Page 16 of In Her Memory

“Will do.”

Jenna ended the call and stared at her phone for a moment. The morning had begun with one crisis—Piper’s disappearance—and now had sprouted another. She tucked her phone away and walked toward the station entrance.

Colonel Chadwick Spelling stood at the window in her office, his back a straight line that spoke of military precision and unwavering discipline. He turned when Jenna entered, and she caught the brief flicker of concern in his eyes before his expression settled back into professional neutrality. His presence filled the modest sheriff’s office in a way that had little to do with his physical size and everything to do with the authority he carried like a second skin.

“Sheriff Graves,” he greeted her.

“Colonel Spelling.” Jenna closed the door behind her. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

He waited for her to take her seat behind her desk. “Your call was concerning,” he said, settling into the chair across from her. “You said your sister is missing again?”

Jenna sat down, fighting the urge to fidget under his piercing blue gaze. “Yes. Piper left my mother’s house sometime last night. Mom woke up early this morning and found her gone. No note, nothing.”

“And you believe this isn’t simply her choosing to leave? She is an adult.”

The question stung, but Jenna knew it was fair. “Not like this. I know the past twenty years left deep scars, but she was making progress, reconnecting with Mom, with me. Even if she decided to live elsewhere, we’d have a discussion about it. She wouldn’t just vanish without a word. Not now. Something must have just happened …”

Spelling’s expression remained neutral, but his eyes were attentive. “Tell me everything, from the beginning.”

Jenna took a deep breath and recounted the timeline: her mother's call, the search of the house, the discovery that Piper's few belongings remained, but she was gone.

“There’s something else,” she added, her voice dropping slightly. “Something I wouldn’t have shared before you... became aware of my situation.”

“Your gift, you mean.”

“Yes.” The word felt strange on her tongue, discussing this openly with the Highway Patrol Superintendent. “My father came to me in a dream yesterday morning. He told me that Piper was gone. He couldn’t even see her anymore, and he warned me that she was in danger.”

If Spelling found this information unusual, he didn’t show it. “And your father has visited you this way before?”

“Yes, several times since his death.”

Spelling was quiet for a moment, his fingers forming a steeple beneath his chin. “I believe you, Sheriff. About your father’s warning. After what I’ve seen, I’d be a fool not to.” He paused, choosing his next words carefully. “But official procedure ties my hands somewhat. Your sister hasn’t been missing long enough to justify a full-scale Highway Patrol search.”

“I understand,” Jenna said, her disappointment obvious.

“That said,” Spelling continued, “I can put together a small team to work on this discreetly. Officers who won’t ask too many questions about why we’re prioritizing this case.”

Relief washed over her. “Thank you, Colonel.”

“I’ll need details. Anything that might help us locate her.”

Jenna pulled out her phone and swiped to a photo. Piper—or Emma, as might be calling herself—sitting in her mother’s garden, looking up with startled eyes, as if caught unaware by the camera. Her face was thinner than Jenna’s, more angular from years of hardship, but the resemblance was unmistakable.

“This is from three days ago,” she said, handing him the phone. “And she took an old bicycle from the garage—blue Schwinn, probably from the early 2000s. It has a small basket on the front and a dent in the left handlebar.”

Spelling studied the photo, his eyes narrowing slightly. “The resemblance between you two is remarkable.”

“We’re identical twins,” Jenna said softly. “Though life has marked us differently. For many years, she lived under the name Emma Kirby and had no memory of her earlier life.”

He handed the phone back. “Send me this photo with a text. Include everything you know about her life while she was missing for two decades. I’ll get this information to my team immediately.”

“I’ll do that right away, Colonel.” Jenna said. “And there’s something else you should know about.” She filled him in on Donna Marsh’s death, the blood evidence discovered in the laundry room. “Jake Hawkins is handling the initial investigation, but it is looking like murder disguised as an accident. And I had another dream…”

“Did it support the evidence you just mentioned?”

“Yes, it did.”

“That’s a significant case,” Spelling observed. “Especially given the property’s prominence in the community.”