Page 19 of Glimmer in the Darkness

She already knew how to swim. Daddy had taught her. Because he loved her and wanted her to be safe in the water. Because she was more precious than all the jewels in the whole wide world.

“The waves will be big and warm,” the man said, “and we’ll body surf and build sand castles, just like we read about. It’s going to be perfect. And I’m going to take care of you forever and ever. I promise.”

He pulled her close again and hugged her. “You’ll see, little sis. We’re gonna be happy together.”

Chapter Seven

The keyless entry was Cassidy’s favorite amenity in the rented cabin because it meant she hadn’t had to see anybody to gain access, cutting down on the chance someone would recognize her. There was no air conditioning, but fortunately it cooled off enough at night that the breeze through the open windows had chased away the heat of the day.

When she woke Tuesday morning, the cabin was downright chilly. After prayer and Bible study and breakfast, she prepared not for a day of mountain climbing but for a day at the lake. She didn’t even own a bathing suit and wouldn’t have brought one on this trip even if she did. She made do with a halter top, shorts, and flip flops and stuffed her backpack with sunscreen, water bottles, and one of the towels from the rental cabin. She added a sandwich and tossed in the novel she’d bought at the airport bookstore.

She hated to lose a day on the mountain, but she’d given up believing she could find anything on her own. She needed help, and James would give it. She had to believe that.

If events unfolded like they had with the last missing girl, Cassidy should have time. Addison, the girl who’d been snatched a month before, had been alive until just a few hours before her body was found, ten days after she’d gone missing. Ten horrible days, no doubt, but she’d been alive.

Ella had only been gone four.

Cassidy didn’t want to think about what the killer was doing to the girl, though she could imagine. A shudder rippled through her. She knew how he’d treated her. The thought had her wanting to head up the mountain immediately.

If only James would hurry up and decide to join her.

It was a thirty-minute drive to Coventry. Cassidy hadn’t wanted to stay any closer to the small town she’d once called home. She needed a sanctuary, and the cabin far from town, a place to be herself after a long day of hiking and praying nobody would recognize her, was just the thing.

She parked in the same lot where she had the day before. It was later than it had been the other days she’d come, and cars crowded the lot. Nobody would pay attention to her rented Honda with the local plates.

Sunglasses on, she walked toward the trailhead but veered off at the campground and headed to the beach, where she laid out her towel and made herself comfortable.

If she blended in, if she chatted with other campers and looked like she belonged, nobody would question her being there.

Cassidy had always wondered where their kidnapper had come from. Both the trails and the campground were closed in the winter, the parking lot blocked off.

The two-lane road didn’t have much of a shoulder, and a car parked along it would have drawn attention. The campground offered plenty of places to park, but the owners would surely have noticed a strange car in the lot. Not many people lived within walking distance of the trails besides the Sullivan family and the Cages.

She’d never thought about what Wilson and Eugene did all winter long and hadn’t considered them as suspects until James had mentioned them the night before. Now, the idea had taken root and blossomed. They both had access to Mt. Ayasha, and what else did they have to do in the wintertime besides maintain the campground and hike the trails?

And kidnap children.

A great theory, except it wasn’t winter now. Based on the number of people on the beach, the many tents and campers among the trees in both directions, the campground was busy, which meant Wilson would be, too. And, presumably, Eugene.

How much time would it take to snatch a kid and take her up to his lair?

Lair. Like she was in a graphic novel featuring superheroes and villains. She was no superhero, and this villain had no extraordinary powers. He was just a scared, sick man. At least that had been her impression. Which made her wonder… could it be Eugene? Learning disabled didn’t mean evil. She’d met plenty of LD kids in her work with troubled girls, not as severely disabled as Eugene but with reading or other cognitive disabilities. They knew right from wrong. They didn’t always choose right, but then, who did?

It wasn’t fair to suspect Eugene just because he was different.

And nobody knew as well as Cassidy how unfair it was to be suspected of evil because of things out of your control.

But learning disabled also didn’t mean not evil. The things weren’t mutually exclusive. The question was, could he have pulled it off? Or would he have had help?

Wilson could be the kidnapper. Or he could have protected his son when he’d found out what happened.

Cassidy could be way off but, since she’d promised James she wouldn’t go back to the trails today, she had nothing else to do but hang around, see if she could get a glimpse of the father-son duo, try to hear them say something. Maybe their voices would trigger a memory. If not, she’d know that neither of them had been her captor. Either way, she’d learn something.

If only the man hadn’t worn a mask. All she’d seen were his eyes, an ordinary brown. But his voice… that she’d recognize. She had no doubt.

At least it would be better than sitting in that dingy cabin all day long. She had to act. She couldn’t do nothing knowing Ella was out there. She’d never met the child, of course, but she felt a kinship with the pretty brown-eyed girl whose face was plastered on every TV screen in the country. She could only imagine what Ella was going through. James was right—they needed more information. There was little she could do to gather it, but she could do this.

A family plopped down a few yards from her on the crowded beach. Mother, father, and three little boys. While the parents got their blanket and towels settled, the two older boys, maybe five and seven, took off for the water. The youngest wore a blue swim diaper and toddled after them.