Chapter 19

NINETEEN

“SOMETHING’ S NOT RIGHT.” Briggs secured the latch on the horse trailer. He and Jett had spent almost three hours searching for a man named Joe Smith with no luck. “The man’s name doesn’t even sound real.”

Jett grunted. “Might be. Look.”

Briggs turned to see Barrett Brown marching their way. The man normally had the soft expression of a teddy bear and rarely showed emotion, but from the tight expression creasing his features, Briggs expected steam to come out of his ears.

“What’s wrong?”

“We’ve tried calling the number of Jim Smith, the man who called in the missing hiker, and the number’s not working.”

Barrett wiped his brow even though the temperature was barely registering in the sixties. “We’ve accounted for the only vehicle in the parking lot and it doesn’t belong to our hiker.”

“A false call,” Briggs offered. It wasn’t common, but there were times when someone reported a missing hiker only to learn they weren’t missing at all.

“Maybe. It’s almost Halloween, maybe some kids thought this would be a funny joke,” Barrett answered. “I hate this holiday.”

“Not a fan of kids, myself,” Jett added—even though it was clear that wasn’t what Barrett meant.

“You’re young.” Barrett closed the tack box on the trailer and locked it. “You’re supposed to say that.”

Briggs caught Jett making a face like Barrett’s excuse was completely wrong. He would’ve teased him if not for the tension thrumming through his chest. If this was a false call, whether by kids or not, it bugged him because it had taken him from Lahela.

“You awake?” Jett waved a hand in front of Briggs’s face. “Your phone.”

He pulled out his phone and saw Daphne’s name on the screen. “Hey, Daph.”

“Hey, have you talked to Lahela?”

Something in his gut twisted, but remembering the way Lahela and Daphne ended the night, he shook it off. He looked at his watch. “A few hours ago. I got called out for a search.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt—”

“No, the search has been called off.”

“Okay, um, well, I wanted to talk to Lahela after last night, and I picked up a coffee to take to her at school, but they said she took the day off.”

Briggs sighed with relief. “I’m glad. She was exhausted this morning.”

“Yeah, so I came by her house...” Daphne’s tone set off alarms in his brain. “Her car’s here but she’s not.”

“What do you mean?”

“I knocked and she didn’t answer. I called her phone and she didn’t answer. Maybe she’s still mad at me?”

Yes, Lahela had been upset with Daphne, but he couldn’t see her not answering Daphne’s calls. Something wasn’t right and he didn’t like the eerie similarity to the nonexistent missing hiker.

“Are you there now?”

“Yes,” Daphne answered. “I’m at her front door. It’s locked.”

That was good. “Go around the back and knock on the door. See if you can see into her bedroom window. I know she was exhausted, so she might be asleep.”

“Okay.” He waited, listening to Daphne’s breathing and the sounds of her walking to Lahela’s backyard. “Briggs, there’s blood.”

“There’s blood?” His voice pitched and instantly drew the concerned attention of Jett and Barrett. “Where?”

“At the back door by her laundry room. The door’s unlocked. Lahela!”

He ran a hand through his hair, feeling helpless just standing there listening to Daphne call for Lahela. His face must’ve revealed his distress because Barrett mouthed the word Go .

That was all he needed. He ran to his truck, jumped in, and started the engine, all while keeping the phone to his ear. “Daph, is she there?”

“No. The house is empty.” Daphne sounded breathless. “And I found her cell phone in the kitchen.”

“How fresh is the blood?” Briggs forced himself not to imagine the worst. “And how much?”

“It’s dark and I don’t know. There’s some big drops on the—Oh, there’s a little blood on the glass. Maybe she cut herself.”

“I’m on my way back to town.” He accelerated down the highway. “I should be there in twenty minutes.”

“There’s an urgent care two blocks from here. I’m going to head there and call the closest hospitals to see if she’s there. I’ll call you as soon as I find her.”

“As soon as I find her.” He shivered. Nancy was at the hospital, so there was no reason to believe she could do anything to Lahela. But— Trevor. Detective Morgan hadn’t mentioned if Trevor was involved with Nancy’s plan, and so far, he’d been able to provide an alibi for all the incidents. What if there was more to the story than Nancy confessed?