After I check in with the boss, I grab a cup of stale, lukewarm coffee from the kitchen and head to the conference room. From the hallway, I can see the back of Rubio’s short, brown, military-cut hair. Across from him sit two similar-looking women. One of them dabs at the corner of her dry eyes with a napkin while the other looks about ready to rip my partner's head off.
I hurry in there to save him, knocking twice before pushing the heavy door open. Rubio turns to acknowledge me, eyes pleading to be saved as he introduces me to both women.
“Mrs. Doyle, Mrs. Sherman, this is my partner, Detective Noah Dane, one of the best officers coming out of California.”
The women greet me kindly, offering their hellos before Rubio fills me in with all I’ve missed. “Mrs. Doyle has come in to report her daughter, Elizabeth Ellis, missing.”
“Okay.” I nod, dropping into the empty seat. “Fill me in on everything.”
Starting softly, Mrs. Doyle explains that she’s been trying to reach her daughter for over a week now, but all her calls and texts go unanswered. Finally, her eldest daughter, Mary Sherman, stopped by Elizabeth’s home a day or so ago, but no one answered the door.
“Is she married? Have you tried to reach her husband? Wife?”
“Her husband, Theodore, he isn’t answering our calls either, but that isn’t too alarming. One of our dear family friends let us know that he was occupying the family cabin up until yesterday.”
“Alone?” I question, jotting down his name and location in my notes.
“Yes,” Mary answers, wiping the dripping mucus away from her nose. “He rents out the cabin on most of his breaks. He’s a teacher at the local academy. It was their spring break last week. He left yesterday evening to get ready to go back to work today.”
Okay, that’s understandable, but what I don’t get is why he was there alone. Where does his wife go when he’s away? What is she doing while she’s alone?
“And your daughter, Elizabeth, she doesn’t go with him when he takes these trips?”
“Not usually, no, but she does make sure it’s cleared out for Theodore. Bethy’s not much of an outdoor girl. Plus, she’s a workaholic. Always in the office, even on weekends.”
“Is it possible she’s just working? Maybe she has her phone off, so she has no distractions?” Rubio adds, throwing out another plausible option.
I’ve noticed that family will jump to the worst conclusion a lot of the time, completely disregarding any other scenario. Some of the time, we find that we are dealing with a missing person, but more often than not, it’s all a simple misunderstanding.
Mrs. Doyle and her daughter, Mary, deny that right away, vehemently shaking their heads. “No,” the mother confirms, stern in her belief. Mary picks up the conversation, filling in the rest of the information while her mother collects her emotions.
“She works with our father. Two weeks ago, she asked for time off, but it’s never this long, a few days, a week at most, but two? She’d never do that.”
“Some people need a break, Mrs. Sherman, and if she works as continuously as you’re claiming, she may just be taking some much-needed time away.”
They aren’t hearing me. I can see the aggravation blossoming in their icy stares. This must be the same conversation they had with Rubio, since they’re giving me the same look they were giving him when I walked in.
Holding my hands in surrender, I try to calm their anger down. I remind them I’m here to listen and not give them a hard time. I’m just trying to bring possible scenarios to light.
“There are no other scenarios, Detective Dane! As I told your partner moments before you came in here, my daughter is missing! Now, what are you going to do to find her?!”
Scarlett Dane
CHAPTER XXXII
The first day back is a drag.I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone listen to Mrs. Ross go on about the different pathways to the heart.
It all sounds like waves in my ears, the white noise of the ocean drowning out all other senses. I should ask her to close the window; that way, the roaring sea won’t be so distracting, but I need the distraction, or else my mind wanders to a dark place.
At every moment, I’m wondering if Beth has already ruined my chances of going to my top school. She would destroy my life if she did, but in her eyes, it's only fair. I stole her husband, after all.
I haven’t spoken to Theodore in days. He said it was best we take some time apart after what has happened. That only worries me further.
I can still taste the iron on my lips… feel the cold metal in my hands.
The thought has my body erupting in violent shivers. Students look at me strangely, eyeing my pebbled flesh with disgust and confusion. I match their stares with just as much heat, but underneath my bitchy expression, I’m freaking out.
I shouldn’t have come to school today. It wasn’t a wise idea, especially with that Friday on my mind.
