Page 12 of In Her Mind

“Fine,” she answered quickly, too quickly. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were missing a piece of the puzzle, a crucial clue that was hiding in plain sight, just beyond their reach.

The memory surfaced abruptly, a vivid intrusion into Jenna’s focused mind. She recalled the dream—the roar of an oncoming locomotive thundering down a deserted road like a harbinger of doom. The spectral woman in her vision had gazed at the light with eerie serenity. And she’d said something that now seemed staggeringly significant …

“Strange, nobody ever comes this way anymore.”

Jenna’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as the echo of those words triggered a cascade of thoughts.

“We’re looking at this wrong,” she murmured. Without further explanation, Jenna steered the car onto the shoulder of Turner Road and brought it to a stop. The vehicle idled, its engine a low purr against the morning stillness.

Jake’s expression was one of mild bewilderment. “What is it?”

Jenna didn’t respond immediately. She sat there, peering through the windshield at the path they had been tracing, trying to reconcile the incongruity of the dream with the reality before them. It played on a loop in her head: the train rushing forward, the woman’s calm acceptance, and the profound sense of something crucial overlooked.

“Jenna?” Jake prompted again, breaking her concentration.

“We’ve missed something important,” she said. “We’re in the wrong place.”

CHAPTER SIX

Jenna sat staring at the stretch of Turner Road, where she had pulled to a stop. Jake finally broke the silence, his voice cutting through her contemplation.

“What do you mean?” he asked sharply. “Where do you think we should be now?

“I’m not sure exactly,” she replied. “Grab the map from the glove compartment. It’s an old one, from back when Frank Doyle was still the sheriff. Might show us something the newer ones don’t.”

Jake complied without question, the sound of paper crinkling loudly in the quiet car interior. Together they unfolded the yellowed map, its edges frayed with age, and laid it out across the dashboard. They traced highways and byways until they located Turner Road, a bold line amidst a network of routes.

Jenna’s gaze, however, was drawn to a much fainter line, marked Old Orndorf Road.

“There,” she pointed, her nail tapping against the paper. “That’s our missing angle.”

Jake leaned closer, squinting at the thin trail on the map. “Old Orndorf Road... that’s a road I’ve never taken.”

“Me neither,” Jenna said, her intuition sparking. “It’s an old farm road, built for taking produce to town. But large farms ship their goods to more distant markets by other means now. And look at this, it’s a shorter route between the animal rescue shelter and the Stevens’s place than this road we’re on now. Amber probably considered it a shortcut. Growing up with the road nearby, she probably knew it well.”

Without hesitation, Jenna reached for her phone and punched a number on her call list. After two rings, Frank Doyle’s gruff voice greeted her warmly.

“Jenna, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Frank’s tone was always a welcome sound, bringing with it a sense of stability amidst chaos.

“Hi Frank, I have a question for you,” she stated briskly as she glanced over the tattered map spread across the dashboard. “We’re looking into Amber Stevens—she’s gone missing,”

“Amber Stevens?” Frank’s concern was clear even through the phone. “I know the family. What can I do to help?”

“The last anyone saw of her was when left Paws and Harmony Rescue to drive to her parents’ home last night. There’s a chance she might have taken Old Orndorf Road. What can you tell me about it?”

“Old Orndorf?” There was a pause that stretched like the road itself, laden with abandonment. “I doubt that much of anybody uses that road anymore, maybe the occasional tractor in the daytime. But last I heard, the road was still under county care.”

“It would still be passable then?”

“There probably aren’t any trees growing up in it, if that’s what you mean. But it could be pretty rough by now.”

“Thanks, Frank.”

“Don’t mention it. Let me know what happens, okay?”

“We sure will.”

Jenna ended the call and pocketed her phone and shared a nod with Jake, a tacit agreement that their next move was to drive to Old Orndorf Road.

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