Lacey felt the air leave her lungs. How she’d hoped she’d be wrong. But she wasn’t. She felt no satisfaction in being right. “What do we do now?” She looked up at Mason. “She was there. Something happened that night other than Kayla just dying in a car accident. Something that instilled a fear in Bethany that she felt she couldn’t share with me.”
Mason scrubbed a hand down his cheek and sighed. He looked at Catelyn. “All right, I think this is enough evidence to prove that Lacey may be on to something, don’t you?”
The detective nodded. “It’s possible.”
Standing, Lacey twisted her fingers together. “You have to get Georgia to tell you what they were doing that night.”
“Daniel?”
They all turned at the voice in the doorway. Lacey gasped and jumped up. “Janice?”
The tall, regal-looking woman paused, her attention swinging from Daniel to Lacey. A hand fluttered to her chest. “Lacey, darling, how are you?”
Feeling a tremulous smile hover on her lips, Lacey gave a low humorless laugh. “I’ve been better. My daughter is missing.”
A perfectly arched brow lifted. “I’d heard you were back with a child in tow.”
Unsure how to take that comment, Lacey just stared at Daniel’s wife, the woman who’d once been her closest friend. Then all of the pretense seemed to slough off of Janice and her expression softened. She moved forward and clasped Lacey in a hug. “I’ve been terribly angry with you.”
Lacey pulled back. “For what?”
“You left without a word sixteen years ago, didn’t call, didn’t send the first Christmas card and then came back to town without calling. What is that all about?”
How could she explain without making everyone in the room more uncomfortable? She couldn’t. “I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right. As soon as we get Bethany home, we’ll get together, all right?” She squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’ve missed you and thought about you often.” That wasn’t a lie. Upon her move back to town, she’d thought about calling Janice but when she’d found out the woman was married to Daniel Ackerman, she just couldn’t bring herself to dial the number.
“Sure.” Janice smoothed a nonexistent stray hair and tugged at the scarf tied in a fashionably loose knot around her neck.
Mason and Catelyn exchanged a look, and Lacey knew exactly what they were thinking. They had an investigation going on and needed to get back to it.
Daniel frowned at his wife, irritation stamped on his features. “What are you doing here? I thought you were working in the shop today? Or volunteering at the hospital or something.”
“I was at the shop until the air conditioner died on me.” She looked at Lacey. “I own the Christmas Every Day Shop.” She grinned. “My father bought it for me.”
Lacey gave a tight smile. Nothing had changed in that area. Janice was still a daddy’s girl who loved to spend the man’s money. And he obviously still let her.
Janice said, “I’m only open six months out of the year and I’m just three days from opening up for this year. Now this.” She pursed her lips in disgust and turned back to her husband. “And you know I volunteer at the hospital on Fridays, not Tuesdays.”
Daniel took a deep breath. “Right, sorry.”
“Well, no matter, I’ll just have to delay opening the shop a few weeks. I don’t suppose it will make that much of a difference.” She looked at Daniel. “I did promise to help out at the clothes closet at the church. Martha called and said they had a new batch to sort.”
Crossing his arms, Mason shifted and shot Daniel a pointed look. Daniel caught the unspoken message. To Janice, he said, “Look, hon, we’re kind of in the middle of something. Call me in a couple of hours and I’ll see what I can do about finding someone to fix the air conditioner. Or call Jack Durant.”
Janice waved a hand in dismissal. “I’ll handle it, but turn on your phone, would you? I wouldn’t have to track you down if you’d answer.”
With a flush, Daniel did as requested then escorted his wife from the office. When he returned, he glanced around and cleared his throat. “She could’ve called my office line,” he muttered. “Sorry about that. The shop is sort of like her child since we can’t…” He broke off and shook his head. “Never mind. Okay, so where were we?”
Lacey pulled in a deep breath. Seeing Janice and Daniel together sent pangs of unexpected—and unwanted—jealousy through her. Why did the man who’d cost her a lifetime of love and happiness get to have it? It wasn’t fair.
But God never promised fair, she reminded herself, He just promised to be there with her through whatever life threw at her.
Like finding her missing daughter.
“I wish we still had that car,” Mason muttered.
Catelyn lifted her head with a snap. “We do.”
“What?” Mason and Lacey asked simultaneously.
“While there was only one beer bottle found at the scene, it’s been ruled an alcohol-related wreck. The car’s at the high school.”
“Was Kayla drinking?” Mason asked, jaw tight.
Daniel shook his head. “There was no alcohol in her blood. She wasn’t drinking and driving.”
Lacey felt some relief flood her. But if Kayla wasn’t drinking, who was? Surely not Bethany. She realized the irony of her thinking. Her own parents never would have believed she’d come home with the news she was pregnant before it had happened. So…had Bethany been drinking that night? Where did the beer bottle come from?
She may never know, she realized.
Catelyn was saying, “In spite of their grief, Kayla’s parents wanted to make sure Kayla’s death wasn’t for nothing and donated the car for the MADD cause.”
“Mothers Against Drunk Driving,” Mason stated the obvious. “They do a semiannual program. One in August at the beginning of school and one in May just before school lets out.”
Daniel nodded. “Right, I saw that in the paper. They used Kayla’s car this past May. They’re planning on using it again this fall when school starts back.”
With a forefinger, Mason tapped his lips and Lacey shivered, remembering when he used to smile at her so sweetly. On their first date, he’d kissed her knuckles, then her forehead.
He’d been such a gentleman, not like most of the guys he’d hung around with. Jerks like Daniel Ackerman.
She pushed those thoughts aside and focused on what Mason was saying. “I don’t know if it would do us any good to get that car back to the lab so a forensics team could go over it.”
Lacey stood and placed her hands on her hips. “It might. Surely no one’s really touched the car. I mean, did they clean it up before putting it on display?”
Catelyn shook her head and grimaced. “No, the parents wanted the kids to have the full shock value if they looked at the air bag close enough. Although with the roof caved in the way it is, you can’t really see much unless you’re right up on it.” She explained, “When the car hit the tree, the top part of the tree broke off and fell on top of the vehicle.”
Lacey winced. And Bethany was possibly inside? The thought made her feel a little sick.
“And,” Mason offered, “they usually display it in front of the school with crime tape sectioning it off to keep people away from it. So, it’s not unreasonable to think that the car hasn’t been touched since the wreck.”
“But what about the weather?” Daniel asked. “I mean it’s been rained on.” He shook his head. “I don’t think you’d get much from forensics.”
Without meaning to, Lacey let her gaze meet Daniel’s. His hard brown eyes bored into hers and she shivered. What was he thinking? He’d been on edge since they’d all entered his office.
Was he afraid she’d bring up his past lies about her right there in front of everyone? She certainly wanted to. She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes refusing to look away. He shifted first then dropped his gaze to the photos still on the table.
Mason placed a hand on her arm, and she jumped. He said to Catelyn and Daniel, “I think it’s worth a try. Even being out in the elements, there still might be something on the inside. Or even in the trunk.” He firmed his jaw and nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Catelyn shrugged. “Fine with me. I’ll get the forensics people to get the car themselves and tell them what we need.”
She exited the room leaving Lacey alone with the two men. Daniel notched his chin at Mason. “Why are you so interested in this case?”
Mason just looked at his friend while Lacey held her breath. “A lot of reasons.” He cut his gaze toward her. “How’s your head?”
Absently, she touched her cheek then winced. “Fine. Or it will be in couple of days. So, what’s the next step in finding Bethany?”
“I think we need to talk to Georgia again while we wait for the forensics team to get finished with the car.”
Lacey crossed her arms and hugged herself. “Then we go back to the high school?”
Mason shook his head. “No, I think it would be best to catch her at home this time.” He grabbed the pictures of Kayla’s wreck and shoved them back into the folder. Placing it back on the desk, he said to Lacey, “Come on, we need to see Bethany’s room. Then we can see about talking to Georgia.”
When Catelyn returned, they filled her in on the plan and the foursome left the station to climb into two separate cars. Lacey and Mason into his and Catelyn and Daniel into the police vehicle.
Ten minutes later, they pulled up at the curb of Lacey’s parents’ house. After a brief explanation to her parents as to the reason she was home with the police in tow, Lacey led the way down the hall to Bethany’s room. Her parents hovered in the background, but stayed out of the way and didn’t pepper Lacey or the others with questions.
Lacey silently pushed the door open and sucked in a deep breath. How she wanted to open the door and have Bethany fuss at her for not knocking.
Stepping inside, the detectives swept the area first with their eyes, then snapped on gloves and began going through Bethany’s personal things. Mason handed her a pair of the gloves. “I guess I know better than to ask you to wait in the hall. Besides, we might have questions for you.”
Lacey raised her fingers and wiggled them. “I’ve already been through this room a dozen times,” she protested. “My fingerprints are everywhere.”
Mason shrugged. “Then if we find something, we’ll rule your prints out and don’t have to worry about ours. And maybe we’ll find something new that you haven’t touched yet.”
As she pulled the gloves on, her stomach clenched at the invasion of Bethany’s privacy. Her daughter would have a stroke if she knew, but if it would help find her…
Mason’s expression caught her attention. He looked like a kid at Christmastime who’d been told all the toys under the tree were his. She knew he was taking in every detail of Bethany’s room. Only, in spite of the gloves, he was looking at it from a father’s perspective instead of as a cop.
It made Lacey take another closer look at the room. After a short Goth stage, Bethany got into elegant. Gold trimmed curtains and matching bed spread, a canopy and throw rug all said classy. Lacey had gotten the material at a thrift store and together she and Bethany had made every piece. She sighed and stroked the comforter. She and Bethany had been so close during that time. Now…
He walked to the end table and picked up a picture. “She likes to ski?”
Lacey laughed and stood beside him, breathing in his nearness, her heart rejoicing at his presence. Then breaking at the cause of it. “Oh, Bethany…” she whispered, tracing a finger over the girl’s big grin. She looked right at home on the pair of skis, the blue in the jacket making her eyes brighter than the blue of a clear summer sky. “She loves it. The lady who we rented an apartment from used to take Bethany to church where she got involved in the youth group. One year they went skiing when she was about twelve. She’s been hooked ever since.”
Pulling in a deep breath, he replaced the picture and moved on to the shelves over her desk. “Karate trophies.”
“Yes.” She grinned. “It seems like every Saturday, we were road-tripping it somewhere. She hasn’t done as many competitions lately.” Lacey frowned and muttered, “She hasn’t wanted to.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you pay for it—the lessons, the competitions, everything?”
Lacey felt a flush cover her cheeks and narrowed her eyes. “I worked for it.”
This time he turned red. “That’s not what I meant. I just…well this is an expensive sport, I just…” He trailed off. “Sorry.”
She gave him a break and decided to answer. “I worked two jobs, one from home where I could be with Bethany and then the graphics design one. With both of those, I could make ends meet and have a little left over for Bethany and I to do some fun things. Like road trips for karate competitions.”
A look she thought she recognized as admiration shone briefly in his eyes. “You’re an amazing mom.”
Embarrassed at the unexpected praise, mostly because no one had ever told her that before, she simply gaped at him them mumbled, “Well, I don’t know about that.”
Mason simply smiled and moved on.
Pulling open the long thin drawer on the desk, he looked inside. Lacey looked over his shoulder. She’d already been through it and could tell him what it contained. A stack of papers, a few pens, a math book. Lacey reached around him and picked up the papers. Catelyn had finished in the closet and Daniel stood looking at the edge of the window. Absently, she wondered what he was looking at.
With a sigh, she flipped through the first few sheets. School-related announcements, one for a summer camp held in Colorado. Lacey almost chuckled. The girl had big dreams. “She wants to go to camp in Colorado,” she murmured. “Why would she willingly disappear when she’s dreaming about the future?”
She wouldn’t.
And then the next one made her gasp.
Mason glanced at her and asked, “What is it?”
His words barely registered in the rushing roar of her fear. Hands trembling, she held out the picture.
She heard his swiftly indrawn breath as he saw it. “It’s another picture from the yearbook.”
A younger version of Mason and Lacey grinned back at them. A bull’s-eye had been drawn over each of their faces.
At the bottom of the picture someone had taped a picture of Bethany. A full-body shot taken while Bethany lay sprawled on a bench outside the school. Her lunch tray lay on the ground beside her and it looked like she had fallen asleep. The picture itself would have been cute had it not been for the red slash someone had drawn across Bethany’s throat.