by Mary Stone
Ellie drew closer to the play structure and came to another startling realization. No sand. The ground around the equipment was covered in red matting. She glanced beyond the playground, her heart sinking. Even the retaining wall was gone, replaced by planters full of well-groomed bushes and mulch.
“Ugh.” Ellie sank onto a bench directly opposite the biggest slide. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have suspected this was an entirely different park. A quick glance at her phone reassured her that, no. This was the right spot. This was the park where, years ago, Roxanne Freeling had drawn her very last breath. And where Dani Snyder had vanished, never to be seen again.
“Everything okay?”
The security guard’s gruff inquiry came from behind her. “No, not really. Not unless your definition of okay includes a teenage girl vanishing without a trace from this spot years ago.”
No reply from Chase this time. Not that Ellie expected one. She’d given instructions to the firm to keep interruptions from their employees minimal while she worked because disruptions to her train of thought could mean the difference between solving a case or not. The firm had taken her request to heart. The guards they ended up assigning her were so quiet that, half the time, Ellie forgot they were there.
She rolled her neck to ease a little of the creeping tension, then pushed to her feet. Even though nothing looked the same as in the girls’ crime scene photos, she forced herself to walk the area anyway. Her hope of finding anything useful dwindled with every passing minute.
Ding!
The sound alerted her to a new message. Ellie dug her phone out of her pocket, relieved when she read Carl’s reply containing Elaine’s address.
Nice work, you’re the best!
After sending the reply, she ducked her head and hurried back to her SUV. Stopping by the park had been a shot in the dark anyway, given the passage of time. In light of the recent remodel, the odds of discovering some missing clue were about as slim as the likelihood of Ellie piecing her old Audi back together.
She climbed behind the wheel and typed Elaine’s address into her GPS. Following the robotic voice’s expert navigation, she entered the westbound lanes on the 52 for two miles before merging onto 26-South. Without traffic, the trip was a pleasant thirty-minute drive. Ellie turned the volume up on a popular pop song, bopping her head to the beat as she passed back by downtown Charleston and crossed the Ashley River. After that, a short hop westbound on 700 brought her to John’s Island.
The navigation led her to a nice, white wooden home on a block full of lush green trees and sizeable front yards. The former Mrs. Snyder’s new home didn’t come close to matching the splendor of the old one she’d shared with her ex, but the property was still plenty nice.
After parking by the curb, Ellie walked up to her second door of the day and rang the bell. A disheveled woman in her fifties greeted Ellie with curly brown hair frizzing in a halo around her head, a yellow stain on her white t-shirt, and a friendly smile that crinkled the skin around her eyes. “Hello there, what can I do for you today?”
“Elaine Morris?” Ellie already knew the answer based on studying photos, but that was the department’s standard greeting.
The woman’s smile didn’t waver. “Yes, that’s me.”
The bronze of Ellie’s badge flashed in the sun. “Detective Ellie Kline, with the Charleston Police Department. Is your husband home with you?”
Ellie hated the way the woman’s smile died, replaced by creeping fear. “No, he’s not. Is he okay? Did something happen to him?” Elaine pushed onto her toes and peered around Ellie’s head, as if searching for her husband on the street beyond her.
Ellie instantly realized her mistake. She could have kicked herself. “As far as I know, your husband is fine. I promise this isn’t about him. I’m here on an old matter, nothing for you to fret about.”
Even as she made the statement, the words rang hollow to Ellie’s ears. Nothing to fret about? When someone had called and claimed to be Elaine’s missing daughter?
Ellie dug her nails into her palms. She didn’t know if it was this particular case or Gabe’s blown cover or the knowledge that Kingsley was watching somewhere that was throwing her off her game, and she didn’t care. Her people skills needed to be better than this.
Elaine studied Ellie’s expression as though trying to read the truth. Apparently satisfied at least that her new husband wasn’t in any imminent danger, she sagged against the doorframe. “Excuse my theatrics. I’m convinced I may have a little bit of PTSD from back when…you know.”
The older woman cleared her throat, and the smile that followed this time looked more like a grimace. Ellie found herself missing the woman’s natural smile. This part of the job sucked. “I’m very sorry to do this, but ‘back when’ is what I’m here to talk about. I work cold cases, and I need to ask you a few questions about your daughter, Danielle.”
“Danielle?” Elaine repeated the name in a whisper. “But that happened so long ago. I don’t understand. Is this just for record keeping?”
Ellie dug her fingers into the notepad, steeling herself. “Yes, and no. I was called out because your ex-husband received a phone call earlier this week from a woman claiming to be Danielle.”
The woman’s hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.
Ellie held up her left palm to stall the inevitable flood of questions. “Now, there’s no reason at this point to believe that’s true. After this many years pass in a child disappearance case, it’s more likely than not that anyone coming forward is a criminal or someone with ulterior motives. But we can’t rule anything out without an investigation, which is why I’m here.”
The woman’s mouth flapped open and closed several times without eliciting a single sound. Her body shuddered, followed by her bursting into tears.
In light of Elaine’s sorrow, Ellie’s own eyes burned. She stepped forward and wrapped an arm around the other woman’s waist. “Is there a place inside we can sit?”
Still sobbing, the woman nodded, and together, the two of them shuffled their way to a navy-blue loveseat only a few steps inside the front door. Elaine sank onto one cushion, Ellie the other. Ellie rubbed the other woman’s shoulder and made soothing noises as Elaine buried her face in her hands.
At least a minute passed before the woman’s body stopped shaking. Her sobs died out, replaced instead by hiccupping. When Elaine finally lifted her head, the whites of her eyes had turned pink. “Excuse me for a second.”
Ellie sat on the edge of the loveseat, waiting patiently for the woman to collect herself. A faucet splattered somewhere around the corner, then stopped. Elaine returned shortly afterward, carrying two tall glasses of ice water. A box of Kleenex was tucked under one arm.
She offered Ellie the water, setting her own glass on a wooden coffee table with spindly, curved legs. “Sorry about that. Guess I must have been storing up tears for a while now without even knowing it.”
Ellie softened her tone. “No need to apologize. If anything, I’m the one who should beg for your forgiveness. I can imagine this all comes as a big shock.”
Elaine swiped her nose with a tissue she plucked from the box. “Charles is the one who should apologize. I can’t believe he didn’t call me the second he hung up!” She bunched the tissue in her lap and started shredding, not seeming to notice when little pieces began dotting the beige carpet. Her upper body heaved. “Except, I can believe it. We didn’t end things on a good note.”
Ellie made an encouraging sound in her throat. Experience dictated that people talked more freely when there was a silence that needed filling.
Elaine sighed. “He blames me. I was the one who allowed Dani to go to the party that night.” Her pale blue eyes glistened with fresh tears. “Can you imagine what that was like? My own husband, blaming me for our daughter’s disappearance?”
“That must have been incredibly hard.”
Elaine nodded emphatically. Her hands went still. “It was. Part
ly because I blame myself. I went back over the hours leading up to that party so many times. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. What if I’d said no? Or taken us all on a weekend getaway instead? Anything but let her go to that stupid party. If only I could rewind time and have a do-over.”
“Mrs. Morris, I—”
The woman shook her head. “Please, call me Elaine.”
“And I’m Ellie. Anyway, Elaine, I know it’s easier said than done, but please, don’t blame yourself. You had no way of knowing what would happen that night. Every weekend all over the country, teens go to parties and ninety-nine-point-nine percent of them return home, safe and sound. The only one to blame for Dani’s disappearance is the monster who took her.”
As Elaine worked to compose herself, Ellie considered the hypocrisy of her words. Oh, she believed what she said about Elaine not blaming herself for allowing Dani to attend that party. But when it came to forgiving herself over the party she’d attended as a teen, resulting in her own kidnapping? Ellie still had some work to do.
“Do you…do you think Dani blames me, though? And that’s why she called Charles instead of me?”
The tremor in Elaine’s voice squeezed at Ellie’s heart. This poor woman. Her poor family. How terrible must it be, living with that kind of guilt for all these years?
“I promise you, if that really was Dani on the phone, the reason she called her father is because he lives in the same house she grew up in. If that was really Dani, she couldn’t have possibly known your married name or your new number.”
Hope sparked in Elaine’s pink eyes. “You’re right. I didn’t have this cell number back then.” She gave a little gasp, her hand flying to her mouth. “Do you think it could really be…?”
Ellie lifted her hands. “I can’t promise you that. At this point, we have no way of knowing, but I’d caution you against getting too optimistic. Like I told Mr. Snyder, what I can promise you is that I will do everything in my power to get to the bottom of this. No lead is too small. If this person calls back as we expect them to do, we’ll be ready this time, and you’ll be the first person to know. Okay?”
Elaine hiccupped. “Okay. Thank you.”
Ellie flipped through her notepad to remind herself of her questions. “Do you recall if anything seemed off about Dani during the weeks leading up to the party? Any new friends? Enemies? Kids who might hold a grudge against Dani or Roxanne?” She glanced up. “I know this is difficult, so take your time answering.”
Elaine’s forehead wrinkled before she shook her head. “No, nothing. No new friends as far as I knew, no enemies. From what I remember, Dani was her normal self beforehand. Grumpy one day, sweet as punch the next. You know, your typical teen girl.”
“Okay. What about any other friends in her life? Friends who might know something about what happened after the party?”
“Roxanne was it. Dani never did anything with anyone else, but she didn’t need to. Those two were inseparable. If she did have any other friends, well,” Elaine’s shoulders rose and fell, “I didn’t know about it. Either that or I can’t remember after all these years.”
Disappointing, but not unexpected. Ellie knew going into this interview that uncovering new information was a long shot at best. “That’s understandable. Don’t get discouraged. You’re doing great so far.”
The woman twisted her hands in her lap. “It’s been so long now that, if I go too many days without looking at her picture, her face starts to fade.”
One part of Ellie wondered what that must feel like, to lose the memory of your child’s face? A different part considered the possibility that maybe it was for the best. Time’s way of healing wounds.
She clenched her teeth. Except now, some asshole had decided to dredge up this family’s pain. Slash at wounds that had barely managed to scab over, making them bleed all over again. That was why she especially hated asking the next question. “Do you have any of Dani’s belongings from back then that I could look at?”
“Yes, up in the attic. I can show you, if you think it might help.”
Thinking it might help was a stretch, but Ellie’s conscience wouldn’t rest until she covered all possible bases. She nodded, so Elaine stood and led her into a narrow hallway. Toward the end of the hall, a large square cut into the ceiling. Elaine tugged at the short rope that dangled above her head, and the door creaked open, revealing a collapsible set of stairs squished together like an accordion. After extending them into place, she began climbing, with the flimsy structure groaning and swaying with each step. Ellie waited until Elaine disappeared inside the opening before following behind her.
The attic was smaller than Ellie had expected, and mustier, with a ceiling that sloped down on each side. As she crouched her way after Elaine, a low beam grabbed at her French braid. She reached up to unsnag her hair, jerking when her fingers encountered a sticky, web-like structure. Spiders, great. Hopefully, none of them had decided to take up residence in her hair.
She wiped her hand on her pants before patting down her head. Once she convinced herself that no eight-legged trespassers had climbed aboard the Ellie Express, she continued creeping her way forward. A mishmash of discarded furniture filled one corner. The other held boxes in a variety of sizes.
Elaine stopped in front of the boxes. “This is it. Was there anything in particular you wanted to see?”
“A journal, if she had one? Or old photos from school?”
After pulling a box down, Elaine blew a layer of dust off the top and popped it open. “No journals. Dani stopped keeping those in elementary school.”
She dug through the contents, extracting a pink unicorn pillow and a poofy red dress with a big bow before pulling a blue photo album out.
“You can try this, but it’s almost all pictures of Dani and Roxanne. They weren’t allowed to take photos at school, and she hadn’t dated that boy for long before…” An emotion very close to hate flashed across the woman’s features as she pushed the album toward Ellie. “That’s why I keep this album in the attic. I couldn’t bear to look at pictures of him, but I also couldn’t stand to throw any photos of Dani away.” Her lips curled downward, and she wrapped her arms around her waist, shuddering. “I know it’s not fair to blame him, but sometimes, I do.”
Ellie understood. How many times must Elaine have tortured herself over how things would have ended differently if only Dani’s boyfriend hadn’t been kissing another girl that night? Lowering herself to the floor, Ellie opened the first page of the album.
Thirty minutes later, Ellie stood up, rolling her aching neck. She’d gone through the entire photo album, along with the contents of the boxes. Not a single thing had jumped out at her. She was starting to feel like a hamster on a wheel, running in circles but never getting anywhere. All this time spent today, and she was nowhere closer to cracking this case.
She helped Elaine repack the boxes, and once they finished, followed her back down the ladder.
At the front door, the older woman surprised her by throwing her arms around Ellie and squeezing her in a tight hug, enveloping Ellie in a lily scent. “Thank you. Thank you so much for trying to help my Dani. I know you’ll do your best.”
Okay. Now, Ellie was going to be lucky if she didn’t start bawling too. She returned Elaine’s hug before stepping back. She lifted her chin as, once again, determination filled her chest, pushing away her doubts. “That’s one promise I can gladly make. I’m going to focus all my energy into solving the mystery of your daughter’s disappearance. You have my word.”
A quick round of goodbyes followed before Ellie retraced her earlier path back to her Explorer.
As she settled into the driver’s seat, she clenched her hands tightly around the wheel. Dani’s parents deserved an end to their torture. When it came to solving cases, Ellie prayed, for everyone’s sake, that Dani’s wouldn’t be the one to bust her winning streak.
12
“And then Mr. Thompson pulled the lizard out of his box and let us
take turns touching his back, and he didn’t even care! His name is Larry. Larry the Lizard, isn’t that silly?” Bethany giggled. “Don’t you think that’s silly, Mama?”
Mama.
Katarina’s heart melted at the sound of that word uttered in her daughter’s sweet, bubbly voice. She took her eyes off the road to drink in Bethany’s animated expression as the eight-year-old launched into another story.
“And then Matt stuck two pencils up his nose and said he was a walrus, and Mr. Thompson didn’t even get mad! And then…”
Katarina smiled as her daughter bounced in the passenger seat, jumping from one story to the next without any apparent rhyme or reason. The same way she did every day after school.
If only one of them could thrive in their new life in Wyoming, Katarina was glad that person was Bethany. Katarina didn’t know how, but her daughter seemed unaffected by spending most of her short life being juggled between foster families. The girl’s brown eyes sparkled, untouched by ghosts or guile.
At the stop sign, Katarina flipped on her turn signal. Her throat tightened as the steady tick blended with Bethany’s babble. She wondered, not for the first time, what Bethany had been like as a baby. A toddler. A kindergartener. All those precious memories stolen. Her foot pounded the pedal a little too hard, and the car accelerated into the turn with a squeal of tires.
Bethany threw her hands in the air and shrieked, like she was riding a roller coaster. “Whee!”
Katarina snorted, even as she eased her foot off the gas. Maybe her daughter had a wild streak after all.
“Are we almost to Dakota’s house?”
“In a few more minutes.”
“Yay! I’ve never seen Mulan before, have you?” Bethany didn’t break long enough for Katarina to respond. “It’s Dakota’s favorite movie. Also, Dakota made chocolate chip cookies last night, and she has a dog! I love dogs, especially little ones. Hers is a big one, but that’s okay.”