Page 118 of Wish You Were Mine

“Yeah.” I leaned over the sofa to pat Cookie, then followed Summer outside. She was already behind the wheel, and I got in the passenger side. As soon as I shut the door, she took off. She drove as quickly as she could to Frannie’s place, but with all the snow, she could only go so fast without endangering us.

Somehow, despite the police car parked out front, Frannie’s house was as picturesque as ever, with its white picket fence and snow covering the garden and roof. We followed the footsteps through the snow to the front door and I knocked but opened the door without waiting for anyone to answer.

I went straight to the living room and Summer followed behind. I wasn’t sure if she’d been in Frannie’s home before, but I didn’t think so. Voices came from the living room, along with the sound of a woman crying.

My heart seized. Frannie.

I strode through the doorway, immediately taking in the scene. My sister sat on the sofa, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed. Dean was rubbing her back and Mum sat on her other side, looking as though she wanted to hug Frannie but wasn’t sure whether she’d welcome it.

Dad stood behind Mum. Nate was squatting in front of Frannie, and Officer Mehrtens hovered to his left. That left an armchair free. I dropped onto it and patted my thigh. Summer glanced at Nate, as if debating whether being affectionate with me would upset him, but then she lowered herself onto my lap.

“Thanks for coming,” Dad said.

“There’s no sign of her?” I asked, holding tightly to Summer in an attempt to conceal my distress. Frannie didn’t need me falling apart on her.

“Not yet,” Nate said, turning toward us. “I need to get a full statement from Frannie and Dean so I can coordinate a search properly, but in the meantime, I’d like the rest of you to search the house and property.”

“We’ve already—” Dean started.

“Do it again.” Nate cut him off. “Babies are small. Perhaps she slid behind something, and you didn’t see her the first time.”

“But wouldn’t she be crying?” Summer asked.

Nate’s nostrils flared. “We don’t have any time to waste. Get to it.”

Summer nodded and stood. I got up too, and we gestured for Mum and Dad to join us nearer the door so that Nate could continue speaking with Frannie without us interrupting.

“Mum, you go through the bedrooms and the bathroom,” I said, automatically taking charge since I was on the local search and rescue team and had more experience with this than they did, even if the searches I was part of were usually in the forest. “Summer, I want you to check the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. Dad and I will search outside.”

No one argued. I zipped my jacket up and turned to Dad. “You take the front of the property, and I’ll do the back. If you finish before me, come and give me a hand.”

We split up. I went out through the back door and instantly doubted that I’d have any luck tracking Marcy. There were no footprints in the snow. In fact, it didn’t seem to have been disturbed at all. Still, I had to make sure.

Carefully, I took three steps down to the lawn. Almost the entire backyard was lawn, except for a narrow strip of rose bushes along the fence, which was much taller around here than it was at the front of the property. It would be difficult for someone to climb it, but not impossible.

I paced the perimeter of the fence, checking for anything out of place.

No luck.

I walked back and forth across the lawn, just in case Marcy had somehow gotten out here and become covered by the snow. I was halfway done when Dad opened the gate and pushed hard, dislodging the snow that blocked the way.

“Need help?” he asked.

“I’m just double checking she isn’t under here somewhere,” I explained.

“I’ll do the same thing, and we can meet in the middle.”

“She wasn’t out the front?”

“No.”

“Any sign someone had been there?”

He grimaced as he began matching me step for step, coming toward me. “Not in the garden, but we’ve had so many people in and out of the house to know for sure who all the footprints belong to.”

My heart sank, even though I hadn’t expected anything different. “Did you notice any footprints when you arrived?”

He turned and started back the other way. “Yes, but Dean had been outside so they could have belonged to him.”

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