by Sarah Markel
“The last one is Benjamin Andrews. He touts himself as something of a ladies-man, and I confiscated a note he passed to one of the girls sitting near him. In it, he asks the girl if she wants to join the others in the “missing girls club” and become his future ex. Apparently, he’s had a relationship with all the missing girls.”
“Alright,” Frost said as she closed her laptop, “I need to get home to my wife. Dani, next week I want you to push your friendship with Melissa and Ezekiel further. Invite them over after school, or offer to hang out at the park. See if you can get anything about the missing girls from them.”
“Max,” she said, stuffing her laptop in her bag, “talk to the other teachers. See if you can find out why Carlton has a picture of Chambers. Also, see if you can glean anymore insight on Principal Glick. He’s probably just a pervert, but the more information we have, the better.”
Max and Dani agreed and showed Frost and Cordy out. When they returned to the dining room, Young and Harrison had disposed of the pizza boxes and empty beer bottles.
“Where are you two holing up?” Max asked as the men gathered their things.
“We’re taking shifts in the van,” Harrison replied, “I’m up first, then Pete will come relieve me at two. We’ll rotate for the weekend, unless something develops.”
Max and Dani walked the men to the door and waved as they left the house. “See you next week, Uncle Pete!” Dani shouted, just for good measure, “Bye Uncle Dale!”
Young and Harrison snickered and waved back. Young climbed into his car and Harrison walked down the street toward the middle of town. He planned to “drink” enough at the bar to explain “sleeping” in the van, should anyone approach him about it.
Once the men were out of sight, Max closed the door and she and Dani made their way to the couch. Dani sat, but Max stood behind the couch and rested her hands on Dani’s shoulders.
“What do you want to do tomorrow?” Max asked, working the tight muscles beneath her fingers. Dani always carried her tension in her shoulders.
“Go to the bar and get wasted. Then, I want to come home and ravage you,” Dani replied with a soft moan. Max’s nimble fingers were doing wonders on the redhead’s muscles.
Max laughed. “We can’t do that, honey. Well, you can’t,” she added, bending to kiss the top of Dani’s head, “You’re supposed to be seventeen. In a town this size, I’m sure the bar isn’t going to risk the bad publicity.”
Dani grumbled and dropped her face into her hands. “I guess I’ll invite Melissa over,” she whined, “maybe I can talk her into showing me where the kids around here hang out.”
Max stopped her massage and tugged Dani back against the couch. She slid her hands over the woman’s chest, squeezing her breasts gently. “We have beer here,” she whispered in Dani’s ear, “and we can spend tonight ravaging each other. Then you can spend tomorrow playing with your friends.”
Dani snorted and raised her arms, arching her back as she wrapped them around Max’s neck. “Deal,” she said, turning her head to capture Max’s lips.
“You really should join the cheerleading squad,” Max said, her fingers teasing Dani’s breasts through her tank top, “It might give you a lead. And, if not, at least I’ll get to see you in one of those cute little skirts.”
Dani giggled. “You’ve seen my high school yearbooks, babe. You’ve seen me in a cheerleading skirt before.”
Max shook her head and removed Dani’s arms from her neck, “Not in person,” she said, her eyes twinkling, “I’ve always had a thing for cheerleaders. Please do this for me.”
Dani stood and followed her wife toward the stairs. “I’ll consider it,” she relented with a teasing sigh, “But, you’re going to have to work on your persuasion skills.”
Chapter 6
“Hey Daniela, over here!” Melissa waved excitedly when she saw Dani.
Dani returned the wave and added an eager smile. As she reached the top of the stairs, she pulled her hair into a ponytail and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She tapped the screen, engaging the recording device, and glanced around at her surroundings.
The Stairs, as the locals called it, was a long, steep, concrete staircase built into the slope of a hill that led from Prospect Street to First Street. The elementary school was less than a block from the top of the stairs, and the Falls City Fire Department’s parking lot was across from the bottom.
The stairs had been built back in the early days of the town’s settlement, to allow easier travel from the upper part of the area to the lower. The staircase’s original wood and clay design had been replaced with concrete over the years, and provided a fun jaunt for tourists hiking the many trails through the town.
“Hi Melissa, how’s it going?” Dani asked, leaning back against the metal handrail that ran the length of the stairs.
“It’s going,” Melissa replied with a shrug, her fingers playing with a loose string on the hem of her ever-present hoodie. “I hope you don’t mind,” she added, looking down the stairs to the first landing, “Zeke and Eli asked if they could tag along.”
Dani waved to the boys. Physically, she couldn’t tell them apart yet. It wasn’t until they began to speak that she could differentiate between the identical pair.
“I don’t mind,” she said with a shrug, “I just needed to get away from my mom for a while. She’s driving me nuts.”
Melissa chuckled and motioned for Dani to start down the stairs. “What’s she doing?”
Dani rolled her eyes. “She’s on me about paying better attention in her class. She says I’m not properly experiencing the book we’re reading, and she thinks I’m starting to slack off. She said I should stay home today and focus on the book. I think she’s just being paranoid,” she added as they reached the boys.
“Who’s paranoid?” Zeke asked, looking up at the girls from his seat on the stone bench.
Eli stayed quiet, his attention fixed on scrutinizing Dani’s attire. At Agent Frost’s insistence, Dani was wearing a pair of light denim short-shorts, a tight, baby-blue tank top, and white canvas shoes. She wore a two-piece blue bathing suit underneath, and carried a small knapsack with a towel and sunblock inside.
“Her mom,” Melissa explained as the boys stood and followed the girls. “What’s she being paranoid about?” she asked, redirecting her attention to Dani.
Dani scoffed. “She’s a little freaked out about the missing girls. She doesn’t want anything to happen to me, and her way of making sure I’m safe, is to keep me at home. I had to threaten her with my grandmother just to let me leave the yard.”
“Dani, ask them where you’re going,” Agent Harrison directed.
“We’re going down to the river,” Eli mumbled, his eyes glued to Dani’s derriere as they descended the final few stairs.
“The river?” Dani asked, clarifying his comment for the recording, “Then why’d you have me meet you at the stairs? We could have met at my house. We have a trail that leads down to a wide spot near the falls.”
Zeke chuckled as the boys sped up to bookend the girls. “We were all helping the bar owners with their yard this morning,” he explained.
“They own the house next to the top of the stairs. We don’t know where you live, so we figured it was a good place to meet. Hey, wait a second,” he said, taking Dani’s elbow to stop her, “if your house is near the river, what were you doing at the Elementary School?”
Dani had been in the van with Harrison, getting fitted for a waterproof bug. The new bug was exactly like the other, except it also contained a wire within the waterproof housing. Dani would continue to use the phone and other bug in school, but the new one was to be used when she couldn’t have the phone with her.
“My uncle Dale is helping a friend of his renovate his house. I spent the morning supervising,” she lied, tapping a note on her phone.
The teens seemed to accept her response and the group walked in silence. They crossed the street in front of the Fire
Department, and Dani followed her friends into the small mom-and-pop store. After purchasing bottles of water and bags of chips, the group left the store and turned toward the High School.
“Where are we going?” Dani asked when the others led her down a street that ended in a narrow foot-bridge.
“The river isn’t deep enough to swim in, in most places,” Zeke explained, leading them down an embankment beside the bridge. “There’s one spot, though, that’s crazy deep. It’s hard to reach unless you know where you’re going, so not many of the tourists go down there. We locals, though, love Rock Ledge.”
Dani slowed to bring up the rear of the group, claiming it would be easier for her to traverse the slim, uneven dirt path if she wasn’t concerned about someone bumping into her. She surveyed the area around her, slowing occasionally to create a panorama of her surroundings for the camera attached to her hearing aid.
“Wow, this place is beautiful,” she said honestly, gazing at the breath-taking view before them.
“This is Rock Ledge,” Melissa explained, stepping into the shallow water between where they stood and the small secluded island a few feet away.
“The old lady that lives in the house behind us owns the island and the water rights to most of Rock Ledge,” she said, pointing to the house when she reached the Willow tree shaded island, “She lets the locals swim out here, as long as we don’t litter.”
Dani shaded her eyes with her hand and gazed out at the crystal-clear water. “It doesn’t look deep enough to swim in,” she observed, kicking off her shoes and stripping off her outer layer. She walked several feet into the water before Eli stopped her.
“Be careful, Daniela!” Eli said, lunging forward to grab her arm as she stepped further into the water.
“Hey!” Dani cried in surprise, yanking her arm from his hand, “What the hell? You can’t just grab someone like that!”
Eli raised his hands and apologized. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to step off the ledge.”
Dani glanced at the water before scowling at Eli. “Ledge? Eli, this water barely reaches my knees.”
Eli shook his head and hurried back to the island. He returned within seconds, a heavy rock in his hands. “Watch,” he said, holding the rock at arms-length before dropping it into the water.
Dani’s eyes followed the stone, widening when the rock took several seconds to reach the bottom. The water was so clear, the rocky bottom looked much closer than it was. “Oh,” she replied sheepishly.
“The water is nearly twenty-feet deep,” Eli explained, “If you aren’t paying attention to where you’re going, you’ll walk right off the edge. People have drowned from not paying close enough attention to where they’re at.”
Dani apologized and stayed where she was while Eli returned to the island to stow his t-shirt. Zeke followed suit and the twins strolled out to join Dani.
“Come on Melissa,” Eli called, “We’re just waiting on you.”
Dani was surprised that Melissa was going to swim with them. The girl was wearing long black jeans and her signature sweatshirt, and Dani hadn’t thought the girl would want to swim in such burdensome clothing.
Dani and the boys watched as Melissa removed her jeans and hoodie to reveal a bright pink wet-suit. Covered to her wrists and ankles by the tight-fitting neoprene, Melissa would be able to swim without exposing her extremities.
Because of the clothing she typically wore, it had been difficult for Dani to describe Melissa. She hadn’t been able to tell if the brunette was thin, hefty, or average. Now, however, Dani could see that the shy young woman possessed a trim, toned figure.
“Okay,” Melissa announced, joining the group in the water, “last one to the rock has to do everyone’s math homework next week.”
Dani arched her brow in surprise. “The whole week?” she asked. The others grinned and nodded. “What rock are we swimming to?” she asked.
“That one over there,” Zeke said, pointing to a wide, flat rock about twenty yards from where they stood.
“Okay,” Dani said with a smug smile as she stretched her arms behind her back, “I have to warn you, though. I can swim like a fish. Make sure you write my fours like I do. My mom will kill me if she finds out I’m not doing my own homework.”
The others chuckled, and Melissa counted them off. As one, the quartet dove into the water and raced to the rock.
Dani’s short, powerful strokes propelled her quickly through the water. Zeke and Eli’s longer strokes, and forcefully kicking legs, stood no chance against the former Washington State Swimming Champion.
Just as Dani’s hand reached for the rock, cementing her win, Melissa surfaced out of the water and claimed first place.
“How did you do that?” Dani asked, gasping for breath, “I couldn’t even see you through the boys’ splashing.”
“I can hold my breath for a really long time,” Melissa replied with a conspiratorial smirk, “I swam underneath you guys.”
Dani chuckled. She was impressed. The girls turned and waited for the boys who, despite the show they were putting on, were at least five seconds behind Dani.
Zeke claimed third, less than a fraction of a second before Eli. “Dammit,” Eli muttered with a scowl, “You’ll have to show me how to write your fours, Daniela.”
The others laughed as they bobbed in the water. “No, Eli,” Dani said, leaning back to float on top of the water, “I’ll do my own homework. I like math.”
***
“Melissa,” Dani said as the pair stretched out on their stomachs on the flat rock, “can I ask you a personal question?”
Melissa shrugged and stared out into the water. “Sure,” she said, resting her chin on her folded hands, “I can’t promise I’ll answer though. Some subjects are too private for me.”
Dani nodded and looked around for the twins. She didn’t want them to overhear her question. She found them standing on a wide log, facing each other as they flailed their arms. It appeared that they were trying to knock each other into the water, and she smiled at their antics.
Boys sure haven’t changed much.
“I get that you prefer to stay covered,” Dani said, returning her attention to her friend, “but why the baggy hoodie? You can still be covered in a regular, long-sleeved blouse.”
Melissa turned her head and rested her cheek where her chin had been. “If the boys at school knew that I had big boobs, they’d never leave me alone. They aren’t as interested in a pretty face as they are a great set of breasts. Besides,” she added, her eyes darkening, “My uncle says modesty will keep me safe. Girls these days are too comfortable flaunting themselves and distracting the boys from what’s important in life. According to Uncle Ezra, that is.”
Dani frowned and shook her head. “What’s so important in life that’s being pushed to the wayside by how we dress? It’s natural for kids to notice each other. That’s how our species has lasted for so long. The primal need to find a mate begins during adolescence, for both sexes, and isn’t the fault of one gender. Even if all the girls wore baggy clothing, the boys would still be distracted.”
Melissa shrugged and rolled to her back, shielding her eyes with her hands. “Uncle Ezra says that teenage girls are the portal through which the Devil executes his plan to lead the young men away from God. He says if we practice modesty on ourselves, we will be less likely to be the reason a boy is led astray. What kind of God fearing young girl would want to saddle herself with that kind of guilt?”
The brunette sat up at the sound of a loud splash, and she and Dani glanced over to see Eli raising his arms in triumph.
“I’m not interested in the boys, to be honest,” Melissa admitted, “but while I’m living under his roof, I’m obligated to follow Uncle Ezra’s rules. Thank God I turn eighteen in a little over a year.”
“Are you going to stay local?” Dani asked as she sat up, “Once you move out, I mean.”
Melissa shook her head and pushed to her feet. She dove off t
he rock and resurfaced quickly, slicking back her hair. “No,” she said firmly, “I’m going to move away and never look back. If the missing girls did run away, I hope they find whatever they were looking for.”
Dani watched as her friend swam toward the island. “What could they have been looking for?” she murmured before diving back into the water to follow Melissa.
While she and Melissa dried off, Dani stayed quiet and concentrated on the conversation the twins were having as they swam lazily back to the girls.
The island was several yards from where the boys were, and to the average ear, their words would not have been audible. Picking up her phone, Dani’s fingers flew as she transcribed what was said.
“We can’t, Eli,” Zeke said, glancing quickly toward the island, “we don’t know enough about her. Dad would lose his mind.”
“Stop being such a pussy,” Eli retorted, “Dad’s the one who said we need to find more. She’s perfect. She’s cute, smart, and tiny. I bet she’d love to join us.”
Zeke huffed out a sigh and stopped swimming. He grabbed Eli’s arm and pointed a finger in his face.
“Don’t, Elijah, stay away from her. We don’t know anything about her. She doesn’t act like the others, bro. She won’t fall for your sweet talk, and if you’re wrong, everything will blow up in our faces. Then what will Dad say?”
Eli wrenched his arm out of Zeke’s grasp. “You’re not reaching your quota, Ezekiel. You should worry more about what’s going to happen when Dad finds out you’re not even trying.”
The conversation stopped abruptly as the boys made it to the shallow water. They joined the girls on the island and grabbed their shoes.
“What do you girls want to do now?” Zeke asked as the group made their way back to the trail, leaving the peaceful island in their wake.
“I’m game for whatever,” Melissa said. The three cousins looked to Dani.
“Invite them back to the house for lunch,” Agent Harrison coached.
“I’m starving,” Dani said, ducking to miss a low hanging branch that she almost hit her head on, “You guys want to come over to my house? My mom always makes enough to feed an army.”