The River Girls

by Melinda Woodhall

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The administration offices of the Mercy Harbor Foundation were located on the tenth floor of Riverview Tower, an elegant glass and steel building that soared two hundred and fifty feet over the Willow Bay Riverwalk, a promenade full of boutique shops and cafes with views of the river. The Riverwalk was always busy on Saturdays, and Eden had to wait for scores of pedestrians to pass through the crosswalk before she could turn into the building’s dedicated garage and pull into one of the spaces on the ground floor reserved for the Mercy Harbor staff.

  The empty, dimly lit garage contrasted sharply with the sunny, crowded street outside. Eden stepped out of the SUV and looked around the empty space. Ash gray walls supported a low, concrete roof that made Eden feel instantly claustrophobic. A shiver of unease rippled down her spine.

  A strong sense of foreboding washed over her, and she stood still, fighting the urge to panic.

  This is just my anxiety acting up. There’s nothing wrong. Everything’s going to be fine.

  Duke whined from the backseat and Eden forced herself to step back and open the rear door. The dog jumped down and stood next to Eden, his ears pricked up and his tail down. A rumbling sound echoed above, somewhere out of sight, and the garage seemed to tremble around them.

  “Just a plane flying overhead,” Eden said to Duke, her voice thin in the still, heavy air. “Let’s get inside, boy. It’s creepy in here.”

  They walked out of the garage and followed the sidewalk to the building’s lobby. The front doors were locked, the sparkling glass panes revealing the empty, dark interior beyond. Eden had a keycard that unlocked an employee entrance on the side of the building.

  As she approached the door, it swung open and a white-haired man in a blue security uniform stepped out. He smiled at Eden and waited for her to reach him.

  “How are you today, Ms. Winthrop?” the man asked, his voice hoarse but friendly.

  “Hi, Edgar, I’m doing fine. And please, I keep telling you, call me Eden.”

  The older man had worked on the security team since she’d leased out the office space more than four years previously, but he still treated her with a respectful formality that was rarely used in business anymore.

  “Hi there, Duke,” Edgar said, reaching down to scratch behind the dog’s silky ears. “You staying out of trouble?”

  Duke sniffed the security guard’s hand politely and looked back at Eden. She was glad to see that he appeared to be more relaxed now. The gloomy garage had spooked him as well.

  “What are you doing here today, Edgar? Have they started manning the place all weekend now?’ Eden asked, surprised that the building needed security on the weekend, when all the businesses within were closed.

  “No, I was called in to work a special shift.” The man looked around as if someone might overhear, then turned back to Eden with an excited gleam in his eye.

  “We had some suspicious activity here last night. Someone managed to bypass the security on the employee entrance and made it all the way to the tenth floor before they set off an alarm system in one of the office suites. By the time the police arrived, the intruder was gone. So, until we find out how they got in, we’ll be manning the place the old-fashioned way.”

  Eden felt a tingle of fright. Could someone have been trying to break into our office? Could they be searching for information on one of the residents? A disturbing thought took hold. Or maybe someone is trying to find Star before we do.

  She knew it was farfetched. How would anyone know the foundation even had information on the missing girl? The only people besides her that knew she suspected Star had stayed at the shelter were Reggie, Leo and the police. And they all were waiting on Eden to find the information. Weren’t they? Eden wasn’t so sure.

  Has someone else found out that Star’s real name and family’s address might be contained in the foundation’s database?

  Thunder rumbled in the distance, although the sun still shone high in the sky. Eden looked to the west and saw storm clouds gathering. The hot, heavy air felt electric around her. Something felt wrong. A sense of doom hung in the air. She recognized the feeling from her bout with anxiety and depression. She’d suffered through months of worry and panic that something terrible was about to happen.

  But I’m better, now, aren’t I? Or am I having a relapse? Is my anxiety getting worse?

  “You all better get inside,” Edgar said, opening the door wide so they could pass through. “There’s a big storm coming. Weatherman said it is going to be a doozy.”

  Eden walked down the hall and into the building’s lobby. She stood by the bank of elevators and pushed the up button. The doors slid open immediately, and she and Duke stepped inside. As she pushed the button for the tenth floor, she wondered if she was doing the right thing. She’d already been worried about giving out Star’s information. Now she was worried that whoever broke in before might decide to come back.

  Could kindly old Edgar hold off an intruder that was determined to get in? She looked down at Duke’s furry head, glad that she wasn’t alone. Good old Duke always seemed to be there when she needed moral support.

  The elevator doors slid open and Eden half expected someone to emerge from the shadowy corridor beyond and jump at her. But all was quiet, and she soon had unlocked the door to the Mercy Harbor suite and turned on the lights.

  She crossed to her office and saw her laptop was still there, right where she’d left it. She sat at her desk and booted up the laptop. Digging in her purse, she found her cell phone and tapped on Nathan’s name in her list of recent calls.

  “I thought you’d forgotten about me.” Nathan’s voice sounded far away, and Eden imagined him sitting at his big glass desk, ignoring the million-dollar view of the San Francisco Bay splayed out behind him. He seemed to be a world away. And it was a world where she no longer belonged.

  Fifteen minutes later Nathan had remotely logged in to the system, created a simple query and produced a short list of records that met the criteria Eden had stipulated. It took only moments for Eden to skim through the names and click to view the photos that had been linked to the files.

  “Here it is,” Eden said into the phone. “Trisha Moore stayed at 1408 Shutter Street two years ago. Her daughter Stacey and son Zane stayed with her.”

  The photo she was staring at showed a somber young girl with curly brown hair held back by a red bandana. Eden stared at the girl’s pale skin and sad brown eyes.

  “It’s her. It’s Star. The daughter…Stacey…she’s the girl that came to the house. She’s bleached her hair since then, but it’s definitely her. Stacey Moore is Star.” Eden glanced at the data in the file and groaned. “She’s only sixteen. I mean I knew she wasn’t eighteen. But now that I know she’s only sixteen I feel sick. The poor girl.”

  Nathan cleared his throat and sighed. “I don’t think I’m supposed to be seeing this stuff, am I? I’ll drop the query on your desktop and log out of your computer.”

  Eden watched as he closed several files and exited the screens he’d been working in.

  “I guess you’re done with me for now.”

  Eden detected a note of bitterness in his voice for the first time. She wasn’t being fair to him, and she knew it.

  “I’m sorry, Nathan. I don’t want to take advantage of you, or of the feelings you have for me.”

  She inhaled deeply, dreading the words she knew she had to say. “That’s why I’m going to sell my shares of Giant Leap. You need to get on with your life…and I can’t be a part of that life anymore.”

  “Please don’t say that, Eden.” His voice was little more than a whisper. “I know you’re going through a hard time now, and I’m patient. I can wait for you to figure it all out.”

  “That’s just it, Nathan. You’ve already been too patient. You’ve been waiting for four years…and…well, I’ve decided not to move back to San Francisco. I’ve made a new life for myself here in Willow Bay and I need to spend all my energy on
the kids and on Mercy Harbor. So, I won’t be returning to Giant Leap.”

  The next words stuck in her throat. “And I won’t be coming back to you, Nathan.”

  Eden listened to the silence on the other end of the phone, pain and regret radiating through her as she braced for Nathan’s response.

  “It isn’t me I’m worried about right now,” Nathan finally said, his voice achingly kind and familiar, “I’m your friend, Eden, if nothing else. And I’ll always be here for you, wherever you live.”

  “Good-bye, Nathan,” she managed to say, but he’d already disconnected the call. Duke stirred at her feet and Eden made herself sit up and look again at Stacey Moore’s file, which was still displayed on her screen.

  The intake notes detailed the situation that had brought Trisha Moore and her two children, Stacey and Zane, to Mercy Harbor. It was a heartbreakingly common story. The single mother had started dating a man named Buddy Jones several months before, and he had eventually moved into the family’s apartment. Buddy soon began verbally and physically abusing Trisha, but she was unsure how to get him out of the apartment.

  The notes in the file went on to describe Buddy as being possessive and suspicious. He would follow Trisha to work and even tried to attach a GPS device to her car to track where she went. Finally, after a particularly ugly fight, she’d asked him to leave, and he’d waved around a kitchen knife, threatening to kill her and her kids.

  That episode had scared her enough to call the police, and social services had arrived as well. The counselor assigned to Trisha’s case had convinced her to seek shelter at a safe house until Buddy had been prosecuted on the pending domestic battery charge.

  Further in the file Eden could see that the Moores had stayed at the Shutter Street house for two weeks before they’d been placed in a new apartment that the foundation had secured for them. The apartment address was listed, along with the standard note that the new address should be kept strictly confidential.

  Additional notes had named Trisha’s ex-boyfriend, Buddy Jones, as a potential security risk, and recommended that all necessary precautions should be taken to prevent Mr. Jones from discovering Trisha Moore’s new address.

  A brief follow-up note had been added to the record several months later. Buddy Jones had been sentenced to two years in prison. Eden knew that meant Trisha Moore’s abuser could already be back on the streets by now. She shuddered at the image of an angry, knife-wielding man stepping out of the shadows, demanding to know where Trisha Moore had gone.

  Could Buddy Jones have been the one that had entered the building last night? And could he somehow be involved with Star’s disappearance?

  Eden shook her head, eager to dislodge the irrational thoughts that were swirling around, causing her pulse to race. She opened the notepad on her desk and wrote down Trisha Moore’s new address. She looked back at the record on the screen and saw that no phone number had been listed.

  She moved the mouse to close the file, but hesitated. Something in the file was bothering her. She felt as if she was missing something.

  She read through the intake notes again and paused. So, Buddy Jones had tried to track Trisha Moore by attaching a GPS tracker to her car. Why was that fact bothering her?

  Many residents at Mercy Harbor’s shelters had been the victims of stalking, with ex-partners that went to all means, including electronic surveillance, to follow them or hunt them down if they attempted to hide. That’s why Mercy Harbor security staff always performed a search on the residents’ personal items and vehicles before they were brought to the safehouse.

  The image of Star’s shoes laying by the bed flashed into her mind. She remembered what Star had said that night. Why would Jess leave her shoes? They were the only shoes she had.

  Eden gasped with sudden understanding. Star’s personal items hadn’t been checked for tracking devices. Star had arrived directly at the safe house; she hadn't gone through the normal screening. If the man who had abused Star wanted to track her, he just might have stuck a device into her shoe. Especially if they were the only shoes she wore. The next thought made Eden’s stomach drop.

  Could the man have tracked Star back to Shutter Street? Did he think she might still be there? Were the women there in danger right now?

  Eden fumbled in her purse for the card Nessa had given her two nights previously. She tapped in the number and held the phone to her ear. After four rings the call went to voicemail.

  “Detective Ainsley…um, Nessa…I need you to check the shoes I dropped off the other night. I think they might have a GPS tracking device or chip or whatever in them.” She swallowed hard, willing the rising dread to go away. She couldn’t afford to have a panic attack now.

  “I didn’t check her shoes or anything, and I’m worried Star may have been tracked to our safe house. Please, have them checked out and let me know as soon as possible.”

  Eden looked at the screen in front of her, Star’s real name and address still displayed.

  “And, I found out some information about Star. Please, call me back.” Eden recited her number and then disconnected the call.

  She wondered if she should alert Reggie that they may need to activate the emergency relocation plan for Shutter Street.

  Great job, Eden, she berated herself. You’ve put the whole houseful of residents in danger.

  Duke suddenly sprang to his feet, his hackles raised. Eden was surprised to hear a low growl begin in his throat. He ran around the desk and into the suite’s reception area, stopping in front of the closed glass doors. He barked at the dark corridor beyond. Eden had rarely seen Duke get agitated, and his low-pitched bark made her flinch. She grabbed her phone and hurried toward Duke, her mouth dry and heart pounding so loud in her ears she thought she might faint.

  A figure could be seen in the shadows beyond. It was moving closer to them and Eden opened her mouth to scream, when she saw Edgar step into the small square of light that spilled out into the corridor beyond the door.

  “Sorry to bother you, Ms. Winthrop,” the man said as he opened the door and stepped in. “My manager asked if you could do us a favor.”

  Eden slumped her shoulders in relief and produced a weak laugh. “You startled me and Duke, Edgar. We thought you were an intruder.”

  “Oh, dear. I’m sorry, Ms. Winthrop. I should have known better than to just appear unannounced.” He looked back down the dark corridor. “I forget that it can be a little spooky out there when the lights are off and no one else is around.

  “So, what favor did you need?” Eden was anxious to get out of the building. She wanted to tell someone what she’d discovered.

  I need to tell someone I can trust, like Reggie or Leo.

  Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of the dark-haired lawyer. If someone had told her two days ago that she’d trust Leo Steel with top-secret information, she would have called them insane.

  “We’re hoping you can take a look at a clip from the security camera. The camera caught the intruder walking up to the panel by the door. It’s not much, but we thought maybe you would recognize him.”

  “Sure,” Eden said, intrigued. “It’s definitely worth a shot.”

  “My manager said he’s already emailed it to the listed contact for Mercy Harbor. That you?”

  “It should be me. Let me check.” Eden went back into her office with Edgar trailing behind her.

  She clicked on the mail icon on her laptop. Her inbox showed over fifty unread emails, but she could see that the latest had been sent from the security company.

  She clicked on the email and opened the attachment. A movie clip popped open and Eden could see grainy footage of the sidewalk outside the employee entrance. Within seconds a broad-shouldered man appeared and walked toward the door. He was wearing a baseball cap and dark glasses. He took a black handkerchief out of his back pocket and reached toward the camera. The picture went black.

  “He used that to block the camera,” Edgar said. “The police tha
t responded to the alarm found it, but it’s just a regular black bandana. Nothing special about it.”

  The old man looked at Eden, then asked, “So, you recognize him?”

  “No,” Eden said, watching the clip again. “Sorry, but I’ve never seen that man before.”

  As Edgar walked her downstairs and escorted her and Duke to her car, Eden felt as if she were being watched.

  “Be careful, Ms. Winthrop,” Edgar said as he waved her off. “It’s a crazy world out there.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Eden’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror again, sure she would see a man in dark glasses and a baseball cap in the car behind her. But it was hard to get a clear view of the driver, and the traffic was unusually heavy with cars weaving in and out of the lanes around her. She couldn’t even be sure if the white car in the rearview mirror was the same one she’d seen pulling out of Delancey’s after she’d crossed South Street, or if it was the car she’d seen merging into traffic off the interstate exit ramp.

  She swiveled her head to watch as the white car accelerated and passed the Expedition. The elderly couple within seemed oblivious to Eden’s stare.

  Her head began to ache as she wondered for the hundredth time, Am I being paranoid, or am I being followed? And why hasn’t Nessa called me back?

  Her anxiety was growing faster than the brewing storm clouds ahead. She needed someone to talk to. Breaking her own strict rule about texting and driving, Eden picked up her phone and tapped in a message to Reggie. Please call me as soon as possible.

  The light ahead turned red, and Eden stopped and waited for the green light, wishing she knew what she should do next. She noticed the empty building that had once housed the only Blockbuster store in Willow Bay.

  Isn’t Clear Horizons just down that street?

  The thought of the sober house conjured the image of Leo Steele’s handsome face as he’d stood talking to Denise Bane. Should she call Leo? Wouldn’t he want to know she’d found out Star’s real name? The thought of Leo and the intimate talk they’d shared the previous day triggered a strange mix of guilt and excitement.