by PJ Fernor
“Let me ask you something,” I said. “This SUV… or any other vehicle… have you seen any strange vehicles lately? Someone driving by slowly? Stopping for a second? Sitting in the parking lot?”
“No,” Nelle said. “Not that I was looking for something like that. I mean, I don’t have any cameras or anything. No real need. There’s nothing valuable in the studio. I regret that now.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” I said.
Even though maybe you should a little.
Working in the city, I was used to a certain toughness. Everyone had an excuse and a story. And if you pushed hard enough you’d get something.
That wasn’t the case here.
“I have to go pick up Georgie’s ashes now,” Nelle said.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said.
I made sure Nelle put my number in her phone.
I stood on the sidewalk, under the streetlight, and I looked all around.
It wasn’t a busy street at all.
About a mile from Connor’s house. A few miles from Cat’s apartment.
Ben stood next to me.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Not a single camera around here,” I said.
“The town is safe, Allie,” Ben said.
I looked at Ben and frowned. “Tell that to Jessie.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jessie
Jessie opened her crusted eyes and quickly shut them again.
The dream was so much better than what was real.
In her dream, she was on a hot air balloon ride with Dad.
The ride was scarier than it looked.
A little metal door shut on the fake gondola, and when the ride lifted into the air, it tilted to one side, leaving Jessie’s stomach dropping and her nerves shaking.
But Dad smiled. He laughed. He yelled WOOOO!
The best part was that he held Jessie tight.
Even if the ride failed or the little, metal door opened, or something bad happened, Dad would hold her and protect her.
That’s what he was good at.
And on the ground, Mom stood, waving each time Jessie went by.
She was scared though.
But with Dad there… everything was perfect.
What a great day to be alive…
Jessie opened her eyes again and tried to cry.
Tears were scarce now.
She wanted to scream but knew the punishment for that. The man would either stomp on the floor and curse at her, or he would rush down to the basement and threaten her. And most certainly, he’d refuse to give her food and water.
He made Jessie a lot of food.
And each plate, he would say, “This is your favorite, okay?”
But none of it was.
The toast was burned. The eggs were milky. The meatloaf was hard as a rock. The potatoes were full of lumps. And the vegetables were mushy, out of a can, and lathered with so much butter that even for a young girl like Jessie it was gross.
But the man loved it.
He laughed at the carrots covered in butter.
Then he said, “Just the way you always liked them!”
Jessie had officially lost track of time.
Day, night, the actual day of the week.
It all meant nothing.
She could have been in the basement for a few hours or a few days or a few weeks.
Jessie told herself to save her scream for good use.
She just needed to know someone else was in the house and then she could scream and be saved.
A large thud echoed above her head.
Jessie jumped and bit her lip.
She followed the footsteps with her eyes and the basement door opened.
The man came down the steps again.
“Brought you some ice cream,” he said.
“What’s today?” Jessie asked in a weak voice.
“Today? Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Days don’t matter anymore,” the man said.
He put a big bowl of ice cream on the floor.
Jessie looked down at it.
It was half melted but it looked delicious.
“Vanilla with the fudge lines in it,” the man said. “Remember?”
Jessie stared at the man.
He always wore all black, along with his black baseball cap, head down.
When Jessie didn’t respond, the man growled.
“Tell me you remember!” he screamed at her.
“I remember,” Jessie said. “I remember.”
“Good,” the man said. He crouched down and looked at Jessie from the side. “You’re going to be okay here. Things may look like they haven’t worked out, but they have. You’re perfect. I wasn’t sure at first. The streetlight was a little bit dim, huh? Go ahead and eat your ice cream. I want to watch.”
Jessie reached for the bowl.
She was always afraid at first to eat, fearing the man had poisoned the food.
She took a bite of the ice cream and it was cold and perfect. The vanilla was sweet and the fudge was gooey, exploding with chocolate flavor.
“Good, huh?” the man asked.
“Really good,” Jessie said. “Am I living here now?”
“Of course,” the man said. “Don’t you want to?”
“Can I live upstairs? I don’t like the dark. The basement scares me.”
The man grinned. “Time will tell. All of our truths come out with time. I’m so lucky to have you. And to think…”
The man stopped talking.
He stood up and cleared his throat.
He touched his back and let out a groan.
Jessie noticed he was always in pain.
Jessie scooped more ice cream. As she brought the spoon to her mouth, the man moved toward her and grabbed the bowl.
“This pain!” the man screamed.
He threw the bowl against the wall, making it shatter.
Jessie sat with ice cream dripping off the spoon as the man hurried away and back up the steps.
He slammed the door and locked it.
Jessie looked over her shoulder and saw the ice cream slowly sliding down the wall.
Her lips quivered.
She forced her mouth open and put the spoon into her mouth.
She savored the ice cream, thinking of Mom and Dad.
When she tried to swallow the ice cream, she coughed and fell forward, her hands hitting the basement floor.
The ice cream came back up as she coughed and gagged.
She wanted to scream but knew she couldn’t.
Jessie punched the floor.
She knew the truth about her parents.
How much they hated each other.
They were too busy with their hate all the time…
Jessie lifted her head and the basement was blurry from fresh tears.
How long until I die down here alone?
Chapter Twenty-Three
The idea of sleeping while Jessie was missing seemed completely wrong. There was a sad and sick truth though, that time still had to move forward. Those who searched all day and into the night needed rest. They needed to be focused and ready for the next day. And the same was true for me. On top of that, I had to look after Lo.
Back in the city, I would have grabbed some takeout and slept at my desk or in an office with a thin blanket, just to let my body rest for a little bit.
I did the same at the apartment, just in the comfort of my bed.
Sleep came in small waves, each one beginning and ending with my thinking about both Jessie and Lo.
I ran through the day, the conversations, anything that seemed wrong, what was true, and then of course, the unknown.
The first pot of coffee I made right around three in the morning.
The coffeemaker began to spit and hiss as though it were protesting for being awake so early like me, I stared at my phone.
You’re not a teenager, Allie, and this has nothing
to do with the past.
I grabbed my phone and sent a text to Ben.
Awake?
The coffeemaker gave out its final hiss and I was ready to pour myself a cup.
My phone buzzed against the counter.
A reply from Ben.
A thumbs up emoji.
I typed back to him with my left hand.
Call me
I carried my coffee into the living room and sat down in the recliner near the sliding glass door that went to the metal (and probably unsafe) balcony.
Ben called me a few seconds later.
“I won’t even ask what you’re thinking,” he said.
“How about I ask what you’re thinking,” I said.
“The same as you, Allie Down.”
“We’re past that forty-eight hour mark, Ben.”
“I know.”
“I want to hold these parents accountable for that alone.”
“Take that away for a second,” Ben said. “Even if they called the night it happened, what would be different?”
“Seriously? First off, we had to waste time dealing with their fake alibis. And then tracking down new alibis. Which I’m not sure of yet.”
“I told you, anything you want to do, tell me,” Ben said.
“I know they’re solid alibis,” I said. “But I still don’t…” I let my voice trail off. “I’m running it through my head. Little girl standing under a streetlight. Dancing. Secretly nervous because her parents always forget her. Her phone is dead. She’s out there self-soothing. Her dance teacher sometimes stays with her, sometimes doesn’t. Tonight she doesn’t. Her dance teacher has to put her dog down. Her focus is no longer on the dance studio or the kids. Why didn’t she just cancel the class?”
“Can’t answer that question,” Ben said.
“Right. So Jessie is standing there… and then what? Does she walk home? Does she get hurt? What if she’s in a ditch somewhere, Ben?”
“I’ve mapped out the ways she could have walked home,” he said. “We can take each way. But it’s highly unlikely she’s hurt.”
“What if she got hit by a car? And the driver kept going?”
“I’m not going to rule anything out.”
“But your gut says I’m way off.”
“I think your gut says that.”
“I know.” I sipped my coffee. “So Jessie is standing there and an SUV pulls up. That’s all we have. Nelle heard a door shut. She thinks it’s an SUV. Maybe a bumper sticker. And Jessie never screams.”
“It could have been really fast.”
“It could have been more than one person.”
We both went silent on the call.
Even in silence, knowing Ben was on the other end was the only mild sense of comfort I had since moving back to Sandemor.
“What time are you going to be in?” Ben asked.
“The second Lo is ready for school,” I said.
“I’ll bring coffee and breakfast,” he said.
“Sounds like a plan,” I said.
I sipped my coffee and sat in the calmness of the dark.
Of all places and times to fall asleep, I did right there.
With caffeine in my bloodstream and sitting completely up.
I woke up to the sound of Lo’s alarm beeping from her phone in her bedroom.
My back and neck were stiff, but I forced myself up.
The coffee in the kitchen was cold so I made a fresh pot.
When Lo saw me, she froze in place.
Last night I managed to get a good night from her and nothing else.
“Morning,” I said.
“Any news on the girl?”
“Not yet,” I said. “I don’t want you worrying about this. This is my job.”
“Everyone is talking about it,” Lo said. “Everyone knows who you are.”
“Okay. I’m working with Ben. He said he knows you.”
“Yeah,” Lo said.
“We’re going to find her.”
“How can you be so sure?” Lo asked.
“Sometimes in life, Lo, you just have to be sure,” I said. “Even if it doesn’t seem to make sense. You just have to hold on, believe, and fight. And push forward.”
We’re not talking about Jessie anymore, are we?
I caught myself blinking fast.
Lo moved toward the bathroom.
That was the extent of our conversation.
I made her breakfast as she did her normal routine. When she left, I hurried to the door, wanting to hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay. But she was too fast, so I watched her from the window to make sure she got safely into her friend’s car.
Jessie missing was just another notch to her innocent heart. Nowhere near as big as her mother’s unexpected death, but one that reminded her that her heart sometimes couldn’t be protected.
And that hurt me.
I had to shift my mind back to Jessie though.
I got out of the apartment without seeing Miss Kesslier, which I considered a victory.
When I arrived at the station, it was in full swing.
There were people in the front, every chair full.
Laura stood at a computer with her hands on her hips.
I looked for Ben and he stood with coffee and bagels, waiting for me.
“What’s going on out there?” I asked him.
“Just busy,” he said. “It seems every local and their brother has a tip.”
“That’s good.”
“Allie, I doubt anything will pan out,” Ben said. “Laura is having three officers take all the statements and we’re calling in help from county to look into the tips, along with working with the search parties.”
“And us?” I asked.
“We’re going to do what we do here. After coffee and bagels.”
Ben showed me the logical routes Jessie could have walked, if she did walk. We both agreed she didn’t try to walk home. But I appreciated him taking the time to do this and show it to me.
“We’re looking for an SUV,” I said.
“In a town full of them,” Ben said.
“Maybe we can pull up records,” I said. “Find police reports… SUVs involved in… I don’t know. DUIs. Multiple speeding tickets. Accidents.”
“So you assume this kidnapper is a drunk speeder who likes to crash his vehicle?” Ben asked.
“I’m just trying to grab at anything.”
There was a knock at the door and Laura came into the office.
“What are we doing here?” Her voice was stern.
“Looking into all possibilities,” I said. “Wondering if there’s a chance Jessie tried to walk home, but it seems illogical. We talked to Nelle and she thinks she heard a door slam and saw an SUV.”
“Find me the SUV,” Laura ordered.
“Want me to go after everyone in town?” I asked dryly.
Laura frowned.
“The time is hurting us,” Ben said, cutting the tension. “Those hours we lost while Cat and Connor were… I mean, I’m stating the obvious. Whoever did this could be anywhere.”
“So let me think of it like this,” I said. “If this was planned, then we need a different direction. But let’s say it wasn’t. Let’s say someone sees Jessie and just grabs her. Whoever did it had to have been… jumpy, right? Can we reach out to county and maybe even the state police to see if anything happened in the last forty-eight hours involving an SUV?”
“Wouldn’t they have found Jessie then?” Laura asked.
“Maybe whoever did it ditched… used her…”
Laura turned her head away.
The thoughts were sickening but they had to be explored.
“Make any calls and requests you need, Allie,” Laura said. “I have to start answering some questions soon myself. So get something.”
Laura left the office.
I looked at Ben.
“I have some calls to make,” he said.
“I still want to push at the p
arents,” I said. “After being questioned maybe they’ll be a little looser. Maybe one of them will screw up.”
“You really think they did this?”
“It’s all we have at the moment, Ben. I know who I want to talk to first again.”
Ben shook his head. “You can’t go alone.”
“Yes, I can. I can handle myself. If we both show up it looks like we’re accusing again. This time I’ll be casual. Sympathetic. Friendly.”
Ben stared at me. “I don’t like it.”
“Keep your phone handy. And believe me, I can handle myself.”
“I believe in you, Allie Down,” Ben said.
I grabbed another bagel to go and set my focus on one person.
Jessie’s father…
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ben texted me as I pulled up to the house.
I stared at the text message for way too long. It had been a while since I had someone looking after me. Or randomly texting me. But this was work. This was something else. That whole something else part of my life was on a shelf until I figured out a balance between work and taking care of Lo.
I satisfied myself and Ben with a quick k as my reply.
His text wanted me to tell him when I was there.
Which meant the simple k worked.
I climbed out of my car and looked around.
It was a normal street. In a normal neighborhood. In a normal town.
Which was the premise for every sad story, truth, and tragedy waiting.
Like in the basement. It all seemed so normal, until it wasn’t…
And there were two girls… not one…
I cleared my throat to chase away the demons of my past.
Connor’s house was a simple two story house with metal awnings that were green and white. The green almost matched the light ivy green color of the house.
In this part of town, all the houses looked the same. Just different colors. And the colors were always something awful. Blue was never blue but a light baby blue that showed dirt and time.
The newer parts of town that were developed had the newer style of houses.
Bigger, more windows, more rooms, a few different styles to choose from to pretend it wasn’t the same house as the guy down the street. Built in a week, sold in a day, and fingers crossed there’d be no problems in the near future.