Without a Trace

by Carissa Ann Lynch

“Martin has a good job and he’s well-liked in Granton. His face is plastered over half the city. What if there’s not enough evidence to convict him? If he has an alibi and there’s no DNA, no fibers…he’ll walk for my sister’s death. He’ll walk for all of it…This shit happens every day and you guys do nothing. People get locked up for smoking pot. Meanwhile, men like Martin Nesbitt walk free. It’s sickening.”

  I twisted my hands together, considering her words.

  “Did you go over there and help her with the blood? Why weren’t you there by her side during this getaway process?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around the details.

  Clara’s face scrunched up, collapsing in on itself. “I was always honest with Nova, until I wasn’t. There’s only one lie that I told…when I sent her the ad in the paper, I didn’t tell her that her landlord was me. She only ever knew me as Al.”

  “But why? Why would you be so deceptive?” She’s still hiding something. Maybe she killed Nova. Hell, maybe she killed her own sister. Who is this woman, really? I wondered.

  “If Nova had known I was right next door, I don’t think she would have left town. I wanted her to do this on her own, to feel free. I didn’t want to control her. But truth is, I wanted to watch her and make sure she was safe. I knew the cabin would be the perfect place. Considered telling her once she got here, you know? But then, I was afraid she wouldn’t go, that she wouldn’t leave me behind if she knew…I didn’t want her to back out of the plans we had worked so hard to make. I wanted her to take the truck and go…to get away from him, and to protect her daughter. I love her, I really do…” Clara was crying again, choking sobs.

  “So, you never talked to her in person or laid eyes on her?” I asked, aghast.

  Clara shook her head but didn’t look up.

  “With all due respect, can you really love someone you’ve never actually met?”

  Clara’s head shot up, and she gave me a strange little smile. “I didn’t need to see her face, Ellie. I’d already seen her soul.”

  We were quiet for several minutes, the only sound the rustling of the trees. Finally, I said, “You never answered my question earlier. Where is your husband now?”

  Clara stared out at the barn, her eyes slanted. “In Florida with his mistress, just like I told Sam the other day. Good riddance to him. Wasn’t as bad as Martin, but he caused just as much damage as he did.”

  I nodded, holding back more questions. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket.

  “I need to see some of your messages with Nova.” I said, resolutely.

  “Absolutely,” Clara said, tension draining from her face.

  I plucked my phone from my pocket, reading new messages from Chad.

  “Let me go get my phone. Be right back.” As soon as she’d disappeared back inside, I stepped off the porch. Crossing the field, I made a beeline for the barn.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  The Neighbor

  CLARA

  I emerged from my bedroom, phone in hand. Officer James was gone.

  “Where’d you go?” I called, eyes traveling over the darkened field in terror.

  Suddenly, from across the field, I heard the door to the barn slam shut. She’s going inside!

  Heart pounding, I raced through the muggy, marshy fields to stop her. What will I do if she finds Andy? We had a plan—Nova and I—but then, Andy showed up and ruined everything! This was never part of the plan!

  When I stepped inside the barn, Officer James pointed her flashlight at me.

  “Anything else you want to tell me, Clara?” Officer James asked. She was standing next to the old tractor, gripping her flashlight, thrusting it at me like a gun.

  “No, of course not. I already told you everything I know.”

  Officer James shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s true. Rachel’s dead. Nova’s gone. Lily’s missing…but that’s not all, is it? Someone else is missing, too.”

  I took a step toward her, glancing nervously at the tractor. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Just like you had no idea who Nova was, Al.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. She knows. But how…?

  “I just got a message from one of my partners. We finally found a local who identified your husband’s mistress. Her name is Rose Martin. Andy’s not in Florida anymore. He left her. And guess where he told her he was headed…?”

  I shrugged. What was the point? Everything is coming unraveled…

  “Is your husband dead, too? Did you kill all of them, Clara?” Officer James asked. She squatted down beside the tractor, flashing her light underneath.

  “That’s my granddad’s tractor. It hasn’t been used in years…”

  Officer James looked up at me and frowned. “The tractor’s covered in dust. Even the floor around it is dusty. So, why does the floor underneath look so fresh, huh?”

  Horrified, I watched as she squatted down and ran her hand across the floor. Finally, she stopped at the tiny notch where the false floor could be opened.

  “There we go.” She looked up at me, her face grim.

  I sat down on the floor of the barn, my head spinning as I listened to her call for back-up.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  The Cop

  ELLIE

  “Where’s Roland?” I stared at the cluster of officers and medical personnel on the scene. They were lifting Andy Appleton’s decaying body from the cellar space beneath Clara Appleton’s barn.

  Clara had been taken away in handcuffs. Sergeant DelGrande was with her now. Considering his close relationship with her, I couldn’t imagine how he was feeling right now…

  “I don’t know where he is. I think…still at the medical examiner’s office. Waiting for the autopsy results for Rachel Coffey,” Mike said.

  Roland seemed to be the only one missing from this potential crime scene.

  “Listen, Mike. I know you guys don’t always trust me because of what happened with Ezra Clark…”

  Mike shook his head and put up a hand to stop me. “You don’t have to explain. We all knew he was a rotten drunk. But at one time, he was a good cop. And we just have this weird inclination to always protect our own…it could have happened to any of us. You did the right thing.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Thank you,” I said, awkwardly.

  It felt good, hearing one of my fellow officers backing me up for once. I almost stopped myself from saying what I said next: “Listen, Mike. Roland knows more than he’s saying. I’m not saying he was involved in Nova and Lily going missing, but he talked to her that night. For twenty-six minutes. Why wouldn’t he tell us the truth?”

  Mike chewed on his lips, eyes glazed and fuzzy, as he stared at the corpse being loaded into the back of the examiner’s van.

  “Mike. What aren’t you guys telling me?”

  Mike sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, feverishly.

  “You can trust me, Mike. I’m listening. I just want to know…”

  Mike turned to me and said, “It has nothing to do with Roland. He was drunk that night…too drunk to be handling the on-call line, too drunk to drive…so, I’m the one who took her call.”

  My eyes widened. “Mike! What did Nova say that night?”

  “She wanted to know if we’d found her daughter. If we had any news. She was scared. I talked to her, tried to reassure her…”

  “Okay…”

  “And after I dropped off Roland, I decided I should ride by the cabin. Just in case. It was like three in the morning…”

  “Mike. Did you go inside her cabin the night she went missing?” I asked, my pulse thudding in my ears. Why didn’t he tell me this earlier?!

  “No. It was the strangest thing…she was out on the road when I pulled up. Almost like…like, she’d been taking a late-night jog, or something. She got in the cruiser…and…I know this sounds crazy, but she was sweet. And scared. She asked if she could go back to my place.”

  “What?!” I stepped back fro
m Mike, my eyes narrowing. Did Mike do something to Nova?!

  As though he could hear my thoughts, he said, “I was a perfect gentleman, I swear. We talked. We had a few drinks at my place. We even watched a bit of a movie before the sun came up…but then I fell asleep. We didn’t have sex…I didn’t hurt her, I swear. When I woke up in the morning, she was gone. I don’t even know how she got home, because I’d driven her to my place in my cruiser…and then I got called out to the cabin, and there was all this blood…”

  “Mike. You have to tell this to Sergeant DelGrande. You can’t hide this…why would you keep this a secret? You might have been the last person to see Nova Nesbitt alive.”

  “I was scared. I thought it’d get blamed on me, since I’d just been with her. It was unprofessional of me, taking her to my home…”

  “Wait.”

  “What is it?” Mike asked.

  “You said it was just Nova. But where was Lily? According to Clara, no one actually took her…it was all part of the plan to frame Martin, so they could get away…”

  I looked back and forth, between Mike standing beside me and Clara’s farmhouse.

  Either he was lying, or Clara was. One of them knew the truth…

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  The Mother

  65 hours earlier…

  NOVA

  “He’s a-asleep. L-listen, I d-didn’t really have a ch-choice, Al. I-It was M-Martin…I saw him.” I explained to her how I’d gotten into Officer Mike’s cop car. He was a sweet man, just concerned about me and my missing daughter…

  “I-I’m fine,” I’d told him. “J-just focus on f-finding my daughter, pl-please…” I’d already talked to Al and I already knew she had her, but I had to play the part and I needed him to leave…

  He had promised he would. He had promised to check up on me the next day. I got out of his cruiser, eager for him to pull away so that I could go back and get the bag and the truck…but that’s when I saw him…Martin.

  From the darkened windows of the cabin, like a ghoul looking out at me, he was watching me with the cop. He was waiting for me to come inside…waiting to kill me…

  “Wait.” I turned around, running after the policeman. I ran, hard as I could, chasing his taillights. The sound of his slamming brakes, was the sweetest sound in the world…

  “Oh. I almost didn’t see you…you okay?”

  He opened his passenger door and I climbed back inside, shaking. “I’m fine. J-just s-scared that’s all. I appreciate you checking on me. C-can we go somewhere for a little while…someplace safe? Will you take me home with you?” I’d asked him.

  I had to wait for hours, until he fell asleep…as soon as I was sure he was snoring, I’d used his phone to call Al.

  “C-can you c-come get me? Is Lily still safe with you?” I asked Al, my voice trembling.

  “She’s safe. She’s exactly where I told her to stay. I saw Martin out there too. But he’s gone now. For all he knows, I’m just an old lady, no one to worry about…”

  “You s-saw him! Are you at the cabin?”

  “I’m next door, Nova. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I just thought you might change your mind…he snooped around and then he left. We’re fine, I promise. She’s hidden. We will come get you now. But I can’t get in touch with Rachel though. I’m a little worried,” Al said.

  “I’m w-worried, too.” I gave her the address, then waited on Mike’s front porch for her to come and get me. I was going to see Al for the first time. She was taking me to her home, and Lily would be there too…together, we could get away from Martin for good. And hopefully, watch from the shadows while he went to prison for murder.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  The Cop

  ELLIE

  When Nova and Lily Nesbitt emerged from Clara’s basement, it was like seeing two ghosts…I’d been so convinced that they would be dead and that one may not even exist…

  Clara/Al had cleaned them out a neat little space in her basement. There were board games and books spread out on the floor. Two fluffy red sleeping bags…Nova was shocked when we found her, and angry about us taking her partner to jail. But she wasn’t the same terrified woman that’d I met that first day. She didn’t stutter; she stood tall, clutching the hand of the rosy-cheeked child beside her as we descended the stairs to the basement.

  “It will all be okay, my love,” Nova had promised her daughter. “These people just want to know that you’re safe.”

  The blue-eyed beauty smiled up at me, timidly. Her words like whispers, she said, “I’m always safe with my Mama.”

  After the case was closed, I’d taken a three-week vacation. I’d just needed a break.

  Now that I was back, my first order of business was to talk to Sergeant DelGrande about our process for handling domestic violence cases in our county. I wanted to make sure that women like Nova didn’t have to go to extraordinary lengths just to stay alive. And that women who were trying to help—like Rachel and Clara—could stay safe too.

  I wanted to be a woman and a police officer. Pretty and tough. But I missed the point completely, until now. Because now I realize that working a certain job doesn’t make me more of a man and painting up my face doesn’t make me more of a woman. Being pretty doesn’t change the way I do my job, and my job doesn’t make me any less pretty. I’m just me, being my own version of what it means to be a confident woman, and I don’t have to choose either/or anymore.

  After finding Andy Appleton and unraveling the strange Nesbitt plot, my colleagues were treating me differently…slowly, but surely, I was becoming one of them. They were learning to trust me, and at the same time, I was starting to trust them too.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  The Neighbor

  CLARA

  By the time I made it to the forest, her body was gone. Hauled away, then tucked away until she could be poked and prodded after death. All I wanted to do was touch her. I wanted to say goodbye to my sister.

  I heard they found her under a peach tree. There was more than one peach tree out there in those woods, but as soon as I saw it, I knew I’d found the right one. It was the biggest one, the spot where that monster dumped her body.

  I know it sounds crazy, but as I crawled beneath that tree, scurrying into the shady darkness of the branches above, I thought I could feel her there.

  The other night I had a dream, one of those dreams you can’t dream twice. Rachel and I were sitting on the edge of a jagged cliff, dangling our toes over the side of Widow’s Curve. “Now this is what you call living on the edge. Literally,” Rachel giggled. She jumped from the edge before I could stop her.

  She burst apart into tiny little particles before she hit the ground below.

  Sometimes, I imagine those bits of her floating back into me, filling me up and making me whole again.

  I made her a grave marker, similar to Annie’s, and our sister Allison’s. Now they lie side by side. I like to think that they’re intertwined, whispering secrets beneath the dirt and soil…

  The other day, I saw Martin on TV again. They were finally able to match his DNA to tiny bits of blood on the heel of my sister’s sneakers. I like to think that even though she died, Rachel got to have the last laugh in the end. His clients who went house-hunting finally admitted that they were occupied during that timeframe and Martin could have left and killed her. There were also prostitutes who came forward, verifying that he was a violent man. And some of Lily’s furniture and belongings were discovered at the local dump…

  I think he’ll be convicted, but you never know. I guess if he’s not, I might have to take matters into my own hands, like I did with Andy.

  Like the curl at the bend in Widow’s Curve, Rachel was destined to die no matter which way she went. I only wish I could have saved her…but now, Nova and Lily will watch over her and the other ghosts on the farm while I’m gone. I stand trial next month for Andy’s murder. I may have to serve some time, but there are a lot of people on my side—Of
ficer James, Sergeant Sam, and even my husband’s former mistress—and I’ve never felt freer. My lawyer will plead self-defense and hopefully, I’ll get to spend the rest of my days with Nova and Lily, my new family.

  As I stare at Nova’s beautiful, smiling face, and as I watch Lily running freely through the fields…I know it was all worth it. I couldn’t save my own daughter or my sister, but I have saved these two…and for now, that is enough.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I owe a million thanks to Charlotte Ledger, Emily Ruston, and all of the staff at Killer Reads who helped make this book what it is today. The amount of work that went into this book is incredible. Charlotte and Emily, I don’t know how you all manage to make my books look so good, but I am forever grateful for your magic. Keep sprinkling that fairy dust on my books, please!

  I would also like to thank my agent, Katie Shea Boutillier, who helped me brainstorm ideas for this book and pushed me so hard to make each character really pop from the page. Without you, Katie, this book never would have happened. And together, we brought these ladies to life…

  To my funny, intelligent, creative, beautiful, bull-headed daughter—Violet—I’m proud to be your mother. To my handsome, intelligent, caring sons—Tristian and Dexter—I’m so proud of the men you are becoming. And to my husband, Shannon, for supporting me every step of the way in my writing process and for being the best possible partner a girl could ask for.

  To all of the readers, bloggers, and librarians—you all are the true champions of the book world, and I appreciate you taking a chance on my books.

  Last but not least, to all of the women who have inspired me with your quiet strength and resilience over the years…you are the bravest warriors I know. And for those who are no longer with me…I will never forget.