Page 48 of Her Dying Secret

“I remember being so relieved when I saw his obituary because the temptation to contact him would no longer be there. And to think, I felt so guilty about not telling her he had died, but she’d already met him. I just can’t believe this.”

“When April disappeared and Detective Loughlin started her investigation, did you mention Gordon?” asked Gretchen.

“Why would I? Gordon had been dead for years by then and as far as I knew, April had kept her promise to never contact him. She must have met his other daughter when she reached out to him, but she never told me.” Her entire frame shuddered. “Oh God. That poor child—enduring the fate I saved April from. I can’t even imagine. I always hoped no other woman would be drawn in by him, but life is never that kind, especially not to women.”

“All these years, you never knew he’d started a new family?” asked Gretchen. Her tone was curious, not accusatory. “The Summers don’t live that far from here. Different town, but not a long drive.”

“I truly had no idea. I didn’t keep tabs on Gordon. I wanted to get away from him. There were a handful of times I’d see him in a store or at a gas station and I simply avoided him but other than that, our lives didn’t intersect in any way. Thank God. Wait.” She seemed to emerge from some pocket of the past into the present. “If Mira and April were in the same car when— They must have developed some sort of relationship after Gordon died and yet, she never said anything. Not one word. To any of us. Not to her father—my husband—or her siblings. None of her friends ever mentioned it either, and Heather questioned all of us quite thoroughly.”

Which meant that April had kept any relationship or contact she might have had with Mira a secret. If April had told anyone in her life, it might have gotten back to Teresa and Mira’s last name would have been a red flag. As it was, Teresa’s other kids had picked up on Mira’s last name immediately even though she lived hours away in Denton.

“Why wouldn’t she tell me?” Teresa murmured, almost to herself.

Teresa Carlson didn’t seem like the type who would let her anger get the best of her. Josie thought it was far more likely that April kept Mira a secret because she didn’t want Teresa to be disappointed that she’d broken a promise, especially one so important to her. Josie hadn’t exactly had a traditional upbringing, but Lisette had been the closest thing she’d ever had to a real parent. She remembered how awful it felt to disappoint her. Josie would have taken Lisette’s anger over her disappointment any day.

Gretchen pulled her notebook and pen from her pocket. “We don’t know the nature of their relationship. It’s possible that they hadn’t grown close, or maybe they did and then there was some sort of falling-out that ended things.”

Or April had met or found out about Seth and wisely decided to run screaming in the other direction. But that’s not what she’d done at all. She’d moved to a town only a half hour drive from Denton. Closer to him. Closer to Mira. Yet, there was no evidence of contact between April and either of them the entire time she lived in Newsham.

Teresa continued, “Though I suppose if she was in touch with Gordon’s daughter, it would have been easy to conceal. She moved out right after college and lived on her own after that. Though if she had developed some sort of friendship with Gordon’s daughter, wouldn’t Heather have found evidence on her phone?”

Josie said, “The phone records Heather was able to get only go back two years. If April and Mira had had a falling-out or ceased to be in contact prior to that, then there wouldn’t have been anything in April’s phone records to find.”

Teresa’s brow furrowed. “You said you didn’t think that April’s abduction was random. What does that have to do with Mira?”

Josie cleared her throat. The painkillers were finally kicking back in, making it easier to speak. “Mrs. Summers told us that Mira was dating Seth Lee, for several years, apparently.”

Teresa’s eyes widened. “And if April became friendly with Mira then she would have had contact with Seth. This is some kind of domestic violence situation, isn’t it? Seth and Mira. That was the example that poor girl grew up with, and then she fell in love with a man just like Gordon. Then my poor April got caught up in it.”

“We’re still trying to put all the pieces together,” said Gretchen.

Thinking of the note that April had left for Mira on the Tranquil Trails brochure, Josie asked, “To your knowledge did April ever visit Denton or anywhere in that area?”

Teresa shook her head. “No, not that I’m aware of. We’d never even heard of Newsham, where she got that job. That’s close to Denton, from what I understand.”

“Did April have an interest in horseback riding?” Gretchen said, picking up on Josie’s line of inquiry. “Or horses in general?”

“You’re wondering because of those stables, aren’t you? Heather told me about them but no, April never had an interest in anything like that. She loved animals but she was much more of a cat or dog sort of person.” Teresa sighed. “I still don’t understand why she didn’t get a dog when she moved to Newsham. Living in a strange new town all alone with no family nearby.”

Josie took out her phone and found the child’s drawing to show to Teresa. “Also, as I told you when we first spoke on the telephone—right before we released Seth’s information to the press—we believe that there is a child involved somehow. This was found at the accident scene. Does this mean anything to you?”

Teresa found a pair of reading glasses on a nearby countertop and took Josie’s phone into her hands. She shook her head slowly as she studied the drawing. “Is that an eye?”

“We’re not sure,” said Josie.

“I’m so sorry,” Teresa said, handing the phone back. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

Gretchen jotted something down in her notebook. “I think that’s all we have for you today. We really appreciate your taking the time to speak with us. As soon as we know anything more, we’ll contact you. We’ve got to get to Hillcrest Elementary before the principal leaves for the day. We have some follow-up questions for her.”

“Hillcrest Elementary,” Teresa echoed. “My friend Hope is the principal there.”

Which explained why Heather’s investigation hadn’t turned up the connection between April and Mira via the school. If they had made their connection known at work, the word would likely have gotten back to Teresa very quickly.

“She called me when that man’s photo began circulating,” Teresa added. “She said he looked so familiar to her, but she couldn’t figure out where she might have seen him. She wanted to know if any of us recognized him but as I’ve told you, I didn’t. Neither did my husband nor my other children.”

The doorbell rang. Teresa glanced at the clock on the wall. “That will be my neighbor with candles and such for the vigil. We’re holding one for Shane Foster next week on the anniversary of his disappearance. If you’ll excuse me.”

Once she was out of the room, Gretchen tapped her pen against her notepad. Josie could see the diagram she’d drawn, complete with names and arrows.

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