Panic in Paxton Park

by J A Whiting

  “Yeah. Maybe.” Then Juliet asked, “Do you want to wander over to the café after we drop off the food? I know it’s like rubbernecking … wanting to know what’s going on … I know its nosy and all that. I just really want to know the news. I can’t stop thinking about it. Should we do something to help? Should we form a search party? Where’s the car Abby was driving? Has it been found? Are there any clues to where she went?”

  “Do you know Abby?” Shelly asked.

  “A little. Abby took snowboarding lessons from me last winter. It was a group lesson so I didn’t get to know her all that well. I liked her though. She was upbeat and friendly. She worked hard. She’s really pretty … slim, athletic, long blond hair, big brown eyes.”

  “Abby recently graduated from high school? Do you know if she was going to college?”

  Juliet said, “I heard she was accepted at a lot of good schools. I thought someone told me she was going to a school in Boston in the fall.”

  “So she was smart,” Shelly observed.

  “Yeah. She was a good athlete, too. She ran, played sports, skied, did a little snowboarding.” Juliet said, “I wonder what Jay knows. I’d love to text her, but I won’t. I know she must be knee-deep in the middle of all this.”

  Climbing the steps to her front porch, worry continued to pick at Shelly and she looked pointedly at Juliet. “Why don’t we put these things away and head over to the café for a coffee.”

  Juliet gave a quick nod. “Yes, let’s.”

  The outside patio of the café was crowded with tourists sitting under table umbrellas chatting and enjoying the hot sunny day in the shadow of the mountains rising in the distance. Juliet knew the regulars would be inside the coffee shop sharing news and information about the town goings-on so they opened the door and found a crowd of people gathered in small groups discussing the missing girl. The air-conditioned space was a lovely contrast to the outside heat and humidity.

  Juliet looked around for a familiar face and saw a co-worker standing near the back of the room talking with a few other people. Shelly and Juliet ordered drinks at the counter and carried them over to join the small group.

  “Hey, Jules,” her coworker, Matt Tucker, greeted Juliet and nodded at Shelly. “Your sister must be up to her neck in this one.”

  “I haven’t talked to her,” Juliet admitted. “But I’d guess she’s pretty busy right now. What’s the news?”

  A middle-aged, dark-haired woman spoke. “Abby Jackson is still missing. The car hasn’t been found. There’s been no sign of her since she drove away from her boyfriend’s house last night.”

  An older man wearing a golf shirt and jeans said, “I put my money on the boyfriend. Cops better take a long, hard look at the young man.” He glanced at the others with a grave expression. “It’s always the boyfriend.”

  “But, the boyfriend was at home with his parents, wasn’t he?” Juliet asked.

  “Was he?” the older man asked. “He came home, talked to the parents, and went up to bed. Who’s to say he didn’t sneak out of the house later? After the guy went up to his room, his parents didn’t see him until morning.”

  Juliet hadn’t thought of that scenario.

  Shelly asked, “If the boyfriend did sneak out, what did he do? Rendezvous with Abby somewhere? Abby’s car is missing so they must have taken it somewhere if they were together. But why would Adam have gone home if he planned on meeting up with Abby later?”

  “Maybe the young man wanted his parents to think he was at home,” the older man surmised. “That way, he had an alibi.”

  “Did Abby and Adam have a fight? Were they going to break up?” the middle-aged woman asked. “Was something wrong between them?”

  “No one seems to know anything about that,” Matt from the resort said.

  Juliet’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand how Abby’s car hasn’t been spotted. If she drove away after dropping Adam at home, she could have driven a long way away from town during the night, but the police must have put out a bulletin to other police departments. Why hasn’t anyone seen the car?”

  “For one thing,” Matt said, “Abby was only reported missing a few hours ago. It takes time to find out a few particulars about her disappearance, it takes more time for the Paxton Park police to decide to alert other departments in the area, and even more time for the other police departments to spread the news. Maybe the car will be found soon.”

  The older man said, “That car could be in a parking garage somewhere. It will take days to notice it. It could be in someone’s garage, for that matter. Good luck finding it, if that’s the case. It could also be in a ditch somewhere.”

  Shelly couldn’t help but frown at the man’s speculation. “Abby could just be driving around. Maybe she’s upset about something. Maybe she needs time to think about things on her own.”

  “That’s wishful thinking,” the older man said. “But we can hope that’s the case.”

  A tall, thin man with a long, sharp nose and a pinched face stepped into the café and glanced around at the crowd. When he found who he was looking for, he hurried over to the woman and whispered something close to her ear that made her gasp and cover her mouth. Group by group, the news spread around the café causing other people to gasp or to raise their hands to the sides of their heads, with eyes wide and faces pale.

  Matt came back to the group at the back of the coffee shop after hearing from some others what had been reported. His face showed a look of horror and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse. “A little while ago, someone walking on the mountain trails found something.” He swallowed, took in a deep breath, and paused.

  “Well, what was it?” the older man barked his impatience.

  “A severed hand,” Matt told them. “There’s a ring on one of the fingers similar to one Abby wore.”

  Juliet gasped at the news and covered her eyes for a few moments.

  Shelly’s head spun and her heart pounded fast and hard against her chest wall. Her dream. Last night. In it, she was desperately searching for her sister, Lauren.

  When she finally found her, both of Lauren’s hands were missing.

  3

  After leaving the café, Juliet suggested a walk on the mountain trail that ran next to the resort to be outside and clear their heads of the news that a hand had been found in the woods. As they walked in the shade of the overhanging branches, the scent of pine drifted by and birdsong floated on the air.

  “I always feel better when I’m near the forest,” Juliet said. “It calms me. It helps me put things in perspective.”

  Shelly’s mind was still racing from the news they heard at the café. “I love the outdoors, too, but at the moment, I can’t say I’m feeling any calmer about what’s going on. Should we even be walking in the woods?”

  “It’s okay. We’re only a few yards from the resort hotel. I can hear people moving around the grounds,” Juliet said. “I’m trying to think rationally. Abby must have disappeared because of someone she knows. That’s usually how it is.”

  “The poor girl must be dead.” Shelly sighed and bent to walk under a branch hanging over the trail.

  Juliet bit her bottom lip for a second and then said, “It seems likely. They found Abby’s hand. It isn’t going to end well.”

  “So why do you feel calmer?” Shelly asked. “Abby must have been murdered.”

  “I feel calmer because what happened must have been caused by some relationship trouble. I don’t feel like there’s a serial killer or some crazy person walking around looking for victims. Abby and someone she knew must have had a fight. The person lost control and ended up harming Abby.”

  “We don’t know who did this.” Shelly explained why she still felt panicked. “We don’t know for sure that Abby knew her attacker. It could have been a random act. This whole thing won’t be over until they find her body and make an arrest. I feel … I don’t know, I feel on edge about our own safety.”

  Juliet stopped walking and
stared at her friend. “You don’t feel safe?”

  Shelly gave a slight shrug. “I don’t.”

  “Is there more to your feeling?” Juliet stepped closer to Shelly. “What exactly makes you not feel safe?”

  Shelly rolled her eyes. “The small incident of a girl going missing and her severed hand being found in the woods. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in my surroundings.”

  Juliet started up the trail and then stopped. “Maybe we shouldn’t be out here. Just the two of us.”

  Looking over her shoulder Shelly said, “Let’s go back. We can walk around the grounds of the resort. Sit by the lake.”

  The two young women strolled along the trails and paths that ran through the trees, but were close to the resort buildings and weren’t isolated like those in the deeper woods. After an hour’s walk, they settled on a bench beside the lake to watch the swimmers and kayakers enjoying the water.

  “People don’t seem to be impacted by the news,” Juliet observed.

  Shelly said, “They probably don’t know what happened or if they do know, it might not bother them because they’re on vacation and have no connection to the missing girl or to the town. They’re glossing over it, not paying attention to the trouble. It seems too distant from them. It’s nothing that will impact their lives. That’s what they think anyway.”

  “If the person responsible for hurting Abby isn’t arrested soon, then it will definitely impact them,” Juliet said. “A lot of people won’t take part in activities on the mountain. They’ll be afraid to be out there on their own. Some will cancel their reservations. Others will leave the resort early. Tourists won’t come here if they don’t think they’re safe.”

  “Jay and the rest of the police staff must be under a lot of pressure to solve the crime,” Shelly said. “The pressure is on top of the normal stress of searching for evidence and clues. I don’t think I could do that job.”

  Juliet sighed. “Neither could I, but Jay seems to have the right personality for police work. I couldn’t see her doing anything else.”

  Shelly started to feel antsy. Although, she wanted to talk to her friend about the dream she had the other night and how it seemed tied to Abby’s disappearance, she was uncomfortable bringing it up. It frightened her and Shelly was often afraid to fall asleep, worried she’d have another inexplicable dream. “I wonder how things are going, if the police are making any headway.”

  Footsteps crunched on the gravel path and when Shelly glanced up to see who was walking past, she was surprised to see that it was Jay.

  “I thought it was you two sitting there. I spotted you from the terrace off the hotel.” With a sigh, Jay sat down on the bench.

  “You okay?” Juliet asked her sister.

  “As good as can be expected. I feel like we’ve forced a week’s worth of work into half a day.” Jay rubbed the side of her face.

  “Are you making some progress?” Juliet asked and then realized it was a foolish question. Not enough time had passed for any real information to be gathered.

  “You must have heard about the unpleasant discovery?” Jay asked. “It seems it’s all over town already. Heck, with social media it’s probably all over the state by now.”

  “More likely, the whole country knows about it,” Juliet told Jay. “Abby hasn’t been found?”

  “Not yet.” Jay’s shoulders seemed to round.

  “Who found the … the hand?” Juliet asked.

  “I can’t give out a name. It was a townsperson though, taking a walk with a dog. The person had to go to the hospital after talking to us.” Jay shook her head. “The person needed something for anxiety, will probably need some therapy, too.”

  “Did you go out to the area where the limb was found?” Shelly asked.

  “I did,” Jay said. “The investigators are still out there inspecting the spot and the surroundings. No one is really hopeful about finding much.”

  “Why were you at the resort hotel?” Juliet asked her sister.

  “I had to talk with someone who works there.” Jay was always careful not to share important information.

  “Who was it?” Juliet pressed.

  Jay gave her sister the eye. Juliet loved to pump for details. “It was a human being.”

  Shelly couldn’t help but chuckle over Jay’s unspecific response.

  “Has Abby’s car been sighted or found?” Juliet questioned.

  “No, it hasn’t. The girl has been missing for almost twenty-four hours. We need to find something soon or the window of opportunity is going to shrink fast.” Jay turned a little on the bench, trained her eyes on Shelly, and referred to what Juliet had brought up earlier in the day about the dreams her friend sometimes had. “You haven’t had any dreams recently, have you?”

  Shelly’s face tensed and her eyes grew wide as she nervously pushed her light brown hair over her shoulder and then shifted her gaze out to the lake.

  Jay picked up on the young woman’s discomfort, but wasn’t sure if Shelly might have had a worrisome dream or if she was just sensitive about the topic.

  When Juliet also realized that Shelly was acting uneasy, she leaned forward on the bench to better see her friend. “Did you have a dream?”

  Shelly was about to dismiss the question when she let out a slight groan and seemed to shrink on the bench next to the two sisters. “I don’t know. Maybe.” Beads of perspiration showed on Shelly’s forehead.

  Jay’s eyes were like lasers. “You had a dream?” she asked gently.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Juliet’s question carried a slightly indignant tone.

  “I didn’t know how to bring it up,” Shelly moaned in her own defense. “I don’t understand any of it.”

  “Can you tell us about it?” Jay asked in an encouraging way.

  “It was last night,” Shelly began. She went on to describe the dream she’d had about searching for Lauren. “At last I saw her. She was sitting in the dirt, crying.” Her throat felt so dry that Shelly had to swallow and cough a few times to clear it. “Lauren saw me trying to reach her and she lifted her arms out to me.” Not saying anything for several seconds, Shelly finished her story with one sentence. “Both of Lauren’s hands were missing.”

  The three sat in silence for almost a full minute.

  “Did you reach your sister?” Jay asked. “What happened next?”

  “I woke up.” Shelly blinked and looked over the lush, green lawn leading down to the lake.

  “Did you have any idea what had happened to Lauren? How she lost her hands, or why?” Jay’s voice was kind.

  “No, no idea. She was in distress, alone. She needed my help. She was trying to reach out for me.” Shelly passed her hand over her eyes. “I don’t know what it means, if anything. It’s probably just a coincidence.”

  “You had this dream last night?” Jay questioned.

  “Yes.”

  Jay kept her face neutral. “Do you know what time it was when you woke up from the dream?”

  Shelly was about to shake her head when she remembered something. “When I woke up, Justice was prowling around the bedroom. She jumped up on the side table. It was a little before 2am. Why do you ask about the time?”

  “Just wondering,” Jay said. “And you’ve had dreams like this before?”

  “A few times. They started shortly after Lauren died, but they strengthened and happened more frequently after moving here from Boston.”

  Juliet spoke up. “Remember I told you I read that precognition can start after a traumatic event?”

  “Precognition? What does that mean?” Shelly asked.

  “It’s like knowing about an event before it happens,” Juliet answered. “It’s the ability to see events that will happen in the future.”

  Leaning forward, Shelly put her elbows on her knees and clutched her head with her hands. “I can’t see the future. I only have dreams.”

  Jay asked, “Would you two come back to the station with me?”

&n
bsp; “Why?” A shudder of worry darted through Shelly’s body.

  “Because … I need help,” Jay said.

  4

  Shelly and Juliet sat in uncomfortable wooden chairs in Jay’s cubbyhole of a windowless office in front of the beat-up desk covered with folders, papers, and a laptop.

  “I’ve never been in a police officer’s office before.” Shelly looked around at the bookcase full of books on police procedure and law.

  “It’s nothing glamorous, that’s for sure,” Jay said. “I’m lucky I have a private place to work. Most law enforcement officers have desks side-by-side in one room.”

  A tall, slim man about thirty years old with dark blond hair poked his head into Jay’s office. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize you had company. Let me know when you’re done relaxing.”

  Jay’s face remained neutral, but Shelly and Juliet saw a flash of annoyance pass over her face. “We’re discussing the case, Andrew. What do you need?”

  “The chief wants to talk to all of us as a group in five minutes,” Andrew told her.

  Shelly recognized the man at the same time he noticed her. Detective Andrew Walton had spoken with Shelly about a woman involved in the early-summer murders in Paxton Park and she hadn’t cared for him or his rude interview tactics.

  “Don’t I know you?” the detective said to Shelly.

  “We’ve met,” Shelly said cooly.

  “You’re the baker at the resort, right? Yeah, your sister died in a car accident. I remember.”

  Shelly winced.

  Jay gestured to the door. “If we’re all meeting in five minutes, would you mind? Shut it would you, Andrew?”

  The detective withdrew and closed the office door.

  “I didn’t like that guy when I talked with him.” Shelly kept her voice down in case the man was lurking in the hall. “He was arrogant and rude and tried to provoke me.”

  “You hit the nail right on the head with that description of Andrew,” Jay said as she tapped on the keyboard of her laptop. “He’s best ignored.” She looked up, crossed her arms in front of her on the desk, and addressed Shelly. “When I was just out of the police academy, I took a job in Boston for a while where I worked with two detectives on a difficult case. They did great police work and I learned a mountain of stuff from them. They were both professional, smart, dedicated, and honest and I was fortunate to have had their mentorship.”