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Pink was everywhere. Pale pink walls, a pink comforter on the canopied bed, surrounded by pale pink organza curtains. The bed was made with a stuffed brown dog up against the pillows. Two large windows at the front of the house overlooked the porch. The sills were fairly low, about two feet off the floor.
A large white dollhouse stood on a table in the corner next to a window, and there was a white dresser between the windows. A white desk sat against the far wall to the left.
“No closet?” I asked when I noticed there wasn’t another door.
“It’s in a short hallway we just passed through,” Vanessa said, twisting the necklace at the base of her throat as she scanned the room. “A bathroom too.”
So Ava had a suite. “Where’s your and TJ’s room?”
“On the other side of the front staircase,” she said. “It faces the street too.”
“The arrangement of rooms is a little unorthodox,” I said, choosing my words carefully.
“It was like this when we bought it before Ava was born,” Vanessa said, dropping her hand to her side. “Someone used it as a boarding house in the past and completely changed the upstairs layout, which is why we got it so cheap. We finished remodeling the first floor a couple of years ago, but we were planning on starting on the upstairs next month.” She put her hand on her stomach. “We wanted it to be done before the baby’s born.”
“And when’s that?” I asked absently, walking around the bed to look over the desk.
“July. I’m four months along. We’re finally having a boy.”
I didn’t have gloves, so I pulled my shirt sleeve down and used my cloth-covered hand to open a notebook in the center of the desk.
“I bet TJ’s thrilled,” I said, keeping my voice neutral.
The notebook was full of math problems—fractions and decimals.
“He’s always wanted a boy, and I’ve struggled with miscarriages,” she said wistfully. “So yes.”
I wanted a better look at that notebook, but I’d need gloves to do it justice. “Will the baby be Todd Peterman the fourth?”
She let out a little laugh. “Yes. His father is thrilled about that. We’ll call him Todd since TJ is TJ and his father is called Junior.”
A corkboard of photos hung over the desk—a little girl with long brunette hair was in many of them in a variety of settings. So this was Ava. In one of them she was with Vanessa, TJ, and the little girl downstairs on the beach. In another, she and Vanessa had on fancy dresses and were sitting at a table with teacups and a tiered cake plate covered with multiple tiny cakes. In three photos, she was with a group of friends. One looked like it had been taken at school, another on some occasion where they were dressed up (probably cotillion), and another with them in swimsuits at an outdoor pool. There were also several photos of the girl in dance costumes by herself and with other dancers.
“This is Ava?” I asked, pointing to one of the dance photos.
“Yeah,” she said, choking back a sob. “She didn’t run away, Harper. I know it in my gut.”
I still wasn’t sure. I could see how Ava might have reached her breaking point with her controlling father, but a girl like her would have gone to friends, and the police surely would have contacted all their parents by now and let Vanessa and TJ know.
Then again, I’d learned to never assume anything when it came to the Jackson Creek Police Department.
“You said TJ turned off the alarm to look outside this morning?”
“Yes, we searched the house, backyard, and the detached garage out back. It faces an alley.”
I grimaced, hating to ask the next question, but feeling the need to do so anyway. “Did you check everywhere, Nessi? The basement? The attic?” I swallowed, then added, “Any crawl spaces?”
Tears brimmed in her eyes again as her face paled. “Yes,” she finally whispered. “Even the crawl space under the pool shed out back.”
We held each other’s gazes for a few moments as we remembered my sister and where she’d been dumped like a piece of trash.
“Harper, I’m so scared,” she whispered, terror filling her eyes.
“I know,” I said, walking over to her and wrapping her in a hug.
“I think the police are fucking it up,” she said against my shoulder. “Just like they did with Andi.”
“Do you want me to find her?” I asked before I could think better of it.
