Texas Secrets, Lovers' Lies

by Karen Whiddon

  Then, Cristine’s words dawned on her. “What’s the name of the bar where Shayna left her phone?”

  “The Hitching Post.”

  Of course. Would fate never get tired of punching her in the stomach? “I thought you said you couldn’t show your face in there until you got paid.”

  “I scraped together some cash,” Cristine responded. “Though that was our favorite, Shayna and I usually hit a couple of other biker bars in addition to the one where she left her phone.”

  Great. Zoe closed her eyes. Just great.

  “I should let you know,” Cristine continued. “I called Brock, too. He didn’t seem too happy.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Zoe snapped. “He probably had the same reaction I did when Shayna’s number came up on the caller ID. Tell me at least you didn’t do that to Mrs. Bell, did you?”

  “Of course not.” Unbelievably, Cristine sounded indignant. “Look, I’m calling you because the night Shayna disappeared, she made a call from the bar. The call was to Brock, at nearly eleven.”

  Zoe rubbed her suddenly aching temple. “Surely you’re not trying to imply—”

  “I’m not implying anything,” Cristine told her. “I’m just letting you know all the facts. You need to know everything, if you’re going to be effective in finding Shayna, including the possibility that Brock might be a suspect.”

  * * *

  Despite numerous small searches, the big one Cristine had organized was scheduled to begin at eight sharp in the morning. Since none of the others had turned up anything, an air of desperation fueled this one. It seemed the entire town had turned out, all massed together in clusters at Turner’s Park.

  Still dressed in her skin-tight clothes and heels too high to hike in, Cristine came up to her and handed her a huge silver whistle. Her long, perfectly manicured fingernails were painted a vivid scarlet, matching her lipstick. “Here you go,” she said.

  “What’s this for?” Zoe asked as she accepted it, along with a typed list of names.

  “Since I’m putting you in charge of your section, you’ll need to blow it if any of your people find anything.” Cristine gave an earnest smile. “Also, it’ll be useful for calling your crew in when the search is over.”

  “While I applaud the sentiment, why here?” Zoe gestured at the forest. “Shayna hated the woods and camping and roughing it.” She stopped herself just short of asking if that was still true.

  “Why not?” Cristine’s patently pleasant smile had begun to grate. “I mean, we’ve got to start somewhere, right?”

  “True,” she said, skimming the names on her list. A few sounded familiar, but out of the twenty, she didn’t know most of them.

  “Thank you.” Leaning in, Cristine gave her a quick hug. “I really appreciate all your help in bringing our Shayna back.”

  Zoe stiffened. “No problem.”

  “By the way,” Cristine continued as if she hadn’t noticed how quickly Zoe moved away. “I read your blog. Thanks for posting the story of Shayna’s disappearance. With all the readers you have, that should help a lot if someone happens to sight her. I shared it on Facebook and Twitter, too.”

  Her blog. Blogging had started as a hobby and ended up being the reason she’d been able to quit secretarial work, a job she’d grown to despise. Her blog had been her only outlet for letting off steam.

  City Girl had begun as a slightly snarky insight into the world of a single girl in the city. Over the years, the blog had evolved into so much more. She talked about favorite food, fashion trends and faux pas, as well as her hopes and dreams.

  The only person in Anniversary Zoe’d told about City Girl was Shayna. It had long been their little secret, Zoe’s way of filling her friend in on her life when things got too hectic for a phone call. Promising to keep it to herself, Shayna had taken great delight in being the only one in town to realize the popular blog City Girl was written by small-town girl Zoe Onella. Eventually, Shayna had shared it with her mother of course, but as far as Zoe knew, that was all.

  Apparently, not any longer. It would seem Shayna had also shared that info with Cristine, her new best friend. Zoe wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  Briefly she debated asking Cristine to keep City Girl’s true identity under her hat, but she figured that would be like setting a match to gasoline-soaked timber.

  Instead, Zoe turned away and scanned the crowd. She spotted Brock, making his way toward them.

  Cristine saw him a second later. “Here he is,” she said, waving. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve asked Brock to search with your team.”

  Mind? Every nerve ending in her body instantly came awake.

  “All right,” Cristine said, as soon as he’d reached them. “Let’s get this show on the road.” She walked away. She’d gone about ten feet when she began blowing on her whistle, which gave off a shrill, high-pitched sound. Immediately, all conversation ceased.

  Once they were organized into the predetermined groups, Zoe led hers to the section of the forest they’d been assigned. Brock stayed close behind. Feeling apprehensive, she ordered them to fan out. They’d meet back at the starting point in one hour, sooner if they found something.

  “I’m going to stick with you,” Brock told her, leaving no room for argument.

  Though her pulse rate had gone into overdrive, she simply nodded. What mattered was finding Shayna.

  As they crashed through the woods, pushing aside underbrush and looking, Zoe alternated between determination to try her best and a hovering kind of dread. She figured they wouldn’t find anything, but what the heck would she do if they did? The thought made her feel sick. Because finding Shayna here would mean she’d been killed. Zoe didn’t even want to think about that.

  Not possible, she told herself, scanning the leaves and the heavy bush as she pushed through, glad she’d worn jeans.

  “Zoe?” Brock asked. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” she responded, trying not to look at him. “I just don’t understand any of this. Why did Shayna change so drastically? I don’t even know who my best friend was anymore. Finding her body without making things right would be unbearable.”

  Almost in tears, she took a deep breath and continued blindly pushing through the brush. “Shayna is alive, Brock. She has to be. To consider any other possibility is simply unacceptable.”

  “Hey.” Brock touched her arm. To her deep and infinite shame, she nearly turned and went to him for comfort. Since she’d lost that right years ago, she did not. Instead, she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “I think I might be the reason Shayna changed,” he said, his voice rough. “It wasn’t until I broke up with her that she started hanging out with Cristine, going to bars and saying she wanted to leave town.”

  Her first instinctive reaction—shock—froze her in place. “You blame yourself?” she said. “What on earth did you do?”

  Shadows of guilt darkened his blue eyes. “I told her I could never love her the way she wanted. I knew she thought our relationship had grown more serious than it was. I didn’t have a choice but to be truthful. She deserved more.”

  A dull ache settled in close to her heart. “Then why were you living together if you didn’t care for her?”

  “We started out as roommates. Separate bedrooms and all. She was lonely, I was lonely....” He looked down. “One thing led to another.”

  “I see,” she said, though she didn’t.

  “I doubt you do. It was good, as long as we both understood the parameters. But when she wanted more, I wasn’t going to pretend, just to keep her there. Shayna deserved better than that. I was doing her a favor, though I doubt she saw it that way.”

  Again, Zoe found herself on the edge of tears. She pushed forward, beating at the brush, glad he was behind her
and couldn’t see her face.

  They reached the end of their assigned search area. Glad she finally had her emotions under control, she turned. “We need to go that way,” she said, and pointed.

  “What about you, Zoe?” His lowered voice vibrated with intensity. “Are you ever going to tell me the rest of the reason you ran away? I know you saw your mother killed, but you’re not telling me everything.”

  Her breath caught.

  Throat tight, Zoe looked down.

  “Don’t you think it’s time I knew the truth?” he persisted. “All of it.”

  “I can’t.” Determined to keep her emotions close from now on, she lifted her chin. “This is about Shayna, not about me.”

  “Us,” he said. “About us. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to face me and give me the facts. I deserve to know.”

  She didn’t answer, couldn’t answer. Instead, she pushed on, not waiting to see if he followed.

  * * *

  Two hours later, three sharp blows on a whistle called them all in. Both relieved and frustrated, Brock turned to make his way back to the park. As soon as they reached it, Zoe hurried off in the other direction.

  “Brock!” Mama Bell hurried over. “I understand Marshall came into the feed store the other day.”

  Inwardly wincing, he nodded. “I take it you’ve talked to him.”

  “I have.”

  He couldn’t tell anything from her expressionless face, so he simply waited to see what else she’d say.

  “Marshall is leaving town. He’s going looking for our Shayna.” Her mouth twisted. “At least that’s what he’s calling it.”

  “I’m so sorry.” He touched her arm, then pulled her in for a quick hug. “I don’t know what else to say.”

  Her faded blue gaze searched his. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. “The other night at dinner.”

  “It wasn’t my place,” he answered softly.

  She gave a slow nod. “I haven’t told Zoe yet. She just got back home. Shayna’s missing and now this.” She sighed. “I feel like my entire world is falling apart.”

  He hugged her. “I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do, anything at all, let me know. I’m not going anywhere. You know I’ll always make time for you.”

  “Thank you.” Hugging him back, Mama Bell sighed again, her full lower lip trembling. “Well, I’d better find Cristine and see if anything turned up. I didn’t really think it would, but you never know.”

  With that, she walked away.

  He watched her go, her broad shoulders bent with the weight of her troubles.

  Zoe caught up with her as she crossed the picnic area. Though he couldn’t hear the words, judging by Zoe’s animated gestures, she was excited about something. Mama Bell listened, nodding. Then Zoe kissed her cheek and rushed away.

  Unnoticed, he tracked Zoe until he could no longer see her. The instant she disappeared from view, all the colors seemed to leach out of the landscape, the greens no longer as vibrant, and the violent blue of the sky going a dreary gray.

  Shaking his head at his own bit of foolishness, he turned around and headed to the parking lot. He wished like hell Shayna would show up. Not only for everyone’s peace of mind, but because after she did, Zoe would go back to whatever big city she’d come from and his life could return to normal. Which was, he told himself, exactly what he wanted.

  * * *

  Mama Bell cried every night. She probably didn’t know Zoe could hear her, but the sound broke Zoe’s heart. Open-ended sobs full of sorrow and agony. As if Mama believed her little girl was dead.

  Even thinking the word pierced Zoe’s heart. She couldn’t imagine a world without Shayna, her best friend and the sister of her heart. Of course, the irony of these feelings didn’t escape her. All the while the two of them had been living their lives, far apart. Zoe had believed they were still tethered by a connection forged long ago as children.

  Unfortunately, the more she learned about the life Shayna had been living, the possibility of something happening to her became more and more viable.

  She couldn’t help but question Brock’s role in all of this. He claimed he’d been honest with her, but then why the hell had Shayna told stories about their relationship? Cristine seemed suspicious of what went on between Shayna and Brock, but the possibility of him being abusive was something Zoe couldn’t even begin to entertain. The Brock she’d known her entire life would never have raised his hand to a woman under any circumstances.

  But then the Shayna she’d known would never have done any of the things she’d apparently done.

  Which just showed she didn’t know these people anymore. That thought made her wish that her life in Manhattan could have stayed the same. The crowded anonymity of the city was starting to look really good right about now.

  Tossing and turning in her old twin bed, Zoe pounded the pillow. She needed to do something, anything, to bring closure to Mama Bell and this town. She had to find out what had happened to Shayna. Then she could leave forever. And if Shayna was ok, Zoe would take her away with her.

  Chapter 6

  The next morning, she wandered into the kitchen and found Mama Bell sitting at the table, an untouched cup of steaming coffee before her. She looked up as Zoe entered, apparently unaware or not caring that tears streamed silently down her cheeks.

  Moving carefully, Zoe pulled out the chair next to her—Mr. Bell’s chair. “What’s going on, Mama?” she asked softly.

  “My family is disintegrating,” the older woman said quietly, swiping at her face with the back of her hand. “If you’d asked me a few weeks ago, I would have told you love was the glue that held us all together. Now Shayna has gone missing, and my husband has apparently decided to do the same.”

  Taking a big gulp of air, she turned her coffee mug around and around in her hands, though she didn’t take a sip. “I’m thinking the love was all on my part.”

  “Oh, Mama.” Zoe captured her hand. “Shayna adores you, as do I. And Mr. Bell is just having trouble dealing with all this. He’ll come around, you’ll see. Just give him time.”

  But Mama Bell shook her head. “He won’t have that option,” she said, her voice grim. “He’s abandoning this family—me—when we need him the most. What if Shayna—”

  “Shh,” Zoe interrupted. “Don’t say that. Don’t even think it.” She jumped to her feet and began pacing. “I’ll figure something out, make a plan. I’ll find Shayna, I promise.”

  As Mama Bell’s face cleared, Zoe felt a twinge of guilt for making a promise she wasn’t a hundred-percent sure she could keep.

  No, she told herself silently. She would find out what had happened to Shayna. This waiting around was ridiculous. Three days had gone by, three days in which no progress had been made.

  That would end. Starting right now.

  “What are you going to do?” Mama asked.

  “I’m going into town,” Zoe said, energized with her sudden sense of purpose. “Will you need your car today?”

  “No, but don’t you want coffee and something to eat before you go?” Mama Bell pushed to her feet and gave Zoe a tremulous smile.

  “Nope.” Zoe stepped forward and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. “I’ll get something at the coffee shop. I’ve got plans to make.”

  On the way, Zoe took a slight detour. According to Mama Bell, Brock lived in one of the recently renovated apartments over the shops downtown. Zoe was a little surprised he was still renting, but then who was she to talk? She paid an exorbitant amount for a tiny bit of space in Manhattan and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

  Yet the more time she spent in Anniversary, the more she realized she’d missed the place without even realizing it.

  More than that, if she was honest, she’d missed Brock.
<
br />   Whoa. Immediately she put the brakes on that line of thinking. She’d missed him, had in fact gotten used to living with a constant ache in her breast.

  Driving slowly, she was surprised at the trendy look of the apartments. With their earth-colored, stucco exteriors and red shutters and doors, they would have fit in a larger city, like Austin or even Dallas. They looked like exactly the sort of thing a young and upcoming professional might want.

  Unfortunately, Brock was none of these things. They didn’t look like anything he’d want. A man like him belonged in a white frame house out in the country, with acreage and barns and livestock. He owned a feed store, after all.

  Evidently, he’d changed too. Feeling like a foolish stalker, she pressed the accelerator and drove on. Her timing must have been an omen, because she snagged a parking spot right in front of the entrance to the coffee shop.

  Strolling inside, she headed for the counter, not wanting to take up an entire booth all by herself. Halfway there, she spotted Brock, cell phone to his ear.

  Stunned, she stopped in her tracks and debated making a hasty retreat. Too late. He’d seen her. Anniversary was just too small.

  “Hey.” Appearing distracted, he waved her over. Sitting next to him, hips close enough to touch, was the last thing she wanted or needed this morning. She went anyway.

  Brock concluded his call and placed the phone on the counter next to his coffee. “That was Mama Bell,” he said, unsmiling. “She asked me to help you. She says you have some sort of big plan to find Shayna. I assume it’s the one you mentioned earlier—us going to the Hitching Post and talking to this Mike?”

  Push and pull. The tug of him turned her insides to liquid. Furious with herself—and with Mama Bell for involving him—she slid onto the stool and gestured at Patsy for some coffee. “Yes, it is. And Mama Bell is right. We should stop playing games and put our heads together to find Shayna. While we’ve been worrying about feelings from the past, she may be in terrible danger. Or worse.”