Lost in the dark, p.5
Lost in the Dark, page 5
part #1 of Camden Point Romantic Suspense Series
“You know what? Fuggedaboutit.” With that, he made his celestial exit.
Chapter 3
Ashley had just settled in for a long, quiet—and somewhat tedious—week of doing background checks. It wasn’t glamorous work, but at least no one would shoot at her. Lexie and Kat had been in first thing that morning to make sure she had everything covered, promising to come home early if she needed them for any reason. It was the any reason that made Ashley sit back and think.
Had she done or said something at Devin’s party to tip them off? She hadn’t mentioned seeing the ghost in the office last week. She hadn’t mentioned searching for her long-lost dad, either. She had mentioned the crazy psychic. Come to think of it, the two had exchanged weird looks when Ashley had shared about the run-in. Then again, the two of them constantly exchanged strange looks with each other. They were like an old married couple at times. Ashley had chalked it up to them being lifelong besties. But now, Ashley had to wonder, did they know something about her they shouldn’t?
Ash was super careful not to interact or talk with the spirits she encountered. But every now and then, she met a persistent and chatty departed soul. Like that guy two weeks ago who had followed her everywhere, talking nonstop about his crappy day at work and the coworker who drove him crazy. She got it. She really did. He died and couldn’t let it go. He had become that coworker to Ashley. Had someone overheard her telling him to buzz off?
Or maybe it was something else. She just didn’t know what.
Before she could think much longer or spin any more outlandish scenarios in her head, the front door opened. A man, approximately six feet tall with hazel eyes, fit and attractive—if you overlooked the dark circles under his glossy, bloodshot eyes—walked in. Ashley put him in his mid to late forties. They didn’t have any appointments scheduled, but stressed-out people didn’t always think to call ahead. And this guy was stressed. His short sandy-blond hair was a mess, like he’d been running his fingers through it, and while he wore a suit, she’d seen Shar-Peis with fewer wrinkles.
“Good morning,” she said.
“I need your help.” He dropped into the club chair in front of the desk. His head fell forward, and his shoulders shook.
Ashley let him cry while she quietly got him a cup of hot, black coffee and a box of tissues. After a few minutes, he pulled himself together and met her gaze.
“My name is Preston Sweeney, and my daughter is missing.” The introduction didn’t surprise Ashley. It had been a little over eighty-four hours since anyone had seen or heard from Hailey Sweeney. She figured the dad, if he had the resources, would eventually reach out for additional help.
“I’m Ashley Medearis, Mr. Sweeney. I’ll do anything I can to help you find your daughter, Hailey.”
“How do you know her name?” Confusion clouded his eyes.
“We have a mutual friend—her boss, Shay McNamara.” Ashley didn’t want to tell him she’d also talked to Detective Nate Daines about the missing girl or that she’d casually stalked his daughter’s social media accounts all weekend.
“Oh.” His body slumped back in the chair. “Is Lexie Smith or Kat Jones here? A friend recommended I talk to them to see if they could find my girl.”
She shook her head. “They’re on vacation this week. It’s just me, but I assure you, when it comes to missing persons, I know my stuff. Prior to working here, I worked for the New York Police Department in Missing Persons for the past two years.”
He sat up a little straighter as he scrubbed a hand over his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you were just a receptionist or something.”
“No apology needed. I may not be Lexie or Kat, but I am very good at my job, and I’ll do everything I can to find Hailey.” It was important to her that she used his daughter’s name, that he knew Hailey was a priority.
“What do you need to get started?”
“Tell me about the last time you talked to your daughter? What did you talk about? What was her mood?”
They spent the next hour with Ashley, asking him questions and Preston Sweeney telling her everything he could. When he walked out the door, Ashley promised she’d be in touch in a couple of hours and that she’d work with the local police department, pooling all resources.
Unfortunately, the father had noticed nothing unusual when he’d last spoken to his daughter. Hailey had been cheerful, looking forward to the weekend and the May Day Fair. She’d even promised her dad she’d meet him for dinner, and then they’d go take a turn on the Ferris wheel. There’d been no mention of a trip or of anyone new in her life.
Ashley wasn’t sure what had happened to Hailey, but the girl’s disappearance concerned her. She hadn’t crossed over into the worry zone—yet. Kids took off all the time, especially when they were upset or had met someone new and exciting. For all they knew, Hailey had met a guy, and they’d gone away for the weekend. It happened. She hoped that was what had happened.
But until she knew for sure that Hailey Sweeney was safe, Ashley would work it like any other case she’d been handed. In other words, she’d pray for the best and expect the worse.
She picked up her phone and made a call. “Nate, can you meet me for lunch? I need to talk to you about the Hailey Sweeney case. The firm’s just been hired to find her.”
Nate agreed to meet her at Elsie’s Diner, the home of the best pies and muffins around, not to mention really great Monte Cristo sandwiches. She had a couple of hours until then, so Ashley grabbed her keys and headed to Hailey’s apartment. Hopefully, she’d catch the roommate at home. The apartment complex was on the opposite side of town from The Osprey Resort, where Hailey worked. If she’d driven straight home, it wouldn’t have taken over fifteen to twenty minutes. The drive from LexaKat PI Services took seven. Ashley started mapping out the various routes between the inn and Hailey’s home and making a mental list of places she might have stopped.
Before she got out of her car, she scanned the parking lot in front of the brick, three-story building. Ashley’s place in New York wasn’t what she’d call posh, but it had better security. This place looked like a converted motel. A few residents had tried to add some curb appeal with planters full of blooms set out by their doors, but the building had a long way to go. Off to the side sat the pool, filled with murky green water, surrounded by a chain-link fence that sagged on one side. Stairs at each end of the building provided easy access to the upper floors. Ashley noted the manager’s office location, made a mental note to stop there later, and headed to Apartment 205.
She heard movement in the apartment. A moment later, the door cracked open with the chain drawn across.
“Can I help you?” The girl couldn’t have been over twenty or twenty-one, with brown hair and sleepy eyes.
“Hi, are you Jules Baker?”
“Yeah, who’s asking?”
Ashley held up her ID, showing she was an employee of LexaKat PI Services. “Hailey’s dad hired us to find her. Mind if I come in and we talk?”
“Give me a moment, okay?”
A couple of minutes later, Ashley was sitting on a couch that was more comfortable than it looked, with Jules across from her perched on the edge of her chair.
“Sorry to have woken you this morning.” She glanced around the room. Besides the couch and chair, they had a beanbag in one corner, piled with lots of big, brightly colored pillows and shelves crammed with books. They’d decorated the walls with pictures of the two of them, plus a few landscape shots.
“I talked to the police detective this weekend. I still haven’t heard from Hailey,” Jules said.
“Detective Daines and I are going to do everything we can to find your friend. I understand Hailey had recently broken up with her boyfriend. Is there any chance they made up, and she’s with him?”
Jules let out one of those long, drama-filled sighs that teens had perfected. Ashley would know. Once upon a time, she’d had the same skill. “Maybe. I don’t know.” Jules pulled her legs up in front of her as she sank back into the chair. “I hope not. Austin’s a jerk, but Hailey was crazy about him.”
“What makes him a jerk?” Friends tended to see so much more from the outside of a relationship.
“For one, he cheated on her with this skank. But he’s not nice. The way he talks to Hailey? It’s like he thinks he owns her or something. They’re always fighting. She could do so much better.”
“Do you think she met someone else? Maybe someone she met at the party you two went to?”
“We weren’t there long. The only other person she talked to was Zander Noble, this guy we went to high school with, but he’s got a girlfriend.”
Ashley raised her gaze, and before she asked, Jules was shaking her head. “I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not Zander’s style. He’s been dating the same girl since like seventh grade. They’re already engaged.”
“Okay, so she’s not with Zander. I’m guessing Hailey was pretty upset about her breakup with Austin.” When Jules rolled her eyes, Ash took that as a yes. “Is there anyone else that Hailey’s close with? Someone she might turn to when she needed a shoulder to cry on?”
“Not that I know of. Her mom’s dead, and I don’t think she’s close to any of her other family members. They all live down in Virginia.”
“Tell me about Hailey’s normal routine. What did she usually do when she got off work? Did she stop someplace? Come straight home?”
“I don’t know. I’m not always here when she gets off. I work from noon to nine at a grocery store. She’s pretty serious about school, so when she wasn’t with the douchebag, she was usually studying. Sometimes, she’d stop at Elsie’s Diner for dinner. Neither of us is great in the kitchen. She liked the library, the beach, and she spent a lot of time with her dad.”
“You’re doing great, Jules. Just a few more questions. Did you talk to Hailey Wednesday night or Thursday before she went to work?”
“We were both off on Wednesday. She had two morning classes and was home by lunchtime. I was doing laundry, and she was working on a research paper.”
“That’s good. Anything else you can tell me? Like, how was her mood? Did she say anything out of the ordinary to you?”
Jules bit down on her lip and worried her teeth back and forth. “She’d been down all week, but you know, that’s not unusual given Austin’s betrayal. We talked about the May Day Fair. She invited me to go with her and have dinner with her and her dad. Normally, I would have said yes. Hello, free food. But I had to work. She went to bed around ten like normal and was gone when I got up the next day.”
“Okay, if you think of anything else, even if it seems small, call me. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to check out her room.”
“Sure, but that cop already did.”
“Sometimes one person sees something another misses.”
“It’s the room on the right. I’m going to make some coffee. Do you want any?”
Ashley turned down the offer and stepped into Hailey’s domain. The room was as clean as the rest of the apartment. Hailey made the bed before she left, and her books and computer sat on the desk. Also, like the rest of the place, there were lots of pops of color. The entire space gave Ashley an image of a happy, mentally healthy young woman on the verge of adulthood. Ash stepped over to check out the pictures on the bulletin board. There were several with the boyfriend. He was a good-looking kid. He threw his arm possessively across Hailey’s shoulder in several photos, but he directed his attention and smile elsewhere—usually at another girl.
Proof that love is blind.
Ashley lifted the top of the laptop, but it was password protected.
She stepped to the bedroom door. “Jules, do you know what Hailey’s password is for her computer?”
“No, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it had something to do with Austin.”
Great idea. Ashley walked back over to the wall of fame and then typed in Austin’s name and birthdate. Nope, that wasn’t it. She tried to remember what it was like to be so young—because thirty was ancient—and in love. Several combinations later, she still had made no progress and sent a text to Mr. Sweeney to see if he knew. While she waited, she poked around in the dresser drawers and closet. Nothing stood out and screamed, this is where I am.
Preston Sweeney responded that he didn’t know the password and made a few suggestions that didn’t pan out. When asked, he gave her permission to take the laptop. Ashley had a tech-savvy friend who knew his way around computer systems. Hopefully, he could hack into the computer and email account. It was very possible that Hailey had met someone else, or she’d made up with Austin-the-douchebag. Of course, there was another thought swirling around in Ashley’s head.
What if, in a rage over being dumped by Hailey, Austin had grabbed her?
He wouldn’t be the first possessive, jealous boyfriend to cross a line into crazy town.
In truth, it didn’t surprise Nate that Preston Sweeney had hired LexaKat to find his daughter. It surprised him that it had taken this long. The man had been frantic on Friday when he’d found out his daughter hadn’t come home that night or showed up for work. By the looks of him when he’d stopped by the PD that Monday morning, he hadn’t slept more than an hour or two each day. And frankly, at that point, Nate was open to help. He had zero hopeful leads.
As Nate walked into the town diner, he scanned the room for Ashley. Not seeing her, he made his way across the place to a back booth with a view of the front door. Miss Elsie, the owner and a woman of indeterminate age, made her way over with a pot of coffee. She braided her silver hair and threw it over one shoulder. Today, she wore a neon pink T-shirt stating “Seniors Do It with Style,” black yoga pants, and hot pink Converses. He couldn’t agree more with her shirt. The woman had flair.
She poured the coffee without asking. “Just caffeine today, or are you planning on putting some real fuel in that body?”
She also had sass. He liked her a lot. “Depends. What’s today’s special?”
“For you, dollface, anything. For the rest of the customers, we’ve got the Hungry Man—two eggs, pancakes, home fries, sausage, bacon, and ham. Or there’s the pastrami Reuben with sweet potato fries, or the meatloaf with mashed, topped with brown gravy and a side of veggie.”
“All of it sounds good. I better wait, though, as I’m meeting up with Ashley Medearis.”
“A gentleman to boot. You’re almost too good to be true. I’ll be back over once she’s settled, but I’d be willing to bet you she’s going to order the Monte Cristo.” With a wink, Miss Elsie walked away.
The guy at the next table got up, threw down a twenty, and nodded to Nate. He returned the greeting. “You’re the new guy on the force, right?”
“Detective Nate Daines.”
The guy held out his hand. “Carter McGrady, NYPD retired.”
Nate tried not to let his surprise show. Even with the short, close-cut hair and receding hairline, Carter McGrady couldn’t have been over forty. He appeared fit in his worn jeans, blue crewneck sweater, and work boots. The guy had an affable smile and tired eyes. Nate could relate.
“Nice to meet you. Camden Point must be a big change from the city,” Nate said.
“It’s a welcome change. Kind of nice to live someplace where the worst news of the day was that the diner ran out of pie.” His eyes darkened as he paused. “Or was until I heard about that missing girl. Any good news to share on that front?”
A couple of residents had stopped him that morning asking the same. “Sorry to say no,” Nate answered.
As Carter stuck his hands in his front pockets, Nate spotted the shakes. Carter let out a sigh. “Damn shame. You’d think in a place like Camden Point, kids would be safe. Listen, I may not be a cop anymore—nerve damage to my hand—but if you need any help, if you need volunteers for a search, let me know. My hand may be shit, but my feet still work, and I’ve still got twenty/twenty.”
“Thanks. Appreciate the offer and hope I don’t have to take you up on it.”
Carter wrote his number down, suggested they grab a beer sometime, and then left Nate alone. A few minutes later, Ash walked in and headed straight to his table. His heart beat a little faster. His stomach did a little flip and his zipper got a little tighter. Damn, that woman just did things to him by existing.
“Sorry for making you wait. I was on the phone with Preston Sweeney.”
“Do you have something new?” Nate asked as he set his menu down. Didn’t know why he bothered to look at it, as he already knew he would order the special.
“Unfortunately, no. I confirmed with him that there aren’t any nearby relatives that Hailey would turn or run to when she’s upset.”
Before they could continue, Miss Elsie returned with a glass of ice tea that she sat in front of Ashley. “You kids need more time, or do you know what you want?” A slight smirk lifted the corner of her mouth and made Nate think Miss Elsie wasn’t talking food.
“The Monte Cristo for me,” Ashley said.
“Should have put money on it,” Miss Elsie muttered. “And for you, dollface?”
“I’ll take the Hungry Man special.”
“Be out in about five. I already had the cook put the order on the grill.” She picked up their menus and glanced between the two. “By any chance, are you two here on a lunch date?”
“No.” Ashley turned about four shades of pink. He smothered the grin that wanted to break out. He should enlist Miss Elsie’s help. See if she couldn’t put in a good word for him with Ashley. Maybe get her to withhold muffins until Ashley agreed to give him a chance or something. But that was dirty play, and he didn’t play dirty… at least not out of the bedroom. He’d win Ashley over on his own terms.
“We’ve got a case.”
“Ah, yes. That sweet Hailey Sweeney.” She tapped the plastic menus against her leg. “Sure hope you find her soon.”
