Shall We Dance?

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  Suddenly, it didn’t seem like it was worn out and too small. Instead, it looked like home. Like a place to be thankful for.

  “I’m glad I found you, Kimber.”

  Kimber leaned over and kissed Shannon’s cheek. “You and me both, sister. Now, let’s get inside and make some decent coffee.”

  As she followed Kimber up the stairs to their very fine coffee maker, she took a moment and looked up.

  “Thanks,” she said softly.

  She didn’t hear a reply, but she didn’t need one. She’d had so many prayers answered already.

  CHAPTER 24

  “Our feet are planted in the real world, but we dance with angels and ghosts.”

  —John Cameron Mitchell

  By the time they’d gone four blocks, Jennifer knew that going with Jack was a mistake. It wasn’t anything that he’d done, the problem lay with her. As much as she wanted to be better, she knew she still had a ways to go. The enclosed space, the feeling that she wouldn’t be able to escape easily, even the sense that he was expecting something from her scratched at her nerves.

  She began to feel clammy and a little ill.

  When Jack pulled to a stop in front of a very pretty house near the river, she was silently giving herself a stern pep talk. She could do this. She just had to stop letting her imagination get the best of her.

  As if he could tell that she wasn’t doing well, Jack glanced at her warily before walking to the back seat to let the puppy out. “I need to put Harvard inside and give him some food. Do you want to come inside with me or stay out here?”

  She wasn’t ready to be alone with him in his house. “I’ll just stay out here. The falling snow is so pretty.”

  He looked at snowflakes covering his windshield with a doubtful expression. “All right. I won’t be long. But if you change your mind—”

  “If I change my mind or get cold, I’ll come inside. I promise.”

  “I’ll stop worrying about you then. I’ll be out in five minutes or so.” He snapped his fingers. “Come on, Harvard.”

  The pup loped off the seat and onto the driveway, wagging his tail at his owner. Jack bent down and rubbed the puppy’s head, then laughed when Harvard yipped.

  As the puppy scampered around Jack’s feet, gazing up at him with adoring eyes, Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest, loving how cute the two of them were together.

  But then, right in front of them, Harvard stopped, spotted a fluffy gray rabbit at the tree line, and did an about-face and started running toward the woods.

  Seconds later, he was gone.

  “Harvard!” Jack yelled. “Harvard, come back here.”

  Jennifer got out of his truck. “Want me to help?” She scanned the area but couldn’t see a thing.

  Looking back at her, he shook his head. “You won’t get too far with those leather flats. Might as well stay dry.” With a curse, Jack started running. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to find him.”

  “Of course you do. Um, I’ll wait around here in case he circles back.”

  “Thanks!” he called out before disappearing into the woods.

  Jennifer craned her neck, hoping to hear either Jack or the rustle of leaves, signaling that Harvard had lost his quest for that rabbit.

  After a couple of more minutes, she didn’t hear anything from where Jack had disappeared. But she was pretty sure she spied a glimpse of the pup in the opposite direction. After hesitating a moment, she ran that way into the woods.

  After she’d gone about thirty or forty feet, she heard a puppy-sized growl.

  “Harvard?” she called, walking deeper into the woods. Her shoes were sliding on the snow, but they’d dry. “Harvard?” she called again. From the corner of her eye she spied him.

  “Here, pup!” She picked up her pace, snagged the side of her coat on some brambles.

  Harvard barked again. It actually sounded chipper . . . like he had discovered a new game—chase in the snow. Deciding she was committed, Jennifer ran after him again as the snow started to come down even harder.

  Maybe five minutes had passed. Maybe only two. Maybe it had been fifteen.

  Whatever the span of time, she noticed a couple of things. She was very alone, the mini German shepherd was nowhere in sight . . . and she was hopelessly lost.

  Her feet were frozen, the rest of her was pretty darn cold, too, and the wind had picked up. Oh. And she had no purse or cell phone. She’d left those right by Jack’s vehicle.

  The only good news was that she wasn’t frightened. She wasn’t hiding, she was trying to help find a puppy. And, though she was in a patch of woods, it couldn’t last forever—they were in Montgomery, not in the middle of the country.

  She also wasn’t upset about being alone. Amazing how two years of being basically afraid to see other people made a girl no longer fear walking by herself.

  Yes, she’d learned that there were far worse things in life than that.

  * * *

  Thirty minutes later, the sky had darkened. She’d also managed to sprain her ankle slipping on a patch of ice. Jennifer knew she needed to seek shelter. The snow was getting worse, her ankle was throbbing, and she was getting tired.

  She also knew from having a policeman brother that people were easier to find when they stayed put.

  Though she still kept an eye out for Harvard, Jennifer also started looking for someplace to wait out the storm. She really hoped she would find that spot sooner than later.

  * * *

  “Hey, Dylan?” Traci asked as she approached his desk.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, not bothering to look up. He was typing up the last of his report about the stop they’d made at a senior citizen’s home that afternoon. Once again, he wished he could not only type better but faster instead of hunting and pecking on the keyboard.

  “You need to stop and listen to me.”

  Traci’s voice sounded off. Warily, he looked up.

  When he saw the expression on her face, he knew that something was seriously wrong. Had there been an accident? A fire?

  Getting to his feet, he said, “What happened?”

  “It’s Jennifer.”

  “What about her?” he asked slowly. Only by reminding himself that she was with Shannon and her sister kept him from jumping out of his skin.

  “Well, Shannon just called me. She’s missing.”

  “She?” he asked, though it really wasn’t a question. He was just attempting to not freak out.

  “I’m talking about Jennifer, buddy. Jennifer is missing.”

  And just like that, his whole being went into high alert.

  “Why’d she call you instead of me? And what is my sister doing missing?” Not even waiting for an answer, he fumbled for his cell phone.

  Maybe Shannon had called him and he’d been so focused on that report that he hadn’t heard anything?

  But as he stared at the screen, realizing that Shannon hadn’t even tried to call him, a dozen dark thoughts filled his head. Just as he started pressing apps on his screen, Traci put a hand on his arm.

  “Hey, stop for a second.”

  “No. I’ve got to call her.”

  “Who? Jennifer or Shannon?”

  “Jennifer. And then Shannon,” he said impatiently. “Why are you asking me? Does it really matter?”

  “I think so. You need to calm down and listen to me before you go off half-cocked.”

  Only Traci’s reputation encouraged him to put down his cell and face her. “Fine. What do you know?”

  “She left Backdoor Books with Jack Patterson at a quarter to twelve.”

  “No.” No way would she have done that.

  Traci ignored his protest. “Jack drove Jennifer directly to his house.” She paused, flipped a page in her notebook, and recited the address.

&nbs
p; “Why did he take her there?” Already imagining the worst, he blurted, “Did he—”

  “Listen to me, Lange.”

  Her command pulled him back. That was hard to do, but he nodded. “I’m listening.”

  “Shannon said that Jennifer had looked excited. Like she was proud of herself for overcoming her fears. She said that Jack looked like he was willing to take things real slow, too. I guess when they stopped by his house so he could put his dog inside, Jennifer had switched gears. She was looking stressed and had chosen to stay outside and wait for him.”

  “And?”

  “And that’s where the story gets hazy. Jack told Shannon that he hadn’t put the puppy on a lead. He was going to let it do its business and then take him inside . . .”

  “But?”

  “But just as it was sniffing around, the dog saw a rabbit and took off into the woods. Jack started running. He vaguely recalls Jennifer offering to help, but he told her to stay warm.

  “Then?”

  “Then, maybe about five minutes later, just when he was about to give up, Harvard came running toward him,” Traci relayed. “But when Jack got back to his house, Jennifer wasn’t there.”

  “He was sure about that?”

  “Sounds like it,” Traci said. “From what Shannon told me, Jack said Jennifer wasn’t standing on the driveway, not waiting in the vehicle, where it was warmer, not walking around the yard. She was gone.”

  She was gone. Three words that meant anything could have happened. Remembering the scene that had greeted him two years ago, of Jennifer hurt and broken on the ground, he felt sick to his stomach. This was his worst nightmare returning.

  This Jack guy could have hurt her. Or, whoever had left that note could have snatched her. Or, she could have run off, or a neighbor could have done something.

  Anything could have happened.

  Grabbing his coat and a hat, he started walking. “Oh my God, Traci.”

  Pure sympathy filled her eyes. “I know, but you need to calm down.”

  “This is my sister, and she has issues.” Even imagining how scared and freaked out she had to be practically made tears form in his eyes.

  “I hear you, Dylan. I really do,” she murmured as she kept pace. “But you need to get ahold of yourself. This might not be the worst-case scenario that you’re thinking of.”

  Maybe there was a part of his brain that heard her and agreed, but if it was there, he couldn’t access it. No, all he could do was react and remember. “I need to talk to Sergeant—”

  “I’ve done that. He’s on board and is ready to call out for additional help if it’s needed,” she said patiently. “We can take off now.”

  After taking two steps, he stared at her. “I don’t remember what address you told me.”

  “I’ve got it. I already called Jack and told him to stay tight,” she said as they exited the building and strode out to their cruiser.

  “He better hope to God he doesn’t move a muscle.” Just as he was about to go to the driver’s seat, Traci stepped in front of him.

  “Nope. I’m driving.”

  He paused, prepared to argue, then dropped the idea. It didn’t matter who drove, and she was probably right. He was feeling so off-kilter he wasn’t in any mind-set to drive.

  But he was sure as hell ready to ask Shannon why she couldn’t have looked after his sister.

  He started dialing her number just as Traci sped down Main Street.

  CHAPTER 25

  “You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams. And I know if I can make you smile by jumping over a couple of couches or running through a rainstorm, then I’ll be very glad to be a song and dance man.”

  —Gene Kelly

  So, she was lost. Like, really lost. And, of course, it started snowing. When the wind picked up and her toes started to burn, she knew she needed to find some shelter. Wandering around in the woods was a bad decision.

  “Please, God. Help me out, would you? I know my faith has been pretty faulty lately, but I’m trying to get better. And even though I know You don’t bargain with people, I promise if You help me out, I’ll try to do a lot better.”

  She took a breath, thinking that as far as prayers went, that one was pretty lame.

  Just as she was about to sound more faithful and maybe a lot more needy and desperate, she spied an old deer blind.

  It had to be several decades old, from back in the day when Bridgeport was only about a fourth of the size and the outskirts were either county property or one of the ranchers’ big plots of land.

  At the moment, though, she decided she couldn’t care less about why it was there. All that mattered was that it was.

  Walking to the ladder, she pressed her palm against the first rung, thinking that a little test of its strength would be a good idea.

  So far, so good, though. The rung didn’t budge. She looked up. It was pretty high up there, and there was a good chance that some critter could have taken refuge inside it, too.

  Just then a gust of wind carrying a handful of snow hit her face.

  Sure, it might have been a coincidence or simply the elements getting the best of her. But given the way things were, Jennifer decided it was a sign from God to stop standing around and take advantage of the shelter He’d provided.

  “I hear you,” she murmured, stepping up onto the bottom rung, then slowly climbing up the rest of them. Putting weight on her sprained ankle hurt like crazy, but she ignored the pain and continued on.

  When the eighth rung broke in half under her weight, she grabbed hold of the edge of the blind and pulled herself in. The first thing she noticed was that the wood might be old and that it had chinks in between the slats, but it was also a whole lot more sound than it looked. The old tarp that someone had left covering one of the top corners prevented the snow from falling on her head.

  It was a struggle, but when she was sitting in the center of an empty—and thankfully critter-free—deer blind, Jennifer realized two things. She was now blissfully protected from the worst of the wind. And it was going to be really hard to get back down.

  She curled herself into a ball and decided to sit tight. It wasn’t a great option, but it wasn’t the worst one.

  But even though she was sitting in the corner in a ball, she couldn’t help but kind of raise her hands in triumph. Like Rocky. She was cold and lost and irritated at herself for getting so lost. But she wasn’t afraid.

  As far as successes went, this was a big one. Maybe, just maybe, she was going to be okay one day. Maybe she was going to stop being afraid of things going wrong and start remembering that life wasn’t about being safe, it was about living.

  Perhaps she’d even remember this day and her prayers and how God had provided. Or at the very least, she’d remember this day because she had remained calm throughout this storm.

  Boy, she liked that idea. Liked that after two years of being frozen in the past, she had actually made progress. Go, her!

  She closed her eyes and smiled. And for the first time in twenty-four hours, relaxed. When Dylan saw her and heard her story, he was going to be so proud.

  And so was she.

  * * *

  Shannon picked up the call the second Dylan’s name flashed on the screen. “Dylan, oh, thank goodness!” she blurted before he even had a second to say hello. “I’ve been so worried. Is Jennifer okay?”

  “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “You heard me.”

  His voice was so hard, she was taken off guard. His tone didn’t sound like him at all—nothing like the sweet guy who’d held her in his arms and danced with her last night.

  After taking a second to recover from her shock, she said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. How about we try this again? How are you? How is Je
nnifer?”

  But he ignored every one of her efforts to ease him up. “You know I didn’t want her going anywhere but home, but you insisted on taking her out to some bookstore. And then you couldn’t even follow through? You just let her go off with some random guy?”

  With a random guy? “I think you are mistaken about what happened. See—”

  “You know what? I don’t even want to hear it. You had better hope that we find Jennifer soon and that she’s okay. If she even has a scratch, I’m going to hold you accountable.”

  She’d never had anyone talk to her like this before. Her hand started shaking. “Dylan, wait. You need to listen to me—”

  “Do you have anything to say that might help me find her?” he bit out. “Anything of worth?”

  Anything of worth. All the things she’d been about to tell him now sounded trite.

  What could she tell him? The truth was that she really didn’t know either his sister or the man she left with. She’d known Jennifer had received a creepy note and had been so scared that she’d been afraid to get out of her car.

  Maybe Shannon was accountable, at least to a small extent.

  And he sounded furious. Like he hated her.

  She knew he was with Traci. Now that she thought of it, when she’d told Traci about Jack’s panicked phone call, her sister hadn’t said much. What if she hated her too?

  What if they both blamed her for Jennifer going missing? And what if something really bad had happened to Dylan’s sister? What would happen then?

  “Do you?” he asked, sounding even more impatient.

  “No,” she said at last, feeling even worse. “I don’t have any additional information to give you. Though, I’d love to help.”

  “Help do what?”

  He sounded so mean! “I . . . I could help look for Jennifer,” she sputtered. “I’m sure Kimber would want to help, too. Where are you? I could meet y’all.”