Page 49 of Bring Them Home

“What was her mood like before she left?” Amanda asked.

“She was acting strange,” Charlotte said.

“I found it more odd that she didn’t join our group chat Saturday night, sick or not,” Sadie put in. “We text every night, sometimes until two or three in the morning.”

Was late-night texting something Amanda could expect to curb Zoe of when she became a teenager? She could prohibit her from having a cell phone, try to convince her she never had one at her age… Not that she imagined that going over well. “Which is why you checked on her Monday night?”

“That’s right,” Sadie said.

“Did either of you mention your concern to your parents?” Amanda could assume they hadn’t because of no missing person reports, but that wasn’t a guarantee. Teenagers weren’t exactly in the habit of confiding in Mom and Dad either.

Both teens shook their heads.

“When you were at the mall with Brooke, did either of you see anyone following you or watching from a distance?” Amanda asked.

The teens looked at each other. “That woman,” they said in unison.

“What woman?” he asked. “Could you describe her?”

“She was about as tall as you.” Sadie nudged her head toward Amanda.

Five-nine… Tall for a woman.

Sadie carried on. “She had straight blond hair, but it looked too perfect, ya know.”

“A wig?” Trent held his finger over his tablet.

Charlotte shrugged. “It could have been.”

It must have been cheaply made to stand out… “Was she wearing a black hoodie?” Not that the height matched the woman from the video.

Sadie made a face. “No, but she’s been around before.”

“Not just on Saturday?” Trent asked.

Sadie shook her head again. “She’s popped up a couple of times. Brooke tried to talk to her once, but before she could get to her, the woman just evaporated. Like she was a ghost or something.”

Goosebumps spread down Amanda’s arms. Who was this other woman, and why was she stalking Brooke?

TWENTY-FOUR

It was nearing 10 AM by the time Amanda and Trent left the school. It was unsettling to know they were walking away from two distraught teens. As shock and adrenaline ebbed away, grief and fear had moved in, resulting in a lot of tears. At least they were in skilled hands with the counselor. Amanda and Trent made assurances they would do all they could to bring their friend home, but it did little to calm them.

Trent slid behind the wheel. “Now we have a second mystery woman to track down.”

“Fun times, huh?”

“Were they working together?”

“How could we know at this point? But I keep circling back to what made the Archers a target. Why them? We haven’t unearthed anything that answers that question yet.”

“We haven’t explored every angle either.” Trent looked over at her. “Since Paul was killed so quickly, as we touched on before, this situation likely has more to do with Valerie or Brooke.”

“We can’t ignore the woman who was stalking Brooke, but without a way of tracking her down, we’re left to dig into Valerie’s life.”

“Agreed. I say we talk to her friends and the people at her work. They have to be wondering where she is by now.”

“We’ll do that, but let’s talk to the friends first.”