Mason felt his skin crawl. His stomach tied itself in knots and he thought if he didn’t find out who was behind all this, he might just snap.
Staring down at the picture, he felt slightly nauseous. Who would do this? What kind of enemy had Lacey made? And how? What could she have done during the short time she’d been home?
Or had someone followed her home?
He looked at Lacey as he passed the picture over to Catelyn and Daniel. “Is there anyone from the home or where you worked before you moved here that would be mad at you about something? Could someone have followed you here?”
Her mouth worked and she gulped. “Um. No. Not that I know of. I mean I generally just kept to myself.” She flushed. “It’s hard to make friends with a big old chip on your shoulder.” Her words came slow as though she was embarrassed to admit it. “Unless…” She bit her lip and looked away.
“What?”
“There was this boy. Bethany’s age. He was crazy about her back in North Carolina.”
Mason narrowed his eyes. “Let me guess. You weren’t crazy about him.”
She gave a negative shake of her head. “I thought he was too sophisticated for her. Too mature. Too…everything. I came home early from one work one day and I caught them making out on the couch.” Anger glittered in her eyes. “I said a few things I shouldn’t have, really laid into both of them, but mostly him.” She shrugged. “But we moved here the next week and Bethany hasn’t heard from him since.”
“That you know of,” Mason muttered. Already he wanted to wrap his hands around the young man’s throat. His emotion shocked him. Was this what being a father of a teenage girl felt like?
Exchanging a glance with Daniel and Catelyn, Mason asked, “What’s his name?”
“Austin Howard.”
Catelyn wrote it down. “I’ll check this out and get back to you.”
Daniel had already bagged the picture. He nodded to the window. “Looks like the window’s been jimmied.”
Lacey let out another gasp. “Is that how someone got in? Bethany said someone was in her room one night….”
“I would say it’s possible.”
“All right, let’s get that window fixed,” Mason intervened as he looked at Catelyn. “While you guys take care of this, Lacey and I will head over to Georgia’s house and see if she will be a little more forthcoming now.”
Catelyn nodded. “I’m going to get Joseph to do some digging into this Austin Howard fellow and see what he’s been up to the last couple of days. I also want to see where he was the night of the car accident.”
Nodding his agreement, Daniel wrote something in his notebook and said, “I’ll check with the lab and see where they are on the car.”
In agreement, they finished up in Bethany’s room then split up to go their separate ways.
Mason was still in the processing stage.
He had a daughter. He really did.
He jerked as he realized he had to tell his family—his dad, sister and his stepmother.
Then winced at the thought of how that would go over.
They’d be furious.
Not at the fact that Bethany existed, but at the fact they hadn’t been able to spoil her rotten for the past fifteen years. His heart thudded. Not to mention that they’d be crushed if Bethany was gone for good, and they never got to meet her.
His father had remarried almost ten years ago, although Mason wondered how he found the courage to trust again after what his mother had done. Grudgingly, as the years passed and he watched the two of them together, he had to admit that his stepmother, Maggie, seemed to be perfect for his father.
Mason’s sister, Carol, had been married for three years and professed she had neither the time nor the desire to have a child that would interfere with her budding acting career.
Which was one reason why she rarely came home. Carol declared she couldn’t stand the subtle comments about her biological clock ticking away and the accompanying sad-eyed looks at her minuscule waist.
He shook his head and almost smiled. Mason would become Carol’s favorite person as soon as he produced Bethany to his parents.
Mason’s smile turned south.
If he produced her.
His fingers gripped the steering wheel. No, there was no if about it. He would find her. He had to.
He spun the wheel and pulled onto Georgia’s street. Three houses down he parked in front of a brick ranch with a nicely kept yard. A blue Mustang convertible sat in the drive.
Georgia’s car.
“She’s home.” Lacey’s soft words slammed into him. He’d driven the entire way to Georgia’s house so consumed by his own thoughts he hadn’t opened his mouth to utter a word.
He looked at Lacey. “I’m sorry.”
The soft look in her eyes shook him. She still had that uncanny ability to read him when he dropped his guard enough. She knew what he meant by the apology.
Her fingers reached out to loosen his from the steering wheel. The warmth of her hand seared him as she reassured him. “You don’t have to explain. You’ve got a lot to think about.” Her gaze swung back to the house. “I want to talk to her this time.”
“Lacey…”
Her jaw firmed into a rock that he remembered from their teen years. He might as well keep his arguments to himself. Instead of trying to persuade her to let him do the talking, he simply nodded.
“Fine.”
Lacey raised a brow at him when he still made no move to get out of the car. “What is it?”
“What’s she like? What’s her favorite color? Gold? She had a lot of gold in that room.”
Lacey sighed. “Well, when she was thirteen and in the Goth phase, she was really into black.”
He winced. “Goth?”
“Uh-huh. But it didn’t last long. I just let her do her thing and didn’t say much about it. Even when she came home one afternoon from school with jet-black hair.” She shook her head and gave a small smile. “I was horrified, but I didn’t say anything except that change wasn’t always a bad thing and I’d get used to it.”
He gave a small laugh. “What did Bethany say?”
“She was miffed that I didn’t blast her and give her the argument she wanted.” She cut her eyes at him. “This whole Goth thing was an attempt to get me to tell her your name.”
His eyes lost their smile. “Did it work?”
“Almost,” she whispered. “But I just couldn’t. Not at that time. In spite of having a dad for a preacher, I was a new Christian and was just learning my way. I had to go at my own pace.” She sighed. “But I did sit her down and we had a long talk about you.”
“Minus the name, of course.”
“Yes, minus the name.” She looked out the window.
“But it seemed to help. After that, she let the dye grow out and stopped wearing black all the time. Now her favorite colors are gold and green.”
Mason drew in a deep breath. The more she told him about Bethany, the more he wanted to meet the girl. He just hoped Georgia was the one that was going to make that possible. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Mason opened the door and climbed out of the car. Lacey did the same and they walked side by side up the path to the front door.
Lacey reached out a finger and pressed the doorbell.
The girl he’d just questioned a few hours earlier opened the door with a smile that quickly turned into a frown when she saw him. When her eyes landed on Lacey, the frown tightened into a look of fear. “Ms. Gibson? Have you found Bethany?”
Lacey took the girl’s hand and gave her fingers a squeeze. “Not yet, hon. And that’s why I really need to talk to you. Is it all right if we come in?”
Georgia licked her lips, looked over her shoulder then back at them. “Um, sure. I guess.”
Lacey noticed that fear still lingered in Bethany’s friend’s gaze. Georgia led them to a nice-sized living area. The white walls and French doors made it seem larger than it actually was. The tan leather couch and matching love seat complemented the room.
“Do I need to get my mom?”
Mason gave her a comforting smile. “Not unless you want to. I’m not here in an official capacity.” He glanced at Lacey. “I’m here to support Bethany’s mother, I guess you could say.”
“Okay. Well, just let me tell her you’re here. I’ll be right back.”
True to her word, she returned within seconds and said, “Mom said you could talk to me.” She sounded like she wished her mother had refused.
Georgia waved them to the sofa while she chose the cushioned rocker on the opposite wall. One bare foot tapped the floor in a silent nervous gesture.
Lacey looked the girl in the eye and leaned forward. “Please, Georgia, tell us what happened the night of the wreck. I know Bethany was there—and you were, too. Please, please, be honest. Right now, you’re my only hope of finding Bethany.”
Georgia swallowed hard and tears filled her eyes. “Ms. Gibson, I’m sorry…I…”
“Tell the truth, Georgia.”
The quiet voice filled the room. Lacey looked to her left to see Georgia’s younger brother standing in the connecting door that led to the kitchen. He was about thirteen years old and a male copy of his sister from his dark curls to green eyes.
Georgia’s nostrils flared and she blinked rapidly. “Go away, Nate.”
Her words lacked force and didn’t faze the young man. Shoving his hands into the front pockets of his khaki cargo shorts, Nate stepped toward Georgia. “You were there that night. I saw you slip out and get in the car with Kayla.”
Lacey breathed a surprised gasp, and Nate turned toward her. “I think Bethany was in the car that night, too. There was someone else in the passenger side. Could have been her.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before this?” Lacey asked.
Nate shrugged. “Because Georgia asked me not to. She said she’d get in a ton of trouble for sneaking out and lying about everything.” He frowned at his sister. “But she’s been so weird since then, and I don’t think some things that have happened to her were really accidents. I’m scared for her.” He flushed. “I kept quiet because she could get me in trouble for something I did at school, but if she’s in some kind of danger…”
Mason looked at Georgia. “So you blackmailed him?”
Georgia jumped up. “I had to! Don’t you under stand?”
At her shout, Georgia’s mother entered the room, her eyes taking in the agitation of her daughter and her guilty-faced son. “What’s going on?” She looked hard at Mason and Lacey. “When I said you could talk to Georgia, I didn’t mean you could have her in tears.”
Lacey bit her lip and stared at Georgia, ignoring the girl’s mother. “No.” She kept her voice as neutral as possible. “I don’t understand. Could you please explain it to me?”
Mason jumped in with his own question. “What accidents, Georgia?”
Nate answered for his sister. “A car almost ran her off the road a couple of days ago. And then we were at the mall last Saturday with Bethany and someone tried to shove her down the escalator.”
“What?” Georgia’s mother gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
Severely agitated, Georgia looked back and forth between Nate and her mother. Then she let out a groan and sank back onto the chair. “All right,” she finally whispered, “I was there the night of the wreck.” She looked up. “Bethany was there. We were all there.”
“Georgia?”
The girl ignored her mother’s horrified whisper and shot a look at her brother so full of agony that Lacey gasped. Then Georgia took a deep breath and said, “We all snuck out and Kayla picked up Bethany first, then came after me.”
“I knew it,” Lacey replied as her heart thudded in her chest. Was she finally going to hear what happened that night?