Page 55 of Moonlight Over Montana

“Have you seen Susie today?”

“No, ma’am. I asked her to come over, but she said she had plans.”

A shiver of fear raced down Maggie’s spine. “And last weekend?”

“No. A bunch of us got together and we went to the movies, but Susie said she wasn’t able to come with us. Something about riding lessons.”

“How long has it been since you hung out with her?” Maggie could hear the panic in her voice, but she didn’t care.

Jed touched her arm. “Maggie, what’s going on?”

Blinking tears from her eyes, she stumbled back a step. “Susie isn’t here. She never was.”

He looked from Maggie to Marcy. “You didn’t meet her at the library this morning?” Before she could answer, he said, “Did you ask to borrow some clothes for a date last Saturday?”

The girl’s voice wavered. “No, sir. I haven’t seen Susie outside of school in weeks. It was right after the fire that she stopped hanging out with us. We figured it was because she was living on the ranch and it was hard with everything that happened.”

Jessica put her arm around her daughter. “Maggie, I’m really sorry. We can start calling all of the girls’ friends and see if anyone knows anything.”

Maggie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Jed thanked them and asked if they learned anything to call him and he gave them his cell number.

Marcy said, “Ms. Brady, I’ll get the word out.”

She nodded and Jed wrapped his arm around her waist and half carried her to the truck. Once he got her inside and buckled up, he got in. “We’re going to the sheriff’s office.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks. “Jed, where is she? It’s not safe to be out in this storm.”

He took her hand. “I don’t know, but we will find her. I promise you that.” He pulled out his cell. “I’m calling Linc. I’ll have everyone start searching all the buildings at the ranch in case she made her way back there.”

She didn’t trust herself to speak as Jed drove through the blanket of snow. Shivering, she jammed her hands into her coat pockets. Where is my little girl? The words rolled over and over in her head as she stared out the side window.

When they arrived at the sheriff’s office, Jed parked as close as he could to the front door. He looked at her, clasping her hand. “Ready?”

“Yes.” She pulled a hat onto her head, trying to remember what Susie had on for a coat. Did she take her hat and gloves? What about boots? The temperature was dropping fast and the wind was kicking up.

Jed opened the door to the police station and she walked in, stamping her feet to get the snow off her boots before walking across the floor. Tye Blackstone came out of his office and did a double take.

“Maggie, if this is about the fire, I don’t have any information yet.”

“Susie’s missing.” She watched his face freeze in place.

He stepped back and gestured to his office. “Come inside and tell me exactly what happened.”

Jed took her elbow and guided her to a chair. He sat next to her for which she was grateful and he reached for her hand.

“We dropped her at the library around ten. She said she was going to hang out with Marcy while we did some errands and we were to pick her up when we were done. I sent her a text and called her, both of which went unanswered. When we got to the library, it was closed due to the storm so we drove over to Marcy’s house, figuring the girls were there.” She struggled to keep from crying. “But Marcy hasn’t seen Susie since school got out and even last weekend when Susie had said she was hanging out with their group, Marcy said she didn’t come.” She squeezed Jed’s hand. “But that’s what she told us.”

Jed said, “Also, there’s the duffel bag that she took with her last weekend.”

The sheriff perched on the edge of his desk. “Tell me more.”

“I drove her to town on Saturday and she had a large duffel bag with her. When I asked her, she said Marcy wanted to borrow some clothes for a date. I didn’t think much about it given that teenage girls swap clothes, but since we know she was lying about being with her friends, it makes me wonder what was in the bag?”

The sheriff nodded. “Typically, we have to wait twenty-four hours before we file a missing person report, but given that Susie is a minor and we have a blizzard hitting us, I’m going to do it now.”

Maggie’s insides relaxed just a bit. People were going to start looking for her daughter. “Marcy is calling all of their friends to see if anyone has heard from her.”

Tye gave a brisk nod. “Good.” He turned to Jed. “I’m assuming you’ve already called the ranch?”

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