Page 55 of Sutton and the CEO's Baby

“I don’t see it,” Candice spoke up. “I know that you never really know someone. But she seems to be what she says she is. I know that she was feeling real grief over the passing of her father. I can’t imagine that she would be a part of his death.”

“She is a law student who recently started doing very poorly in school,” Brian added. “She claims that this has to do with her father’s passing, which is typical. She also mentioned that her family had once been very affluent. But through checks I have determinedmade I found that the Landrys don’t have any more than the Coswells did. Apparently, the recession took a beating out of both fortunes. She has a tremendous amount of debt.”

“And that gives us a motive,” Knox said softly.

“You knew all of this and still encouraged Sutton to invite her to Otterville Falls?” Mark’s jaw was tight as he glared at Brian and Knox.

Brian raised his hands. “Everything is circumstantial. There is nothing concrete saying that she isn’t who she says she is. We could be grasping at straws.”

“It doesn’t look good that there is no sign of a break in here or even a tussle. Did she just open the door and allow them to take her?” Natalie added.

Brian nodded. “My thoughts precisely. Something doesn’t seem right about this kidnapping.”

“I just don’t see it.” I sighed. “And what if you are wrong and she is being held captive?”

“It’s something that needs to be considered.” Knox rubbed his hand across his jaw, scratching his whiskers. “The real question is, are we going to meet the demands or not?”

“We can’t,” I blurted out. “I have no idea what they are talking about. I have never seen a file or business information that my mother kept. If she did steal something, why wouldn’t she have sold it to feed us? There were plenty of times we were desperate for something to eat. Or if we are being completely honest, she most likely traded it for drugs.”

Brian shrugged his shoulders. “For all we know, she didn’t take it, but maybe she did. We don’t know if it’s digital files or hard copies. We don’t know if she has a secret security box somewhere. But I think we need to search that trailer top to bottom until we find out once and for all if it’s there.”

I frowned. “I thought that is what you were doing?”

Natalie shook her head. “No, what Brian is suggesting is that we take the place apart, look for something that could have been hidden behind a wall or buried beneath the floorboards. If it’s that important, it wouldn’t be in a common place.”

“You want to take the trailer apart?” My voice sounded small.

Mark’s hand slipped into mine, but I hardly noticed it. It shouldn’t have bothered me; it wasn’t like we were going to live there or even that there was anything of value there. But the thought of taking it apart made my stomach churn and my head spin.

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Mark said with resolve and then glared at the group as if begging them to refute him.

I think that was what finally broke down my resistance. Mark would protect me from any hurt. But sometimes we have to tear down the past to rebuild the future.

I nodded shakily. “Okay, let’s do that. Do we have enough time between today and Saturday at midnight?”

Brian’s eyes held compassion in them as he responded. “It’s Tuesday. If we work hard we should be able to get through everything. What do you want to be done with the items?”

I didn’t need to cart them around with me, but I hated to let them go.

“We can open it up to the town, like a yard or garage sale,” Candice suggested, “only everything will be free. The rest can go to a thrift shop unless Sutton wants to hold on to it.”

I accepted the suggestion gratefully. “I would like to try that. There is plenty of property out there. We can set things on the grass and put a notice in the paper.”

Knox nodded. “I think it’s a fine idea. You might want to check with Alice and Reena. They might enjoy something like this, help take their minds off of Max’s passing.”

Ideas starting forming in my head. “We could ask Martha to have baked goods, coffee, and cold drinks. That would help her and make it homier.”

“This isn’t the fair,” Brian grumbled.

But instead of Brian’s words making me feel bad, I laughed. “You don’t know small towns, Brian. Everything we do is an event.”

It was decided that we would have everything ready by Friday morning. An ad was placed in the paper in Otterville and the two closest cities. Martha was more than happy to provide the food and she was even able to get Alice and Reena to help with the preparation.

Long tables were borrowed from the school so that items could be laid out. Of course there weren’t any prices because it was all free for the taking. But I found myself walking up and down the aisles touching items from my past.

I was surprised at the toys and baby outfits that my mother had kept. I hadn’t known she had a thimble collection tucked away. The old sofa and dining table were set out along with the fridge and washer and dryer.

The people in Otterville Falls that we expected to come weren’t the ones from the right side of the track. The trailer court that we lived off of had many families that were struggling to get by. I wasn’t surprised when they were the first to come through.

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