“You found something, didn’t you?” Rebecca asked Nick once they were in the car.
He blinked. “What makes you ask that?”
“You’ve been quiet. As if you don’t want to tell me something.”
He started to lie, but when he glanced at her face he couldn’t do it. He decided to tell her as little as possible.
“I’m not sure what we found, Rebecca,” he said in a soothing tone. “Bernie’s still looking around. So we’ll wait and see if he comes up with something.”
“If you didn’t think something was wrong, you wouldn’t have run me out of there and left Mr. Wheeler on his own.”
He smiled at her. “You’re a smart woman, Rebecca Davidson Armfield.”
“I try to be.” She half smiled back at him. “Some people try to shield me, but I know more about what’s going on than they think.”
Nick didn’t ask to whom she was referring. “We found a few things that may or may not be clues, but as I said, we’re not sure what it means.” He wasn’t going to tell her anything specific.
“Are you aware that my sister has a lot of strange friends?”
“Not really—but now that you’ve told me, I want to make sure none of them had a reason to help her leave town.”
“Nick—” She bit her lip. “You think Mindy’s dead, don’t you?”
“Why would you say that? I never make up my mind until I have all the facts. Mindy could be very much alive and having a ball on some nice beach in the Bahamas, for all we know.”
“Not without her bag.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yes, that. I’d stake my life on the fact that she’d never leave town without it unless she was forced to do so.”
“Do you think your sister’s dead?” Nick hadn’t wanted to ask her that, but knew he had to.
Tears filled her eyes. “Oh, my. I hope not. I keep thinking we might get a ransom note or something.” She wiped her eyes. “But I can’t help thinking things aren’t going to turn out like I want them to.”
Nick decided that if Mindy had come to some harm, Rebecca knew nothing about it. A wave of relief washed over him, but he refused to admit why. He would only say it had something to do with his suspicions about her husband.
To her, he said, “Ransom is a possibility.”
Rebecca paused, and then put her hand on his elbow.
“Nick,” she said. “Find out what happened to my sister. I don’t care what it takes. Please…just find out.”
He couldn’t control the tingle that slid through his arm at her touch. He swallowed. “I’ll do my best, Rebecca.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
* * * *
After Nick left her at the door, Rebecca told Wilma not to disturb her, and then went upstairs to her room. She went into her closet, took out her small embroidered bag, and put it on the table beside the one belonging to Mindy. There was little difference between the two bags, except Mindy’s had soft pink roses, and the roses on Rebecca’s bag were a deep red. A small rhinestone was attached to the top petal of the largest rose on each bag. Their mother had told them they were dewdrops, and she had put one on each bag for good luck.
Rebecca placed a hand on top of each of the bags and said aloud, “I promise you, Mindy, on the graves of our parents, I won’t give up until I know what happened to you. If you’ve come to harm, the person responsible will pay for what they’ve done.”
She picked up the two bags and took them to the small personal safe located under the rug in her closet. She pulled back the carpet, dialed the numbers, and opened the door, then placed the two bags inside with the other possessions she hid there. The safe had been here all her life, and for some reason, she’d kept it and everything in it a secret from everyone, including her husband.
Dropping the carpet back over the safe, she stood and went back into the bedroom. She was now ready to let herself grieve. For the first time, she let sadness sweep over her.
She collapsed on her bed, and sobs shook her whole body.