Page 42 of The Sleeping Girls

But wouldn’t the child eventually realize he was a broken man? Flawed? Sense that he’d done bad things?

A blast of wind jarred him back to the reason he was here. To find the missing girl. He’d decided to search this area because it was near the Tillers. The area was sparse with tourists, offering remote places that would make a perfect place to dump a body.

He threw on his backpack, grabbed Benji from the cab of his truck and gave him a pat. “It’s me and you, boy.”

Benji ran his wet tongue over Cord’s hand and Cord’s heart warmed, the dark voices in his head quieting.

They were a team. Always had been. Always would be.

Benji was the one he counted on. He’d give his life for that sweet, loyal dog.

Just as he would for Ellie.

Sucking in a breath, he locked his truck and set off on the trail to climb Bald Eagle Mountain where eagles soared and life was free and he could hear the cry of the falcon overhead. As he maneuvered the steep ridges, raindrops dripped from shaking trees, wind rustled fall leaves and the scent of damp moss and lichen filled his nostrils. Thunder rumbled in the dark sky, raising the demons from deep within him, demons wrestling to get out so they could drag him to hell.

He already had one foot in the door.

Maybe finding Kelsey would bring him one step back from the darkness.

FORTY-FOUR

KUDZU HOLLER

June was trying to hold on to hope that Kelsey would be found okay. But so far nothing, and now Ruby wasn’t even answering her.

Worse, June’s grandma had told her horror stories of real-life abductions and murders that she’d been watching on Lifetime. Her grandmother’s fretting made June feel like a dog about those stupid pictures. She’d had a nightmare herself, terrified that all those bad things Grandma had said might be happening to Kelsey.

Had some monster taken her? Was she tied to a bed or locked in a basement somewhere? Being tortured by some sex-crazed lunatic?

Would the police find her in a ditch or in the woods where the animals had chewed on her body…

Chill bumps skated up her arms, and she looked out the window at the kudzu-infested holler. Snakes and insects and God knows what else were hiding in the overgrown mass. The kudzu had taken over, winding together like a braided rope, twisting up the side of their house, crawling over the roof and slithering over the windows.

“We have to have faith,” Grandma said as she scooped blueberry pancakes and bacon onto a plate for her. “The police will find Kelsey, I just know it. And then they’ll lock up whoever took her.”

“I hope so,” June said as she poured syrup onto the pancake mound. “But I can’t go back to school tomorrow.”

Her grandma gave her a sympathetic but firm look. “You will go back to school and you’ll hold your head up high, and this shall pass.”

June stared at her in horror. There was no way she could face the laughter, teasing and name calling. They already called her the poor kid from the holler.

Grandma patted June’s shoulder. “Now eat up. I’m going to church to pray about this. I think you should come, too.”

June stabbed her fork at her pancake. “Please, Grandma, don’t make me go to church. Everyone will be talking. Just let me stay here.”

Her grandmother heaved a wary breath, the wrinkles around her pudgy face deepening. “All right. You can skip church, just this one time. But sooner or later you’ll have to face this. And if that girl Bianca did this, you have to stand up to her and show her that she can’t squash you like a bug with her bullying.”

June knew she was right, but she wasn’t ready to do that yet. The only friends who’d seen her in her underwear were Kelsey and Ruby. But now all the kids at school had.

Humiliation stung her cheeks. She choked down another few bites of her breakfast so as not to disappoint her grandmother. She was the most positive person June knew and refused to let anything get her down. She might be old, but she had a circle of church friends that would do anything for her. June wanted to have that kind of faith and friends; shehadhad it with Kelsey and Ruby.

“I’ll clean up, Grandma,” June offered. “Go to church and enjoy lunch with your women’s group.”

“Okay, thanks, hon.” Her grandma gestured toward the Bear Paw quilt on her quilting frame. “Maybe we can work on the quilt when I get back.”

June nodded. Her grandma’s quilts were like pieces of art. She sold them at the local flea markets and took custom orders. June thought the hand stitching was tedious, but she enjoyed sorting the fabrics and helping her grandmother lay them out and piece them together. They fit like a colorful puzzle and told a story.

Some of the kids at school thought arts and crafts, especially sewing, was old-fashioned. But June thought it was cool. At thirteen, her grandma had taught her to sew, and June had made a patchwork purse. She’d been so proud, but Bianca and her friends had poked fun at it. One of Bianca’s friends had grabbed it one day and unraveled the threads until it fell apart.

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