Page 30 of Vanished in the Mist
“DeWalt.” Dawson shook his head, clearly surprised to hear that name.
“Kaden saved her,” Shanna said.
“With help,” he corrected. “It was a team effort. There wasn’t any blood or obvious injuries that I saw. But there were two parallel burn marks on her neck.”
“Stun gun?”
“I think so, yes.”
Dawson swore. “What else?”
“When I found her, she was naked, lying in the ditch, unresponsive. We had to revive her. Thank God that Stella was here with a defibrillator.”
Dawson raked his hands through his short hair. “What’s going on around here? DeWalt’s a kid. Why would anyone want to hurt her?” He let out a deep breath, then motioned toward Kaden’s chest. “We’re about the same size. I’ll grab you a shirt from the go bag in my patrol car.”
Chapter Twelve
Shanna threaded her way through the still-crowded restaurant while Kaden finished briefing Dawson on the other side of the room. The chief had asked everyone to stay, so his recently arrived deputies, Christopher Collier and Liza Fletcher, could interview them as potential witnesses. But Shanna couldn’t seem to locate the peopleshewanted to speak to.
“Hey, everything okay?” Kaden stopped beside her.
“I guess so, except that I can’t find Peyton, Sam, or Jack. Do you know whether they were already interviewed?”
He motioned toward Collier and Fletcher, sitting at a table near the French doors. “They’ve only spoken to a few people so far. I don’t remember seeing the ones you mentioned over there yet. But I was speaking to Dawson, so I could have missed them. I wanted to give you an update about the search by your cabin. Nothing was found. No indications that anyone had been in those woods anytime recently.”
“That’s a relief. I guess. Honestly, I’d rather know for sure where Troy is these days rather than him being in the wind. But as long as he’s not here in Mystic Lake, that’s good.”
“I’d feel better if you stick close to me for now on. It’s not just Troy that we need to be on guard against, it’s whoever is terrorizing this town.”
“No need to convince me. I’m happy to have a tall, buff man as my bodyguard.”
He grinned. “And I’m happy to keep an eye on you.”
She smiled and motioned toward the chief, who was talking to one of the potential witnesses. “Has Dawson gotten any updates about Jessica?”
“Not yet. He already notified the family. They live close by and are on their way to the hospital right now. He’ll text me once he hears anything on her condition.”
“Good. Are we free to leave?” she asked. “He doesn’t need to question us further?”
“We can go. You have somewhere specific in mind?”
“Talking to the remaining members of the popular clique is near the top of my list. But I’d like to see the Jerichos first. They deserve to be updated about what happened here in case the rumors start up about connections to Tristan, and then potentially to Tanya. I don’t want them caught off guard like when they were told by the police that we were here working their daughter’s case.”
“You have their address?”
“I’m hoping they haven’t moved since last spring, when Tanya went missing. I programmed their address from the police files into my phone for when it came time to go see them. It’s time.”
RAYMOND ANDLYDIAJERICHOwere nothing like Shanna had expected, or at least that’s what she thought when she and Kaden had first arrived at their home. From Cassidy’s comments about how devastated they were, Shanna had assumed they’d be broken, barely able to function. They were definitely somber. But they were also polite and welcoming.
In spite of Shanna and Kaden’s insistences that they didn’t need anything, Lydia had brought them ice-cold glasses of sweet tea and placed crystal bowls of pretzels and nuts on the coffee table in front of them, along with little cocktail napkins. Itwasn’t until Kaden began explaining what had happened at the B and B that the cracks in their facades began to show. Shanna realized they were putting on a brave face for the world. But the truth revealed itself in how Raymond’s hands shook as he sat quietly listening. And in the streaks of white that peppered Lydia’s dark hair that shouldn’t have begun to gray for many more years. Inside, their battered souls were being held together with tattered threads of hope that wouldn’t sustain them much longer. They were a dam ready to break. And she desperately didn’t want to be the one to burst that dam wide open and destroy them.
Shanna stood. Kaden gave her a surprised glance then stood as well.
“You’re leaving already?” Lydia rose and took Shanna’s hands in hers. “I thought you wanted to discuss Tanya, that you had questions.”
Shanna lightly squeezed the woman’s cold, thin fingers. “I did. We do. But now isn’t the right time. We can come back later and—”
Lydia’s hold changed, gripping hers with surprising strength in spite of how frail she appeared. “Please. Don’t leave. Not yet. Ask us any questions you have. We want to help. We want your help.” Her mouth formed the ghost of a smile that probably hadn’t curved her lips in months. “We’re stronger than we look, Ms. Hudson. If there’s any chance you can find our little girl, no matter what has happened to her, we want her found.” She let go and sat beside her husband, who put his arm around her shoulders, and waited.
