Christy Barritt - Shadow Of Suspicion

“I agree. I’m not sure we have enough evidence to keep her in custody, though.”

“We can stall for as long as possible, until something turns up.”

Mark turned back to the sedan and watched Laney for a moment. He hadn’t known what he’d expected, but certainly not the beautiful woman who’d been led out in handcuffs. The petite woman had light brown hair that was cut level with her chin. She was bookish and looked smart. Her green eyes had a hint of firecracker behind them while her voice had sounded soft and kind.

None of those things meant anything, though. The only thing that mattered was finding Sarah Novak. He wouldn’t let another girl disappear forever.

Just like Lauren had.

He’d never gotten over the loss. It was one of the reasons he’d requested to be on the Missing Persons Unit here with the Richmond PD. He didn’t want other people to go through what he had.

Just then, Sol began shouting into his phone from across the yard. His demeanor went from defeated to wired.

“Sarah? Is that you?” he yelled.

Mark rushed toward him. The man put his phone on Speaker, a frantic look on his face—a frantic expression Mark understood all too well. He’d lived it before.

“Dad?” The line was broken and only bits of sentences were getting through. “Help...me.”

“Darling, I want to help. Where are you?”

“Dad...don’t know...” Static filled the line. “But Laney...”

Sol’s face turned red. “Laney what? Laney took you?”

“I’m...” Garbled words filled the silence until she ended with “Please help.”

“Please, honey, can you tell me where you are? Who took you?”

“...Laney,” Sarah said again.

The line went dead.

TWO

An hour later, Laney sat across from the handsome yet cold detective at the police station. Since they’d been in the room, he’d been even-keeled—not friendly, not angry. In fact, he’d been so calm that it was almost unnerving. He had eyes that didn’t easily trust. A gaze that was assessing. Body language that screamed cautious.

She might be trained as a computer programmer, but her entire life she’d practiced reading people. She’d always preferred to stay on the fringe, in the places where she could observe and study others. Her peers had thought she was strange in high school because she’d been so quiet, but she’d always thought that she was being the person God created her to be. She’d rather be different than compromise her authenticity.

Her gaze flickered around the room now. The space reminded her of the detective: stark and neat. There was no table, nothing to use as a barrier to separate herself from the man across from her. There were only two chairs. The setup left her feeling exposed and vulnerable.

Laney was sure they’d planned it that way.

She was the police’s number-one suspect, she realized. They weren’t focusing on anyone else right now—just her.

That was a mistake.

That meant that the real person who’d abducted Sarah was getting farther and farther away. The thought made her gut turn with disgust.

Earlier, when she’d been given a phone call, she’d tried to reach Nicholas, her boss with the CIA. He hadn’t answered—and he always answered. What did that mean?

Panic tickled her gut, her nerves, her thoughts.

At the moment, silence filled the room—probably another method of trying to get Laney to talk. It was working.

“You’re focusing on the wrong person.” Laney had already repeated that several times, but no one seemed to care. How could she get through to them?

“Ms. Ryan, Sarah called. She said your name.” The detective leaned toward her, his gaze like a laser.

Her heart lurched. She knew how it sounded. But she also knew the truth. “She was probably calling out for my help. She trusts me. She knows I’d never hurt her.”

“Which makes it even worse that you would betray her like this.”

“But I didn’t betray her!” Tears rushed to Laney’s eyes, and she pulled her sleeve-covered hands over her face as despair bit deep.

This system seemed so messed up, and she was helpless to do anything about it. She was at the mercy of this detective. Of the justice system.

She’d just started trusting again. After her husband’s murder, it had been difficult. Panic attacks had plagued her, as well as nightmares. She’d been making progress, but now this. Her therapist had his work cut out for him when all of this was over.

Detective James leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Just tell me what you did with her.”

Laney closed her eyes, exhausted from repeating herself. “I’m sure witnesses told you that no one saw me leave the house with Sarah. Because I didn’t leave the house with her. I don’t know why she came over while I was on my walk. I don’t know how she got inside or where she went from there. But I didn’t do anything with her.”

He sighed and leaned back as if weary from the conversation. “Anyone else have a key?”

“No.”

“You sound concerned about her. Were you desperate to get her away from her father?”

Laney shook her head more adamantly. “No. Not at all. Why won’t you believe me? I’ve been framed for this. I’m innocent here. Check my record. It’s clean.”

“We did check it. You’re right. You have no priors. Stranger things have happened, though.”

She leaned back, determined to think everything through. Something wasn’t making sense to her, and she needed to pinpoint just what that was. Finally, it dawned on her. The way everything had played out today didn’t make sense.

The situation had escalated too quickly. The police had just barged into her home and deemed her guilty. She realized the urgency of the matter, but something was missing.

“Don’t you think sending a SWAT team to my house is a little extreme?” she started. “You could have just questioned me.”

“In situations like this, time is of the essence. An Amber Alert has already been issued. Sarah mentioned your name when she called, a neighbor confirmed Sarah showed up at your house, and financial records show a large sum of money was recently taken from your account.”

Her jaw dropped open. “A large sum of money? I sent that to my in-laws to help with some medical bills.”

“We’ll have to confirm that.”

“All of that was enough evidence to get a no-knock warrant?”

He stared hard at her. “Yes, it was, as a matter of fact. We couldn’t risk you harming the girl.”

This was getting old. How long were they going to keep her there? Were they going to lock her up? Would they question her until she confessed purely out of exhaustion to a crime she didn’t commit?

Her head ached, her mouth was dry, and her muscles cried out for relief. She had to try a different approach here. She shifted, determined not to be defeated. “Please, you’ve got to listen to me. I’m innocent and the real bad guy is getting away with this.”

“Who do you think the real bad guy is, Ms. Ryan?” Detective James leaned toward her again, obviously changing tactics himself.

His broad shoulders, she would guess, could either bulldoze someone or offer a landing place for tears. Muscles rippled beneath the material of his button-down shirt, confirming that he was not someone she wanted to mess with. His jaw was strong and tense with thought.

But right now, he leaned back, as if softening.

Her guard went up. This man wasn’t her friend, and he would do whatever he had to in order to get answers. She’d be wise to remember that.

“I have no idea. But she didn’t seem happy this morning. Maybe this was random. Maybe she ran away. Maybe she’ll check in at any minute.” Her voice escalated with each new sentence. “There’s nothing else I can tell you.”