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“The rental’s gone!” Dara called from the front of the house before a door slammed. “Mama must have taken it.”
Without a word, the group assembled en masse in the foyer of the large home, everyone speaking at once.
“Her purse is upstairs,” Adaline said, hurrying down the stairs. “I checked her bedroom, the kitchen, the spare rooms—everywhere.”
Devon stood across the foyer from Oz, Ted a step behind her, looking irritated at the chaos erupting around him.
Oz fought the urge to plant his fist in the man’s face.
“Should we call the police?” Mary Elizabeth asked, wringing her hands in front of her.
“I’m sure that’s not necessary,” Ted said. “She probably just needed some air.”
“Considering her emotional state of late, yes,” Logan said, disagreeing with the man. “Yes, we should call. Immediately.”
“Oh, Logan, surely you don’t think she’d—” Adaline broke off, glancing at Dara and Devon, unable to finish the sentence even though her expression said it all.
“I hope not,” Logan said, “but better to call the police now so they can be looking.”
“I’ll do that,” Adam Shipley said, leaving the group. “Dara, what’s the make and model of the rental car? Do you know the license plate number?”
Dara headed off with Adam to get the information.
“We can drive around and look, but if she’s in a vehicle, she could be anywhere,” Michael said. “Especially since we’re not sure how long she’s been gone. Are there any favorite spots she might go to?”
Oz watched as the Babes exchanged glances.
“She likes the state park,” Mary Elizabeth said. “Down by the marina.”
“Or the south end of the island,” Adaline said.
“The pier, too,” Cheryl Dummit added.
“She could walk to the pier. She wouldn’t have to take the rental,” Devon said.
“No, but given her mindset, she might not be thinking clearly,” Logan said.
“I’ll go to the state park,” Michael said. “Oz, you head to the south end. Dara and Devon can go to the pier. Logan, you check the boardwalk. Mom, you and Dad stay here in case she comes back or if the police come by. Everyone else just spread out and search.”
Oz watched as Adaline turned toward her husband, and the quiet man hugged her close. Hubert Davenport wasn’t the most talkative man, but he had always been a stable presence in his family’s lives.
Tessa and her daughters headed out the door on foot, while Mary Elizabeth’s girls agreed to take Allie’s minivan to accommodate her kids while driving about the neighborhood.
“What about us?” Hadley asked Logan.
Oz hadn’t had much contact with Cheryl and Jerry Dummit’s daughter over the years, but since her divorce, she’d moved back to town and currently dated a local contractor. The two seemed happy—really happy—and more than eager to help.
“I honestly don’t know,” Logan said to them. “Just drive until someone finds her. The moment someone knows something, get a text out to the rest of us and we’ll meet back here.”
Oz turned toward the door to leave when he saw Devon arguing with Ted. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but their expressions revealed whatever it was wasn’t good.
He focused on the task Logan had given him and headed out the door, glad the reporters had finally taken a break now that the funeral was over and weren’t witnessing the chaos erupting due to Rayna Jo’s disappearance.
Still, had they been there, maybe one of them would’ve noticed Rayna Jo leaving. Figured that, when they’d be useful, they weren’t.
“Wait!”
He turned at the sound of Devon’s voice and saw her running to catch up with him.
