “Angela wasn’t with him.”
Chapter 31
Joe Carter called Angela’s cell phone. Once again, it went to voicemail. He considered sending a text message, yet he’d already sent her a dozen messages since she’d stormed off at the cemetery, and she hadn’t responded to a single one.
Anxiously pacing his living room, Joe paused when he heard a car pull up in the driveway. Angrily, he went to the front door and threw it open. Expecting to see Angela driving his red Toyota, he was surprised to see Sam Peterson and Hal Barnes getting out of a police car. The two officers walked toward Joe.
“Hello, Joe,” Sam Peterson greeted as he walked up the front steps.
“Sam, Hal,” Joe greeted, walking out on his front porch, closing the door behind him. “What can I do for you guys?”
“I need to speak to Angela.” Sam stepped up on the front porch.
“Angela, why? I told you I didn’t want you harassing her.”
“Joe, I’m not here to harass Angela. But we have a missing woman, and I understand Angela might have been the last one to see her before she disappeared.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You and Angela attended Myrtle Scarlett’s funeral today?” Sam asked as Hal Barnes joined the two men on the front porch.
“Yes, but what does this have to do with a missing woman?”
“Why don’t you get Angela so we can discuss it?” Sam suggested.
“Angela isn’t here right now.”
“Where did she go?”
“She just ran to the store.”
“What time did you two get home from Myrtle’s funeral?”
“I got home about an hour ago.”
“Angela didn’t come home with you?”
“No…” Joe fidgeted nervously, glancing up the street, hoping to see his red Toyota.
“How did Angela get home?”
“She took my car. I hitched a ride home with a friend.”
“Joe, we really need to talk to her. You need to get her on the phone.”
“The phone?”
“She has a cell phone, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, but… well, I think she left it home.”
“What car is she driving?”
“Sam, what’s this about? I don’t understand.”
“Sophie Marino is missing.”
“Sophie Marino? Who’s that? And what does she have to do with Angela?”
“She’s Adam Keller’s friend—the one Angela talked to at Clement Falls.”
Joe didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he silently considered Sam’s words. Finally, he opened the door and asked Sam and Hal to come inside.
“There’s no reason for us to discuss this on the front porch. What do you mean when you say this girl is missing?” Joe asked as he led the officers into his living room.
“Sophie went with Adam to Myrtle’s service. Right after they went into the building, Sophie went back to the car to get her coat. She never returned. When the service was over, Adam found his car door open, with Sophie’s purse on the car seat.”
“What does this have to do with Angela?”
“According to Fred Garcia, he saw Angela leave for the parking lot right after Sophie.”
Joe considered what the chief was saying. He shook his head and said, “No, that’s impossible. Angela left a good half hour before the service started. I noticed when Adam came into the chapel, and if his friend went to the parking lot around that time, Angela was already gone.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked. The three men remained standing.
“Angela and I went to the cemetery early to visit her mother’s grave. We got into an argument, and she left. This was about a half hour before the service started.”
“She took your car?” Sam asked.
“Yes. That’s why I got a ride home after the service. And there wouldn’t be any reason for Angela to walk to the front parking lot because we parked at the back gate.”
“You’re sure she took your car?” Hal asked.
“Of course,” Joe snapped. “Like I said, that was a good half hour before Adam came into the chapel. After Angela and I argued, I decided to go get her. But when I got to the rear parking lot, the car was gone.
“Maybe she returned and parked in the front?” Hal suggested.
“I don’t know why she’d do that. Anyway, if she came back, I wouldn’t have had to get a ride home with a friend.”
“If she took Sophie, then I doubt she’d stick around to give you a ride,” Hal said.
“Took Sophie?” Joe said angrily. “What the hell does that mean? Are you telling me you think my daughter kidnapped this girl?”
“No, we’re not saying that,” Sam said.
“Well, Hal sure as hell just said that!”
“Calm down now, Joe. You have to understand how this all looks. I spoke to this young woman the other day, and frankly, she was terrified of your daughter. First the conversation in the diner, and then she insists Angela broke into Adam’s house and walked into the room where she was sleeping. Now, according to Fred, Angela followed her out to the parking lot before she disappeared.”
“I told you the other night; Angela never left the house Monday evening. You saw her sleeping.”
“Joe, you said Angela was at the store. Does this mean you’ve seen her since she left the cemetery?” Hal asked.
“No, like I said she took off.”
“Then how do you know she went to the store?”
“Okay,” Joe said, sounding frustrated, “I don’t know where she is. I just said she was at the store because I didn’t want to go into all this. We got into an argument at the cemetery, and she took off in my car. But I know she’ll be home once she cools off, and I know she didn’t take that girl.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” Sam asked.
“Why would she take her? My daughter may have had some problems in the past, but she doesn’t go around kidnapping women.”
“According to Sophie, your daughter threatened her at the diner. Told her she could get into an accide
nt if she didn’t leave Adam Keller alone.”
“Sam, Angela explained all that to you when you stopped by here the first time. And anyway, even if Angela did get jealous over Adam, she wouldn’t be jealous over this girl, and she sure as hell wouldn’t hurt her.”
“How can you be so certain of that?” Sam asked.
“Because Angela told me so,” Joe snapped.
The men were quiet a moment, considering what Joe had just said.
“What do you mean she told you?” Sam asked.
Joe took a deep sigh and then said, “Just that. After you stopped over here the second time, checking to see if Angela had broken into Adam’s house, she pretty much told me that even if she still had feelings for Adam, she wouldn’t be jealous over this girl. Angela was convinced Adam and—what is her name, Sophie?”
“Yes,” Hal answered.
“That Adam and Sophie were nothing but friends, that he was just showing her around because she was Nick’s cousin.”
“And you haven’t seen her since she left the cemetery?” Sam asked.
“No.”
“Joe, what car did you say she was driving?”
“My Toyota.”
“Okay. I want you to call me the moment she gets home. Do you understand?”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Sam told Hal as the two got into the patrol car and drove away from Joe’s house. “Call the office and have them track down the license plate for Sam’s Toyota, and then put out a BOLO.”
“Do you believe Angela has Sophie?” Hal asked.
“I don’t know. But I sure as hell don’t intend to sit around and wait for Angela to come wandering back home before I can interview her. I’m afraid I should have paid more attention to Adam and Sophie when they came to me about Angela in the first place.”
As Sam drove the car to Coulson House, where Sophie’s friends and family waited for news, Hal called the station.
It didn’t take long for Hannah and Sarah to discover why their parents asked them to come to Coulson House after school. When the teenagers arrived, Kate took them in the library to catch them up on the situation. While they hadn’t yet met Nick’s cousin, they’d heard about her.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Coulson family congregated in the living room while Nick spoke to his father on the telephone. An hour earlier, Sam Peterson and Hal Barnes had stopped by and updated them on what they knew. Angela and Sophie were still missing.
“What did your dad say?” Kim asked when Nick got off the phone.
“He said we need to call her father.”
“I agree with your dad,” Alex said.
“The problem,” Nick explained, “is that I already went online to check flights, and everything is on standby until tomorrow afternoon. I hate calling him knowing he can’t come if he wants.”
“Use the company plane,” Harrison snapped from his wheelchair. He’d been sitting quietly for the last hour, listening to the drama unfold.
“Really, Grandfather?” Kim asked, walking to Harrison’s side.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course. Now, go call that poor girl’s father and let him know that if he wants to fly down, my pilot can get there in a couple hours. Don’t use the Cessna; it would take too long. He should be able to be there and back in less than five hours.”
“Thanks, Grandfather,” Kim leaned over and brushed a kiss on Harrison’s cheek.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked Adam in a whisper. She sat next to him on the couch while he stared ahead blankly.
“I don’t know what to do. I feel so helpless. This is all my fault.”
“It isn’t your fault, Adam.”
“Mom, Angela has her; I know it. God, I wish I wouldn’t have visited Dad that day at the cemetery. None of this would have happened.”
“Adam, what are you talking about?”
“If I hadn’t visited Dad that day, I would never have met Sophie. Then I wouldn’t have gone up to Clement Falls, and Angela would never have followed me up there and gotten Sophie in her sights.”
“Honey, you were destined to meet Sophie. Even if you hadn’t gone to the cemetery that day, you would have eventually met her. There really was no way to avoid it since she’s Nick’s cousin.”
Chapter 32
She woke with a throbbing headache and her arms were numb, but it was the tight-fitting gag shoved in her mouth that told her something was seriously wrong. By reflex, she tried to raise her hand to pull the rag from her mouth, but her wrists were bound behind her back. Panicked, she tried to jerk her hands loose, but the plastic cords restraining her wrists tightened, causing her to wince.
Her eyes felt as if they were glued shut, but after a concerted effort, she opened them. Blinking, she tried to focus, but everything was blurry. The room seemed to be moving. Yet, once she closed her eyes again, the movement stopped.
Mentally scrambling to make sense of the situation, Sophie realized her last memory was of being with Adam in the chapel at the cemetery. It was cold in the chapel—colder than outside where the sun was shining. She’d excused herself, hurrying to retrieve the jacket she’d left in Adam’s car in the parking lot. He had offered to go for her, but the service was about to start, so she had insisted on going. She’d run into Fred on her way to the car, and he told her there was a shortcut, and to follow him. That was her last memory until now.
Opening her eyes again—her mind no longer foggy—Sophie surveyed her surroundings. It was some sort of tool shed. The only illumination came from a yellow light bulb plugged into a socket on the other side of the room. It provided minimal lighting, yet at least she was not in total darkness.
As she tried to grasp the reality of the situation, her fingers toyed with the plastic binding her wrists. Zip ties, she thought. Stay calm, think, Sophie told herself. She moved her feet, but her ankles seemed to be bound in a similar fashion.
Then she heard it—movement across the room as if someone were pushing something across the floor. Friend or foe? she wondered.
From the direction of the lone light, she heard a rattling sound—keys. Sophie froze as she lay helpless listening to a key being fitted into the lock followed by the turning of the doorknob, and then the door opened.
She couldn’t see who was standing in the doorway; it was dark outside. How long have I been here? The person at the doorway walked into the shed and flicked a switch, turning on an overhead fixture, showering bright light over the dismal room.
Sophie’s eyes tried to adjust to the light when she saw who stood at the door. It was Fred Garcia.
“I see you two are finally awake. I trust you both had a good rest.” Fred chuckled and then walked into the shed, closing the door behind him.
Sophie quickly surveyed the room and discovered the source of the sound she had heard earlier was coming from a second captive. From her angle, she could not see the person’s face, yet it appeared to be another woman, bound in a similar fashion on the other side of the small room.
The beating of Sophie’s heart accelerated as the reality of the situation became apparent. Her first thought was that he was some sort of sexual deviant who held women captive for his own carnal purposes. Yet, that notion seemed peculiar when she considered the first time they had met. She had been virtually alone at the cemetery, certainly much more vulnerable than today with a funeral in progress, yet he did not seem remotely interested in her and had done his best to discourage any prolonged contact.
Fred turned toward a cabinet along the wall adjacent to the door and reached up to take something off the shelf. Sophie’s eyes widened when she saw he now held a revolver and was turning in her direction.
“Consider yourself lucky, Miss Marino. It will be easier for you—one clean shot. You won’t suffer.”
Sophie wanted to scream, to demand why, to plead for her life, but the gag prevented her from expressing any of the jumbled emotions racing through her.
“It won’t be as easy for you, I am afraid.” He didn’t sou
nd sincerely contrite.
Sophie’s gaze darted to the other woman, who Fred had just addressed. The woman turned her head and looked at Sophie. It was Angela Carter; her vivid blue eyes were wide and wild. Like Sophie, her wrists and ankles were bound and her mouth gagged.
“I suppose I owe you ladies an explanation,” Fred began as he pulled a folding chair to the center of the shed and sat down, looking from Angela to Sophie. As he spoke, he held the revolver in both hands while tapping it on his right knee.
“First, let me explain how this will go down. I’ll take Miss Marino outside and give her one clean shot. It would probably be best if you don’t move around too much, Miss Marino. You don’t want to suffer. Of course, I’ll need to find some gloves first. I have a pair in here somewhere.”
He looked over at Angela and sighed.
“Unfortunately, it will be a bit more painful for you, Miss Carter. We need to make it look as if you killed our friend here, and then I snuck up on you. So sad that I was too late to save this poor girl before I smashed in your skull with a shovel. You will also need to lie still as I’d prefer to get the job done with one strike. I imagine you would prefer that, too.”
Fred stood up, set the gun on the chair, and started searching through the shelves.
“I must say, this is going much better than I had hoped, especially since I just came up with the idea this morning at Myrtle’s funeral. I was a little nervous after I grabbed Angela, worried that I might not get a chance to get Sophie, and then what would I do? It’s not like I could kill Angela and wait for my opportunity for Sophie. Timing is important. We can’t have an autopsy show Angela died first. That would really screw things up for me.”
Sophie’s eyes blazed; she wanted to know why, yet there was no way for her to ask any questions even if he was willing to provide answers. Eyeing the gun, she tried to calculate how much time it would take to reach it before her captor. If she removed the zip tie from her wrists, would she be able to get to the gun before Fred with her ankles bound as they were? She eyed a pair of clippers on the opposite wall. Her hands, still behind her back, continued to fiddle with the zip tie, attempting to get it in the right position for a quick escape.
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