Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

"Whoa! What are you doing?" I cried.

"Following Kylie. What does it look like I'm doing?" Charlotte cut off a blue truck as she turned right out of the parking lot. The sound of horns blaring drowned out the song playing on the radio.

"You're going to get us into an accident," I said when the noise finally died down. "This is the last time I let you drive ever again."

"Don't get your panties in a wad," Charlotte said, speeding up to catch the red Toyota. "I've never been in an accident?—"

"Yet," I said, cutting her off. "But if you keep this up, we might find ourselves at the bottom of that embankment."

"You're being dramatic." She swerved, passing a car that was going slower than she liked.

"Just don't kill us," I pleaded.

"I'll do my best."

My stomach rolled as she took a sharp turn and then sped up so that she was within two cars of Kylie's red Camry. When the one right in front of us stopped for a red light, Charlotte slammed on the horn and yelled out, "Move it, Grandpa!"

The older man in the white car in front of us put his hand out the window and flipped us off.

I kept my eyes glued to the red Camry. After the ride I'd had to endure, I'd be damned if we lost her now. "She's turning right," I told Charlotte, while pointing to the car as it disappeared.

My sister stepped on the gas, revving the engine as the light turned green and then cursing when the older man in front of us just sat there. She quickly swerved into the left turn lane and blew past him as she swerved back so we could go straight, all while giving him a taste of his own medicine as she waved her middle finger at him.

"We're going to get tossed in the slammer if the PPPD sees us," I said.

"Let them try and catch me." Charlotte turned right and sped down the street.

"Dammit!" I cried when I didn't see the red Camry. "We lost her."

"I'm not giving up just yet," she said as she swiveled her head, looking down each of the residential streets we passed. "She must live here somewhere. There's no way out of this neighborhood except the way we came in."

"How do you know that?" I asked her, frowning. Charlotte had only spent a handful of months in this town. She couldn't have a detailed understanding of each neighborhood as if she'd grown up in there.

"Denver and I might have been talking about getting a place together," she said flippantly.

"What?" I swiveled around so that I was staring at her. "When?"

"Don't get too excited," she said, rolling her eyes. "We don't have a plan. We've just been considering it and looking at what it would cost. No plans have actually been made."

"Oh." I briefly wondered what Minx would do if Charlotte moved out. The way the little dog had been acting ever since Jax had come home made me think that she might rebel if Charlotte made her leave her favorite person for even one night. Though it would free up some space on my bed.

Charlotte let out a frustrated huff. "That red Camry has to be here somewhere."

Knowing full well that if Kylie parked in a garage we were going to be SOL, I suggested we systematically drive down each street until we found the Camry in question.

"Yeah, that should work. I hope," Charlotte agreed.

For the next twenty minutes, we rolled by each house as if we were casing the joints, and when we got to the last street on the road, my stomach started to ache with anxiety. If we didn't find Kylie, that was just one more day away from any possibility of finding Lacey.

"I don't see it— Wait! Look over there!" Charlotte pointed to a silver Airstream trailer. Just behind it was a flash of red. "That has to be it."

Please don't let it be some other red car , I silently begged.

Charlotte swung around and parked behind the Camry, pulling in so close it would be impossible to get the car out as long as the trailer was still there.

"Was that necessary?" I asked her when the two bumpers gently tapped.

"I didn't want her to flee."

"Why would she do that? It's not like we're here to haul her off to jail. We just want some information about her neighbor."

"You never know, Marion," Charlotte said, exasperation in her tone. "It doesn't hurt to be prepared."

I guess she had me there. We climbed out of my SUV and then stood on the street, staring at the houses. "Which one do you think it is?" I asked her.

"It's not that one." Charlotte pointed to the sunny yellow house on the left.

"Why?"

"There's no car in the driveway. If Kylie lived there, she probably wouldn't park on the street," she said with an air of arrogance.

"Maybe. Unless she shares a house with someone and they park there," I reasoned.

"There's plenty of room for two cars there. No. Not the yellow house. Not the forest green one either. See that garage apartment? I bet that's where Lacey was living. I'm going with the sea blue cottage with the bike on the front lawn."

I had to admit that her logic was sound. "Okay, let's give it a go." With Charlotte on my heels, I followed the stone steps up to the small white porch and knocked. I heard the voice of a child yelling for their mom followed by the door opening.

"Can I help you?" the young woman who couldn't have been a day over twenty-five asked, looking pensive.

"Kylie!" Charlotte said, pushing me out of the way. "Thank goodness. I thought for sure we'd lost you."

"Charlotte? What are you doing here? And what do you mean you thought you'd lost me?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh, that. We were trying to catch you as you were leaving work, but you were already in your car, headed home. So we followed you," Charlotte explained as if it didn't sound crazy that we'd tailed her back to her house.

"You followed me home? What is this, some sort of waxing emergency?"

I couldn't help but notice the pointed look Kylie gave me while she said, ‘waxing emergency.'"

Charlotte chuckled as she eyed me. "It is, but that's not why we're here."

I cleared my throat. "I am really sorry to bother you at home, Ms. Brickenson. Normally we do not barge in on our beauty professional's private lives. But this is important. We're here about Lacey Riley."

"Have they found her yet?" Kylie looked past me and scanned the area, her gaze finally landing on the garage apartment next door. Charlotte had definitely gotten that part right. "She's not… not—" Kylie held her hand to her mouth as her eyes welled with tears. "Tell me she's okay. Please."

I shared a quick glance with my sister. Then I frowned. "I'm sorry, but no. There's no indication that they've found her yet. And that's why we're here."

Tears overflowed Kylie's eyes, and she hastily wiped them away. "I'm so worried about her."

"We are too," Charlotte chimed in. "Do you mind if we ask some questions? We're trying to trace Lacey's steps the day she disappeared."

"Do you work with the police or something?" Kylie asked, sniffling.

"No," I said, wondering what I should tell her. If she thought I was only here to clear someone's name, surely she'd slam the door in our faces. "I met Lacey down on the beach the day before she went missing."

"The day her ex showed up?" Kylie volunteered.

"Yes. And ever since then, I've been worried. And after I learned she went missing, I just can't shake the feeling that the PPPD isn't dedicating enough resources to looking for her. So my sister and I thought we'd check around town to see if we can piece together what she was doing and who she might have seen. If nothing else, we can give the information to the detectives."

Kylie sucked in a sharp breath and then scowled as she said, "That won't help. The officers I spoke to aren't interested in answers. All they seem to care about is their own narrative."

"To be honest, I've been suspecting the same thing. It's why we're out here trying to find out what really happened," I said.

"And when you do… then what?" she asked, sounding suspicious. "Do you think you'll get them to listen?"

I shook my head. "No. But we have contacts with law enforcement outside of Premonition Pointe. The type of departments that can overrule the local police force," I explained, hoping that was true. The Magical Task Force certainly could and did overrule them on a regular basis, but unless Lacey had magic, I wasn't sure they could do anything. Though if the PPPD kept focusing on the wolves and they were innocent, the MTF probably would step in. "If we can find evidence that can lead us to Lacey, I think they can help."

Relief washed over Kylie's face. "Oh my gosh. Do you really have someone who can help? I told Officer Stone that John was here the day she disappeared and?—"

"John, her ex?" I gasped out. "The one who had a restraining order against him?"

Charlotte placed her hand on my arm, and instantly Kylie's aura appeared around her. The outer layer was a muddied red color, indicating stress, but the inside, closest to her body, was a vibrant, deep blue, and I knew in that moment that Kylie was telling the truth.

"Yes. He came by her apartment yesterday morning. I saw them out by the stairs talking. When I told the officer that, he wrote it down but didn't ask any questions about the interaction or anything. He acted like it wasn't important at all. He just kept asking if I knew what she had planned that day."

My mind whirled. Why wasn't John the primary suspect? He'd been seen with Lacey that day. He hadn't been out of town, or at the very least he'd come back to town, and the police didn't seem to be concerned? Something was seriously off. "That's almost unbelievable," I said, trying to keep my temper in check. "But I know you're telling the truth."

"You do? How?"

"Charlotte and I can see auras," I admitted. "Do you have any idea why Stone wasn't interested in John's presence? Did they know each other or something?"

"I have no idea." Kylie chewed on her bottom lip. "Lacey hasn't lived here long. And she certainly never lived here with John, so I don't know how the officer would have known him. It just doesn't make sense to me."

Me neither. "That is very strange," I agreed. "Did you tell Stone anything else?"

"Just that Lacey had a job interview that afternoon. I was watching Cody. She was supposed to call me when the interview was over and before she started her shift at the Witches' Garden. I never heard from her and when she didn't show back up here that night, I called the police, knowing something was wrong. She'd never just leave Cody like that."

"Interview?" Charlotte asked. "Do you know where?"

"She didn't say the name, just that she was headed to a place out on Pointe Meadow. The job was temporary harvesting with the possibility of full-time off-season work in the barn."

"Pointe Meadow?" I repeated, my entire body going cold. "You're sure that's where she was headed?"

"I'm sure. There's a house at the end that I've been in love with since I was a kid. A big white farmhouse with a wraparound porch and a large sunroom on the west side. I remember telling her to swing by and take a look at it. This time of year, it's always decorated with elaborate Halloween decorations." Kylie sniffed. "I don't think she ever made it to that house."

"You think she went missing before that?" Charlotte asked, and I was grateful she was still putting the puzzle pieces together, because I was stuck on Pointe Meadow.

The Gray Wolf Winery was on Pointe Meadow. And suddenly I knew exactly why Stone was so gung-ho to blame this all on Kai.

"Yes. Her car was found on the side of the road with a flat tire about a mile from Pointe Meadow. I think she got a flat, went for help, and that's when she went missing."

"Who did you hear that from?" I asked, knowing the PPPD wasn't going to be forthcoming with any information, especially to Lacey's neighbor.

"My brother-in-law works for the wrecker company that towed her car." Kylie glanced around as if looking to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Then she continued. "He told me this morning that the PPPD hasn't even come to search her car yet."

"Oh boy," Charlotte said, almost to herself.

"Can you believe that? It's like they aren't even looking for her." There were tears in Kylie's eyes. "I'm so worried, but I don't have a clue what I can even do."

I reached out and squeezed her hand. "Kylie, you might not realize it yet, but you have just given us a treasure trove of information that we can look into. Before we found you, we were also spinning our wheels, but now we can really dig in and see if we can find Lacey and get her home. Thank you."

"I really hope so," she said earnestly. Then she glanced at the garage apartment next door. "Will you keep me updated?"

"You'll be the first to know if we find anything," I promised her. It was the least I could do after all the information she'd supplied. "Is there anything else you can think of that we should know?"

Kylie thought for a moment and then shook her head. "I can't think of anything, but if you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask."

"That's kind of you." After we exchanged numbers, we thanked her again and then retreated to my SUV.