Page 5 of The Sleeping Girls

But tonight, things were different. Kelsey had climbed out of the window and she and Mitch had gone into the woods. He followed, staying in the shadows of the trees and watching. Kelsey was crying. Started screaming. The boy was arguing with her about something. Their voices got lost in the wind but something was definitely wrong.

Seconds later, she took off running. Mitch called her name and chased after her. More shouting.

“Leave me alone!” Kelsey screamed.

Finally, the boy jogged back the other way.

He smiled, stretched then went after the girl. Here in the woods, she was finally alone. It was the perfect time to take her.

FIVE

CROOKED CREEK POLICE STATION

Saturday

Early morning sunlight tried to fight its way through storm clouds as Ellie drove toward the police station.

A myriad of emotions as gloomy as the dark sky raged in her heart. Should she tell Cord how she felt?

If she did, it was bound to cause problems.

Was she that selfish?

Cord and Lola’s baby deserved to have the love of both their parents. Would there be wedding bells for them in the future?

She shouldn’t care. Dammit. But she did.

She shut off her thoughts. Couldn’t dwell on what might have been. Ellie Reeves lived in reality, not daydreams.

Signs advertising Octoberfest adorned the town along with fall decorations. The mountains were a rainbow of green, red, yellow and orange, drawing tourists to enjoy the fall foliage. At the edge of town, Clarence Stancil had already created his popular corn maze by his pumpkin patch where he offered hayrides. In town, there would be tents with arts and crafts, food trucks, a farmer’s market boasting local products that includedjams, jellies, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, candles and soaps, and a stage erected for various musical guests. Other signs advertised that it was “Homecoming Week” for the high school, always a big event in a small town.

The rival schools of Crooked Creek and Stony Gap always made for an exciting homecoming game. The dance was the highlight of the season, with mothers and daughters bonding over finding the perfect dress, teens’ flirting and young love sprouting.

Not that she’d known young love or homecoming dances, which had disappointed her adoptive mother, Vera, to no end. Instead, she’d loved maps and hiking with her father.

Her phone buzzed on her hip. She snagged it, saw it was her boss and connected the call.

“Captain?”

“We may have a missing teen. Kelsey Tiller, age fifteen. Parents called in hysterical. I’ll text you the address.”

Ellie heaved a breath, checked the address and turned the Jeep around. “On my way, Captain.”

A rainy mist began to fall as if the mountains were already crying for the missing teen. The wet roads and fog forced her to a crawl as she wound around the curves and hills leading to Whispering Pines, a neighborhood catering to the middle class. The name of the area originated from the fact that when the wind blew through the tall trees it sounded as if the trees were actually whispering among themselves, keeping the secrets of those that traveled along the trail.

Deer and other wildlife roamed freely though the surrounding woods. Ellie’s tires chugged over the narrow drive to a gorgeous white farmhouse set on a hill with an immaculately groomed yard. Pansies and black-eyed Susans added color to the greenery and bird feeders gave the impression the family enjoyed nature.

By the time she parked, Deputy Eastwood had pulled up behind her, Deputy Landrum in the passenger seat. Shondra’s expression was grim as she climbed from the vehicle and surveyed the exterior of the house.

Deputy Landrum looked rough around the edges, his dirty-blond hair spiked and mussed, dark circles beneath his eyes as if he hadn’t slept. He was a computer whiz which was advantageous to the team, but Ellie didn’t know much about his personal life. Maybe he was coming down with something? Or he’d been partying the night before?

She didn’t care what he did on his own time, as long as he did his job.

“Missing fifteen-year-old,” she told them as they stepped onto the path to the porch. “Hopefully she just snuck out for the night.”

“I ran a background on the Tillers on the way,” Landrum said. “They seem like a solid family. Mother is on the school PTA board, also volunteers for Meals on Wheels. Family belongs to a nondenominational church. Father works in pharmaceuticals. Financials solid. No record on either of them.”

“Thanks,” Ellie said. With an adult and no evidence of suspicious circumstances, police might wait thirty-four to seventy-two hours before considering a person missing. But with juveniles, they acted immediately in case they were dealing with a runaway or a kidnapping.

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