Missing

by Lynette Eason

  But she would if it meant convincing him. Even her parents didn’t know Bethany’s secret.

  Without another word, he simply motioned for her to get in the car.

  Once they were buckled and heading away from the school, she asked, “Where are we going?”

  “To the station. I want to talk to Daniel.”

  She gulped and looked out the window.

  “Tell me something about her,” he said suddenly.

  She knew what he meant. He wanted her to tell him something that would help him get to know his daughter a little better.

  “She’s always comparing herself to a missing puzzle piece.” Lacey wasn’t sure why she picked that particular fact to share, but it seemed right. “What?”

  Lacey breathed a little laugh, wishing she could inject some humor in it. “She says that sometimes her life feels like a puzzle, but there’s a piece missing.”

  “Me?”

  “I asked her that, and she said that was part of it, but she said she just never seems to be able to find her niche. Where she fits.”

  “She found friends here.” He looked confused.

  “She did. From the time Bethany turned seven, we had to move around a lot in North Carolina.” She shrugged.

  “I didn’t like it, but I had to go where I could find a job. Several times my job only lasted a year or two and we’d move again. Then finally we moved here.” She shrugged.

  “I guess she’s just missing some roots maybe.”

  “Maybe.”

  “The one good thing that came from moving here is she finally found friends in Kayla and Georgia. And while she and Georgia are great buddies, she just really seemed to connect with Kayla from the moment they met.” Lacey gave a sad smile. “She said they got along so well because they were like two pieces missing from their completed puzzle and until they found where they fit or where they belonged, they would love and support each other. BFFs.”

  “They sound like a couple of great kids.”

  “They are. I mean, Bethany is and Kayla was.” She bit her lip. “I still can’t believe she’s dead some days. And poor Bethany. She was just devastated. She started spending all of her free time at the karate school.”

  “Georgia mentioned something about that. How long has she been studying martial arts?”

  “From the time she was three. We were at a spring festival one afternoon and a karate school had a demonstration. She was riveted and begged to take lessons. Finally, I gave in and signed her up. That was one thing I made sure of before we moved. That wherever we wound up had to have a dojo, or marital arts school. Fortunately, I never had to move too far from where we started out and she was able to go to the same karate school for a long time. It was worth the drive to keep some consistency in her life.” Lacey rubbed her eyes. “I think her being able to focus on the martial arts helped her get through a lot of emotional stuff. When Kayla died, Bethany spent even more time at the dojo.”

  Mason raised a brow and said, “Then we need to talk to all of the kids at the school. The ones she had class with or hung out with.”

  Lacey flushed. “I don’t know if it would do any good. She wasn’t close to any of them. She said most of the students there weren’t serious about the sport and played too much.”

  Lifting his phone to his ear, he spoke into it. “Catelyn, we need to question Bethany’s instructor and classmates at the karate school on Brownstock Road. Lacey said Bethany spent a lot of time there.”

  He must have gotten an affirmative response because he hung up. When he spoke again, he changed the subject. “Sounds like she’s been through a lot lately. Honestly, if it wasn’t for those weird pictures showing up at each of our respective houses and the fact that you were just attacked, I might be inclined to agree with your mother.”

  “But you don’t.”

  A tense hand curled around the steering wheel. She watched the color fade from his knuckles. A muscle jumped in his cheek. “No, I don’t. It all seems too weird to be coincidental. And the attacker basically confirmed that Bethany met with foul play by what he said to you.”

  “Yeah.” She swallowed hard and felt the tears gather. Foul play. She sure didn’t like the sound of that. Especially not when it was used in conjunction with her missing daughter.

  Mason pulled into the police station parking lot. Lacey climbed out and felt dread cramp her stomach. Daniel Ackerman was inside. He was the last man on the planet she wanted to face.

  But for Bethany, she’d do it.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Mason kept the smile in place as Daniel walked toward them. With one hand on Lacey’s upper arm, he could feel her muscles tense.

  A fine tremor shook her, but she held her head high and met Daniel’s gaze with a classiness Mason grudgingly admired.

  He wished the memories of the last time the three of them had been in the same area would quit bombarding him. Renewed anger flooded him as old feelings of betrayal and soul-searing hurt came back with a vengeance.

  With superhuman effort, he pushed aside his emotions and watched the approaching man.

  When Daniel caught sight of Lacey and recognized her, shock flashed and he gave a slight stumble.

  Interesting.

  “Lacey Gibson?”

  “Hello, Daniel.” Her voice was low. If he hadn’t been listening for it, Mason would have missed the slight wobble.

  Daniel paused to offer a hand to Mason. Mason shook it then felt like excusing himself to find some soap and water. Instead, he got right to the point. “Lacey’s daughter is missing.”

  “Bethany Gibson is your daughter?” Daniel had gathered his usual cool demeanor back and his face now showed no expression other than professional concern. He looked at Lacey. “You’ve heard nothing from her?”

  “Nothing.” The clipped, one-word answer told Mason Lacey was on shaky ground. However it didn’t stop her from pulling a folded piece of paper from her purse and handing it over to the man.

  Daniel took it and Mason nodded toward Daniel’s office. “Can we talk?”

  Daniel hesitated, looked Lacey up and down as though trying to convince himself she was really standing there, then said, “Sure, come on back.”

  Once in the office, Lacey seated herself on the edge of the brown couch, shoulders held stiff, fingers pinched around the strap of her small purse.

  Daniel cleared his throat and looked like he might say something of a personal nature then focused on the flyer in front of him. “We have a missing persons report filed and we have officers keeping an eye out for her based on the picture you provided when you filed the report. I don’t really know what else you want us to do.”

  Mason laid a hand on Lacey’s arm before she could come out of her seat and tell the man exactly what she wanted him to do. She shifted but stayed quiet. Mason looked at his former friend. “We want you to reopen the case of the car accident that happened back at the beginning of April.”

  “The one where Kayla Mahoney was killed,” Lacey blurted.

  Daniel sat back and raised his brows. They’d managed to surprise him. “Why?”

  Mason took over. “Because she was friends with Bethany. We talked to Georgia, the girl who Lacey thinks was in the car that night with Kayla, but she denies it vehemently.”

  “And she says they weren’t with Kayla that night,” Lacey offered.

  Mason glanced at Lacey. “But Lacey thinks they were, even though Bethany denied it when confronted a few weeks ago.”

  The detective shrugged. “Then what makes you think Bethany and Georgia are lying?”

  “Because they’re scared.”

  “Of what?”

  This time Lacey did jump up. “If we knew that, my daughter might not be missing!”

  Daniel didn’t react, simply leaned forward, keeping his eyes on Mason. “That wreck was ruled an accident. Catelyn and I both investigated it. A simple one-car accident caused by a reckless teen.”

  “And you proved that without a
doubt? You had the crime-scene guys go over the car with a fine-tooth comb?”

  A flush climbed up the man’s neck to settle on his cheeks. “Look, that wreck was two months ago. Yes, we checked everything. Kayla lost control of the car and what happened, happened. Unfortunately, even our city isn’t immune from teen-driver deaths.”

  “I’m not saying that, Daniel, I’m saying something’s going on and Bethany’s involved somehow.” He repeated what Lacey had told him earlier at his house. “She was scared. Someone seemed to be after her.”

  Daniel stood. “That’s all hearsay. I need proof.”

  Forcing himself to unclench his teeth, Mason held his temper. “And I’m telling you that the proof might have been in that car.” A thought occurred to him. “Do you mind if we look at the report?”

  “And I’m telling you there’s no need. It was an accident.”

  Frustration lanced him. Why was the man fighting him so hard on this? Mason narrowed his eyes.

  “Let him see the file, Daniel.”

  Mason and Lacey turned as one to see Catelyn standing in the door of the office.

  Daniel let out a low sound of disgust and stomped to the file cabinet in the corner of the room. Tugging open a drawer, he searched until he found what he was looking for.

  Turning, he slapped the file in front of Mason. “There.” Fury glittered in his gaze. “I don’t appreciate the insinuation that I missed something.”

  Ah, so that was the issue. “I’m not saying you missed something because you didn’t do your job, I’m just saying a fresh set of eyes might not be a bad thing.”

  “Whatever. I’m going to get some coffee.”

  Catelyn stepped into the room as Daniel brushed past her. She said, “I worked the wreck with him. I don’t know what you think you’ll find, but have at it.”

  *

  With Daniel’s departure, Lacey felt as if she could breathe again. At least until Mason leaned in close to look at the file with her. His unique scent filled her senses, and she pulled it in as though clinging to that, she could have a piece of him to call her own once again.

  She appreciated his support even though she knew he still wanted to discuss the past—and Bethany. However, his priority—finding Bethany—matched hers at the moment and she was grateful.

  Mason pulled pictures of the wreck from the file and spread them on Daniel’s desk. Lacey stood to get a better view.

  When he unveiled pictures of the dead teen still seated behind the wheel, Lacey gasped and turned away from the photo, nausea swirling in her gut.

  “Sorry,” Mason offered. “Let me sort through them. Don’t look until I tell you to.”

  Gathering her emotions and clamping them under control, she turned back. “No, I need to see them all.”

  “Lacey…”

  “Just show me.”

  With a heavy sigh, Mason did as she asked and placed them in the order they’d been shot. Gulping a fortifying breath, Lacey studied each photo, throwing up mental blocks that this was a girl she’d had in her home, taken to eat pizza and was Bethany’s best friend. She forced herself to go over every detail even as her heart broke for the precious life cut short.

  Oh, Bethany, where are you? Please, God, don’t let Bethany be dead. Keep her in Your care wherever she is.

  She studied the interior of the car, the exterior, the shadows behind the vehicle.

  And then she saw it.

  Another gasp slipped from her as she grabbed Mason’s arm without thinking. “There. Isn’t that a gold necklace on the ground beside the back door?”

  Mason moved in for a closer look. The warmth of his bare forearm burned her hand and she snatched it back, curling her fingers into a fist. Before, she would have rubbed her hand up and down his arm in a soothing, affectionate motion, then end with entwining his fingers with hers.

  Now she didn’t have that right.

  “It looks like it.”

  Catelyn and Daniel returned to the office just as Mason picked up the picture. He looked at Daniel. “Do you have a magnifying glass?”

  Without comment, the man rounded his desk and pulled open his top drawer. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” Mason held the glass over the area of the picture Lacey had pointed out to him. “Yeah, that’s a gold chain all right.” He looked at Daniel. “Can we get this blown up?”

  “Why?”

  “Because,” Lacey answered, “Bethany had a gold chain she wore all the time. She never took it off. I noticed shortly after the wreck it was gone. When I asked her what happened to it, she said the clasp had broken at school and she’d lost it.”

  Daniel shrugged. “Sounds reasonable to me.”

  Frustration filled her. “Yes, I thought so too and didn’t think anything more about it, but the more I look at that chain, the more I think it might be hers.”

  “How would you identify it? There must be a zillion gold chains out there.”

  “But not with a puzzle piece attached to it. She had one half and Kayla had the other half. They each had their names engraved on it along with BFF.”

  “Meaning Best Friends Forever,” Mason murmured.

  “Right.” She reached for the pictures still laid out on the desk, sorted through them, then pulled one from the pile. “Look, you can see Kayla’s wearing hers here.”

  Catelyn took the other picture containing the shot of the gold necklace from the desk. “Follow me.”

  Hope making her heart pound like crazy, Lacey didn’t hesitate, but hurried after the woman. She felt Mason’s presence right behind her. And Daniel’s.

  She shuddered. When she’d first caught sight of the man walking toward her, she’d wanted to demand that he tell Mason the truth about what had really happened sixteen years ago, but had nearly bitten her tongue off to keep the words from flying from her mouth.

  Now wasn’t the time.

  This wasn’t about her and Mason—or even Daniel. This was about Bethany. She knew a confrontation with Daniel was coming at some point, though.

  And soon.

  Catelyn led them into another room that looked like a small lab. “Normally, we use the big lab downtown or send stuff off to Columbia, but this little area was funded by an anonymous donor. One tool we have is a highly efficient microscope that will enable us to get a good look at this chain.”

  She maneuvered her way to the device and slid the picture under the glass. After flipping a few switches, the image appeared on the oversize computer screen in front of them.

  Within seconds, Catelyn had adjusted the focus and Lacey stared at her daughter’s necklace. “It’s hers.”

  Even Mason had to admit it.

  A dainty golden puzzle piece dangled from the end of a gold chain. The words Kayla and Bethany—BFF filled the screen.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Lacey felt the air leave her lungs. How she’d hoped she’d be wrong. But she wasn’t. She felt no satisfaction in being right. “What do we do now?” She looked up at Mason. “She was there. Something happened that night other than Kayla just dying in a car accident. Something that instilled a fear in Bethany that she felt she couldn’t share with me.”

  Mason scrubbed a hand down his cheek and sighed. He looked at Catelyn. “All right, I think this is enough evidence to prove that Lacey may be on to something, don’t you?”

  The detective nodded. “It’s possible.”

  Standing, Lacey twisted her fingers together. “You have to get Georgia to tell you what they were doing that night.”

  “Daniel?”

  They all turned at the voice in the doorway. Lacey gasped and jumped up. “Janice?”

  The tall, regal-looking woman paused, her attention swinging from Daniel to Lacey. A hand fluttered to her chest. “Lacey, darling, how are you?”

  Feeling a tremulous smile hover on her lips, Lacey gave a low humorless laugh. “I’ve been better. My daughter is missing.”

  A perfectly arched brow lifted. “I’d heard you were back with a
child in tow.”

  Unsure how to take that comment, Lacey just stared at Daniel’s wife, the woman who’d once been her closest friend. Then all of the pretense seemed to slough off of Janice and her expression softened. She moved forward and clasped Lacey in a hug. “I’ve been terribly angry with you.”

  Lacey pulled back. “For what?”

  “You left without a word sixteen years ago, didn’t call, didn’t send the first Christmas card and then came back to town without calling. What is that all about?”

  How could she explain without making everyone in the room more uncomfortable? She couldn’t. “I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right. As soon as we get Bethany home, we’ll get together, all right?” She squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’ve missed you and thought about you often.” That wasn’t a lie. Upon her move back to town, she’d thought about calling Janice but when she’d found out the woman was married to Daniel Ackerman, she just couldn’t bring herself to dial the number.

  “Sure.” Janice smoothed a nonexistent stray hair and tugged at the scarf tied in a fashionably loose knot around her neck.

  Mason and Catelyn exchanged a look, and Lacey knew exactly what they were thinking. They had an investigation going on and needed to get back to it.

  Daniel frowned at his wife, irritation stamped on his features. “What are you doing here? I thought you were working in the shop today? Or volunteering at the hospital or something.”

  “I was at the shop until the air conditioner died on me.” She looked at Lacey. “I own the Christmas Every Day Shop.” She grinned. “My father bought it for me.”

  Lacey gave a tight smile. Nothing had changed in that area. Janice was still a daddy’s girl who loved to spend the man’s money. And he obviously still let her.

  Janice said, “I’m only open six months out of the year and I’m just three days from opening up for this year. Now this.” She pursed her lips in disgust and turned back to her husband. “And you know I volunteer at the hospital on Fridays, not Tuesdays.”

  Daniel took a deep breath. “Right, sorry.”

  “Well, no matter, I’ll just have to delay opening the shop a few weeks. I don’t suppose it will make that much of a difference.” She looked at Daniel. “I did promise to help out at the clothes closet at the church. Martha called and said they had a new batch to sort.”