by Dan Padavona
“This isn’t yours?”
“It isn’t mine. Why do you think I called you?”
“Do you know who the bracelet belongs to?”
Paige dragged a tissue beneath her nose and paced between the island and counter.
“There were only three of them. They belonged to me, Justine, and Skye.”
Thomas raised his eyes.
“Skye Feron?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know this bracelet belongs to Skye?”
“Because Justine left her bracelet at home. She’s in Wolf Lake, visiting.”
“Is Justine in town because of the news?”
Paige sobbed and nodded. Thomas rested his back against the counter, wondering what Paige was hiding.
“Start at the beginning. Tell me what happened tonight.”
The woman recounted hearing someone in the yard while she sat on the patio, then finding the front door open after she descended the stairs.
“And that’s when I found the bracelet on the counter.”
“Is anything missing from the house?”
“I don’t believe so.”
This didn’t sound like a typical break in. Thomas donned gloves and plucked the bracelet off the counter.
“May I?”
“Yes.”
Thomas examined the bracelet under the light, searching for a stray hair or something to identify the person who touched it last. After he slipped it into an evidence bag, he turned to Paige. The blonde woman eyed the evidence bag as though she stared at a ghost.
“No offense, but the bracelet doesn’t appear expensive. There must be thousands available for purchase.”
Paige swung her head back and forth.
“No. We made them when we were twelve. The beads are identical and placed in the same order. You won’t find these bracelets for sale.”
“I understand.”
Thomas glanced up when Deputy Lambert strode into the room. Paige flinched, not hearing the tall deputy enter.
“The backyard is clear,” Lambert said. “The grass is thick back to the hedges, so I couldn’t find a footprint.”
“Dust the door for prints and see if you can determine how our intruder broke inside the house.”
“I’m on it.”
After Lambert left, Thomas swung his attention back to Paige. The woman fidgeted like a frightened zoo animal on display for the first time.
“What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a sales rep for Pelletier Apparel.”
“Never heard of it.”
She dragged her eyes down Thomas’s cookout clothes and scoffed.
“I’m not surprised. Pelletier is the hottest fashion company in Paris. They expanded into the United States two years ago.”
“They must pay well,” he said, gesturing around the spacious kitchen.
Thomas doubted they paid well enough to support Paige Sutton’s lifestyle.
“It’s important to keep up appearances.”
“How often are you on the road?”
“Two, three days a week. Why?”
“In your travels, have you ever encountered anyone who might want to hurt you?”
“No.”
“Ms. Sutton, has anything like this ever happened before?”
“Never.”
“No strange phone calls in the middle of the night, nobody following or harassing you.”
“No.”
Thomas blew out a breath.
“I need you to be honest with me. Is this Skye Feron’s bracelet?”
Paige stared at the ceiling and blinked away tears.
“I think so.”
“Why would someone leave the bracelet in your house?”
“If I knew the answer, I wouldn’t need your help.”
Thomas scratched his chin.
“Since Skye disappeared, has she ever contacted you?”
“Of course not.” Fire flared in the woman’s eyes. “I’ve spent the last six years mourning my friend, not knowing what happened to her. If I’d heard from Skye, I damn well would have told someone.”
“Who wanted to hurt Skye Feron?”
Paige’s lips quivered. She looked toward the backyard.
“Nobody. Everyone loved Skye. There wasn’t a nicer girl at Wolf Lake High.”
“Did she have trouble with a boyfriend?”
“Not that I recall.”
“She would have told you if she did, right?”
“Skye told me everything. Nobody was closer to Skye than me.”
“Not even Justine Adkins?”
Paige wandered across the kitchen and stared through the patio doors.
“Not even Justine.”
“I’d like to speak with Justine. Can you tell me where she’s staying?”
The woman lifted a shoulder.
“Some bed-and-breakfast outside Kane Grove. I’m not sure which one.”
That was interesting. If the three women were inseparable, why did Justine choose a room outside Wolf Lake and not give Paige the address? As he pondered the question, Lambert returned from the doorway.
“The intruder used a lock pick on the front door.” The deputy gestured at Paige. “If I were you, I’d change the lock set. Get something modern and harder to pick. I’d also install bolts on all the doors, including the patio.”
Paige nodded and turned back to the yard. Thomas and Lambert questioned the woman for another five minutes. They weren’t getting anywhere. Paige didn’t have enemies or stalkers, and everyone loved Skye during high school. Someone was lying.
“All right,” Thomas said, removing a card from his wallet. “We’ll finish the paperwork back at the station.”
“That’s it? You’re going already?”
“I’ll leave my card on the counter. If you think of anything that will help with the investigation, call me.”
Paige picked up the card and stared at it. After a long time, she raised her eyes to Thomas.
“Sheriff, did you find Skye beside the river?”
Thomas chewed the inside of his cheek.
“We haven’t identified the victim. Lock your doors, Ms. Sutton. And make sure your neighbors know what happened tonight.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Thursday, August 12th
10:05 p.m.
Raven checked the clock on Darren’s stove and sighed. She needed to wake up early for work. But she didn’t want to leave before Darren returned from checking the trails.
Reclining on the couch, she breathed in the scents of pine and campfire smoke and admired the diamond mine of stars through the open window. If she had her way, she’d move in with Darren permanently. A simple life, living in a rustic cabin in the middle of a beautiful state park. Except that was folly. She’d only dated the ranger a short time, and someone needed to care for Serena.
Raven closed her eyes and began to drift away. Until a branch rustled in the woods across the clearing. Probably just an animal pawing around in the dark. But it kicked her wide awake and surged her adrenaline. That’s when it hit her. She was alone again. Anything could happen in the dark, especially when two convicted kidnappers wanted her dead.
The doorknob turned.
Raven shot off the couch and reached for her bag, where she concealed the handgun.
The lock rattled. Someone was trying to break in.
Her legs locked. Ice traveled through her veins as she watched…waited…until the door opened, and Darren stepped inside.
“I need to fix that lock,” Darren said. “Either that, or my key is jacked up.”
Raven touched her heart and closed her eyes. She’d hoped spending time with Darren would ground her. But her anxiety grew each day, a creeping, paralyzing fear that Damian Ramos and Mark Benson would escape prison and track her down. The bones below Lucifer Falls reminded her evil lurked in the shadows.
She checked her pulse and measured a hundred beats per minute as Darren hung his jacket on the rack. He turned for
the kitchen and noticed her from the corner of his eye.
“Oh, damn. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
She brushed the braids out of her eyes and wandered to the window, checking the forest again.
“No need to apologize. I’m a bundle of nerves tonight.”
He took her hand in his.
“Your hands are freezing. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I just need to settle down,” she said, releasing his hand and crossing the room to the kitchen.
She rummaged inside the refrigerator and removed a bottled water, twisted the cap off and took a long drink. Darren drew a chair from the table and sat, his gaze never leaving her.
“Maybe you should stay the night.”
Raven rubbed the chill off her arms, despite the cabin holding the day’s heat. The thought of driving home in the dark scared the hell out of her.
“I’d love to. But I can’t leave my mother alone all night.”
“She’s doing great, Raven. At some point, you need to remove the training wheels and let her ride on her own.”
“I know. But she overdosed four months ago. She needs more time.”
He pulled the refrigerator open and rubbed his chin.
“I’m making a sandwich with the leftover porterhouse. You want one?”
“I guess so.”
Darren grabbed the bread out of the cupboard and sliced the steak on a cutting board. He possessed a firm jaw that matched his rugged shoulders, and his jeans fit his body in all the right places.
“Lettuce and onion?”
“Hold the onion.”
He plated her sandwich and cut it in half, setting it on the table in front of her. She took a bite and remembered this afternoon’s cookout. Surrounded by people she loved, she’d felt safe. Darren set his plate opposite hers and fell into the chair with a groan. He’d spent the day chopping firewood and walking the trails. Darren wiped his forehead and pried the cap off a bottled soda. He occupied himself with the food and drink as he talked, yet his attention never left her.
“How are you holding up?”
She wasn’t sure how to answer. Since the abduction, she’d awoken to nightmares and a sensation of someone inside the room with her. The night terrors prompted her to install the night light. It wasn’t helping. She’d convinced herself she just needed time to process the kidnapping.
Darren set the sandwich down and rested his forearms on the table. His forehead creased with concern over her non-answer.
“Are you sure you want to spend this much time with a basket case?” she asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Raven, you experienced a traumatic event, and it will take time to make sense of what happened. Tell me what you’re feeling.”
She picked her nails and sat back in the chair.
“The nightmares keep getting worse. Sometimes, I dream about Ellie Fisher.” Ellie Fisher was the woman Damian Ramos and Mark Benson kidnapped before they grabbed Raven. “I wake up in the farmhouse, and I hear Ellie screaming from another room. Damian tosses me inside the room with Ellie. But something is wrong. She’s not yelling anymore. There’s blood covering the walls. They slit her throat, and I’m next.”
“It’s a dream. In real life, you escaped.”
“I didn’t escape. You saved me.”
“Chelsey and Deputy Lambert saved you. I just came along for the ride.”
Raven dropped her face into her hands and rubbed her eyes.
“It happens during the day too. I go to work, and Chelsey’s sick half the time, so I’m alone in the office. Every little sound makes me jump, and I always worry someone is following me.”
“It will get better with time.”
“Will it? One month later, and I’m getting worse.”
Darren set his ankle on his knee. He bit into his sandwich, considering his words as he chewed.
“Have you considered visiting a therapist?”
“A shrink?”
“Would it be so bad? Thomas sees Dr. Mandal, and you keep saying Chelsey should seek counseling.”
“I suppose you’re right. Something has to change. I can’t live like this another month.”
“Don’t rush the process. I’m here for you.”
“And I appreciate you more than words can express. All this anxiety is in my head. As long as I’m around other people, I’m fine. Like this afternoon at the cookout, we were all together, laughing and talking, and my anxiety disappeared. Heck, I didn’t even think about the abduction.”
He tapped his hand on the table.
“There you go. Spend time around people. You’re always welcome here, and you can call me whenever Chelsey no-shows at work.”
“It would be nice to get over this. I used to love being alone.” She spied the hurt on his face and covered her mouth. “That came out wrong. I far prefer your company to being alone. But there was something relaxing about a long run in the early morning, or curling up with a book after Mom fell asleep. Now I leap at every noise.”
“I understand what you meant about being alone. Why do you think I live here?” He gestured around the cabin. “No horns honking outside my window day and night, no traffic jams or crowded sidewalks. Sometimes, it’s nice to be on your own. But it’s better if you spend time with friends and family until you get your sea legs back.”
As she sipped her water, she stared at him over the bottle.
“I regret something I did after the cookout.”
He straightened in his chair.
“This doesn’t sound good.”
She pressed her lips together and lowered her eyes.
“I kinda eavesdropped on Thomas and Gray while they discussed the Jane Doe.”
“Define eavesdropped. Like you overheard them while you chatted with LeVar?”
“I hid beside the house while they talked on the deck.”
Darren glared at her through the tops of his eyes.
“Raven.”
“Yeah, that was lousy of me.”
“Why would you do such a thing?”
Elbow on the table, she rested her cheek on her palm and toyed with the napkin.
“Scout Mourning and LeVar visited me this morning and offered to research the state park case. They have this crazy idea of collaborating with me.”
“So they’re solving the mystery.”
“Right.”
“Raven, this isn’t a game. Those bones belong to somebody’s daughter.”
“I’m not minimizing the girl’s death, and anything we discover we’ll share with the sheriff’s department. It’s just that working with LeVar and Scout gave me a boost. It made me excited to be an investigator again.”
Darren pushed his plate aside. A playful grin appeared on his face.
“Well, did you learn anything important?”
“Why? Do you want in on this investigation?”
“The bones were in my state park.”
“Good point.”
“Tell me what you overheard.”
“Sheriff Gray believes Skye Feron’s friends, Justine Adkins and Paige Sutton, lied to him during the investigation six years ago. They’re involved somehow.”
“That’s not much to go on.”
“No, but Paige Sutton still lives in Wolf Lake, and Justine Adkins arrived in town a few days ago.”
“She came after the story broke about the bones. That’s curious.”
Raven finished her water and set the bottle aside.
“Could be Justine believes the dead girl is Skye and wants to say goodbye.”
“Or Justine and Paige had something to do with Skye’s death.”
Raven eyed Darren.
“You do want in on the investigation.”
He smirked.
“It’s been a while since I got to play cops and killers.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Thursday, August 12th
10:30 p.m.
Thomas dialed the Orange Tulip bed-and-breakfast out
side Kane Grove. After the front desk forwarded his call to Justine Adkins, the phone rang seven times and dumped to a recorded message, as it had the two previous times he’d called. Either Justine had gone out for the night, or she wasn’t accepting phone calls. That made Thomas wonder if she was avoiding Paige Sutton, for the same unknown reason Justine hadn’t told her old friend where she was staying.
Sitting at the kitchen table with Jack at his feet, Thomas yawned into his hand and wiped his eyes. He should have been asleep by now. But this case wouldn’t let him rest, and he sensed something important happening behind the scenes between Justine, Paige Sutton, and the missing Skye Feron. He massaged Jack’s neck. The dog sat up and lolled his tongue, panting up at Thomas.
“What should we do, Jack?” The dog grinned at him. “Paige Sutton lied to me tonight, but I don’t know why.”
He peered through the deck door. Night hid the lake from his vision, the darkness pressing against the glass like a living thing. A light shone inside the guest house. LeVar was still awake. Thomas wanted to knock on the teenager’s door and talk about anything except murdered girls and skeletons in the mud.
On his memo pad, he’d scribbled notes about the case. The girls wore friendship bracelets, and one bracelet ended up on Paige Sutton’s counter after someone picked the lock on her front door. If Thomas bought Paige’s story, and he wasn’t sure he did, Justine’s bracelet was at home. Which meant this new bracelet belonged to Skye Feron. Or someone who knew about the bracelets had designed a replica.
Did someone murder Skye, bury her beside the river, and emerge six years later to haunt Paige?
His inability to contact Justine Adkins didn’t sit right with him. The woman wasn’t a suspect, but Thomas sensed her involvement in Skye’s disappearance. He rolled his phone around in his hand, undecided. Then he called Aguilar, remembering his deputy was working the swing shift until midnight.
“I need you to do me a favor. Drive over to Kane Grove. There’s a bed-and-breakfast on the outskirts of the city called the Orange Tulip.”
“I’m familiar with the place.”
“Justine Adkins is staying on property. Check for her Acura, and if there’s a light on in her room, bang on the door and ensure she’s all right.”