by Sarah Markel
“What else is new?” Max chuckled, pulling Dani into a hug, “I’m always in trouble for something.”
Dani nodded and shot her wife a grave look. “You really are. But,” she added with a seductive wink, “you can always apologize and make it up to me.”
“What’ll it take this time?” Max asked wrinkling her nose suspiciously.
Dani stopped a step ahead of Max and whirled to face her. Leaning back against the wall, she wiggled her eyebrows and caught her bottom lip in her teeth.
Max, her mind blanking at the sight of Dani’s seductive stance, sucked in a breath and placed her hands on either side of the redhead.
Dani slid her hand up Max’s chest. “A repeat of our anniversary night might get you back on my good side,” she suggested, closing the distance between them as she captured Max’s lips.
Max’s hands moved to encircle Dani’s waist, pulling her closer as the kiss deepened. “A full repeat?” she asked, nibbling her way toward Dani’s ear.
Dani moaned softly and danced her fingers down Max’s chest, until they reached the spot that had Max’s knees buckling. “A full repeat.”
***
“Max, I’m sorry to wake you,” Lilah Fisk’s voice sounded frantic.
Max swallowed a grunt as Dani shifted off her and scowled at her wife. She’d protested when Max moved to answer the phone, but Max had done so anyway.
“It’s alright, Lilah,” she replied as she sat up against the headboard, “I wasn’t asleep. What’s wrong?”
“I was just wondering,” Lilah said quickly, “Is Melissa over there with Daniela?”
“Melissa?” Max frowned at the phone and clicked the speaker button, “No, she isn’t here. The last we saw of her, she was heading home from Rock Ledge. That was hours ago, though.”
Dani’s annoyance was replaced with concern. After the staged argument with Max, Dani had “snuck out” and invited Melissa swimming. Her friend had agreed, and the pair spent most of the evening down at Rock Ledge.
She silently climbed out of the bed and moved to the door. “Mom? Who’s calling so late? Is everything alright?” she asked cautiously.
“Oh dear, I didn’t mean to wake Daniela,” Lilah said when she heard Dani’s sleepy voice.
“It’s alright, Lilah,” Max replied as Dani climbed back into the bed, “she had a nightmare and crawled into my bed. She isn’t normally awoken by the phone.”
“Oh, ok,” Lilah replied, “that explains why she didn’t respond to Zeke’s text.”
Dani heard the slight catch in Lilah’s voice and tipped her head inquisitively. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Fisk. I turn my phone off at night. What’s going on? Why is Zeke texting me?”
“Daniela, sweetheart, have you heard from Melissa since she left the river?” Lilah asked, bypassing Dani’s questions.
“No ma’am, but I can check my phone to see if she called or messaged me,” Dani offered, reaching for her phone on the night stand.
Young had set the dummy device up to receive calls and messages from Zeke, Eli, Melissa, and anyone else Daniela Willows gave her number to.
“I just have the text from Zeke,” she said, scrolling through the messages, “I don’t have any messages or missed calls from Melissa.”
Lilah let out a sob. “Daniela, did Melissa say anything to you at the river? Anything at all?”
“Think hard, honey,” Max coached, “did she say something that seemed off or out of character? Was she acting any different?”
Dani scrolled through her notes on the phone. She showed the screen to Max, who nodded for Dani to proceed.
“She said seeing me argue with my mom scared her, but didn’t really elaborate much. She got a little upset when I noticed a scar on her arm, where her wetsuit rode up over her wrist. I asked about it and she told me to ignore it. She left not long after that.”
“Oh no!” Lilah wailed, “Did she ever tell you about the scars?”
Max and Dani shared a curious look. Dani had tried, on several occasions, to find out the truth behind Melissa’s need to stay covered, to no avail. Today was the first time she’d seen the mark.
“Scars?” they asked in unison. “As in more than one?” Max asked.
“Yes,” Lilah replied softly, “she has dozens.”
“Lilah, Daniela and I will be over in a few minutes. Maybe we can all work together to see if we can find her,” Max said firmly. Lilah thanked her profusely before ending the call.
“Get dressed, honey,” she directed Dani, “and call Harrison. I think he’s in the van tonight. I’ll call Frost and let her know we may have another missing girl.”
“Max, Melissa doesn’t fit the profile of the other girls,” Dani reminded her wife as she pulled on her clothes.
“I know,” Max replied, wincing as she moved. She’d forgotten about the extra appendage between her legs. “We still need to be cautious. Maybe she found something during her community service that someone didn’t want her to find.”
The couple finished dressing in silence. Dani’s mind swirled with fear for the teen as she made the call to Harrison. Max quickly made her call to Agent Frost, and the couple were out the door in less than ten minutes.
***
“Max, Daniela, thank you so much for coming over,” Lilah greeted the couple with a hug, “I know it’s late and I’m sorry. We’re just so worried about Melissa.”
Max nodded and waved off the woman’s apology. “No need to be sorry, Lilah. That’s what friends and neighbors do; they help when needed.”
Lilah led the women into the dining room. Ezra and the twins were seated around the table, worry plastered across all three faces.
“Where all have you looked?” Max asked as she, Lilah, and Dani joined the others.
“Lilah and I drove around to the parks, the high school, and the elementary school,” Ezra replied defeatedly, “that’s where she usually goes when she wanders off.”
“Does she do that often?” Dani asked curiously, “Wander off, I mean?”
Eli nodded sadly. “A few times a month, at least. This is the first time she hasn’t responded to a call, though.”
Dani noted the genuine concern in Eli’s voice. “How long is she normally gone for?”
“She’s always been back by dark,” Lilah answered, “It’s nearly one, that’s why we are so concerned. It only takes fifteen minutes to get home from her usual hiding spots.”
“Why does she need a hiding spot?” Max asked.
Lilah and Ezra exchanged a hesitant look. They seemed to be debating with themselves about whether to answer, and the boys watched their parents curiously.
“She told me about her mother’s death,” Dani supplied, hoping to help sway their decision, “sometimes, when I’m thinking a lot about Diane, I like to go somewhere quiet. That way, others won’t see my sadness.”
“Death?” Ezra asked incredulously, “Ruth isn’t dead. She lives in Vancouver with her husband.”
Dani’s eyes widened in surprise. “What?” she asked, her fingers flying as she noted the revelation.
“That must be why she warned us not to mention her mom,” Zeke said, running a hand through his disheveled hair.
“Sweetie, Melissa’s mother is alive and well. I don’t know why she would tell you such a horrible lie,” Lilah’s hands seemed restless as she toyed with a paper napkin.
“I’m confused,” Dani said, shifting her attention to her tablemates, “If her mom is still alive, why is Melissa living with you? She told me her father ran off before she was born, and that her mother overdosed when she was five.”
Max studied the dining room as she listened. She noted an abundance of family photos hanging on the walls, all of them containing Melissa.
“That’s true,” Ezra confirmed with a shake of his head, “but Ruth didn’t die. Lilah’s younger sister had a serious drug problem in the past, and had a history of sleeping with boys in exchange for those drugs. Melissa’s father was one of those boys
. He was arrested shortly after Ruth told him of Melissa’s birth.”
Ezra paused and turned his attention to his sons. “I want you boys to go up to Melissa’s room and see if you can find her journal. I know she keeps one. You don’t need to hear what I’m about to say.”
The boys started to protest, but a steely look from their father had them reluctantly on their way. Ezra followed them out of the dining room and waited to be sure they weren’t trying to eavesdrop.
When he was certain they would be left alone, Ezra returned to the table and sighed deeply as he gathered the courage to explain about his niece’s parents.
“Ruth was much older than Melissa’s father. She should, by all rights, be listed as a sex offender. The man that fathered Melissa was only seventeen when she was born. Ruth was twenty-three. When she told him about Melissa, the kid was angry. He took his father’s motorcycle for a joyride, and ended up killing a three-year-old girl.”
“He was found not guilty for the girl’s death,” Lilah cut in, “but spent three years on house arrest for reckless endangerment. During that time, his family paid Ruth a small fortune to keep Melissa out of the boy’s life. She blew the money, of course, but had signed an agreement that she would never contact the family again. If she did, she would be sent to prison for extortion.”
Alarm bells went off in Max’s brain. Something about the Fisk’s story had ignited a memory, but she couldn’t pull it forward.
“I still don’t understand how she ended up in your care. How did Melissa end up with scars?” Dani prompted, noting the curious expression on Max’s face.
Ezra sighed and folded his hands in front of him. “Ruth was not cut out to be a mother. When Melissa turned three, Ruth began abusing her. It started out small, with bruises here and there that Ruth claimed were from a fall. But, after a while, the bruises graduated to welts and cuts. Melissa was such a happy baby, but she started becoming withdrawn and fearful.”
“Whenever she was around us, she would get so excited. She clung to Lilah, always wanting more cuddles and hugs and kisses. That beautiful smile would light up the room and all was right with the world. But, when it was time to leave, Melissa would cry and shake. If Ruth grabbed for her hand, she would flinch.”
Ezra’s eyes welled with tears and he raised a hand in apology. Lilah passed her husband a tissue and finished the story.
“On Melissa’s fifth birthday, we threw her a party here. She had so much fun playing with the twins and opening her presents. When the party was over, Ezra and Ruth gathered Melissa’s gifts and carried them out to the car. I was helping Melissa with her shoes and I noticed blood on the cuff of her sock. I held her little leg in my hand and she cried out in pain.”
“I asked her what happened and lifted her jeans to see where the blood was coming from. It was late October, so I wasn’t concerned by the jeans and long-sleeved shirt she’d worn, even though the rest of us were still wearing shorts. When I pushed her pant leg up over her shin, I saw multiple band-aids covering her leg. One had bled through the bandage and onto her sock.”
“Melissa looked so scared when I saw them. She started crying when I lifted her other pant leg. When I checked her arms, and lifted the back of her shirt, I cried with her. She said that mommy got mad at her the day before, and hit her.”
Ezra, having regained some of his composure, took over when Lilah’s voice cracked.
“When Ruth and I went back inside, Lilah told us what Melissa had confessed. Ruth went crazy and threatened to kill Melissa for telling. I called the police and Ruth was arrested for child abuse. She spent a few years in jail, and Lilah and I successfully petitioned to adopt Melissa. Since no father was listed on her birth certificate, and Ruth willingly agreed to the adoption, it went through quickly.”
“So, that’s why Melissa always wears long clothes? Because of her scars?” Dani clarified, her heart hurting for the young woman she had befriended.
“Partly,” Lilah answered, casting an apprehensive look at her husband, “One of our household rules is modesty. We all practice it, not just Melissa. Kids these days are so easily distracted and overly sexualized.”
“We don’t want our children to be that distraction for others. We don’t require Melissa to wear anything specific, we just insist that her choices not accentuate her assets. Unless she’s swimming, of course.”
“That’s why the twins aren’t allowed to go shirtless or flaunt their bodies, either,” Ezra supplied, “I don’t do it, and I expect my sons to follow my lead. Once they are out on their own, the kids are free to do what they please. While they are under my roof, they are expected to follow the rules. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, do you?”
Max and Dani shook their heads in unison. “That sounds perfectly reasonable,” Max said, “but I’m curious about something.”
Lilah and Ezra nodded, giving the woman the go-ahead to ask.
“Why did you think Melissa would be with Daniela? Doesn’t she have other friends she might be with?”
Lilah sighed heavily. “Not at the moment. She used to spend all her time with her best friend, Piper Frank. Piper was one of the girls that disappeared.”
“Dad, we couldn’t find any journals,” Zeke declared, effectively putting a stop to the conversation, “We tore her room apart, but there’s nothing in there.”
“I hope you put everything back in its place,” Ezra scolded.
Zeke nodded. “Eli’s making her bed right now. We did find this, though,” he added, handing a sheet of notebook paper to his father.
“You found this in Melissa’s room?” Ezra asked incredulously. Zeke shrugged and nodded again.
“What is it, dear?” Lilah asked, leaning sideways to get a better view. “Oh my,” she muttered.
Max and Dani waited until the couple finished reading. When Ezra set the page down, Max watched a vast array of emotions battle for dominance on the man’s face. Sadness, anger, and disappointment flashed briefly in his eyes, before a look of utter betrayal finally won out.
“Ezra?” Max implored gently, “What is it? Does it say where she might be?”
Ezra shook his head and excused himself from the table. Max watched the man’s rigid posture as he walked out of the room. The sound of the front door closing behind him made Lilah sigh raggedly.
“I’m sorry, ladies,” she said, dabbing at her eyes, “You’ll have to excuse Ezra. When he gets upset, he goes down to the river to pray.”
Max accepted the page from Lilah. She read over the contents quickly, before handing it to Dani. “Lilah, why don’t you and I take a walk down to the park? Maybe we will get lucky and run across Melissa on her way home.”
“That’s a good idea, Mom,” Zeke supplied encouragingly, “I’ll grab Eli and we’ll check the upper park again. Maybe we just kept missing her when we were out looking for her. Stranger things have happened, right?”
While Lilah went to fetch a jacket from her room, Max bent down and whispered in Dani’s ear.
“Make sure you get the whole page on camera, before Lilah gets back. I want you to come with us. You can text Frost from my phone and find out what she wants us to do.”
“Are you ready, Max?” Lilah asked a moment later.
“Daniela is going to come with us,” Max informed the older woman, “I think it would be best to give Ezra some space. Plus, she will be on hand if Melissa tries to get ahold of her.”
***
“Where am I?” Melissa groaned as she sat up. She glanced around at her dark surroundings and a sense of panic washed over her.
“Melissa?” a familiar voice called to her from somewhere in the darkness nearby.
Melissa rolled forward onto her knees and felt a cold heaviness around her ankle. She slid her hand down her bare leg and gasped when her fingers found the metal shackle. “What’s going on, Piper?”
“Calm down, Melissa,” Piper instructed gently, “Don’t get yourself worked up. It will make things worse. Just rel
ax and focus on staying calm.”
“Where are my clothes?” Melissa asked, panic rising in her chest as she realized her arms and legs were exposed.
“He strips us down to a tank top and underwear,” Bailey Chambers supplied, from somewhere to the left of Melissa.
“Why?” Melissa asked, pulling on the chain that restrained her, “why did he take them?”
“We don’t know,” Piper replied.
“Are all five of you here?” Melissa asked hopefully.
“Yes,” five voices chorused.
“Where are we?” Melissa asked, her eyes struggling to adjust to the lack of light. The absence of her glasses made the effort difficult.
Piper crawled to the edge of her mattress and stretched out her hand. “Melissa, crawl toward my voice. You should be able to reach the end of the mattress.”
Piper could hear Melissa’s chain rattle as the girl scrambled to the edge of her mattress. “Put your hand out and move it slowly. I think I’m right across from you.”
Melissa put out her hand and swiped it back and forth in the air. When her hand grazed the top of Piper’s fingers, Melissa let out a cry of relief. Their fingers locked across the space between them and Piper cheered.
“Piper, where are we?” Melissa asked again.
“We don’t know, Mel. The room is soundproofed. The only sounds we hear are the recorded voice when he brings us food. Sometimes he leaves the light on, but mostly the only light we have is that night light behind you.”
Melissa squeezed Piper’s fingers. “Has… has he hurt any of you?”
“Not really,” Frankie replied, “Just a hard smack to the head if we don’t cooperate when he gives us showers.”
Melissa’s fingers tightened around Piper’s. “He showers you?” she asked, her voice tight with fear.
“He doesn’t touch us, Mel,” Piper soothed, sensing her friend’s anxiety, “In fact, he swears he isn’t interested in our bodies. His face stays covered, but it doesn’t feel like he’s staring at us.”
“What does he want?” Melissa asked, tears threatening to strangle her voice.
