“You’re in the right place,” Kate assured the woman, wondering why she had thought there might be any other place for a missing persons report. “When did you last see your daughter?”
“Last Thanksgiving.”
Kate’s disbelief must have shown, because the woman hurried to explain. “She’s in college in Iowa, and she doesn’t have the money to come visit often, but we chat all the time. Well, at least we used to.”
While Kate was sympathetic, she was also hopeful that this mother’s worries could be eased soon. Away in college, kids did a lot of things their parents would not have imagined. It was only natural that their attachment would loosen with time and distance.
“I know what you’re thinking, but something strange is going on. She sent this back.”
She held up a bracelet for Kate to see. “It was her grandmother’s. Not worth a lot, but she loved it and hardly ever took it off. I tried to talk to some of her friends on the phone. No one knows anything. It seems like she’s just gone, but no one cares.”
“Did you try to contact the local police?”
“I thought about it, but the reason I’m here is that Jennifer should have come home last night for her aunt’s funeral. I last spoke to her when she left for the airport. She never arrived. Please, you have to help me find her.”
“We will do everything we can,” Kate said. “I need some more information from you, and we can talk to our colleagues in Iowa.”
Perhaps this wasn’t a simple story of a freshman testing her new freedom. In any case, Kate preferred helping others to trying to figure out her own life. She hoped Jennifer Beaumont’s case wouldn’t be quite so complicated.
* * * *
Jordan woke the same way she had in the past two weeks, her arms around Ellie, breathing in the scent of her skin. There was something wonderfully serene and perfect about this, even on the occasions that nightmares had followed them into their sleep. Hers, Ellie’s. It didn’t matter in the long run, as long as the mornings started like this.
The only difference was that in the past two weeks, mornings hadn’t started with an alarm and a ringing cell phone at the same time.
Since she was closer to the offending objects, Ellie turned off the alarm and picked up Jordan’s cell phone.
“It’s Kathryn,” she said. “She left a message. Do you want to…?”
“No.”
Of course, with the two of them being home for more than twenty-four hours, her birthmother felt the need to pick up her efforts to rekindle their relationship. Not that there was anything to rekindle, as far as Jordan was concerned. “Five more minutes,” she whispered.
Ellie didn’t protest, just laid down the phone and snuggled back into the place she’d been before. “We’ll be late. I really wanted to get breakfast before work.”
Jordan made a non-committal sound. Food didn’t hold much of an appeal this early in the morning, and for sure, Ellie’s naked body was a lot more tempting to her under any circumstances. Ellie had a point though.
Unable to stifle the smile, Jordan thought about waking up to an ocean breeze, making love before breakfast. Five minutes certainly weren’t enough for that.
“We could have stayed at my place. It’s closer.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had sex with someone when their roommate was only a room away.”
Ellie laughed. “Come on, it’s not like Kate is listening. You’ll get used to it.”
“Hm. Sure.” Jordan knew that she didn’t have much of a choice for the time being. After her abduction, Ellie had stayed with her for a while, but they had both agreed it was too early on to talk about living together permanently. They both had made mistakes in relationships, getting involved too little or too much. This was different. This was for the long run, and so they were going to be cautious. It meant accepting the fact that Ellie now had a roommate who was dating Jordan’s partner.
After two weeks in paradise, the honeymoon was over, time to go back to their everyday lives. It was the first time in probably a decade that she had taken this much time off, because she was passionate about her job—and frankly, there hadn’t been much of a reason. Things between her and Bethany hadn’t always been as bad as towards the end, but there was always something more important.
Escaping to Hawaii with Ellie couldn’t have waited another day. She just wished it didn’t end so soon. The unsolved questions they had left behind for a while were still here, waiting.
“Five minutes are up,” Ellie reminded her gently.
“I hear you,” she murmured and kissed her. Another five minutes passed before Ellie headed for the shower.
* * * *
Ellie, too, regretted having to leave the bubble she’d been in with Jordan in the past two weeks. After their first vacation plans were rudely altered by a criminal breaking into her apartment and abducting her, she had been near paranoid. They’d changed the location, the airline and, against all odds, made it to Maui. Like Jordan, Ellie hadn’t taken a real vacation in a long time, and she’d cherished every second of it. She was also happy to return to their circle of friends.
The first one she saw was Kate, at the front desk this morning. They hugged quickly.
“It’s pretty busy here, but how about I make dinner later, and you can show me all the pictures to make me jealous?”
“That would be great. I’ve got to run now.”
“Slept through the alarm?” Kate asked with a knowing smile.
“Yeah, something like that.”
There wasn’t much of a transition. A few minutes later she was on the way to answer a 911 call.
Marjorie Perkins greeted her in the doorway, casting a worried look at the house next door that appeared eerily silent now.
“A few minutes ago, there were was a woman screaming, loud music, things breaking. I’m afraid someone’s dead in there.”
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It wasn’t how Ellie had hoped to start her workday. She knew from dispatch that a couple lived there, a man and a woman, no children. A couple of complaints earlier this year. There was at least one gun in the house.
Casey pulled up on the other side of the street, the backup Ellie had requested.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Perkins. We’ll go check it out.”
Marjorie Perkins snorted. “That’s what the other cops said, but it never ends. How about you arrest them this time?”
“Would you please stay inside?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.”
She closed the door, but stayed behind the window, prompting a sigh from Casey. “Sometimes I think they’re enjoying the show a bit too much, but in this case, she had reason to call. I’ve been here before. The woman seems okay, and they claim they’re just partying, but something is off. How’s the first day back?”
“It’s like this.” Ellie sighed. “What’s their deal?”
“Apparently, the house was empty for a long time, so the owners decided to rent it out. That’s what they got.”
“Neat. Let’s go take a look.”
They walked over to the front door, and Ellie rang the bell, wondering why her heart was beating fast all of a sudden. Enough with the nightmares already—this had nothing to do with her personally. She had gone back to work as soon as she’d received a clean bill of health, and then rescheduled her vacation with Jordan as soon as possible. Why the nerves, why now?
“Ellie. Everything okay?”
“Yes. Of course. I was—” She interrupted herself when the chain was removed on the other side, and a man opened the door just enough so they could see his face.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m Officer Harding, and this is Officer Lyons. We received a complaint.”
“Sure you did.” He made an exasperated sound, but didn’t open the door any further. “Are you hearing anything now? Of course not. I was working on something in the garage, and it was a little loud. It’s in the middle of the week! Some people need t
o get a hobby.”
“Someone mentioned screams,” Ellie said. “Did you or anyone else hurt themselves? Your wife is home?”
“No and no. Is that all?”
Ellie realized that she was tempted to let it go, head back to her car and take the next call. Her mind was busy spitting out all kind of worst case scenarios, the man pulling a gun at any point, a horror scene inside…She was aware of Casey’s surprised sideways look as the silence stretched on, and cleared her throat. “Would you mind if we came in for a moment, took a look around?”
“You guys have a warrant?” he spat. “Didn’t think so. Well, in that case, I do mind.”
“A witness heard a woman scream. Since you say your wife isn’t home, I’d like to know who that was. I can make the call right now and be back with a warrant, but if someone’s hurt, it would help you if you let us help them.”
“Fuck you,” he said, but surprisingly yanked the door open. “Whatever. There’s no one here.”
Ellie stepped over the threshold, her throat tight and her heart hammering. Those weren’t her instincts at work, just a whole lot of bad memories and imagination. Jonathan Darby. Josh Ward. One behind bars, one dead, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others like them.
Casey followed her inside while the tenant, George Delaney according to dispatch, stood with his arms folded across his chest. “I do some carpentry from home, okay? I use a saw. It makes noise. There was no woman screaming.”
“Could you show us the garage?” Casey asked after they had checked the surprisingly small inside of the house. There was no cellar or visible attic, two bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen that didn’t look like much cooking was happening here. It was modest, but there was nothing to suggest a crime had happened here.
Ellie thought that if he had to clean up something, he had to have moved very fast. Feeling light-headed, she reached for the counter, steadying herself. Neither Casey not Delaney had noticed. He opened the door to the backyard for them, and they walked to the garage.
Instincts? Flashbacks? It wasn’t fair, Ellie thought angrily. She was supposed to be better. Hawaii was supposed to have made everything better.
She wasn’t sure if that was true anymore. In her first week as a rookie, she hadn’t been this scared…then again, lots of bad things hadn’t yet happened.
Coming This Summer:
The Design of Everything Perfect
Rose, a detective with the NYPD, tries to battle her frustration from a family visit in New Orleans the only way she knows how: With a one-night-stand. She doesn’t find out until later that the other woman is New York-based designer Payton Smith. They see each other again and the attraction flares once more, but things soon get complicated: Rose isn’t out in her workplace and doesn’t want to be. Payton is out and proud, but she carries issues with her she evades with the help of beautiful designs, and sometimes, a bottle. They both have a long way to go. Can they make it together?
Books by Barbara Winkes
www.amazon.com/author/barbarawinkes
Thriller/Romantic Suspense
Amber Alert
Indiscretions (Carpenter/Harding I)
Insinuations (Carpenter/Harding II)
Incisions (Carpenter/Harding III)
Halfway Home (Jayce & Emma I)
Familiar Places (Jayce & Emma II)
New Rooms (Jayce & Emma III)
Secrets
Romance:
The Interpretation of Love and the Truth
Autumn Leaves (Callie & Rebecca I)
Winter Storm (Callie & Rebecca II)
Spring Fever (Callie & Rebecca III)
Thank you for reading!
Incisions Page 19