Page 19 of Peach

It took her a moment to answer as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I'm not sure exactly which bar, but if you go down to the old square and then drive two blocks south, there is a row of bars. They spent time at all three bars that night. That's how they got separated. I guess Audrey thought they were going to another bar, but they stayed. She wandered outside, and I guess she never made it back. The bank is between the bars on the corner."

Peach needed to check that location out. His flight was set to leave on Sunday, and he was almost finished boxing up the paperwork he needed to ship back to California. Once home, he could go through all of their papers and figure out what he needed to take care of and what hecould ignore. While he was here, he should do some digging.

"I didn't know it was that bad here. I really thought it only happened in big cities, which is why I didn't want her to go to Atlanta."

Peach wondered how many other women had disappeared from this area. The population was booming and people felt safe in small towns, but the urban sprawl of Atlanta was here. Just across the street from the home he’d grown up in were streets lined with track homes that were filled with people who commuted into Atlanta for work. A bus from downtown Atlanta stopped about a mile from here. Not that the person trafficking people would ride a bus, but big city problems existed in what used to be small towns.

He needed information, but he wasn’t sure how to get it. A part of him wanted to ignore this, but he needed to investigate. Time was a problem. There had to be someone who could look into the problems here. Maybe the senator and his wife knew someone.

He thanked Diane for her time and asked her to get in touch with him if she thought of anything else. It sucked that they were at a standstill with her daughter, but he knew people who might be able to help.

The sad fact was thousands of women went missing every year. The US didn't keep up with the disappearances. It was too much work for too few people. Something needed to change, and he wasn't sure how to make it happen.

The one thing he could do was take care of Haisley. He was sure she would be just another sad statistic talked about on the news and then forgotten the next day if he hadn't been at the house. At least he'd kept her story fromturning into a tragedy, but he wasn't sure how much help he could be for others here in the middle of Georgia.

Chapter 13

Haisley helpedPeach tape up the boxes and take them to the shipping store. After getting the boxes sent off to his place in California, they drove past the bars and then did a little more touring downtown before heading to the house to meet with the real estate agent. Soon, they would be on the plane out of Georgia, and she thought it couldn't happen soon enough.

“Had you ever gone to those bars?” Peach asked.

Haisley shook her head. "Not really. Maybe once with Will, like when we first got together. He might have been going to them. I didn't really keep up with his location. He worked a lot. But now, looking back, I'm not really sure where he was. He could have been at those bars. I don't really know. Then, I left him and was on my own for a while. I really thought he had stopped being so angry that I left him. But the car, and then there were other things. Now, I think it was all him."

They pulled up at the house, and the realtor was already there, walking around the lot. Peach met her gaze before they got out of the car.

“I don’t know that there’s anything we can do to punish them. I need more time to look into what they’ve done.”

She shook her head. “Punishment isn’t needed. I just want to live my life.”

Peach nodded once before stepping out of the car and going around the front to help her out. The realtor came over and shook their hands.

“You can call me Allen. I’ve been in the business for six years. I’m excited to get this piece of property. How do you feel about opening it up to developers?”

She watched as Peach’s lips thinned. “It’s inevitable, isn’t it?”

Allen shrugged. “Not necessarily. However, there are multiple developers who would buy this today if it went up on the market. It’s already zoned for housing because it was incorporated into the city two years ago.”

“How does that work?” Haisley asked.

“The city government annexed this parcel into the city a few years ago and changed it from farm to housing. I guess they knew people were going to move out. The area is growing, so they were planning. It makes it easier for you to sell.”

Peach shrugged. “I’ll never come back here. I want it gone. Do you have someone you go through for estate sales? I need to get rid of everything inside.”

Allen flashed a huge smile. “Yes. My wife and daughter do that. They don’t charge a lot if you’re a client of mine. So instead of the normal thirty-five percent, they charge twelve if you’re my client.”

Hailey thought that was high, but Peach nodded. “I’d like to sign with you. I’m leaving in the morning, flying back to California. I’m grateful that you do both.”

“Oh, do you live in California?” Allen asked.

“Yes, sir. I’m in the Navy.”

“Oh, we also give a discount for military families.”

Peach shook his head. “No. This was my parents’ place. They weren’t in the military. I’m just getting rid of everything and closing their accounts.”

Allen’s smile faded. “Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss. I didn’t know…”

“It’s okay. I haven’t made any announcements. I was going to do a memorial service, but things happened.”

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