“Well, she went over to the house to get it ready for an open.”
“She needs to sell that place, pronto,” interjected Andrew, sitting on a chair alongside me.
“I know. But too many people know about the secrets it holds,” responded Danny frowning at him.
“She needs an outsider to come in and buy it.”
“Yeah, but how many of those move to Westport?”
“Our population is growing rapidly,” finished Andrew.
“Guys!” I yelled. “What happened to the policeman?”
Danny pushed my head back to the basin. “He’s going to be okay. Lizzie’s pretty shaken up by it all though.”
“Lucky she has Riley to take care of her,” said Andrew.
I relaxed slightly with the knowledge that they were all safe.
“She sure is lucky. Riley’s one big hunk of spunk.” Danny released a wistful sigh, his eyes dreamy.
“Sitting right here!” called Andrew, waving to get his attention.
“I know. But you have to admit he’s damned good to look at.”
We were lost in our mutual admiration of Riley’s god-like looks, when a quiet knock sounded at the door.
“We’re closed!” Danny yelled, as Andrew stood and made his way across the salon.
“It’s the police,” he explained, as the sound of the lock turning filled the otherwise quiet salon. Danny sat my chair up and handed me a towel to dry my hair.
“Can I help you?” Andrew asked, as the door opened.
I held my breath as I accepted the towel.
“Good evening,” said a uniformed officer. I recognized him as Sergeant Ed Helms. He was tall, dark skinned, had more muscles than I’d ever seen, and was completely edible. He had also declared his love for Lizzie. Still, there were at least two other Fuller’s in this room who would happily accept her seconds.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I needed to know if any of you has heard from Lizzie or Riley this evening?” His hands clenched at his side and the knot surrounding my stomach, tightened.
“I haven’t heard from her since mid-afternoon,” stated Andrew. I stood alongside Danny and made my way across the tiled floor.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, noting Ed’s strained expression and the dark rings under his eyes.
“No. I’m sorry. But there’s been an incident.”
Blood drained from my face and I felt the world sway slightly. Grabbing on to Danny for support, I took a deep breath and hoped my sudden nausea would settle.
“My colleague, Senior Constable Warwick Barnes was guarding Lizzie this evening when they visited an abandoned house in River Road. We responded to an emergency call where he’s been shot. Both Lizzie and Riley are now missing.”
Darkness filled my vision and the world turned black.
****
Danny, Andrew and I were curled up on the couch in mum’s living room.
I had a bruise on my hip and an egg on my head from when I’d fainted and fell, but otherwise I was okay. We’d spent the night leaning on one another and trying to keep mum sane and out of the gin bottle. I did see her sneak a swig around one this morning, but if I hadn’t been pregnant, I would have joined her. As it was, I had nothing but deep breathing to keep my anxiety at bay.
The strain was showing on everyone in the room. In the last twenty hours we’d been through every emotion possible, from crying to snapping, to yelling and then back to wanting to do nothing more than to hold each other close. I was mostly worried about grandma. For the first time I noticed she looked every bit of her eighty-five years.
“Grandma, are you going to eat that cake?” I asked.
“No.”
“But you need to keep your sugar up.”
“Your mother’s fed me enough sugar to last me a month. I don’t need anymore.”
The kitchen counter was overflowing with sweet treats that mum had spent the night preparing. We now had four dozen cupcakes of various flavors, a mud cake, a tiramisu, and three dozen chocolate chip muffins. To counteract the sugar, she had added a dozen spinach and feta muffins, but so far no one had touched those.
Time had slowly ticked by without any updates of Lizzie and Riley, and so far, all we knew was that they had been visiting an old house they wanted to purchase when all hell broke loose. The police had found two dead bodies, one policeman fighting for his life, and two missing people, along with blood that didn’t belong to any of the bodies found.
There had been no word since Ed had visited the salon, but I knew that he was doing everything humanly possible to find them and the Westport Police were out in force.
As the opening tune of evening news told us that it was six p.m. on Friday night, I jumped as a ringing phone broke the tension between us.
Dad beat everyone to answer it.
“Hello?” His voice was fatigued as he’d had as much sleep as the rest of us.
“Put it on speaker!” mum commanded.
“It’s Father Dawson.”
“Oh.” Her disappointment echoed through us all.
I couldn’t take it any longer. I stood and made my way outside to get some fresh air. After taking a few deep breaths, I swiped at my tears and dialed Matt for the hundredth time in the last twenty-one hours.
He still wasn’t answering so I left another message telling him once again what had happened, and how now more than ever I needed to hear his voice. To be honest, I wished he was here to hold me tight and tell me that Lizzie and Riley were fine, and they would be home soon, unharmed. I needed his calming voice, and his warm arms, but mostly I needed his strength.
“Molly!” Grandma called through the open window. “Matt’s on the news.”
My heart missed a beat and I ran back to the lounge. Grabbing the remote I turned the volume up and sat heavily on the nearest chair, my eyes glued to the screen. Unfortunately, all I got to hear of his report was him saying, “Thanks Rob. I’ll keep you posted.” As the vision of him flipped to the newsroom, he disappeared from view and once again from my life.
“What did he say?” I asked the others.
Danny shrugged. Andrew shook his head, and grandma swished her teeth, lost in a different thought.
“Molly, fifty-year old stories are the least of our worries right now!” snapped mum.
“I know. I’m sorry,” I replied, not wanting anyone to how I had a pain around my heart after seeing Matt’s gorgeous dark eyes filled with compassion for the story he was telling.
“I’m going to take Harper for a walk. Will someone call me if you get any news about Lizzie please?”
“Do you need someone to come with you, Possum?”
“No. I just think I need some time alone to process what’s happening.”
I clipped Harper’s lead to his collar and made my way into the warm evening air, and along the footpath that Lizzie and I had walked every day of our childhood. Memories of running with her for the school bus, talking endlessly about boys, and arguing over stupid little things sisters argue over, filled my mind, as tears streamed down my cheeks. Reaching the park at the end of the road, I found a bench and sunk down onto it. Harper jumped up alongside me as I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled through pictures of happy times with my family.