Page 14 of The Sleeping Girls

“Jean, I meant it when I said I need your full cooperation. If Kelsey learned about your affair, she may have gone to talk to the coach. Or if she heard you and Tim discussing a divorce, she may have confided in another adult.”

Shock flared in the woman’s eyes. “All right.” She snagged a sticky note from the counter, then scribbled down the coach’s number. “Please be discreet though,” she whispered. “I don’t want to mess up his life or his job.”

Ellie didn’t comment. She needed to find out if the breakup was as amicable as Jean Tiller claimed.

Another possibility taunted her. If the coach didn’t want the breakup, perhaps he thought getting Kelsey out of the picture would mean they could be together. Or maybe he was interested in something more with Kelsey than running …

TWELVE

A knock sounded on the kitchen door, and Ellie let Deputies Landrum and Eastwood inside. Sergeant Williams from ERT was behind them.

“We aren’t sure what we’re dealing with yet,” Ellie told him. “A runaway or kidnapping. Process the doors and windows and Kelsey’s room upstairs. I need to know if there are prints belonging to someone besides Kelsey or her parents.”

“Right on it,” the sergeant said. He spoke to the techs and they divided up. The tech took the exterior and, with Ellie’s direction, Williams headed toward Kelsey’s room.

Then Ellie turned to Shondra and Landrum. “What did the neighbors have to say?”

Shondra tapped the pocket notepad she always carried with her. “The couple across the street are in their eighties. Both have poor vision and hearing. Said they saw the family coming and going all the time but they didn’t know anything.” She sighed. “Two doors down, the eight-year-old girl said Kelsey was sweet to her and she liked her.”

Ellie smiled.

“The neighbor on the left overheard the couple arguing but never saw signs of physical altercations. No records of adomestic call. But apparently Kelsey was left alone a lot at night.”

Deputy Landrum checked the notes on his phone. “Two other neighbors work full-time and had nothing to add. But the old man on the left is a night owl. He saw a boy sneaking around the house after lights were off downstairs a couple of different times. He was there last night.”

Ellie arched a brow. “The Tillers said Kelsey wasn’t into boys.”

Landrum made a low sound in his throat. “Probably didn’t know.”

Maybe not. “What’s the kid’s name?”

“Man didn’t know, just that he had brown hair and always wore a black Georgia Bulldog hoodie.”

Ellie nodded grimly. She had to find him. He might have been the last person to see Kelsey.

THIRTEEN

WALNUT GROVE

The sound of sixteen-year-old Mitch Drummond’s phone jarred him from a deep sleep. He muttered a curse and buried his face in his pillow. Geez, it was nine o’clock on a Saturday morning. No school. No football practice. It was his day to sleep in and hang with his buddies.

TheStar Warsring tone sounded again, and he realized it was Justin. Why so early?

Irritated, he snatched the phone. “What the hell? Do you know what time it is?” he growled.

“Yeah, dude, but you gotta know. An Amber Alert has been issued for Kelsey Tiller. Apparently she’s missing.”

Mitch jackknifed to a sitting position, his heart pounding like a drum roll. “What are you talking about? Missing?”

“My mom saw her picture on the news.”

Mitch grabbed his laptop from his desk and quickly googled the local news channel. The headlineLOCAL GIRL KELSEY TILLER GOES MISSINGwas the top story.

Amber Alert has been issued for fifteen-year-old Kelsey Tiller.

She was reported missing by her mother in Whispering Pines this morning. If anyone has information on the whereabouts of this teenager, please call the Crooked Creek Police Department.

“Crap,” Mitch muttered.

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