Sarah looked away. “No, no, I’m sure you haven’t.”
He snapped his fingers. “Yes, I have. Wait a second. I think we have a missing person’s search out on you.”
He grabbed his phone to look through a series of pictures. Sarah stared at him, heart throbbing. She glanced toward the door, wondering if it would open and her kidnapper would enter, or if the truck was waiting for her out there, the driver thinking she had to come back out at some point.
“No, not me.”
“Yes, isn’t this you?” he asked and showed her an old picture of Sarah. She knew exactly where it was taken. It was the picture of her and Scott from their vacation in Scotland last year.
Sarah shook her head.
“That’s not me.”
He gave her a severe look. “I think it is you. You better come with me.”
The officer turned his head to address his colleague, who was getting leftover bags from the waiter.
“Jackson. I think we found Sarah Abbey.”
While he looked away, Sarah saw her chance. She rose to her feet, then rushed for the door. She hurried outside while she heard them yelling from behind her.
Soon, she could hear footsteps behind her as they tried to catch up to her, but she was fast, faster than ever. The last thing she wanted was to be taken to the station and tell them what had happened.
The consequences would be devastating. She couldn’t risk it.
Chapter 44
The head of Cocoa Beach Police Department, my good friend Chief Annie, met me in the station's lobby. I had called her and told her I needed to talk to her.
We hugged. Annie gave the best hugs.
“How is the baby?” she asked as we walked in through the glass doors. They were building the new police station across the street from this one since the old one had suffered severe damage during Hurricane Irma that ravaged our area a few years earlier. The roof had never been properly repaired, and there was visible water damage on the ceiling.
“Good,” I said, not mentioning the second infant in my house. I kept thinking about Amy, wondering how she had known where to find us. Had she seen us sitting outside at the café and then followed me into the parking lot just to steal a few seconds with her baby? Just to hold him? I couldn’t blame her. It had to be devastating not to be able to be with him all the time. Just being away for an hour or two from Angel made my heart ache, even though I knew she was with her dad. Amy hadn’t been with Owen for weeks. It had to be killing her.
If you miss him so much, why don’t you just come back?
I still believed she would. At some point, it was going to be too unbearable for her, and then she’d show up. I was certain of it, but I knew how tough it was. I felt it in my own body. But I also knew how tough it was to be fifteen. She was just a child herself. And she had no help from her family.
It was rough.
“Not keeping you up at night too much, I hope?” Annie said as we entered her office, and she closed the door behind us. “You look great.”
I paused. Did she just tell me I looked great? No one had complimented me for a very long time, and it almost made me cry.
I sat down. Annie folded her hands on the desk. “You came here because of that guy, Scott Benton?”
I nodded. “He called me and said you had brought him in earlier today.”
Annie cleared her throat. “We did. Our patrol car drove by on Pineda Causeway, on the bridge, when they spotted two stopped vehicles. As they slowed down to ask if anyone needed help, they saw Scott Benton and a young girl, Lily Mitchell, in what appeared to be a quarrel. They stopped the patrol car and saw Scott Benton grab the girl’s arm, pulling her against her will. They got out to see what was going on, and the girl screamed for their help, then ran to them as Scott Benton loosened his grip on her. She told them he was trying to kidnap her, and our officers brought him in.”
I stared at her, barely blinking. Scott hadn’t told me all this when he called. He had just said he was arrested on the bridge, and I had assumed her was taken in because he was a suspect in Sarah's disappearance. Hearing this story made my heart drop. What the heck was he doing?
Was I wrong about him?
“When we brought him in, we realized he was wanted by the Winter Park Police Department, suspected in the disappearance of his girlfriend.”
“Sarah Abbey,” I said
“Oh, so, you know.”
I sighed. “Yes. I’ve been trying to help him find her, but we ran out of clues.”
Annie nodded. “I had a feeling it was something like that. How do you know this guy?”
“High school,” I said. “Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Ah, I see. Well, the two of you are in luck today.”
I lifted my gaze to meet hers.
“What do you mean?”
“I just got off the phone with Winter Park, and they told me he was no longer a suspect.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “Yes. Sarah Abbey was spotted by a couple of colleagues in a restaurant in Winter Park a few hours ago. She’s alive and well. Not very interested in talking to the police since she took off running, but your friend is off the hook. For now, at least.”
I leaned back in the chair, feeling confused. Had Matt been right, then? Had Sarah just left once again?
“I’ll be…”
“Yes, guess your friend lucked out. Our girl, Lily Mitchell, isn’t going to press charges against Scott Benton as long as she never sees him again, so he’s being released tonight. You can take him with you when you leave.”
Chapter 45
THEN:
“I’ll have the tuna salad on rye.”
Lynn looked at Stan sitting across from her. He was still looking through the menu as always, taking forever to decide, and then when he did, he’d always end up getting jealous of her food, and they’d end up sharing.
“I’ll grab the Angus burger,” he said and handed the waitress the menu. “Medium rare and with a side of cheese fries.”
“Sure. Anything else?” the waitress asked.
They both shook their heads, and she left. Lynn folded her hands and leaned her elbows on the table. She looked at her boyfriend, staring him deep in the eyes. Things between them had been bad lately, or maybe not that bad, just different. It was like they didn’t quite click the way they used to. She was thinking a lot about Jeff, and that, of course, had something to do with it. She wasn’t really present anymore, and Stan was beginning to notice.
“So, what’s going on?” he asked with a light shrug. “Anything new at the job?”
He asked this even though he knew she couldn’t tell him anything about her work, except for the rare occasion when one of the ladies at the front desk quit or had the flu.
She shook her head and leaned her chin on her hands. “Not really. Just same old, same old. And you? How are things at the dean’s office?”
“They’re good, as usual. Dean O’Conner drives me nuts and is just too old for his position, in my opinion. I mean, we need new, fresh eyes on what to do with the campus if we’re ever to make any progress. I’ve come up with many new suggestions, but he doesn’t care. If it ain’t broken, then why fix it, right?”