by Elle Gray
“For someone her own age, maybe?” Brock cut in irritably, but Olivia held up a hand to hush him.
“So you haven’t seen Sophia in the last twenty-four hours?”
Craig shook his head. He looked like he was close to tears. “I swear, I haven’t seen her. I fell asleep in my car waiting for her, and when I went home this morning, my dad told me that Sophia was gone. Her mom had called around, asking for me. So I panicked. I drove out of town for a few hours, trying to get my thoughts together. But I didn’t do anything, man! I’ve always been nice to Sophia. We get along.”
“You can see why we’re suspicious, though, right?” Olivia pressed through pursed lips. “There’s a considerable age gap between you and Sophia, isn’t there? A boy your age... dating someone of her age…”
Craig stared at the floor, shuffling his feet. “It’s not like that. I like her company. We haven’t done anything. We just kissed a few times. I’m waiting for her. When she’s older, we can be together properly.”
Brock snorted, but Olivia shot him a glare. This was not the time or place to be prodding their only suspect, and he seemed pretty loose-lipped to her, even if he couldn’t look her in the eye. She folded her arms.
“So if we were to get a warrant and search your house, we wouldn’t find anything to lead us to Sophia?”
“I swear, I don’t know where she is!” Craig cried out, his lip wobbling like a child about to throw a tantrum. “If I did, I sure as hell wouldn’t be here talking to you two. I care about her, okay? I don’t want to hurt her. I want her to be found, safe and sound, so things can go back to the way they were. Are you any closer to finding out what happened to her?”
Olivia shook her head slowly. It was almost painful to admit how in the dark they were. She watched the last of Craig’s walls come crumbling down and he groaned, throwing his hands up in frustration.
“Why would someone do this?” he asked, a sob escaping his throat. “She’s a good girl. She should be at home…”
“Maybe she would have been if you didn’t insist on taking a fifteen-year-old girl out in the middle of the night,” Brock pointed out, unable to hide his disdain any longer. “If you want to help, stay where we can see you and help us search.”
Craig’s lip wobbled, but he nodded and began to walk ahead of them, his whole body trembling as he wiped his face on his sleeve. Olivia and Brock exchanged a glance.
“You believe him, don’t you?” Brock whispered. Olivia sighed.
“I believe he’s not a kidnapper, yes. I mean, look at him. He’s a mess.”
“Or a good actor.”
“I doubt it. I don’t think that kid has ever been described as good at anything.”
“Maybe he’s just got you fooled. And he’s not a kid, he’s a nineteen-year-old man. He knows exactly what he’s doing, and he’s running around with an actual child in the middle of the night. If he’s capable of that, he’s capable of more.”
“Why would he come to us if he was involved? You heard him, he left town. He had no reason to come back.”
“Maybe he’s one of those criminals that loves talking to the cops. Digging his nails in, trying to get information out of us…”
“Stop. We both know he’s not smart enough for that,” Olivia hissed. “I know we both want this to be a lead, but I think he’s a dead end. Even if he was trying to hide Sophia away from her mother or something like that, he had the sense to run once. Wouldn’t he take her with him? He knows he’s dead meat if Alice finds out he’s done something. He came back. You think this guy can break into houses in the middle of the night without being noticed? He’s shaking like a leaf. You think he flew out to Seattle to steal Amelia away from her bed? I don’t buy it for a second, and you shouldn’t either.”
Brock ran a hand through his hair, puffing out a lungful of air. He shook his head. “I know, I know. I just really wanted this to be it.”
Olivia nodded. It would’ve been so easy to pin both crimes on Craig and chase him down, but they both knew he didn’t make sense in the case. He wasn't exactly a good person, but that didn’t mean he was a kidnapper, either.
“We should keep looking,” Olivia said. “I think there’s got to be something out here. Amelia came running from in the forest. Maybe that should tell us something about where the kidnapper is taking the kids... if it’s the same person.”
Brock nodded silently and the pair of them began to trudge through the undergrowth together. The search party had moved on without them, and Craig was trailing along with them. Olivia scanned every inch of the forest, looking for anything of use. She searched for footprints or marks in the mud. She looked for trampled ground too, though she knew the search party could easily have damaged any kind of evidence like that. She looked for wisps of hair, specifically blonde ones, and she looked for blood.
The whole thing was starting to feel like the forest was deliberately withholding any secrets it might have. Whatever was going on there, the trees were clawing back any evidence and burying it deep beneath their roots. Olivia knew that just because she lived near the forest, it didn’t mean it was her friend. She felt that even more strongly as they hit mid-afternoon with no sign of anything or anyone.
It was around two P.M. when Maggie approached Olivia, her expression grave.
“I think we gotta turn back now,” she said. “If anything was here, we woulda found it by now. We’ve covered every opening in town to the forest. If someone took Sophia through the forest, we’d know by now.”
Olivia and Brock both nodded solemnly. She was right. As of that moment, the forest posed more questions than it did answers. Besides, they’d have to turn back at night, anyway, and the volunteers were starting to grow weary. Olivia sighed.
“Call off the search. Brock and I will head back to talk to Sophia’s parents.”
“What are you going to tell them?” Maggie asked. Olivia chewed her lip.
“The truth. That we didn’t find anything. That Craig is likely a dead end.”
“They’re not going to want to hear that.”
“I know. But we don’t have any other choice, do we?”
Neither Maggie nor Brock said anything in response. As Olivia began to trek back to town, Brock remained completely silent at her side. She looked up at the towering trees, so tall and thick that they blocked out most of the sunlight. A feeling of hopelessness washed over her and she tried to swallow it down. What was it about this case that was so much harder than anything she’d faced before? She felt so guilty for her lack of knowledge, so guilty that she was supposed to be saving lives and had no clue how to do it. She closed her eyes for a moment and prayed that Sophia would somehow make it home safely, just as Amelia had.
The alternative was unthinkable.
“I’ll drive,” Olivia told Brock when they reached her cabin, unlocking her car. He nodded quietly and got into the passenger seat without so much as a smart comment. She didn’t even have the energy to try and make him feel better, so she started the engine and headed to the address that Alice had given her.
“Maybe the house will give us some answers,” Olivia murmured unconvincingly. Brock didn’t even bother to reply to her.
Olivia’s car groaned as it trundled up the hill toward the high end of town. By the time they arrived at the house, Olivia’s nerves were frayed. She saw Alice waiting at the window, having spotted them the second they pulled up. She was waiting for good news, but Olivia didn’t have any to offer her. She took a deep breath and headed toward the house.
Alice threw open the front door, her face lit up as though she expected her daughter to run straight into her arms. Olivia had to watch the slow realization hit her face. The realization that her daughter was still missing. Her eyes turned stony as she looked at Olivia.
“You didn’t find her?”
“No,” Olivia said quietly. “We didn’t find... well, much of anything. Can we come inside?”
Alice’s gaze was so cold that Olivia half ex
pected her to say no, but after a moment, she nodded and stepped aside to let them inside. Her chest felt tight as she crossed the threshold. The house felt eerie, as if these walls knew that such an important part of the home was missing. The heart and soul of the home had left when Sophia disappeared.
Olivia decided to do a little investigating before she spoke to Alice. Perhaps they’d be able to find something from the house that would shine some light on their issues. A sudden thought occurred to her.
“You said earlier that Sophia’s phone is still on her nightstand. Do you mind if we take a look? Maybe there’s something on there that can point me in the right direction.”
“You can try, but it’s password protected. I wouldn’t know where to start with guessing the code,” Alice said with a sigh. She ushered for Olivia to follow her and they headed upstairs together. They veered left into Sophia’s bedroom and Olivia felt her heart stop for a moment. The room smelled of cheap perfume, the kind only teenage girls wear when they’re trying to impress boys for the first time. Several posters of boy bands and celebrities were hanging on the walls. It made Olivia feel both nostalgic and sad at the same time. Did Sophia feel the need to escape from those four walls that much? Did she miss them now that she was gone?
“Let’s take a look at that phone,” Brock said, pulling on a pair of plastic gloves to handle the phone. Alice pursed her lips at him.
“As I said, it’s got a password.”
Olivia peered at the screen over Brock’s shoulder, trying to figure out what the code could be. She knew they’d only get a couple of shots at it. But she watched in horror as Brock punched in a number with so much confidence that it made Olivia’s heart jolt. Two-seven-two-four-four.
The screen unlocked.
“How did you know?” Olivia gaped, staring at Brock in amazement. His smile returned for a brief moment.
“Two-seven-two-four-four. The numbers correspond to letters on the keypad. C-R-A-I-G. Makes sense for a teenage girl to make her passcode a boy’s name, right?”
“Great,” Alice muttered, looking irritable. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Olivia asked herself the same question. Hadn’t she done the same when she was Sophia’s age? She held her breath as Brock began to scroll through her apps.
“There are texts here from Craig,” Brock announced. “He sent her a lot of messages last night, asking where she was. A few missed calls too. He’s either covered his tracks really well, or he genuinely had no clue where she was, like he told us.”
“What was your impression of him?” Alice asked Olivia, narrowing her eyes. Olivia sighed.
“He’s a strange man, but we don’t think he’s involved. He said he left town in fear when he found out she was gone, but he came back. If he had Sophia, he wouldn’t have come back, he’d have just stayed with her wherever they were. It doesn’t seem to me like he is our perp here.”
Alice folded her arms. “Well, I can’t pretend I’m not disappointed. I was so sure he was involved.”
“I know. We're not ruling anything out, but I think we’re going to have to dig deeper. Hopefully, Sophia’s phone can shed some light on what’s going on. Is there anything else of interest in her texts, Brock?”
“Not really. She doesn’t seem to have many contacts on her phone.”
“She doesn’t have a lot of friends,” Alice admitted quietly. “She’s always been a bit of a loner. I guess that’s what attracted her to Craig... or vice versa.”
“She last sent a text at eleven-thirty last night,” Brock said. “She told Craig she was on her way... he responded at quarter past twelve, asking where she was.”
Olivia’s heart started racing. Finally, some useful information. That meant there were at least forty-five minutes where she was out of the house. It also told her something much more important.
“Wait... so Sophia left the house of her own accord?” Olivia whispered. Brock took a deep breath.
“Looks like it.”
Olivia didn’t know what to make of the fact. That wasn’t in line with what had happened to Amelia. Had Sophia simply wandered off like she normally did and just get lost? Did she run away from home deliberately?
“Well, should I be worried?” Alice said, her voice high and shrill. “She’s never been away from home this long when she’s been out before. And if she’s not with that stupid boy, then where is she? She’s got nowhere else to go…”
“Let’s stay calm,” Olivia said gently, though the feeling of terror was already squeezing the air out of her own lungs. She couldn’t imagine how Sophia’s mother must be feeling. “We can’t know where Sophia went, but we know she went out to meet Craig. If she didn’t meet with him, it’s possible that something spooked her and she’s hiding out somewhere. She’s a teenage girl who went out in the middle of the night. She could easily have been scared by something that turned out to be nothing.”
“Sophia isn’t scared of anything,” Alice wailed, starting to lose control of her emotions. She’s always been so brave…”
“Everyone is scared of something,” Olivia said, putting a hand on Alice’s arm. “And I know you’re scared of the possibilities of what might have happened to her. But we have no reason to think that anyone has hurt her. Even if she was taken by the same person who took Amelia, she was returned unharmed. We just need to look a little deeper and see if we can track her down. Okay?”
Alice managed a nod, her breathing labored. “I just... I just want my baby girl to come home.”
“I know. We’ll do everything we can, I promise.”
They didn’t stay long after that. The phone had unlocked a whole new level to the mystery. Olivia was sure they’d be able to find more out if they spent some time looking through it, so she and Brock left Alice behind and headed back to their car. Brock’s eyes were glued to the screen as Olivia started up the engine.
“If this isn’t about Craig, then where would she go? Do you think she’s got some other guy on the go?”
“I don’t know,” Olivia shrugged. “This wouldn’t be the first time Sophia has caused trouble for her mother. Maybe she heard about Amelia and took the opportunity to scare her. She could just be hiding out somewhere. But alternatively... what if someone knew about her habit of going to meet Craig? What if they used the opportunity to snatch her up? Going inside the house is a big risk. Whoever took Amelia knew that and took precautions. But what if they knew they wouldn’t even have to? What if they knew they could just bundle her into a car and go?”
Olivia’s thoughts were spilling out as they occurred to her. She didn’t want to believe she was right. She much preferred the narrative about a bratty teenager trying to punish her mother. But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to fit perfectly with what they knew about the kidnapper. It was a smart, calculated move.
“Let’s hope the phone sheds some light on the situation,” Brock said. “Because I don’t know if I can face another dead end right now.”
Nine
Olivia woke up with a stiff neck, as she always did when she was under extreme stress. It was like her body wanted to give her one more thing to worry about. She sighed and sat up, staring around her bedroom. She and Brock had headed to her house for the evening to investigate the leads they’d found, but they had yet to find anything more useful on the phone. It was frustrating to know that they had almost no way of getting answers.
Olivia took a quick shower and dressed, considering what to do next. She wondered whether they’d missed anything in their interviews. She was sure that someone in town must have some useful information. After all, rumors spread like wildfire in small towns like Belle Grove. Surely there must have been someone with a theory, a lead they hadn’t considered?
When Olivia headed downstairs, she found Brock on the couch with a cup of coffee. She raised her eyebrows.
“Feeling at home?”
“I have much better coffee at home. None of this instant stuff,” Brock teased, t
hough it didn’t seem like his heart was in it. Olivia sat on the edge of the sofa by his feet, rubbing her temple.
“I’ve just been wondering what the best course of action is now.”
“You and me both. Do you get the feeling we’re out of our depth?”
Olivia didn’t want to agree with him, but she did. She knew she was a good agent, having solved several cases in her career, but this one was different. For the first time, she felt useless. If only they could mine one nugget of gold. One clue that would set them on the right path.
Brock sighed. “You know, I trained all over the place. Brazil, Kuwait, Taiwan, Thailand. I always thought that made me special. I was clearly sought after, I knew that much. But now I realize that I’m just like anyone. I’m not some Superman. You ever feel like we’re meant to be more than we are in this line of work?”
Olivia nodded. She was well aware of how everyone saw her. Agents like her were meant to be on the verge of human, but not quite. They were meant to be able to switch off their feelings at any given time, to handle every case quickly and easily. They were seen as smart, emotionless beings who saved the world every other day. But they were only human too. The expectations on them were heavy, especially in a time of crisis. It wouldn’t be long until Sophia’s family started getting angry about their lack of progress. It already felt like they were running out of time.
“I think we need some sort of a miracle today,” Olivia sighed wearily. “Let’s go back into the forest, just you and me. I think if we can try and retrace Amelia’s footsteps then we might get some answers that way, rather than trying to cover the whole forest. What do you think?”
“I think we don’t have anything else to try. Let’s go.”
“Do you want to take a shower before we go?”
“Are you saying I smell?”
“I’m not saying that, but I probably wouldn’t be wrong if I did.”
Brock gave her a small smile. “Alright. I’ll be quick.”
Fifteen minutes later, the pair of them were ready to go. They stood on the back patio of the cabin looking over the forest, watching its shadows darken with the secrets it held. Brock looked to Olivia expectantly for instructions, and she glanced around, wondering where to begin.
