Chapter Three

O livia hardly noticed the windshield time that kept her and Brock on the road since before dawn that morning. She and Brock had gone to the newly built headquarters to receive the file containing all the information about their next assignment and Olivia was already devouring it. Each file contained a headshot of each missing teen, their details, and follow-up notes about the case. Twenty or so teenagers, and not a single one of them recovered. It made Olivia sick to think what might have happened to them, and how their parents never got that closure. If she had anything to say about it, it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

“I can’t help but notice that there are seven guys and thirteen girls, fourteen if you count Ellie.” Olivia wasn’t sure that they could fully count Ellie in, yet, as it had only been a week. She might be connected to these without-a-trace teens or she might be a part of a different case. Her body might turn up or maybe she’d return home, proving to be little more than a runaway with a boyfriend. Either way, Olivia was keeping all of her options open.

“So we’re thinking that the girls are the bigger target, here?” Brock pondered. “How old is the youngest boy?”

Olivia flipped through the pages. “Fourteen.”

“And the youngest girl?”

“Thirteen.” Olivia ground the number between her teeth. The red-haired girl had gone missing two years ago, one of the first, from what it looked like. Olivia found her photograph and held it up for Brock to see, giving him time to shoot two or three glances at it. “See? Look at her. Look how adorable she is.”

Brock scanned the photo for a few seconds before returning his eyes to the road. “She’s a cutie, from what I can see.”

“She is.” Olivia put the picture down, smoothing it across her lap, and let her eyes wander over the page. Melissa Downs, the name read. Her fiery red hair brushed straight around her shoulders, her green eyes sparkling behind a face of freckles. She wore a blue and white sweater with a sea-shell necklace hanging around her neck. The necklace was in the shape of a shell with a pearl nestled into its caged center. Unique, Olivia thought.

“Thirteen years old.” Olivia gave a series of headshakes. “It’s sickening to think that someone would do this to someone so young. No matter what happened, runaway, cult, whatever, she’s out there in a hostile environment if she’s even still alive. No one should have to go through that, especially not a girl barely into her teens.”

Brock’s face softened. “That’s what I love about you,” He pointed out. “You just... care for everyone, don’t you?”

Olivia blew a raspberry. “Who wouldn’t care about these kids? ”

“I don’t just mean these kids,” Brock went on. “I’m thinking about our very first case. Those missing teenage girls.”

“And it turns out they were taken by someone missing her own daughter,” she said. “I just hope we can have another happy ending this time…”

“Well, whatever the situation, I know that we can get to the bottom of it. This is what we do. What we’ve always done. And as long as we have each other, we can solve anything.”

Olivia reached over and squeezed his hand. “I love you.”

They drove on in silence for a little bit, each contemplating the case.

“So, do they have anything in common other than being teenagers?” Brock’s question aligned with her own thoughts.

She scanned a few bits of information in the file, but nothing stood out to her. “It doesn’t appear that way. They’re all from Cape Fremont and they’re all between the ages of thirteen and nineteen, but other than that, there is no common denominator. Different eye color, hair color, just from that same town. Different races, different backgrounds… if there’s a commonality here I’m not seeing it right away.”

“What about school? Do they all go to the same school?”

“I’m guessing so.” Olivia carefully read that portion in each of the files. “Yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. There’s only one school in town. No private schools or anything, so it makes sense they all go to the same one.”

“And all of them disappeared without a trace? No evidence ever found or recovered?”

Olivia gave a series of nods. “Yes, from what I’ve gathered.”

“So how are we going to go about this?” Brock turned on his turn signal, exiting onto the highway that would take them to Cape Fremont.

“Connections, connections.” Olivia set her gaze directly in front of her, looking out of the windshield as if all the answers were written on the freeway. “I’m thinking that there are two ways that we can find the heart of the matter. Through the teens and through the adults they associate with. We start by scoping out the area for a day or two and getting a feel for the town.”

“Should be easy to do.” Brock grinned a bit as he merged. “Tourists are always wandering around.”

“Exactly.” Olivia agreed. “We’re a happy, outgoing couple out on our honeymoon and we like to chat with the locals. If we want to find out what happened to the teens, then we’re going to have to find some teens to observe. We’ll pick up some clues, somewhere.”

“We always do.”

The highway took them further and further from Belle Grove and in no time, the telltale signs of a coastal town came into view. Palm trees lined the edge of the road. For a non-native, they looked almost planted, as if someone was trying to make something look like an ocean town. Olivia had to remind herself that they grew naturally here. The humidity doubled, probably a result of the location and a passing storm that looked like it just doused everything before moving on.

They drove into Cape Fremont, avoiding the conglomeration of cars that lined the road. Olivia glanced at the time. 3:30, probably the time that would see school let out and parents navigating the traffic to get their kids home. Had their safety measures doubled since Ellie Cline’s disappearance? Did they ever let their kids out of their sight? They did seem to be on high alert, Olivia thought, as Brock slowed his speed way down to avoid tailgating the car in front of them.

“School traffic.” Brock huffed with enough disgust to make broccoli look good.

Olivia laughed a bit. “Don’t sound so excited, there, babe.”

“Oh, I just love school traffic.” Sarcasm spread his lips. “It’ll take you twenty minutes to get somewhere that’s five minutes away.”

“Actually,” Olivia held up the GPS. “It’s eleven minutes away.”

“And the route is all in red on GPS, isn’t it? ”

Olivia pinched her fingers together on the screen, checking out the entire route. “Not once we turn on Glenn Street in a quarter mile.”

The quarter-mile took a long time to pass, but once Brock turned on Glenn Street, it was only a few more “left, right” turns before he pulled into the parking lot behind the hotel. He rolled his window down to talk to an attendant and Olivia caught the roar of the ocean waves. They sounded similar to a windy day, but the saltwater in the air gave it away. They were here! The more she listened, the more excited she grew about working this case. What better assignment could there be other than working in a coastal town right next to the ocean and listening to the beach sounds every night?

Brock thanked the attendant and drove the car into the parking lot. The hotel blocked the view of the ocean with a few cars lining the numbered parking spaces. Rather than the large, traditional rectangle-shaped condos that offered limited deck space, the hotel was shaped more like a large house, settled behind a grove of juniper bushes and palm trees. A small bridge led over the grove to the beach. Olivia had noticed that as she came in.

“This is adorable.”

“Very honeymoon material.” Brock grinned as he unclicked his seat belt.

He and Olivia gathered their bags together. They got into line behind two other couples to wait to be checked in. The couple in front of them looked like they traveled a lot. The amber-tanned skin that matched the flowing black hair of the woman was a direct contrast to the paler-skinned blond man who stood next to her, talking softly to her. The woman nodded at something he was saying and as she did, her sunglasses started to slip off her head backwards. Before she could reach up to grab them, the sunglasses flew off of her head and right toward Olivia.

“Whoops!” Olivia’s reflexes reached out and caught the wayward sunglasses before they could hit the ground. The man and the woman turned to see her just as she did. “Oh, I’m sorry!” The woman reached for her glasses, a small pink blush enhancing the color of her face.

“It’s all good.” Olivia smiled and handed her sunglasses back to her. “Happens to all of us at some point or another.”

“Great reflexes.” The man nodded to the hand that Olivia used to catch the sunglasses. “I wish mine were like that, but I can’t even twist a cap on a water bottle without sending it flying most of the time.”

“You and me both.” Brock laughed a bit.

“Thank you for saving them.” The woman laughed and held up her sunglasses. “Are you staying here as well?”

Olivia nodded. “Yes. We just got married and this is our honeymoon spot.”

“Oh!” Both the man’s and the woman’s faces lit up, the woman’s more so than the man’s. The man had more of a stoic stillness about him while his wife seemed more outgoing. It didn’t deter from his friendliness, however.

“Congratulations!” The woman laid a hand on her husband’s back. “This is the perfect spot for a honeymoon. My husband and I have traveled here often. It’s quiet, which appeals to us since we don’t like a lot of noise. When you travel, you’re trying to get away from the noise, right?”

“Right.” Olivia beamed as if it really was her honeymoon, hiding the wistfulness that tugged at her heart from the two strangers. If only it were the truth. Someday soon, she reminded herself. In the meantime, she’d enjoy her engagement and focus on the matters at hand. “So, you come here often?”

“Oh, from time to time. We’ve been all over the world. We’ve been to all fifty states at least once,” the man replied, his voice tone more even than the rise and fall of his wife’s.

Olivia wanted to blurt out that she’d almost been to all fifty, but she figured that might be too obvious. She didn’t want to have to answer why she traveled so much, so she kept the conversation mostly focused on them. “Really? That’s amazing. ”

“We were going to go to Hawaii for our end-of-summer vacation, but with the tropical disturbance down there and all, we didn’t want to risk a hurricane coming through.” The woman laughed. “By the way, I’m Angela and this is my husband, Carl.”

“Nice to meet you.” Brock nodded to Olivia. “I’m Brock Thomas and this is my wife, Olivia.”

“Congratulations, again.” Carl inclined his head to both of them.

“I can help whoever’s next,” called out the clerk.

“Well, have a good honeymoon. I’m sure our paths will cross again at some point.” Angela smiled before moving up to the front counter with Carl.

“Oh, thank you. We sure will.”

Olivia and Brock waited for their turn, patiently. After a short check-in with the clerk, they made their way to the room on the top floor. “Did you see the north side of the hotel?” Brock asked once they were alone on the staircase. “There’s a wrap-around deck and what looks like a nice outdoor bar.”

Olivia had to laugh. “Somehow I’m not surprised that you spotted the bar…”

The staircase ended on the second floor and they stepped onto flat ground again. “For real. I was thinking that might be a good starting point. It’s close to the hotel and, well, where does everyone go? Bars, restaurants, places like that.”

“I agree.” Olivia certainly wouldn’t turn down the idea of sharing a drink with Brock while they were working. “But first, let’s get to our room.”

They checked into their room, which not surprisingly looked more like a house than a hotel room. It was fancy enough for the bed to have curtains as it faced the patio doors, the décor was a mixture of sand tan and light greens and a ficus plant stood by the window. “This is nice. Very cute.”

Brock set the bags down by the bed and stretched. “It sure is.”

Olivia walked over to the patio doors and drew back the curtains. She was met with the white sands that stretched out before the grey pounding of the surf and the muffled sound of the waves coming onto shore before the hiss of retreating back to the ocean. She felt Brock come up behind her and within a few seconds, his arms encircled her. She reached up to take hold of his arms as he swayed back and forth with her, watching the ocean for a few peace-filled moments.

Finally, he broke the silence. “What do you say we find something to eat?”

Of course he was thinking about food. Not that she minded, she was rather hungry herself. She laughed, gently and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Brock released her and she wished that she could have stayed in his embrace forever. She pulled her phone up and Googled nearby restaurants. “There’s one called Breakers, right on the shoreline. It’s close enough to the beach and the hotel, we can probably walk to it.” She turned to see him. “Want to give it a try?”

“I’d love that.” He shoved his wallet into his back pocket. “I’d love to not have to drive anywhere again tonight.”