Page 7 of A Storm of Nightmares

I shut my eyes tight and swallow hard, willing my fears into the back corner of my brain, locked away and deprived of light. I have to be strong enough for this girl. And just because there were a few similarities doesn’t mean this case has anything to do with Betty. I can do this; just put on a brave face. Hold it together for a bit longer.

I open the bathroom door and find Malerie only inches away from my face with a worried expression painted all over her. “I’m ok, I’m sorry.” Clearing my throat, I walk back over to the dining table, silently praying my pale face doesn’t give away my most recent panic attack. “Alright, Malerie, if you want my help in finding your sister, I should have a look around her room. See if the police missed anything. Maybe her phone too, if it can be made available to me?”

“Yes, of course.” She pulls a phone out of her back pocket and immediately hands it to me. “This is Jess’ phone. And my parents are at work every day from nine to five, so stop by anytime during those hours. I don’t mean to sneak you around, but my parents told me not to do this,” she gestures between the two of us.

I grab the phone before having second thoughts. If the police gave a crap about finding this girl, they would have her phone in evidence. The fact that Malerie has it is proof that cops aren’t showing any attention to another missing teenager. Anger boils inside me and stomps all over my earlier anxiety. I have to do this for them. All of them. The missing girls.

I swipe my thumb across the screen, and it opens without any trouble, with no password request. I click on the text icon and then on Roger’s name. Scrolling through the texts between him and Jess, nothing seems to stand out. A few raunchy messages and some racy pictures that I really wish I hadn’t seen, but nothing suspicious.

After scouring through several conversations via text, I give up. Nothing is incriminating here. I find my way to the camera roll and search for a picture of Jess, so I at least know who I’m looking for. I find a photo of Malerie and another girl, both smiling wide. They look alike. “Is this you and your sister?” I ask.

She peeks over the phone to take a look. “Yeah, that’s us from our family trip to Lake Tahoe for Christmas Break last year.” Jess has blue eyes like her sister, but her hair is strawberry blond, where Malerie’s is a deep red. Her smile is so full of life and happiness, complete with deep dimples on either side.

If her hair were blond, Jess would be the spitting image of Betty. She’d look more like my sister than I do. It’s kind of freaky. Shaking my head, I hand the phone back to Malerie. “Hold on to that for me. I might have to look through it again. I’m free now to check out your house. Let’s go.”

Malerie quickly grabs her white backpack and slings it over her shoulder. We’re out of my apartment and into my car in just a few minutes. I guess Malerie took a taxi here. I wouldn’t let her take one back when I have a perfectly good passenger seat that she can use. She nervously bites her fingernails the entire drive, stopping only when she has to give me directions.

When I pull to a stop, I am taken back by the house in front of me. It’s a cute, cottage-style home with sage green paint, brown window shutters, and a cobblestone pathway leading to the front door. The yard has a large oak tree with a tire swing hanging off one of the lower limbs. The tire sags a bit in the middle, from years of use, I imagine. I smile to myself at the sight. I can picture Malerie and Jess playing in this yard on warm summer nights, not unlike how Betty and I would spend our time when we were young.

We both get out of my car, and I follow Malerie up the pathway and into her home. She directs me to Jess’ bedroom before I have time to check out the house. My wandering eyes and natural curiosity only slightly disappointed.

The door is wide open, and I can see the bright yellow paint before stepping a foot inside. Jess’ room is so cheerful. Yellow walls, crisp white bedsheets, matching curtains, and a bookshelf filled with pictures of friends and old stuffed animals rather than books.

I’ve found you can know a person simply by seeing their bedroom. It’s a safe space where someone can be one hundred percent themselves, free of judgment and peer pressure. People show the contents of the soul in their bedroom: the good, the bad, the pure evil. I’ve seen it all.

Jess’ room screamsI’m a nice girl. And not in a pretentious way. I can tell she’s just an honest-to-God good person. The yellow walls and white sheets only being my first hint. This room tells me Jess is happy and that she loves her friends and family fiercely. I can’t imagine she has any enemies. Although, neither did Betty... I guess being nice doesn’t mean shit.

I make my way to the window. It’s shut, but Malerie said the night Jess went missing, it had been left open. Just like it was in Betty’s room, my nasty inner voice reminds. She has been relentless in forcing memories of that night to mind lately.

I push open the window and inhale the fresh spring air. Glancing outside doesn’t give me any idea of whether anybody has been in or out of this window, though. I might be a private investigator, but it’s not like I can detect and track freaking footprints in the grass. I don’t know why I even bothered looking around.

I’m just about to pull my head back in and close the window when something red catches my eye. I look down and notice a small red dot on the edge of the window seal.Blood. Just a tiny drop of it, but it’s clear as day. How could someone have missed this? Every time I think I cannot be more astounded at the dipshits on the police force in this town, I’m proven wrong.

The room starts spinning, and my knees feel weak. I put my hand on my forehead and shut my eyes. Deep breaths, Kat. The similarities are uncanny. How could the cops have not connected the dots? Four years ago, someone took Betty, and two days ago, the same person took Jess. I’m sure of it.

A flicker of hope surges through me, but it’s gone as quick as it had come. Just because the same psycho took Jess a few days ago doesn’t mean Betty is still alive somewhere. This freak could have done anything with Betty in the last four years. Maybe he finally got tired of her. Is this his way of replacing Betty? Are the cops going to find her body somewhere now that this person has a new plaything? I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but I can’t stop my mind from wandering to the worst possible scenario.

After a few minutes, I pull myself together, slap on a smile, and make my way back out to Malerie. “Ok, I got everything I could from her room. I’ll do some digging and see what I can find. Can you make a list of people Jess is close to? Also, a list of anybody she didn’t get along with. Include phone numbers and home addresses if you have them. And if you can think of anything else that might point me in the right direction, don’t hesitate to call me.” I pause for a moment before adding, “Malerie, I know how you feel. I understand how scary it is to lose someone and have no idea what happened to them. I’ll do everything I can to get to the bottom of this, but I don’t want to give you any false hope. I can’t promise to find Jess. I can only promise to try my very best.” As much as I want to find Jess and save this poor family from suffering the way mine has, I must be reasonable. I have no idea where she could be. I’ve been looking for Betty for four years and haven’t come up with anything.

Malerie throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around me in a bear hug and squeezing until I can’t breathe. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Kat. I know the odds of finding Jess are slim, but I have to try. I can’t give up. You have no idea what this means to me.” She pulls away and smiles at me through watering eyes. I take that as my cue to head back home and get to work.

I feel fire spread through my veins as I walk to my car. I have renewed confidence in finding Betty andJess, and I’m not backing down until I get some fucking answers.

I’m itching to dive into this case with everything I have. I’m not getting paid for my time, but if I find Jess, this could be my big break. Cracking this could kick start my career, and maybe I can find an office for my business instead of working at my dining table.

Besides the financial perks, though, I can’t deny that I’d feel some kind of closure if I could find Jess. Even if I never find Betty. Even if I never get to see my sister or hear her voice again. Finding one missing girl might just have to be enough.

Driving home takes twice as long as it should have. I take a different way home and make a few random turns before pulling into my parking spot. I feel kind of foolish once I get out of my car, but I cannot shake the feeling of being followed. I didn’t see anyone tailing me, though. I roll my eyes at myself. I’m just paranoid.

I climb the steps to the third floor and make my way down the hallway to my apartment. Stopping in front of my door, I reach for the knob out of habit when I freeze. There’s a note taped on the door. My name is written sloppily on the front in bold, black ink. Fear takes over me as I stare at my door. There goes my surge of confidence. I almost don’t grab the note, but I realize I can’t just leave it taped to my damn door all night. I slowly grab it and turn it over in my shaky hands.

Through watering eyes, I read the retched words that grip my heart in fear.

Betty is gone.

Jess is gone.

Stop looking.

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