Shall We Dance?

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  “Don’t bother. I think you’ve done enough.”

  Those tears, the ones that she’d been trying so hard to hold at bay, filled her eyes. “I see,” she whispered. “Well, if you could let me know what happens, I’d really appreciate it.”

  Then she realized that she was talking to air. He’d hung up on her.

  Staring at the blank screen of her cell phone, she tossed it on her bed.

  She’d really messed up, at least it seemed she had. Suddenly, all she could seem to do was replay his terrible words over and over in her head and compare it to those last months of her dancing career. Back when she’d gotten all the way to nationals and then realized that while she might have been “all that” in Spartan, West Virginia, she didn’t have anything on those East Coast girls. She hadn’t even come close.

  She wasn’t as polished, didn’t have the dresses and costumes they did, didn’t have their connections, and certainly didn’t have their confidence. She’d felt like the most naive fool around.

  Then, when one of the judges had made a pass at her in a dark hallway, she’d been so shocked and embarrassed, she hadn’t told a soul. But it had settled and stewed deep inside her. She’d gone out on the floor to perform, had taken one look at the judge, and completely forgot everything.

  In the span of three minutes, she’d ruined five years of hard work and put to waste thousands of dollars that her parents had forked out for that dream.

  The crowd had been stunned. Her coach had been full of questions. The other girls had smirked, and she’d hung her head in shame. And her parents? Oh, they’d been so disappointed in her.

  It had been the lowest point in her life—even worse than discovering that she’d had sisters that no one had told her about—because that moment, that failure in front of all those people, had felt like her fault.

  Even though she’d been a kid, and she knew it was the judge’s fault and not hers, she had felt responsible.

  And that was exactly the same way she felt now. Like she’d been accosted for no reason and she was being left to flounder and find excuses when there really weren’t any to give.

  “Shannon?” Kimber rapped lightly on the door. “Hey, Shan?”

  She pulled open the door. “Yes?”

  “I talked to Traci a couple of minutes ago,” she said, her worried expression surely mirroring her own. “Have you talked to her?”

  “I did. She called me right before Dylan did.”

  “He called you, too?” Hope shined in her eyes. “Did he have any news?”

  “No.”

  Kimber blinked. “Oh. Well, listen, I told Traci that we’d be happy to help. She said she’d get back to us, but if they can’t find her soon, they might start forming a search party. What do you think? Are you up for it?”

  “I’m up for it, but I don’t think Dylan would want me to be there.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “As you can imagine, he’s pretty worried.” He was angry at her, too, but Shannon didn’t want to share that with Kimber yet.

  “I bet he’s worried out of his mind. But I tell you what, I think we need to think positive.”

  “Positive? How?”

  “There’s always a chance that everybody’s getting all riled up for no reason.” She shrugged. “Maybe Jennifer just decided to go hang out at the movies or something.” She blinked. “Or . . . she got an Uber home and is taking a nap. Now, wouldn’t that be something?”

  She chuckled, though she reckoned it sounded as dry and forced as it felt. “It surely would.”

  “Hey, what’s going on? You’re really taking this hard, aren’t you? Chin up, now. It’ll be okay.”

  Shannon nodded. Part of her wanted to share what Dylan said to her, but it hurt too much. And, perhaps, she couldn’t bring herself to say it because she knew his words might have been close to the truth. Then, for some reason, she felt protective over her new siblings. She didn’t want to cause things to be worse or cause them pain. “I guess I’m just rattled,” she said. “I’m sure you’re right.”

  “It’s too bad we can’t cook, huh?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “If we could make a plate of brownies worth a darn, we could whip some up and take them over to the police station. Traci sounded so stressed, she needs chocolate.”

  “Chocolate?”

  “Chocolate helps everything. Everyone knows that.”

  “For a stick-thin model, you sure think a lot about food.”

  “You would, too, if you’d had to deny yourself all the good stuff that I have.” Her smile faltered as her cell phone rang. After scanning the screen, she groaned. “Sorry, it’s the photographer for the shoot. I’ve gotta get this.”

  Kimber rushed down to the hall toward her bedroom, leaving Shannon’s door open in her wake.

  Looking at that open door, Shannon contemplated the merits of closing it tight and curling into a ball on her bed.

  Then, reality settled back in.

  She had new a couple to teach to swing dance and her class of tap-dancing high school girls after that.

  Even though she was worried sick and her heart was breaking, she sat down at the dressing table, pinned her hair up, and pulled out a pair of nylons and her favorite dancing shoes. It was time to do her job and do it well.

  For the moment, she didn’t have a choice.

  CHAPTER 26

  “If you believe that your best years are behind you, you’ve guaranteed they are; I’m going to dance into that good night, with the oldies turned up loud.”

  —Gina Barreca

  “Were you actually talking to my sister that way?” Traci asked as she continued to race down the street in their cruiser.

  Dylan was already regretting some of his choices of words. Okay, a lot of them. But that didn’t mean he regretted his anger toward Shannon. He’d trusted her with his sister, and she’d let him down.

  But he wasn’t going to start explaining himself to his new partner. “That call wasn’t your business, Lucky.”

  “Uh, yeah, it was. You just reamed her a new one for no reason.” She glanced his way, practically shooting daggers. “And you’re my partner.”

  The frustration that he was barely holding in check erupted again. “We’re partners, but that doesn’t give you the right to start telling me what to do or how to talk to people.”

  She swerved around a garbage truck and honked her horn at an Oldsmobile that looked like it was about to pull out in front of them. “That’s a bunch of crap, and you know it.”

  “Now isn’t the time, Traci.”

  “We’re stuck in a car together. I’m thinking it’s a great time.”

  He looked at their GPS. “We’re five minutes out. You need to focus and get your head together.”

  “Hold on. I might be new to this department, but I guarantee I have more experience than you do. I know I’ve seen a hell of a lot more nastiness than you can even imagine.”

  “So?”

  “So, don’t you start talking down to me, Lange.” Her voice hardened. “Or is this some male-gotta-talk-down-to-the-female-cop thing and I’m just learning about it?”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake. My sister is missing. After being brutally raped two years ago, she was last seen with a guy I never met. Plus, she received a threatening note from one of the men that attacked her. I’m freaking out, wondering what’s happened to her. And wondering, if something has happened, how I’m going to be able to tell our parents that I wasn’t able to protect her. Isn’t that enough right now?”

  Her lips pursed. After a second’s pause, she said, “It’s enough.”

  “Turn.”

  “On it.” She turned the wheel sharply into a subdivision, then slowed way down. After he read her the address, she parked in front of the house. He’d alre
ady unbuckled. “Hold on. You’re too emotional. Let me talk to this guy.”

  “No.”

  “Lange, stop being such a jerk and calm down. You’re freaking out about way too much, and you know I’m right about this. Right?”

  Maybe it was her tone, her experience, or simply that she was right, but altogether it was enough to make him calm down. And to make him realize that he was taking out his frustration on all the wrong people. “Right. Sorry.”

  She stiffened but didn’t say anything as she opened her door and joined him outside the car.

  Just as he was about to tell Traci that she could take the lead, the front door of the house opened and Jack Patterson appeared. He raised a hand in greeting.

  Dylan merely stared back.

  Traci, on the other hand, nodded. “Hi there. I’m Officer Lucky. We talked on the phone?”

  “Yes. It’s good to see you. Jack Patterson.” His expression softened for a moment before looking at Dylan who was just walking up on the stoop to join them.

  “I’m Dylan Lange,” he said.

  “All right, now that we’ve met. Do you want to come in and talk? It’s pretty cold.”

  Traci stepped forward. “Lead the way.”

  Jack guided them into a small living room that looked like something out of a home design magazine. Just by glancing around, Dylan could tell that the area rug, television mounted on the wall, and couch were all on the high-end side. In the background he heard the faint bark of the guy’s dog. “What do you do again?” he asked.

  Jack stopped in front of one of the chairs. “I’m a building contractor. Mainly commercial, but every so often I work on high-end residential properties.”

  “It looks like it’s working out for you.”

  He shrugged. “Well enough.” After gesturing in a vague way toward the couches, Jack sat down and faced Traci. “Officer Lucky, when we talked on the phone, I told you everything I know. I’m not sure how else I can help. What can I do for you?”

  “You can tell us everything one more time,” Traci said.

  Jack’s expression turned wary. “Right. Well, like I said, I invited Jennifer to lunch, she said yes, which I was glad about.”

  Traci smiled, just like they were standing around the water cooler in an office building. “You really liked her, huh?”

  Jack’s posture relaxed. “Well, yeah. I mean, I thought I did. I don’t know her.”

  “If you don’t know her, why’d you ask her out?” Dylan asked, ignoring Traci’s arched eyebrow.

  “Why? Well, because I thought she was beautiful, she seemed sweet, and what I did know about her, I liked.”

  Though the guy’s words were sweet, Dylan didn’t actually trust him. “So, do you do this often?”

  “Do what?”

  “Ask out women you hardly know?”

  “What? No!” Looking at them both, Jack inhaled sharply. “Wait, are you two interrogating me or something?”

  “We’re just getting information,” Traci replied smoothly. “That’s all. Now, getting back to what happened, you said that you drove her from the bookstore to your property in your truck?”

  “No, I did take her from the store to here. Backdoor Books is my mother’s shop. I stop over there a couple of times a week to make sure she’s doing all right.” He paused, as if choosing his words with care. “Anyway, Jennifer and I got to talking. She was there with two other women and seemed more relaxed than she had the last time I saw her. Since she seemed more comfortable, I figured it was a good time to ask her to grab some lunch, especially since she told me that she’d forgotten to eat breakfast. She said yes.”

  “And then?” Dylan asked.

  Jack shrugged. “And then I did about what you’d expect. I waited for her, then grabbed my dog and walked her out to my truck. I had told her earlier that I needed to drop off Harvard before we could grab chili. She’d seemed okay with it.”

  Traci grinned. “Just to make sure I have everything right, Harvard is your dog’s name?”

  “Yes. He’s a twelve-week-old German shepherd mix.”

  “So then . . .”

  “Then I drove us over here in my truck.”

  It all sounded so normal. And this guy? Well, he seemed normal, too. He could see why Jennifer had unbent enough to say yes when he asked her out to lunch.

  Dylan started to wonder if maybe Lance had found her or had texted her or something. He knew that might be grasping at straws, but a lot of things that were unexpected happened. “When you were driving, did she seem different or anything?” he asked.

  Jack pressed his palms together and seemed to think about it for a moment. “I think maybe she did? Maybe a little bit. She got pretty quiet and seemed a little more distant. I started wondering if she was getting second thoughts. So, when I parked, I asked her if she would rather I take her home instead.”

  “And what did she say to that?” Traci asked.

  “She said she still wanted to go out to lunch, so I didn’t worry about it.” Jack shot Dylan a look. “Look, I guess there are some guys who have to use tricks or something to get a date, but I’m not that guy. If she had wanted to go back home, I would’ve taken her, no problem.”

  As much as Dylan wanted to believe that the guy was lying, he didn’t. He felt the same way about Jack as he had after the first time he’d seen his sister gaze at him. Jack was a decent guy. He may not be keen on his sister dating, but he believed the guy was harmless—especially after he’d run a background check on him.

  Traci glanced his way, paused, and then cleared her throat. “So . . . you let the dog out of the car and it ran off?”

  “Yeah.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “He ran into the woods and I took off after him. I’m not going to lie, it kind of freaked me out. After I finally found him, I carried him back. But she was gone.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I put Harvard in the house and started calling Jennifer’s name. I walked around the outside of the house and even looked for footprints.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But I didn’t hear a word. She was gone.”

  “What did you do then?”

  “Well, after I stood outside for about another ten minutes, I went in and waited.”

  Dylan was incredulous. “That’s it?”

  “Yeah. I thought maybe she went for a walk or something.”

  “I’m having a hard time believing that.”

  “Why?”

  “It was snowing. Don’t you think it was kind of bad weather for a lone woman to decide to go for a walk?”

  “How would I know? My mother likes to go for walks in the rain. It doesn’t make sense to me, but I’ve stopped questioning it.” He took a deep breath. “Look, I’m going to be real honest here. I was freaked out, but there was a part of me that thought she called for an Uber and took off.”

  “Because that’s what girls do thirty minutes after they say yes to a lunch date,” Traci said, her voice thick with sarcasm.

  “You’re sounding like she was a kid or a teenager. She isn’t. She has to be at least twenty-three.”

  “She’s twenty-one,” Dylan supplied. “Only twenty-one.”

  Jack raised his hands. “See? She’s a grown woman. I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but I don’t think I’m the one who had a problem here.”

  Dylan glared. “If you didn’t think there was a problem, then why did you call your mom?”

  “Because after an hour I started worrying about her, so I went out and looked some more. And that’s when I saw that her purse had gotten blown under one of my truck’s wheels. I hadn’t noticed it earlier, because it was covered in snow. That’s when I realized that she hadn’t Ubered anywhere.” He swallowed. “I remembered that my mom had gotten Jennifer’s contact information as well as the two other women’s phone numbers for some
book club she was starting. I got the number, and called Shannon to ask if she’d heard from Jennifer.”

  “And then Shannon called me because she’s my sister,” Traci reminded him.

  Tired of talking, Dylan stood up. “Let’s go do another sweep around the area. If we don’t see anything, I’ll call in more help.”

  Jack stood up as well. “I’ll be happy to help you search.”

  “No. Stay here,” Traci said as she handed him her card. “If you hear from her before we get back, call my cell.”

  “Let’s go,” Dylan said.

  Still holding Traci’s card, Jack walked them to his front door. “No offense, but is there a reason you seem so angry at me?”

  “Jennifer is my little sister.”

  Jack raised his eyebrows a little but nodded. “Oh, okay. I get it now. Well, if you change your mind about me giving you a hand, just let me know. I’m worried about her, too.”

  If the guy said anything more, Dylan missed it. All he could think about was his sister and how he’d somehow made a mistake over the last couple of months. He’d been sure she was much better, but it was starting to look like that wasn’t the case at all.

  CHAPTER 27

  “You live as long as you dance.”

  —Rudolf Nureyev

  She’d fallen asleep. That was the second thing Jennifer had become aware of. The first was that she was really cold. She could see faint splinters of sunlight slipping through the slats of the shed she was in—no, the stranger’s deer blind that she’d gone inside and then fallen asleep in.

  Looking out, she saw that night hadn’t fallen, but it was on the way. Dylan was probably worried sick.

  Feeling stiff and sore, she gingerly got to her feet, wincing when she tried to put much weight on her left foot. Looking down, her foot looked a little fat, squished into her black flat. If her foot looked that bad, her ankle was probably in real bad shape.

  Leaning against the wall, she grimaced. Boy, what a mess. Her good-deed attempt had been a disaster, and now she was stuck in a broken-down deer blind.

  Now it was getting dark and even colder. She was out of options. She was going to have to figure out a way to climb down and find someone to help her. Otherwise, she was going to freeze.