Page 2 of Crossing Lines

His phone vibrated on the table. Saved by the bell. Even better, it was Jo. “I better get this. Jo’s at the station working night shift. Could be important.”

He used the excuse to ease his way up from the sofa. He paced into the kitchen as he answered.

“Hey.”

“Hey… um… did I interrupt something?”

Sam glanced back toward the living room. “No.”

“Okay, well, I think you might want to get down here.”

Sam’s gut tightened. Jo was perfectly capable of handling things. She’d only call him in if something was very wrong. “What’s happened?”

“I have a woman here. Maria Stillwell. She’s filing a missing person’s report for her daughter. She’s seventeen, last seen day before yesterday.”

Memories of the bodies in the graves bubbled up. They’d been teens too. But those girls had been runaways and had been put in those graves over five years ago. The killer was long gone.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Jo echoed his thoughts.

“She could be a runaway.” They had very few runaways in White Rock, but they also had very few missing persons. In fact, usually none. That was why Jo was taking this so seriously.

“Mrs. Stillwell says they had a good relationship. No reason for her daughter to run. Might be good if you talked to her, unless you have something important going on. ”

Sam glanced into the living room again. This was a great excuse to nip anything Beryl had in mind in the bud. “Nope, I’ve got nothing going on. I’ll be right there.”

Beryl looked up from the couch. “Something wrong at the station?”

“Nothing too concerning, but I do need to go and check it out.” Sam picked up Lucy’s leash, and she was by his side in a second.

“Oh. Of course.” Beryl looked disappointed, which made Sam even more relieved that he had to go to the station. She stood. “Well, this has been nice.”

“Thanks for the beer.” Sam held the door open for her.

She paused as she passed him, a little too close for Sam’s comfort. Looking up, she smiled and touched his arm. “Thanks again. I really do appreciate everything.”

“I should be thanking you. You gave me the key piece of evidence in your husband’s case.”

Beryl nodded, her jaw tightening. Did she regret playing such an important role in her husband’s arrest?

A flash in the bushes across the street caught his eye. Binoculars? Was someone watching them? He scanned the area but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe just the reflection from the eyes of a deer. Beryl was making him paranoid.

Beryl hadn’t noticed anything. She continued down the steps. “Good night.”

“Night.” Sam and Lucy continued to the White Rock Police Tahoe. As he watched Beryl leave, he had the distinct feeling that he’d just dodged a bullet.

Chapter Three

Maria Stillwell twisted the handle of her Coach-knockoff purse as she sat in the chair on the other side of Jo’s green metal desk. Pictures of her daughter, a perky redheaded teen in her favorite pink T-shirt and jean shorts, were laid out on the surface of the desk. This wasn’t the first missing persons case Jo had handled. She’d worked in bigger cities where there had been many, but she hadn’t seen one in the two years she’d been in White Rock. Something about it unsettled her, and that was why she’d called Sam.

Though now she wasn’t sure if she should have called. Sam deserved his own personal time. She had the feeling she’d interrupted something, and she couldn’t help but wonder what it was. Sam had sounded a little weird, out of breath even… maybe he had a date at his place.

It was really none of her business. Even though they’d developed a close working relationship and Jo considered him to be a good friend, he certainly didn’t have to explain anything he did in his time off to her.

Even friends could have secrets. Like Jo’s secret about the real reason she’d come to White Rock. She’d never told Sam, and that had been weighing heavy on her mind lately. She sensed it was affecting their relationship.

Her eyes were drawn back to the picture of the smiling girl.

She could be a runaway. She could just have stayed over somewhere after partying with a friend… or something more sinister could have happened, like what had happened to those girls in the woods. Or her sister… the real reason for her move to this town.

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