Gone by Dark (Carolina Moon Book 2)

by Christy Barritt

Ron glared. “I’m just stating the facts.”

  Before Joshua could respond, his radio crackled. It was the chief. Maybe that was a good thing, but Ron Whitaker was about to get an earful.

  “Excuse me.” He stepped away.

  “I just got a call from the Edenton Police Department,” Chief Rollins said. “They found a body. I need you to go and check it out. Now.”

  “I’m helping with the car show, and that’s out of our jurisdiction.”

  “It’s important. You’ll see when you get there.”

  ***

  Charity looked up from collecting tickets and saw Joshua walking toward his car. Why was he leaving? Had something else happened?

  Yesterday crashed into her mind. She’d trusted Joshua, and he’d let her down. As if that wasn’t bad enough, that evening she’d overheard Ryan telling Daleigh that Joshua was up for chief. Maybe he was just like Bradley and all about his career. How could she have been so blind?

  “Hey, Charity.”

  She looked over. Ryan and Brody had approached. She’d been so distracted she hadn’t noticed them there.

  When she saw the looks of concern on their faces, she frowned. “What's wrong?”

  “Joshua got called away on a case,” Ryan said. “We just wanted to check on you.”

  Her eyebrow twitched with annoyance. “Did Joshua put you up to this?”

  “He’s worried about you, Charity,” Ryan said.

  “I don’t know what to say. I really don’t want to talk about it, either.” She took tickets from another family. “This is a bad time.”

  “Well, if you need anything, just let us know,” Brody said. “Okay?”

  “I appreciate it. Thank you.”

  Despite her hard feelings toward Joshua, knowing he wasn’t here anymore made her feel more exposed. She didn't have much time to think about it, though. More families were coming through.

  She let out an inward sigh. She had more important things to worry about than Joshua anyway—things like untangling the mystery of what had happened to Andrea. She felt like she was close—so close. But the answers kept slipping away, right before she could grab ahold.

  As the crowds started to die down, Sarah turned to her. They were working the ticket booth together. “I'd say this event was a smashing success,” Sarah said.

  “I'm so glad. I know Joshua, Ryan, and Daleigh put a lot into this.”

  “Why don't you go take a break?” Sarah said. “Grab something to eat, listen to the concert for a minute, maybe even sit down.”

  “I don't want to leave you.”

  Sarah waved her off. "Oh, don't worry about me. I’ll be fine. This is really a one-person job at this point. Most people who wanted to come are already here, since the concert has started."

  “I think I will take a little break, then,” Charity said. “I’d love to listen to Daleigh for a minute.”

  “Go and enjoy yourself. Daleigh is worth listening to.”

  Charity stepped away. As she started toward the stage, she glanced over at the woods surrounding the property. A movement there caught her eye. She paused and shook her head.

  No, she was seeing things.

  Her throat tightened. Not this again. It couldn’t be.

  But a figure slowly emerged from the woods.

  Andrea.

  Her friend stopped at the tree line and stared at Charity. How long had she been there? Had she come just to watch Charity?

  A chill raced down her spine.

  It was time to put an end to this, once and for all.

  She needed to talk to the woman who kept appearing. She didn’t have time to tell anyone where she was going; if she did, her friend might be gone. Charity would only go to the edge of the woods and would maintain a safe distance.

  She took off in a jog and bypassed antique and classic cars. As she moved, she kept her eyes on Andrea, afraid she might disappear. But she didn’t; her friend remained right where she was.

  Charity pushed herself harder, afraid the opportunity to get some answers would vanish. She wanted to see her friend close up and confirm she was still alive. Surprisingly, Andrea still didn’t move.

  Charity glanced back, just for a moment. Everyone was talking amongst themselves; there was no one to see where she was going, what she was doing. She hoped she didn’t regret this.

  She reached the woods, and sucked in a deep breath as she got her first close-up look at her friend’s features.

  “Andrea?” she whispered. “It is you!”

  CHAPTER 40

  Joshua blanched when he pulled up to the scene in Edenton. He knew he’d seen this address somewhere before.

  This was the property Austin Johansson had rented when he taught in Hertford.

  A swarm of police cars surrounded a wooded area of the lot now.

  Joshua walked toward the police line, flashed his badge, and then ducked under. He found the officer in charge and explained who he was. Officer Wagner was in his fifties and had a thick mustache and serious eyes.

  “We thought this might concern your police department, so we wanted someone here to check it out,” Officer Wagner said. “At noon today, we received an anonymous call saying that there was a body on this property. An officer came to check it out. At first he didn’t find anything.”

  The two of them started walking toward the woods. Joshua could see a sheet draped over something in the distance. Something that looked an awful lot like a body.

  “Two more officers came out, just to make sure the lead wasn’t bogus. After a more extensive search, a woman’s body was discovered.”

  As they reached the edge of the woods, the officer pulled back the sheet.

  The face Joshua saw there made him suck in a deep breath.

  It was Andrea Whitaker. Dead.

  ***

  “Andrea . . . what happened? Why are you here? Where have you been?” Charity asked. She started to reach for her, unsure if she could believe her eyes. But Andrea withdrew.

  Her friend looked both directions, as if fearful of being seen. Then she motioned for Charity to step deeper into the woods, deeper out of sight.

  “Just a little farther,” she whispered. “Please.”

  She seemed scared. Why would Andrea be scared?

  Answers seemed so close. After years of wondering what had happened . . . Charity could stop guessing. Maybe she could regain some of her peace.

  Just a step farther wouldn’t hurt anything . . . would it? Charity hesitantly walked into the woods. She looked behind her, noticing that she was out of sight now of most of the people at the car show. A shudder raced through her.

  “Let’s go to the police, Andrea. You can explain everything there. Your family will be so happy to see you.” She needed to reason with her friend before this went any further.

  “I can’t,” Andrea whispered. “Can’t you see?”

  “I don’t understand,” Charity said.

  “It’s so complicated, Charity. But I’ve thought about you nearly every day for years. I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Her friend’s face twisted in a bittersweet smile.

  “You know I don’t like the woods, Andrea. Can we go somewhere else? To Daleigh’s house, maybe.”

  Something flashed through Andrea’s eyes. That’s when Charity paused.

  This woman’s eyes were brown. Andrea had blue eyes.

  Charity sucked in a deep breath at the realization. Something wasn’t right. Something was majorly wrong, in fact.

  “I’m sorry, Charity,” Andrea whispered.

  “For what?” Instinctively, she took a step back, an internal voice urging her to run.

  “For this.” Andrea pulled her hand from behind her back.

  Charity hardly had time to see what she held. Before she could put everything together, a wave of electricity shot from the device. The next instant, Charity was on the ground. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream. Couldn’t escape.

  She was at the mercy of . . . a stranger.<
br />
  ***

  After Joshua called the chief, he called Ryan.

  “Do you see Charity?” he asked, pacing outside his police cruiser at the scene.

  “Not right now. Is everything okay?”

  Nothing was okay, but he didn’t have time to go into details. “I need you to find her for me. It’s urgent.”

  “I’ll look around.”

  “When you find her, don’t let her leave your sight. And call me right away, okay?”

  “Yeah, man. I’ll do that. I don’t know what’s going on, but it doesn’t sound good.”

  Joshua looked at the body in the distance. “It’s not.”

  He slid his phone back into his pocket and joined the other officers. He squatted near the body and stared at the woman in front of him. This woman definitely looked like Andrea Whitaker. But how could that be? The body wasn’t decaying at all, yet Joshua didn’t think she’d died recently either. Something was off.

  Her clothes were damp, her hair looked sticky, and her skin had a blue tinge. There was no odor like he might expect from a body that had been left somewhere for an extended period of time. Rigor mortis hadn’t set in, either.

  If Joshua had to guess, this body had been frozen. It was the only way to explain all the facts in front of him.

  So who was that other woman, the one he’d seen in the gas station?

  Unease churned in his gut.

  Something was majorly wrong.

  “Any idea who called in the tip?” Joshua asked Officer Wagner.

  “We ran the number. It belongs to someone named Ron Whitaker.”

  Joshua shook his head. “I just saw Ron. He wouldn’t have been that sloppy. He’s a former police chief.”

  Officer Wagner stared at him a moment. “You think he’s being set up?”

  “I think a lot of people are.”

  His phone rang, and Joshua saw Ryan’s number. He answered before the first ring ended. “Ryan. What’s going on?”

  His friend’s voice cracked. “Joshua, it’s Charity. She’s gone.”

  CHAPTER 41

  Charity’s head pounded. Her tongue felt dry. Her muscles trembled.

  Everything rushed back to her, and she jerked her eyes open. Fear instantly gripped her.

  As her body worked faster than her mind, she scrambled to her feet. Something pinched her ankle. She glanced down and saw a metal cuff attached to a chain. The chain was anchored to a pole.

  A shudder rippled through her. She glanced around, feeling like none of this could be real. She was surrounded by a cage. Outside. A water bowl was on the ground. A bag of bread was in another bowl.

  She looked up. A canopy of trees stretched above her. She was in the middle of the woods, she realized. In some kind of enclosure.

  A small shed, one that looked like it had been pieced together with scrap wood, was in the corner. But otherwise, there was nothing as far as she could see.

  She remembered seeing Andrea. She remembered feeling a shock.

  She’d been Tasered, she realized. Andrea had Tasered her.

  But it wasn’t really Andrea, was it? The woman had looked like Andrea, but there was something different.

  This had all been a trap. Had it been a ruse to lead her here? To this point?

  Her throat felt so dry. She stared at the bowl of water. It looked like something that would be left for dogs. Was that for her to drink?

  She took a step toward it, hoping to maybe splash some on her face at least. But she jerked to a halt. The chain on her leg didn’t reach that far. The bowl was just barely out of reach.

  Her energy was waning already, probably an effect of the electrical charge her body had experienced. She slid down the pole, praying her head would stop wobbling.

  Lord, how am I going to get out of this?

  She pulled at the chain attached to her ankle. It was thick and heavy. There was no way she could break through.

  Despair tried to creep into her thoughts. She couldn’t let it. She had to stay positive if she was going to get out of this.

  And she really didn’t want to die out here, all alone.

  ***

  Joshua wove through the crowds at the car show. He, Chief Rollins, and Isaac were questioning everyone to see if anyone had seen Charity.

  “Officer Haven, can I speak with you a moment?” Ron Whitaker said. The man’s eyes looked bloodshot. But instead of looking angry, as he usually did, he seemed somber. Chief Rollins must have broken the news to him about Andrea. Compassion pulsed inside him.

  Joshua nodded. “Of course.”

  “I saw Charity walking toward the woods about an hour ago.” He nodded in the distance.

  “When was this?”

  “About two o’clock.”

  “Did you see anyone else?”

  “I didn’t.” He shook his head.

  Joshua stared at him. “How do I know you’re not making this up to distract us from something else?”

  “You don’t. But I am telling the truth. I meant it when I said I wanted to help you and that I didn’t want to see anything bad happen to Charity.”

  “Where’s your phone?”

  Wrinkles formed in the corner of the man’s eyes. “My phone? What’s that have to do with anything?”

  “Just answer the question.”

  “I lost it this morning. It disappeared while I was at Kicking Cotton.”

  Joshua nodded, not having time to go into all of this now. There’d be time later to question Ron more thoroughly. “Is there anything else you can remember about Charity?”

  “She almost seemed like she was in a daze or something. She was definitely on a mission.”

  “Did you think about following her?”

  “I did go after her, but by the time I got to the woods, she was nowhere to be seen.”

  “And you didn’t think to call the police?”

  “She didn’t seem to be in danger, and I tried to go after her. Look, I’m sorry. I’m a lousy drunk. I always have been. Alcohol has messed up my life in more ways than I can express. I had a few drinks before I came, and I’m not as quick as I would like.”

  “You want me to feel sorry for you?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve spent too much time feeling sorry for myself.”

  He called Ryan and Isaac over. “We need to search these woods.”

  “Let me help,” Ron said.

  “I’m not sure I can trust you to do the right thing.”

  “I promise. You can.”

  Finally, Joshua nodded. “One wrong move and I may have to take justice into my own hands, though.”

  Joshua searched the edge of the tree line, around the area that Ron had indicated he’d seen her. He really hoped the man wasn’t trying to lead him astray. But something in his gaze had looked broken. Joshua only hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.

  “Joshua, over here!” Ryan called.

  He ran across the grass toward him.

  “Look. There are some footprints here. Maybe some drag marks,” Ryan said.

  He studied the ground. Sure enough, there were two sets of prints. Both were on the smaller side. Two women, maybe?

  His chest tightened.

  Sure enough, beyond the footprints were drag marks, and based on the distance between the lines, the imprints could have been left by a person being dragged through the woods.

  As he followed the tracks a considerable distance, an image formed in his mind of what had happened, and he didn’t like it. Charity had been sedated again. Then someone—most likely a woman who was imitating Andrea—pulled her through the woods.

  The marks ended at a dirt road that cut through the woods. There were fresh tire tracks there.

  Charity had been put into a truck. That meant she could be anywhere by now.

  His gut twisted. This wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.

  ***

  Charity straightened as she heard footsteps. Was someone coming? She wasn’t sure if she felt relieve
d or more horrified. There was no telling what this person might do to her once he or she arrived. Just what was their plan for her? Maybe she didn’t want to know.

  A moment later, the woman who looked like Andrea appeared. She walked to the fence, linked her fingers on the metal, and stared at Charity.

  When she didn’t speak, Charity finally did. “What do you want with me?”

  “You’re going to like it here. I promise.” She smiled, her gaze full of hope.

  “I’m chained up like a dog.” Charity tugged on her restraint, knowing it would do no good.

  “It’s for your own good.”

  Charity jerked at the chain again. “I fail to see how.”

  “We’re going to be such good friends,” the woman said, a puzzling smile on her face. Her gaze didn’t quite register reality. “You’ll see eventually.”

  “Who are you?”

  She tilted her head. “You don’t know.”

  Charity shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

  “We’re going to be like sisters, Charity. Just like you and Andrea were. Every girl deserves to have a friend like you.”

  “I don’t understand.” Charity tried to put the pieces together, but nothing made sense.

  “Andrea was my sister.”

  Charity shook her head. “Andrea didn’t have any sisters.”

  The girl laughed a little too long. “But she did. Ron Whitaker is my father. That makes Andrea my half sister.”

  The man had a history of being unfaithful. But he’d fathered another child. That would explain the uncanny resemblance.

  Charity licked her lips. “Who snatched Andrea?”

  It wasn’t possible that this woman had done it. A man had taken Andrea. A large man. But somehow this was all connected.

  “No, my father did.”

  “Ron Whitaker?”

  “Ron Whitaker only gave me his DNA. My real father is a decent man who loves me.”

  The sickening truth began to settle in Charity’s mind. “Did you keep Andrea locked up here, too?”

  The woman smiled that empty grin. “She fought it at first, too. But eventually she came around. She started to like it here. Didn’t even try to run away. You’ll like it, too.”