by Sara L Foust
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Also by Sara L. Foust
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dear Readers,
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Sara L. Foust
Romantic suspense:
Love, Hope and Faith Series-
Callum’s Compass: Journey to Love
Camp Hope: Journey to Hope
Rarity Mountain: Journey to Faith
Smoky Mountain Suspense Series-
The Kidnapping of Cody Moss (Smoky Mountain Suspense Book One)
WOMEN’S FICTION:
Of Walls
The Vanishing of Olivia Beck
Smoky Mountain Suspense Book Two
Sara L. Foust
THE VANISHING OF OLIVIA Beck, Smoky Mountain Suspense Book Two
©2019 Sara L. Foust
Published by Silver Lining Literary Services
106 Offutt Rd.
Clinton, TN 37716
www.saralfoust.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, posted on any website, or transmitted in any form or any means—digital, electronic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotation in printed reviews.
The persons and events portrayed in this work of fiction are the creations of the author, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-7329047-2-9
Scripture quoted is from the King James Version of the Bible, which is in public domain.
©2019 Cover Design by Sara L. Foust
For Emma
My quirky, kind second born. I love how deeply you feel life and how much you care about others. I love your creativity and your clever wit and your strong will. Never compromise what you believe is best for you. Stay fierce, my brave, independent, beautiful warrior.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:38 KJV
Chapter One
Olivia Beck pulled her gaze from the rearview mirror for the tenth time in as many minutes. She would not cry. Not again. Not now.
It was too late for tears. Or too early, she couldn’t really say. But her mind was made up, and there was only one way to proceed. Everything was ready, and her plan was set. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile. “Look, Andi! Look, Drew! See the doe over in the field?”
Her daughter and son clambered to be the first to spot the creature. Halfway through the Cades Cove Scenic Loop, and Olivia had already been able to point out a dozen deer and two dozen turkeys.
Could Jonah tell she was off today? That she was trying too hard to seem calm and normal?
She shook her head. Why should she worry about that? Her training had taught her so well, he’d only see if she wanted him to. And she couldn’t let that happen. She loved him too much. Lord, you know what’s happening. Where’s the bear we discussed?
“I’m sorry you haven’t gotten your shot yet, Livvy.” Jonah squeezed her hand.
How she longed to grip it with all her strength and never let go. “We still have time.”
“Maybe on the back side with all the blackberry bushes.”
“Maybe.” She’d love to get “the shot” she’d been wanting for years to add to her collection. But, even if she did today, it would never be added to her bedroom wall with the others. It wasn’t even her bedroom wall anymore.
She choked back a rising sob. Stop it, Olivia. This line of thought isn’t helping you be strong.
They rounded the curve past the bathrooms and swung into the far side. Her heart picked up speed. She was almost there. Whether she wanted to or not, her gaze traveled to the mirror and took in every detail of her babies’ faces. Not that she didn’t know them by heart already. Would she eventually forget the contours of their smiles?
A tear leaked from her eye. She swiped it away before anyone could see.
This was exactly why she never wanted to get close to anyone. What had she been thinking?
An opening in the trees led the road toward a wide field. She followed the other motorists in a slow line, half-heartedly listening to the kids’ excited chatter in the backseat. She and Jonah didn’t need to speak with idle words. She would miss that.
“There!” Jonah leaned forward and pointed to a tall tree. “See it?”
Her heart rate spiked. In the top of the branches, a large, black form appeared between the leaves. There was the bear she’d specifically asked God to send.
It was time.
She pulled onto the shoulder and took a deep breath.
“You go ahead and let the kids look, okay, hon?”
Jonah nodded and popped a kiss against her cheek.
She would miss those too.
He and the kids clambered out and crossed the road to join the throng of excited people. For a moment, she stood at her door and watched them. Hand-in-hand, happy. Oblivious. Would this image of them be the one she pictured on lonely nights from now on?
She sighed as she grabbed her backpack from the floorboard. Jonah hadn’t noticed the bag she always carried seemed a bit heavier than usual. Slipping into the dense foliage behind her, Olivia took one last glance at her family, and then let the branches snap back into place and obscure her from everyone.
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she crested the hill just inside the forest’s edge. She swiped them away. She’d done what had to be done in order to save them. That’s all that mattered.
SIX MONTHS. A HUNDRED and ninety two point five days since Dave had walked away. Had chosen the greener grass and left Annalise Baker standing in the muddy backwash. There were still days she felt as if she was barely hanging on by a thread.
Like today.
Annalise sighed. The pen shook as she scrawled her name on the papers granting Dave his divorce. He’d get the house. She’d get their dog Millie. And they’d both move on.
Right.
So easy to say. Much harder to actually do.
But the last thing she could do for the man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with was grant his wish. She hadn’t focused enough on her marriage when she’d had a chance to save it, and now it was over. He hadn’t fought hard enough when he felt it slipping away, and now he had someone new.
Her phone jingled, and she jumped. She glanced at the caller ID and smiled. “Hey, Zach. What’s up?”
“Just checking on you.”
Thank the good Lord above for her best friend, or she wouldn’t have survived the upheaval that seemed to be her life recently. “I’m okay.”
“Signed the papers, didn’t you?”
“Just now.” He’d read her mind so many times, she’d grown used to it by now. Counted on it, even.
“Ready to come work for SMIF now?”
Their mutual team leader Kirk had kept her on as a consulter for the Smoky Mountain Investigative Force while she figured out where life was dragging her. She had a sneaking suspicion Zach kept Kirk’s doubts about her full return to work at bay with daily whisperings and encouragement. “Might as well. Nothing else to do with my free time now.”
Zach chuckled. “You make it sound as if you’ve been handed a death sentence.”
She had been, hadn’t she? Divorce wasn’t something she’d wanted, asked for, or ever seen coming. It meant she’d failed at the most important thing in her life.
“You deserve so much better, Lise. This divorce may just turn out to be your freedom papers instead.”
She snorted. “Right.”
“Seriously.” He sighed. “Want to see the new headquarters with me today?”
She glanced around at the empty house. She literally had no reason to stay. All of her things already awaited her in a chalet above Gatlinburg, with a beautiful view and a massive fireplace. She couldn’t afford it, but something about the home called to her. “I’m on my way.”
Leaving the papers on the kitchen counter for Dave, along with more than one tear smudge, she walked out of her used-to-be home and closed the door for the last time.
It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would.
On the front walk, she drew in a long, slow breath and blew it out, sending negative thoughts and clouded emotions along with it. Dwelling on what could have been would only distract her from what actually was.
Zach was waiting on her. A new job. A new life. A new purpose.
A new Annalise Raven Baker. Special Agent Baker, nonetheless.
Ugh. If she kept up the self-pep-talk, maybe, eventually, somehow, she would start to believe it. Maybe somehow she would cast those lying, guilt-tripping demons out. The ones who yelled at her innermost thoughts, “You weren’t enough. He would have stayed, wouldn’t have run to her, had you been enough.”
Her cell phone rang again. “Hey, Zach.”
“Where you at?”
“Seriously? We talked like five seconds ago.”
“Just making sure you didn’t get lost.”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Leave it to Zach to make her grin at a time like this. When her former world was falling to a giant pile of ashes—again—behind her, he had her looking toward the future. “Right. Look, I’m headed up now.”
“No more standing on your ex’s sidewalk reminiscing, okay?”
She sighed. “Fine, I give. You caught me.”
“Life will be good again. You’ll see.”
She bit her lip. “How do you kn—” She caught herself. Of course he knew. He’d lived through his parent’s divorce.
“Just hurry up, slow poke. We need to run through your testimony one more time before tomorrow too.”
A stone plopped into her stomach, pulling her even lower. “Don’t remind me.”
“Get used to it, Special Agent. Part of the job description.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, I know.”
“Jimmy Vern Buchanan needs to be locked away—as long as humanly possible. You’re ready to seal that coffin, aren’t you?”
Cody Moss’s face flashed through her mind’s eye. He hadn’t deserved to be kidnapped, starved nearly to death, his mother beaten, his friends threatened—she didn’t need to go on. The list was longer than her new book of regrets. “Yes.”
“There’s my girl.”
“Listen, best friend, you think you know me so well...”
Zach’s laughter shot through the phone.
She pulled it away from her ear and chuckled. Who was she kidding? He did know her that well. Creepy well sometimes. “I’ll be there in forty-five minutes.”
“You officially moved out in?”
“Out in?”
“Yeah, out of that jerk’s house and into your own place.”
She winced. Jerk? She wouldn’t call Dave a jerk. He was sweet, handsome, considerate...and an adulterer. Jerk it was. “Yep. Got the very last things just now. Millie loves the new place, especially the bird feeder on the side deck.” Annalise clenched her fist a bit tighter around her mother’s locket. She’d almost forgotten it, hanging on the mirror above the antique dresser she and Dave had picked out. It seemed so long ago now. A lifetime had passed in just the last six months.
She would never be the same woman.
Was that a good thing or a bad one?
“Lise, get out of your own head.”
“Hmm?”
“Stop. Thinking.”
“Hard to do.”
He chuckled. “For you, yes. For me, not so much.”
“That is the most honest thing you’ve said in a while.”
“Just get down here. I have new cross-examination questions for you. After I show you the headquarters. Fully functional kitchen. Might be my favorite part.”
“Might be?”
“Yep. I like the grill on the patio too.”
“Of course you do.” It involved food. “I can’t talk and drive.”
“As you wish.” Click.
“Bye to you too, you big goofball.” Her chuckle died in her throat. She didn’t want to run through her testimony again. It was too hard to think clearly right now, with her broken heart sending shockwaves every five seconds to the rest of her body. Zach had far too much fun the day before pretending she was on the stand and ripping her apart, and she had no desire to repeat the torture.
If she pretended like court wasn’t actually happening tomorrow, she could delay the piranhas eating her from the stomach out. Right?
Chapter Two
“You could live here, Zach.”
His eyes lit up. “I know!”
“Did you actually design everything yourself?”
“Nope. Kirk read my mind.”
“And how about the woman in your guys’s midst? Any consideration at all for her desires?” Annalise actually liked the headquarters, with its high, open-beamed ceilings and rustic-cabin feeling, but she couldn’t miss a chance to give him a hard time.
“Follow me, m’lady.”
“Oh, well, when you say it like that, what choice do I have but to comply?” She grinned. Her first spontaneous smile in days felt good. Really good.
Zach held the back door open and let her pass.
Annalise stopped in her tracks and gasped.
“Your own private oasis, Lise. This, I did design myself.”
Encircled by tall, fragrant hedges, a shaded fountain and an inviting bench waited for her. “It’s beautiful.”
“Count the feeders.”
Five? “How many birds do we plan to attract here?”
“As many as you like. Kirk said you can even bring Millie if you want. She can hang out and be the office pet.”
Annalise flew into his arms and squeezed his waist tight. “Thank you, Zach. Really.”
“I knew you would need somewhere quiet and outdoorsy to be able to let that beautiful mind of yours think properly. Can’t have our newest special agent having brain-block in the middle of a serious case, can we?”
She chuckled. “I suppose not.” The weight of their confidence in her abilities settled onto her shoulders. What if she let the guys down? What if Dave’s affair and the divorce had played such havoc with her thought processes that she was no longer suited for this line of work? Mental clarity hadn’t exactly been her strong suit la
tely.
“Stop thinking, Annalise.”
“Ugh. I don’t know how.”
He kissed the top of her head and squeezed. “You’ll figure it out. You’re stronger than you know.”
For a moment longer, she lingered in the safety of his arms. “You smell good today.”
“What? I smell good every day.”
She released him, and he dropped his arms. “Oh, yeah, especially after that hike into the mountains last year to get Buchanan’s men.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Extenuating circumstances.”
Her smile bloomed even bigger. “Come on. Let’s go practice. If we must...”
“We must. You are still nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”
“Long-tailed cat, Zach. Long-tailed.”
“Short tails hurt gettin’ rocked on too.”
Oh, for Pete’s sake. She would have thought by now she could follow his lines of thoughts a little better.
ANNALISE GRIMACED. Again. He was tempted to point it out. Again. But he refrained. He’d been mock questioning her for an hour. If he pushed much harder, she’d break and forget everything they’d practiced when she made it to court tomorrow.
The office phone rang, and Zach heard Kirk’s muffled voice answer in the next office. A few moments later, he poked his head in the doorway. “Got a call. Come on.”
He glanced at Annalise. Her face drained of color. What was that about? She was tailor-made for this job. He sighed. Dave had robbed her of her confidence. The last six months had been torture watching her blame herself for the demise of their marriage. Maybe a new case was exactly what she needed right about now.
“I made you a gear bag.”
Her gaze snapped to his. “You did? That was thoughtful of you.”
“That’s me.” He inflated his chest. “Mr. Thoughtful.” More like Mr. Concerned. And a hint of some other things he’d been managing to stuff down for months now.
Zach grabbed shotgun, after tucking Annalise into the rear passenger seat and closing her door. She shot him a look that said, “You’re babying me too much, bud.” Guilty. He knew he was. He’d have to back off a touch and let the little birdie try out her broken wings.