Trust

by Pamela M. Kelley

  "No, why? Has something turned up about him?"

  "Nothing definitive. We've been going through his computer records and his online diary."

  "Online diary? As in available to the public?"

  "Yeah, connected to his Facebook page. Kids these days live their lives online—totally bizarre."

  "Does he say anything that might give a clue as to if or why he ran away?"

  "No. But he does talk about having a 'mad crush' on a much older woman. Someone he thinks about and sees every day.”

  David felt a sudden sinking in his stomach. "Do you have any idea who this 'older woman' is?"

  "Nothing concrete, but we have to consider all possibilities and the strongest one we have so far is that it very well could be Lauren.”

  Chapter Three

  "Want to have a pizza at my place instead of going out?” Lauren asked as they left Nellie's and headed toward their cars. “The roads look like they are getting a little slick." The original plan had been to grab a bite to eat somewhere after the fitting. Amy and Lauren lived in the same condo complex, so she could easily walk home instead of driving.

  "Sure, I have a bottle of wine we can share too. I have a case in the backseat—picked it up at lunch."

  "A case?"

  "You save a ton when you buy a case!" Amy said and Lauren laughed. She knew Amy loved wine and had a great collection. Lauren got her phone out and called in the pizza order so they wouldn't have to wait too long.

  They drove home and found the roads were slippery. Lauren was glad they'd decided to just do pizza instead of going to a restaurant. When they reached the condo complex and parked, Amy followed her inside with a bottle of wine and started to open it. Amy had just poured each of them a glass when there was a knock on the door. Lauren wondered who could possibly be out in this weather. Maybe David was home and had his arms full. She opened the door and was shocked to find two policemen standing there.

  "Lauren Stanhope?" the older of the two asked.

  "Yes, that's me."

  "Miss Stanhope, could we please come in? We'd like to ask a few questions." She let the officers in and invited them to sit at the dining room table.

  "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked, and noticed the younger officer staring at the just opened bottle of wine. "Soda, water? Anything?" She added, so they didn't think she meant alcohol.

  "No, thank you," the older officer replied and then added, "This shouldn't take too long." A moment later, there was another knock on the door and this time it was the pizza man. Amy jumped up to take care of it, and brought the pizza into the kitchen as Lauren went into the dining room to talk to the officers. She wondered if they were making the rounds and talking to all of Eric's teachers. She noticed that the two officers seemed a little uncomfortable, especially the younger one, who had pulled out a pad of paper and was staring down at it, doodling, while he waited for the older officer to start talking.

  First, he introduced both of them. "I'm Officer Scott Gordon and this is Officer Chris O'Sullivan." Lauren smiled at that. Their names suited them. Scott looked to be in his early 50's, had closely-shaven gray hair, light blue eyes and a muscular build, Chris was likely in his mid-twenties, tall and lanky with an unfortunate shade of red hair. Like his partner, his hair was military short, his eyes blue, and his face full of freckles.

  "We just have a few questions to ask you, about Eric Armstrong," Officer Gordon began.

  Lauren nodded. "I'm happy to help. Do you have any leads yet?"

  The two men exchanged a glance and then Scott replied, "Nothing of any substance yet, but we're working on it. So, tell me about Eric. I understand he was a student of yours?"

  "That's correct. Eric was in my homeroom and also fifth period English."

  "How did he do in class? Was he a good student?"

  "At times. He was very bright and had a lot of potential, but he wasn't doing well consistently. I started meeting with him after class to see how we could help him focus better and to get him to open up."

  "To open up? What do you mean?" Scott asked, as Chris looked up for a moment and then continued to scribble notes furiously.

  Lauren tried to explain. "I immediately suggested counseling, that Eric talk to Betty Alves, our student psychologist, but he would have no part of it. He didn't know her and was afraid she'd call his parents."

  "But he talked to you?"

  "He didn't want to, not at first, but I told him that I was very concerned, and if he didn't open up to me I'd have no choice but to send him to Betty. He agreed to meet with me once a week, immediately after class every Monday for a month. We were just starting to make some headway when he went missing."

  "What kind of 'headway' did you make?" Scott asked.

  "Well, we talked about his study habits and ways he could focus better and be more prepared for class. He admitted that there'd been a lot of stress at home, his parents were not getting along and the constant bickering was getting to him. I suggested that he get out of the house to study, to go to the library and be a little more organized with his work."

  "And it worked?"

  "It seemed to. Once he removed himself from the stressful environment, he was better able to get his work done and was more engaged in class. I know he didn't like being at home, which is why I'm hoping he might have just run away."

  "Right." Scott glanced at his partner and then asked. "Is there anything else that comes to mind? Anything personal that Eric may have told you? Did he have a girlfriend for instance?"

  Lauren was surprised for a moment and realized that she had no idea if Eric had a girlfriend or not. "No. We never got into personal stuff. I don't know if Eric was dating anyone. I never noticed him with a girl."

  "Okay, I think we're done here," Scott said as Chris closed his notebook. "We'll be in touch if we have any further questions. Enjoy your pizza."

  The two officers left and Amy brought the pizza into the room, along with paper plates and napkins. She added a little wine to her own glass and saw that Lauren's was untouched.

  "Drink up; I'm way ahead of you. I didn't want to be in the way so I stayed in the kitchen, listening and sipping. Pretty weird, huh? Them stopping by like this. Do you think they're going house to house?"

  "I don't know. They were at school talking to some of the teachers earlier. I would have thought they'd just go back tomorrow to see the ones they didn't talk to today."

  "Do you think he ran away?" Amy asked as she grabbed a slice of pizza and doused it with hot pepper flakes.

  Lauren made a face at the sight of all that pepper. "I don't know how you can ruin a perfectly good piece of pizza."

  "Don't knock it 'til you try it. It's delicious. Try a bite?"

  "I'm all set." Lauren added a sprinkle of salt to her piece and then took a bite. She couldn’t stop thinking about her missing student.

  "I hate to say it, but I have a bad feeling about this. Things were starting to go better for Eric, his grades were improving, he was participating more in class. He was making progress. It doesn't make sense that he'd just take off."

  "He's a teenager though. You said things were tough at home. Maybe something happened, a fight or something that set him off."

  "Maybe. I hope they find him soon though. This is miserable weather to be out there alone."

  "David is having a late night with Gramps." Amy commented as the clock struck 8:00 p.m.

  "Jack was meeting him at Hannigan's for a drink."

  "How is Jack? Is he still single? We need to find someone for him." Amy was always playing matchmaker. Not that Lauren could complain. She was good at it and said she'd known that Lauren and David would be great together.

  "I don't think Jack has any trouble in that department. David said women are always throwing themselves at him." Jack was a handsome guy, with coal-black wavy hair and lots of it, dark chocolate brown eyes and light skin, and at 6'4", he was hard to miss. "Jack likes to date. I don't think he's anywhere near ready to settle d
own."

  "He will be, when he meets the right one." Amy said with certainty. "Not that I have any idea who that might be, but you never know. I'll keep an eye out for him."

  "I'm sure he'll appreciate that," Lauren said wryly.

  An hour later, full of pizza and good wine, Amy pulled on her boots, bundled up and headed out for the short walk to her condo three doors down. Lauren was just about done putting the leftover pizza in the refrigerator and the wine glasses in the dishwasher when there was a light tap on the door and then it opened and David walked in.

  "Hey, honey," Lauren called out and as soon as David shed his snowy coat, hat and gloves and stepped out of his boots, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss.

  "Well, that's a nice welcome. It's miserable out there."

  "How's Gramps?"

  "He's good, same as always, flirting like mad with all the young waitresses. He says hello."

  "I had an interesting night," Lauren began as they headed into the living room, and sank into the sofa. "Two police officers came here, asking me questions about Eric Armstrong, my missing student."

  "They came here? To talk to you?" David tapped his hand against the coffee table and then said, "You know I saw Jack tonight? Well he was asking me about you and Eric Armstrong too."

  "He was? What did he say?"

  "He wanted to know everything and anything that you've ever said about him. I could only remember bits and pieces. It's not like you talked about the kid all that much. I know you said he was one of your students that was having some trouble in class and at home."

  "That's right. That's what I told the officers too. It's disturbing. I really hope he is all right." Lauren felt her eyes water thinking of her missing student. Where was he? Was he cold and scared somewhere? Was he ok?

  "Jack said they found some stuff on Eric's computer and on his online blog. They think he had a crush on an older woman, maybe even had some kind of an affair." At the look of disbelief on Lauren's face, David added, "It happens. And here's the kicker, they don't know who this woman is, but they're wondering if it might be you."

  "It's not!"

  "Of course not. But, it is possible that he had a crush on you. I certainly wouldn't blame him." David grinned at that, but Lauren didn't feel like smiling. The very thought of what he was suggesting made her stomach turn.

  "I suppose it's possible that he may have had a crush on me, but I really don't think so. I never got that kind of vibe at all. Not that I'd be looking for it though." She bit her lip, thinking back. Could she have missed the signs?

  Chapter Four

  Lauren got into school a little earlier than usual the next day. Her habit was to stop at Starbucks along the way, pick up an extra-large dark roast coffee—she just couldn't bring herself to ask for a Venti. What was up with ordering in French? She never could figure that out. She liked to be in about an hour early, which gave her time to ease into her day and to get herself organized. She also enjoyed the peace and quiet, before the students rolled in and the day got under way.

  The public school in Waverly was night-and-day different from where she'd been working for several years in an inner-city high school in New York, where gangs, drugs and single teen-age mothers were the norm rather than the exception. When Lauren first started there, she thought it was sweet that most of the students addressed her as 'Miss', assuming it was a sign of respect. Until one of the other teachers set her straight by telling her, "It's because they see us as interchangeable. We're all 'Miss', no first or last names. They don't want to really know us; they just want to get out." The thought depressed Lauren, especially when she found it was fairly accurate.

  One of the things that had attracted her here was remembering how much she'd once enjoyed attending school in Waverly and how it still had such a quaint, small-town feeling. Waverly was an affluent seaside suburb of Boston. The town was large enough geographically that it felt spacious, and two-acre zoning in the majority of neighborhoods was a key factor there. The downtown Main Street area was still very much the same as when Lauren lived there as a child, with pretty cobblestone side streets and lots of little independently owned shops and restaurants. The waterfront area was her true love though. Lauren had always loved living near the water, watching the boats come in and out of the harbor and spending time at the beach. The best part about the condo she was renting now was that it was set high on a hill and had a panoramic water view. Although David was spending most nights at her place, he still had a condo as well. He owned a small flat just off Main Street that was an easy walk to his office.

  Lauren couldn't wait to move into their new place. It was important to David that they had a house to move into once they were married, and they were cutting it close, but were scheduled to close a week before the wedding. They'd looked at a million places it seemed and Lauren was about to persuade David to sell his place and move into hers permanently, when something new came on the market, in a neighborhood that Lauren loved, but had long given up hope on. No one moved out of Waverly Point Beach, and even if they did, it was unlikely she and David could afford anything there. But the stars had aligned and the house that came on the market was perfect for them, and in their price range.

  It was a small Cape, a recently renovated cottage that wasn't waterfront, but was near enough that they had some pretty views and it was only a short walk to the beach. They offered full asking price, as they knew they weren't likely to have a chance otherwise. Lauren sighed as she sipped her rich, fragrant coffee. Not for the first time, she felt as though her life was finally going exactly the way she'd always dreamed that it could. In less than a month, she'd be married and settling into her new house. She was really looking forward to it.

  Bonnie Elliot, the school principal, poked her head in Lauren's office.

  "Got a minute?"

  "Sure, come on in." Bonnie stepped into the office and leaned against the door. She was holding an identical paper cup of coffee and took a sip before saying, "Are you up for golf on Saturday? I know you have a lot going on with the wedding coming up, but it's supposed to be unusually warm. There’s no snow left on the ground and a few of us want to take advantage of it. What do you think?"

  Lauren didn't hesitate. "I'm in. My clubs are still in my trunk. I almost took them out for the season last week, but now I'm glad I didn't." Golf was one of the things David had shared with her. She'd never played before meeting him, and now she was addicted. She and Amy played in a women’s league at the local country club.

  "Great, I'll set up a tee-time." She paused for a moment. "The media has started calling, asking all kinds of questions about Eric Armstrong. They're like wolves, chomping at the bit for any juicy morsel to run with. It's disgusting. I hope he comes home, or that the police find some kind of a lead soon."

  Lauren murmured in agreement and gathered her materials up to head to class. Her joy at the idea of golfing on Saturday had faded at the mention of Eric and the reminder that he was also a golf fanatic and worked part-time at the country club, doing everything from gathering stray balls, to working the front desk, scheduling tee-times and greeting members as they arrived. From what she’d heard, he had a lot of potential as a real golfer too. Come home Eric, she pleaded silently. Come home and get back on the golf course.

  Chapter Five

  For the most part, Jack liked living and working in Waverly. Like many of the guys here, his father had once also been a policeman in town and although Jack always wanted to follow in his footsteps, he didn't necessarily plan on doing it in Waverly. After college, Jack attended the police academy, joined the Boston Police Department and was thrown right into thick of things. He landed in Homicide, and after a few years, was promoted to detective. The work was thrilling at first and he felt like he was really making a difference. But as the years went by and the murder counts stayed steady year in and year out, it grew depressing. He needed a change, and at the age of thirty-five was thinking it might be time to settle somewhere. Wh
en he heard about the assistant sheriff opening in Waverly, it was a no-brainer.

  He'd loved growing up in Waverly. The schools were good, people were friendly, his best friend David was living there again and the work offered a nice variety; not the volume of murders he was accustomed to, but he could live with that. In fact, it had been years since they'd seen a murder of any kind in Waverly. It was a quiet, safe town and he liked it that way.

  He wasn't thrilled about the Eric Armstrong case though. Missing kids were tough. You hoped it was just a runaway situation, but those didn't always have happy endings. Sometimes kids were better off not returning home, yet life on the street was usually a worse alternative, but at least the kids were alive. Jack knew the unfortunate statistics too—that the longer a person stayed missing, the less likely they were to return or be found alive.

  He didn't really think there was much to the older woman theory that was being floated around. Especially if they were pointing fingers at Lauren Stanhope. Sure, maybe he was biased because she was engaged to his best friend, but it just didn't add up to him. Still, they had to follow all leads, no matter how far-fetched they seemed. As he well knew after all those years in Boston, truth really was often much stranger than fiction and he'd lost track of how many times they'd said to each other, "You just can't make this shit up."

  "Jack, we just got a call from a guy fishing out at Pine Pond. Says there's a dead body floating face down. You want to come with me to check it out?" Chris, one of the youngest officers on the force sounded excited and Jack couldn't really blame him. Dead bodies rarely turned up in Waverly. Jack wasn't nearly as enthused.

  "Sure thing. Let's go."

  Chapter Six

  David was not having a good day. He should be in a fantastic mood. He'd signed a huge new client earlier in the week, with the largest portfolio in the company's history. Who knew that Randy's 'little bit of money to invest' was actually a mountain of millions? He still didn't like the guy, and managing his money would mean talking to him on a regular basis.

  His first taste of that was having lunch with Randy earlier in the day to go over the details of his investments. That part of the meal was interesting, but it wasn't where Randy wanted to focus the discussion. "I trust you to handle all the details, just send me good news in my statements and we'll be fine. Let's catch up on what we've been up to over the years."