by Barb Han
“No, please don’t leave because of me,” Rebecca said, crossing over to the kitchen. “I’ll join you both for a cup of coffee.”
Ryan nodded.
She made a cup and took a seat at the table, pulling the shirt over her knees as she hugged them into her chest. “What’s the plan for today?”
Ryan stared into his cup again for a long moment.
Tension was like a wall between them.
“You said something last night that I can’t get out of my mind.” His jaw clenched as he looked up at Rebecca.
The knowing look she gave Ryan when she nodded had Brody almost thinking she’d been expecting this conversation. What had he missed that she’d picked up on?
“You mentioned apple tobacco. I didn’t know about that before.” Ryan paused, his gaze returned to the cup. “Before I say anything else, I just want to say that I’m sure my brother wasn’t involved. I know him.”
“What exactly are you saying, Ryan?” Brody asked.
Rebecca didn’t budge and she looked small, sitting there. Brody fisted his hands to stop them from reaching for her.
“My brother came home smelling like that sometimes. I’d know that scent anywhere, Rebecca. The one you’re talking about is distinct.”
“I know it wasn’t your brother, Ryan,” Rebecca said reassuringly. “It couldn’t be him. Your brother’s tall and stocky like you. You guys have a football build whereas this guy is tall and slim. Plus, I think he’s older than Justin.”
Ryan didn’t look relieved. “He’d smoke it with my uncle when they’d get drunk together back in Justin’s troubled days. So, I lay awake last night asking myself if Justin didn’t have anything to do with this, and I know in my heart he didn’t, then who could it be? What are the chances a transient smokes apple tobacco. It’s not exactly a common thing. If we stop looking at random people who could’ve been in town for the festival and set our sights on people right here, then that changes everything. And right now the evidence points to my uncle.”
“What’s his build?” Brody asked.
“He’s tall and thin.”
Chapter Nine
Rebecca touched Ryan’s hand to comfort him. “Doesn’t mean it was him.”
“I hope not. But I gotta look at the facts and be honest with myself, with you,” Ryan said, his anguish written all over his face. “He’s been in trouble with the law, but I can’t believe he would do something like this.”
“We can see if he was a suspect.” Brody studied the police file.
“Do you know where he lives? We can go talk to him,” Rebecca offered.
“I haven’t seen him in a while. Last I knew he was living in Garland.”
“That’s half an hour away from Mason Ridge at the most,” Brody said. He stopped suddenly.
Rebecca didn’t like his expression. But then, she was still reeling from Brody’s words while she’d stood in the hallway. They stung, even though she knew he was just speaking the truth. Stuffing those feelings down deep, she took another sip of coffee.
“Turns out, your uncle Gregory was a suspect,” Brody said, flashing an apologetic look toward Ryan. “He worked as a delivery driver for a Texas nursery chain around the time of the abductions.”
“Which would put him on the highways,” Rebecca said.
“The sheriff would’ve been able to match up his delivery schedule,” Brody said quietly. He kept skimming the file.
“My uncle did stupid things when he drank, but he wasn’t violent.”
“There isn’t much more in the file that I can see. Think we can speak to him?” Brody asked.
“No other kids have gone missing in the area since Shane. If his uncle was somehow involved, wouldn’t there be others?” Rebecca asked.
“The Glenn boy last year in Sunnyvale,” Brody reminded her.
“True.” She nodded.
“I thought about that, too. My uncle moved to Garland two years after the disappearance,” Ryan said. “Last time I saw him a few years ago his hands shook if he didn’t have a drink by ten o’clock in the morning. He’s done other stupid stuff, illegal. Been in jail a couple of times. My heart doesn’t want to believe he’s capable of such a heinous act and yet I can’t ignore the facts. What if he did this?”
“I hear what you’re saying. It’s probably not even him, but it’s smart to check into every possibility. I appreciate you coming forward. This must be really hard for you,” Rebecca said. A man who couldn’t go a day without drinking most likely wouldn’t have the strength to subdue both her and Shane, could he? There was another way to solve this. She remembered that her attacker had spoken the other morning in the parking lot. If it had been Ryan’s uncle, she would be able to recognize his voice. “I might have a way to resolve this. Does your uncle have a phone?”
“I believe so. Why?”
Brody was already nodding. He’d caught on to what she wanted to do.
“Call him and put it on speaker.”
“Justin might have the number.” Ryan pulled out his cell. After a quick call to his brother, he punched in the digits. The line rang three times before rolling into voice mail. Ryan’s thumb moved over to end the call.
“Don’t hang up. Hold on a second before you do that,” Rebecca said, stopping him.
This is Greg. You know what to do at the beep.
Brody’s gaze was intent on her, studying her.
“Doesn’t sound like him,” Rebecca said on a sigh of relief. She wanted to find Shane’s abductor more than anything but not at the cost of one of her friends. “At least I don’t think.”
“We can’t ignore the possibility that he might know something or be connected in some way,” Brody said, looking to Ryan. “Does your uncle have any enemies?”
“My first thought would be Alcorn. He hates all of my family members. You think someone else might try to set him up?” Ryan asked, his voice hopeful. He deflated a second later. “Why would someone do that after all these years? And why to him? It’s not like he’s rich or powerful. There’s nothing to blackmail him for. Even Alcorn has given up.”
“The word about apple tobacco might have gotten out. This is a small town, and after running into Peter Sheffield last night I started thinking how hard it can be to keep secrets. All it would take is one leak. Someone had to have seen something.”
“I’d like to chat with your uncle,” Brody said.
“I’ll arrange something and get back to you.” Ryan’s face muscles were tight.
Brody checked his phone. “I just got a text from Samantha. She’s trying to pull together the other girls to swing by tomorrow afternoon. She’s already in town to see her father, anyway.”
Samantha had moved to Dallas after college for a job in the textile industry.
The reunion with the guys had gone well, so Rebecca was hopeful this would, too. Was it possible to pick up friendships after everything that had happened? Rebecca hoped so. It was a nice feeling to be with people she had so much history with. They were the few people who didn’t look at her awkwardly anymore, as if seeing her reminded them horrible things could happen at any moment. “I can’t wait to see her and the others. It’s been such a long time. In the meantime, we’ll keep following leads, right?”
“The festival rolls up the tents tomorrow. I’d initially hoped to wait and see if things calmed down after they leave. But then I checked online this morning and the Glenns’ son, Jason, who disappeared in Sunnyvale last year, did so while the festival was packing up,” Brody said.
Ryan perked up. “That’s a strange coincidence.”
“I’m not so sure that timing is accidental,” Brody agreed. “Who’s in charge of the festival?”
“Charles Alcorn heads it up every year,” Ryan supplied.
“Isn’t the festival too low-brow for him to be involved?” Brody asked.
“You’d think so,” Ryan said. “But they use his land and he makes a fortune every year.”
“I wonder if we
can get a list of vendors from him? Names?” Brody asked.
“Doesn’t hurt to ask,” Rebecca said with a quick look toward Brody.
“He has offices downtown in the building next to the mayor’s office, doesn’t he?” Brody asked with a slight nod.
“He does. Nice building. I saw in a magazine that he renovated the whole inside before moving in a couple of years ago. Only the finest quality furniture. The best finishings. He donated the other half of the building to the city.”
“How convenient for him to be right next door to the mayor.”
“Easier to line Mayor Garza’s pockets when he only has to walk four steps,” Rebecca said. It was common knowledge he had a do-what-it-takes-to-get-the-job-done philosophy. It was half the reason she was tempted to take him up on his offer of help.
“In the meantime, we’ll keep poking around until we figure this out.” Ryan pushed his chair back from the table. “I have a few things to take care of. Keep me posted on what you find out. I’ll let you know as soon as I arrange a meeting with my uncle. Stay close to your phone.”
“Will do,” Brody said, turning to Rebecca as soon as the door was closed.
“You noticed that, too, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Yep. Ryan sure got out of here quick when we started talking about Alcorn.” Brody stood, walked to the sink and rinsed out his coffee cup. “There’s no love lost between their families. Ryan’s dad wouldn’t give Alcorn something he wanted years and years ago when he was still alive.”
“That wouldn’t have gone over well. Guess I wasn’t around much to notice.” She’d been so wrapped up in her own family’s issues she hadn’t once stopped to consider her friends’ problems. “I remember bad blood from when we were kids now that I think about it.”
Brody crossed to the back door. “Some old wounds don’t heal.”
* * *
BRODY EXERCISED THE HORSES, taking care not to overtax his newest arrival, Storm Rival. The owner didn’t have any use for the chestnut Thoroughbred when he developed shin splints after his last race at Lone Star Park. Brody just called him Red. Red had been a promising two-year-old until this happened. Now his future was uncertain. He had a true splint, the worst-case scenario for a racehorse, as evidenced by the bulge just below his left knee and on the inner side of his leg. The problem was all too common in young horses entering heavy training. Bad cases had ended plenty of promising careers.
His owner had been kind and this guy was going to get a second chance in life, a different life. The hefty donation would help keep things running, too.
Being in the barn, away from Rebecca, was a good thing. Her lips were too full, too pink, too damn tempting.
Work was the best distraction.
After he’d arranged care for the evening, he cut across the yard and back to the house.
Rebecca was still at the table, studying the screen on Brody’s laptop.
On Brody’s phone was a text from Ryan. “Ryan may have found something interesting and he wants us to come check it out. He isn’t far from here. Are you good with that?”
Rebecca nodded.
“We can be out of here in fifteen minutes. I just need to get dressed,” she said, disappearing down the hall.
Brody forced his gaze away from her backside. Self-discipline was the biggest difference between a man and a boy. While he waited, he took pictures of the suspect list so he’d have it with him in case they came across a name.
She returned ten minutes later, fresh-faced, hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her jeans, low on her hips, fit her curves to perfection. The material of her light blue blouse was just thin enough to allow a peek at her matching lacy bra. “Ready?”
For more than she knew. “Yep.”
“I checked the news while you were taking care of the horses.” Rebecca moved to the driver’s side.
“I’m okay to drive.”
She gave him the look that he knew better than to argue with, so he didn’t. He held his hands up in surrender. “Okay. Fine.”
Taking control behind the wheel, she held out his keys. “Didn’t figure you’d get far without these, anyway. And your head is still healing.”
“I’ve taken worse blows than that and survived.” To his ego, for one.
“Can you give me directions? His position should be on your phone, right?”
Brody pulled up Ryan’s location using the GPS tracker on his phone. He raised the volume and set the phone between them on the seat.
She cranked the ignition and backed out of the parking spot. “This has all been so crazy I don’t think I stopped to thank you for what you did for my mother yesterday afternoon.”
“Not a problem,” he said casually, and meant it.
“I’m serious. She can be difficult to deal with and I think she was shocked to see you.”
“Nah. She was fine. Plus, there was a lot going on. Under the circumstances, I thought she was rather nice.”
“And if I admit to being wrong about something, will you promise not to rub it in?” she asked.
“Depends on what it is.”
She stopped at the end of the drive long enough to jab his arm. “Be serious.”
“I am. Scout’s honor.”
“Like you were a Boy Scout.” She rolled her eyes and made a right turn toward town. “Fine, then I won’t tell you.”
“Oh, come on. You know I was just kidding.” He used to love making her laugh in high school. Her smiles were rare, laughter even more so, and he figured that made them all the more special.
“So you think I’m going to tell you now that you’ve done a little begging?” She didn’t hold back her laugh.
“Any chance it’s working?”
“Okay, fine. What’s it going to cost me?” He paused long enough to listen to the next instruction from the GPS.
She turned right, as instructed, then nodded. Her serious expression returned.
“You plan to tell me, or did you bring it up just to torture me?” he asked, trying to bring the lighter Rebecca back to life. She was inside there. He knew it and he wanted more of her.
“Fine. I lied to you before to trick you into seeing my mother. You were right. She didn’t like you.” She cracked a shy smile.
“I believe I won her over.”
“Agreed. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but you broke through to her.” She paused. “I feel so bad for the Glenns.”
“They’ve been through the ringer. It’s obvious on their faces.”
Again, she nodded.
“You rarely ever talk about Shane. Is that subject off-limits?”
Rebecca neither spoke nor nodded.
“You don’t have to now. I just thought maybe it might help or some—”
“Don’t feel bad about asking, Brody.”
“I don’t,” he reassured, but she was dead-on. He felt bad for bringing up Shane.
“I should talk about him more. About what happened. Maybe it’ll help us figure things out. You say we’re down to a couple dozen names aside from Ryan’s uncle, right?” She paused long enough to receive and follow GPS directions.
She didn’t need to tell him about her pain. He felt it, based on the heaviness in her words, the determination in her features.
Brody leaned forward in his seat and stretched his arms.
“All I can really remember about my brother came from stories from my mom and pictures she showed. Other than that night, of course. I can’t seem to forget that. All I keep thinking is who would do something like this to an innocent boy? I mean, the guy has to be a monster, right?” Rebecca’s body shuddered just talking about it. “Or, maybe he’s crazy.”
“You won’t get an argument out of me that the man’s crazy or needs to be locked up with the key tossed away for good. Hell, give me five minutes alone with him and the bastard won’t hurt another child for the rest of his life.”
The GPS interrupted, stating that the destination was two blocks up on the right. The distrac
tion gave Brody a minute to regroup as Rebecca drove to the spot and then pulled into a parking space.
“Odd. I expected to see Ryan’s SUV here,” he said.
“I did, too,” Rebecca agreed.
“Something doesn’t feel right about this.” Brody surveyed the area. He phoned Ryan, but he didn’t pick up. “I think you should let me drop you off in town so I can investigate.”
“And leave you alone with those bumps and bruises? Not a chance.”
“I’m better today. I’ll grab Dylan or Dawson. It’s the weekend. One of them should be around. On second thought, I’ll call Dawson. Dylan will be with his little girl today.” He prepared himself for a fight.
“Take me to Angel’s. That way, when you come to pick me up, we’ll be able to get a decent piece of pie,” Rebecca said.
Grateful she didn’t put up an argument, he palmed his cell and fired off a text to Samantha. He had no plans to leave Rebecca alone. “Mind if I arrange a little company for you? I don’t want you to sit there by yourself going crazy worrying until I get back.”
“What makes you think I’ll do that?”
“Because I’ve met you before, remember? It’s me, Brody.”
“Okay, funny man.” She paused, looking resigned. “But you’re probably right. Samantha did say she’d be in town this weekend. Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll be available. It would be nice to see her.”
Lucky. There was that word again. “Done. She just texted back to say she’d meet us there in fifteen. Okay if she brings her father?”
“All right by me.”
The extra fifteen minutes it took to drop Rebecca off at Angel’s had Brody’s gut tied in knots. He sure as hell hoped Ryan wasn’t lying in the woods somewhere, helpless. The image didn’t do good things to Brody’s blood pressure. He phoned his friend again. Same result.
Bringing Rebecca into those same woods where they’d been attacked felt all kinds of wrong. No way could he take a chance with her safety. And he had the very real feeling they could’ve been lured into a trap.
* * *
REBECCA HAD DOWNED another full cup of coffee and was feeling much more awake and alert by the time Samantha arrived with her father. Mr. Turner had aged quite a bit since Rebecca had last seen him. His entire head was covered in white and his frame was thinning. The hardware store he owned in town most likely still kept him in shape.