Gone by Dark (Carolina Moon Book 2)

by Christy Barritt

  She nodded. “Now I am.”

  He quickly assessed her with his gaze. “What happened? I need to get you to the hospital.”

  “No, I’m fine. Really. I just need a shower and some clean clothes.”

  He pulled her into his arms. Her head fit perfectly beneath his chin, like they were made for each other. He didn’t let her go; she didn’t pull away.

  And, in that moment she felt certain that Joshua was the kind of guy who’d give up his life for someone he loved. Maybe he’d even give up his life for her. Her heart twisted at the thought.

  He kept an arm around her and reached into his pocket. “I’ve got to call the police chief, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “How about if I get you off this bathroom floor first?”

  Before she could say anything, he stood and swooped her into his arms. He carried her to the couch and laid her there. The soft cushions had never felt so good.

  He stayed beside her, almost as if afraid to let go as he dialed a number on his phone. He mumbled a few things to the police chief, and when he hung up, his eyes were warm with concern.

  She squeezed his hand. “Sorry about breaking into your home.”

  “How—?” He shook his head. “Never mind. Let me get you some water.”

  She nodded. Her heart felt full as she watched him walk away. She’d be a fool to ever let someone like Joshua slip by. She’d never really felt that way in her life about anyone.

  He appeared a moment later with some water and some crackers. She pushed herself up and took his offerings. The water had never tasted so good.

  As she gulped some down, he sat on the end of the couch and looked at her foot. “What happened?”

  “I stepped on a stick. I think I cleaned it out.”

  “You mind if I take a look?”

  “I suppose not.”

  He started to unwrap the bandage. She squirmed even thinking about the injury. But all of this could have been worse. Much worse.

  “Are you . . . are you hurt in any other way?”

  “No,” she said before adding more firmly, “No. I’m just scared and bruised. But I’m okay.”

  “So what happened?”

  She ran through the story, all the way up to climbing in through Andrea’s old window. Talking helped distract her from the sting of ointment that Joshua applied to her foot.

  “You think it was the same person who snatched Andrea?” Joshua asked, resting his hand on her leg.

  “It all matches. The mask, the sedation. But why leave me in the woods? That’s what doesn’t make sense.”

  “I don’t know either, Charity. But I’m going to find some answers for you. I promise.”

  ***

  Despite Charity’s protest, Joshua took her to the hospital. She needed a blood test to see what she’d been injected with. He also wanted to have her foot looked at. With an all clear from the doctor, he dropped her off with Daleigh two hours later.

  Joshua wished he could spend the rest of the day with Charity. But he left her with Daleigh and Ryan and went into the office. He had to find some answers, and with every second that ticked past, his chances diminished.

  As soon as he walked into the station, the chief came toward him. “Who do you think you are?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You questioned Ron Whitaker?”

  “Someone had to.”

  “What’s that mean?” The chief’s hands went to her hips.

  “It means Ron Whitaker should be our prime suspect in this case, and you seem to be protecting him.”

  “That’s not true.” She raised her chin.

  “I saw you with him this morning at Kicking Cotton.”

  Something flickered in her gaze. Surprise, maybe? Finally she nodded slowly. “If you must know, I have been working with Ron Whitaker on a new initiative.”

  “What kind of initiative would that be?” Doubt edged his voice.

  “I can’t speak about it right now.”

  He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Are you covering up something?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I thought you knew me better than that. And do I need to remind you that I’m your superior?”

  Joshua didn’t back down. “Ron Whitaker has a hold on this town. He shouldn’t be treated any differently than anyone else.”

  “I promise you, I’m not giving him any special privileges.”

  “Then let me bring him in for questioning.”

  “On what grounds?”

  “I have journal entries written by Andrea Whitaker as a teen that mention him, I have a woman who said she gave Ron a false alibi during the time of the abduction, and I have a man with anger and control issues.”

  She stared at him a moment, puckering her lips in thought. Finally, she said, “We’d be opening a can of worms like you’ve never seen.”

  “It would be a disservice to the people of this town if we didn’t properly question him.”

  “Just because someone drinks, has a temper, and is a sorry excuse for a person doesn’t mean they abducted their own daughter.”

  “I’m not saying he did. I’m just saying he should be questioned. I’d also like to look at the accident report for Roberta and see if there was anything suspicious.”

  “His wife?”

  He nodded. “She was investigating her daughter’s death before she died.”

  Her eyes widened with surprise. “Interesting. There’s one other thing I want you to seriously examine: Charity White’s involvement in all of this.”

  “Why would Charity be behind this?”

  “She’s the link that connects all of this. This trouble only started when she got back into town.”

  “You think she set her own house on fire and nailed her doors shut?”

  The chief maintained her gaze. “She could have climbed in and out of a window.”

  “Why?”

  “I heard she might receive a hefty insurance settlement.”

  Joshua still wasn’t buying it. “And she staged her own abduction?”

  She pressed her lips together for a moment. “I’m just saying to keep your eyes open.”

  “I will. And I’m keeping them on Ron Whitaker.”

  ***

  Ron Whitaker didn’t appear happy when Isaac led him into the station. He stared at Joshua with open hostility as he was ushered into the interrogation room.

  Joshua sat across the table from Ron, noting Mr. Whitaker’s stiff posture and cold, aloof gaze.

  “You don’t know what you’re stirring up,” Ron grumbled.

  “I’m not afraid of you, Ron.”

  The man glared. “You should be.”

  “If you’re so innocent, you won’t mind answering a few questions. Are you behind the attempts on Charity’s life?”

  “Haven’t we been over this?”

  “Just answer the question,” Joshua told him.

  “Of course I wasn’t behind the house fire. I’m not stupid.”

  “Your oldest son did place a homemade explosive device in Daleigh’s mailbox when Charity was there. Your family is the most likely ones who’d want to run her out of town.”

  Ron’s face went pale. “You’ve got nothing to prove it. I know my boys. They’d never take it that far.”

  Joshua leaned toward him. “I’ve also discovered that some of the files in the case have mysteriously disappeared. There’s no way there’s only one box of reports on Andrea’s disappearance. There aren’t even any records of leads that have been called in in recent years. Something about that doesn’t ring true. Anything you want to tell me?”

  Ron raised his chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I think you do.”

  He held his gaze with Ron until the man looked away. Joshua didn’t speak; silence pressured people to say things they might keep quiet about otherwise.

  “I may have taken a few things home with me,” Ron finally admitted, his jaw clenched.


  Bingo! Just as he’d thought.

  “I need to see them. And you could face charges for stealing police property. I’m sure you already know that, though.”

  “I was just trying to find out what happened to my daughter. Everyone else moved on and forgot. But I haven’t. I can’t.”

  “I need to see them,” Joshua repeated.

  Ron seemed to sober and nodded begrudgingly. “I'll bring them in. And I promise, I didn’t hurt Charity.”

  “Like you didn’t hurt her by not reporting when one of her mom’s boyfriends attacked her?”

  His eyes widened. “You know about that?”

  Joshua nodded. “I do.”

  Ron rubbed his eyes a moment. “That was a hard day. I still regret that.”

  “So why didn’t you do it?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “I have time.”

  He frowned. Looked at the ceiling. Tapped his foot. “Because I’m not a faithful man.”

  “So I heard.”

  “I’d fooled around with Charity’s mom once,” Ron continued. “She threatened that if I took action against Will, she’d tell my wife that I’d been unfaithful. I didn’t want to lose Roberta. Despite everything I put her through, I loved her.”

  Outrage flashed through Joshua. “So you let a teenage girl suffer?”

  He closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping. “I know it wasn’t right. But, at the time, we were fighting all the time. I was trying to look out for my own little girl and salvage what was left of her childhood.”

  Ron’s words made him sick to his stomach. How could the man live with himself?

  Someone tapped on the two-way window behind him. He pushed away from the table, giving Ron one last dirty look. Then he stepped outside. It was the chief.

  “The hospital’s on the phone. You’re going to want to hear what they have to say.”

  CHAPTER 33

  Charity had to fight the tremors that quaked from her soul the rest of the day. Every time she closed her eyes—sometimes even when she didn’t—she remembered the terror of waking up to find someone in her room. Of waking up again and not knowing where she was. Of trying to fight her way out of the woods in order to find help.

  Daleigh wouldn’t let her do anything except sit on the couch with a book in one hand and the TV remote in the other. It was just as well with Charity; her foot still ached, and whatever she’d been injected with caused lingering lethargy.

  Daleigh came and sat across from her, a cup of hot tea in hand. She patted Charity’s leg before leaning back with a sigh. “So, just for the record, I’d like to say that I’ve never seen Joshua so worried about someone. He was beside himself this morning.”

  “It’s his job to worry,” Charity said. He was a police officer; she couldn’t let herself forget that.

  “I don’t know about that.” Daleigh shrugged. “I mean, sure, he’s a cop. But I think he’s going above and beyond for you. I think he really cares about you, Charity.”

  Charity’s cheeks heated, yet she couldn’t deny that the idea made her insides feel warm. She had to keep reality in the back of her mind, even though her heart kept taking her in a different direction. “Joshua makes it easy to want to trust. I’ve been let down every time I put faith in someone, though. I can’t say I’m in a hurry to do it again.”

  “I know it’s hard. Believe me, I know. But Joshua is a good guy. I promise. If there’s anyone you can put faith in, it’s him. Back in June, he helped to coach a local Little League team. He’s always the first to volunteer when something needs to be done at church. You can’t fake that kind of sincerity.”

  Though the images warmed Charity’s heart, she reminded herself again that she couldn’t let her emotions run wild. “He is a good guy. But, even if I didn’t have trust issues, our lives could never merge together. I live in Tennessee. That’s where my life is. I couldn’t ask him to move away from his son. That relationship is too sacred.”

  Daleigh raised her eyebrows. “But you could move here.”

  Charity shook her head, nearly scoffing aloud at the thought. “My life isn’t here in Hertford. It never will be. This place is like a haunted house—wherever I go, there are bad memories popping out and traumatizing me.”

  “I never thought I could have a life here, either. So much of country music is centered around life in Nashville. But it’s funny how things work out for the best when we take leaps of faith. I don’t miss my old life at all. I feel so much more grounded here, yet at the same time I’ve grown. Being here is more than I could have ever imagined.”

  “I wish I had the kind of faith you do,” Charity said. “But I’ve learned I can only rely on myself. I don’t want to be my mom. Men were like drugs to her.”

  “You may share your mom’s DNA, Charity, but you’re the one who determines who you are. Don’t ever forget that. Besides, no one can only rely on themselves. No one.”

  Charity let her words sink in, her first instinct to deny what she’d said. But, in her heart, Charity knew that her friend had spoken the truth.

  That, however, didn’t change the decisions she had to make.

  Life was too short to live in a place that reminded her of all the pain she’d endured. No amount of good done here would ever change that.

  ***

  The police department had been granted a warrant to search Buddy Griffin’s property after the hospital confirmed that the substance injected into Charity was a tranquilizer, one that was usually reserved for animals.

  Maybe Buddy, who’d bred dogs and used to work for animal control, would have a drug like that on hand. The judge seemed to agree, which was the only reason they were here.

  Chief Rollins, Isaac, and Joshua had all been at Buddy’s for three hours, searching anything small enough to hold tranquilizer or syringes. Joshua had taken the inside of the house, which was just as junky as the outside. The man probably hadn’t cleaned the place in years.

  Buddy ranted in the background, mumbling things to himself as he paced on his porch. Joshua ignored him and kept searching through kitchen drawers, cabinets, canisters, and the pantry. If there was something here, they were going to find it. They had to in order to put an end to this nightmare.

  “Chief, over here!” Isaac called from outside.

  Joshua stepped onto the porch and followed the chief over toward the junk car parts that lined the front of Buddy Griffin’s property.

  Isaac held out a bag. As they approached, he opened it with his gloved hands. Inside, there was a black mask and a syringe.

  Joshua’s heart skipped a beat as he tried to reconcile this evidence with his own instincts. Something wasn’t adding up in his mind.

  Buddy Griffin? Could he really be behind all of this? Even Andrea’s abduction? It just seemed too easy.

  “I think we’ve found our man.” The chief gave a pointed look toward Joshua, one that clearly indicated he’d been off base by suspecting Ron Whitaker. “Let’s arrest Buddy. I think we finally have some answers in this case. Ron Whitaker, as well as the rest of this town, will be very happy to get some closure.”

  What if Buddy didn’t hide those items on his property, though? What if he’d been set up? Joshua knew they’d be wise to examine that possibility.

  ***

  At ten that night, someone rang the doorbell at Daleigh’s place.

  Ryan, who had insisted on sleeping on the couch, answered. “Hey, Joshua. Come on in.”

  Charity sat up straighter, her heart lifting when Joshua came into view. Something about seeing him also made her feel better.

  “Hey, there,” she murmured.

  He still wore his police uniform. And he looked tired. The fact that she hadn’t heard from him since this afternoon probably meant he’d been busy. But with what?

  “I hate to stop by so late, but I hoped I might talk to Charity for a moment.”

  She stood, wincing as she put pressure on her leg. “Sure thing.”

  In the bli
nk of an eye, Joshua was by her side. He slipped an arm around her waist and helped her take some pressure off her injury. “You think you can make it outside?” he asked.

  She nodded, despite her gritted teeth. “Of course. The fresh air will be nice.”

  “Sorry to steal her away from you,” he called over his shoulder.

  “I suppose we can spare a few minutes away from her.” Daleigh winked.

  Joshua helped Charity onto the porch steps. She lowered herself there, stretching out her leg. He sat down beside her—right beside her. Close enough that their legs brushed and she could feel the body heat coming off him.

  Something about that realization made her cheeks warm. Joshua Haven definitely had an effect on her, whether she liked it or not. The attraction between them was real and fluid and electrifying.

  The night around them seemed perfect—too perfect, almost. Crickets chirped and frogs sang their nighttime song. A gentle breeze brushed over the water, making the temperature comfortable and keeping away any nocturnal critters. The smell of approaching rain tinged the air with a sweet scent.

  And being beside Joshua made it even more perfect.

  “How’s your foot?” he asked, his voice soft.

  “It will be okay. It hurts right now. But it could have been worse. That’s what I keep telling myself.” She paused, sensing he was delaying his real purpose for being here. “Why do I have a feeling you have something heavy on your mind?”

  His smile faltered, and he rubbed his neck a moment. Finally, he turned toward her. “I wanted to let you know that we’ve arrested Buddy Griffin. The chief believes he’s the one who abducted you and the one who abducted Andrea.”

  “What?” Her voice was just above a whisper.

  He nodded slowly. “The substance you were injected with was an animal tranquilizer. Buddy had vials of the drug on his property, apparently from his work with animals. However, while searching, we also found a black mask.”

  “I can’t believe it.”

  He pressed his lips together silently, but a storm raged in his eyes. What wasn’t he saying?