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“Because,” Lacey answered, “Bethany had a gold chain she wore all the time. She never took it off. I noticed shortly after the wreck it was gone. When I asked her what happened to it, she said the clasp had broken at school and she’d lost it.”
Daniel shrugged. “Sounds reasonable to me.”
Frustration filled her. “Yes, I thought so too and didn’t think anything more about it, but the more I look at that chain, the more I think it might be hers.”
“How would you identify it? There must be a zillion gold chains out there.”
“But not with a puzzle piece attached to it. She had one half and Kayla had the other half. They each had their names engraved on it along withBFF.”
“Meaning Best Friends Forever,” Mason murmured.
“Right.” She reached for the pictures still laid out on the desk, sorted through them, then pulled one from the pile. “Look, you can see Kayla’s wearing hers here.”
Catelyn took the other picture containing the shot of the gold necklace from the desk. “Follow me.”
Hope making her heart pound like crazy, Lacey didn’t hesitate, but hurried after the woman. She felt Mason’s presence right behind her. And Daniel’s.
She shuddered. When she’d first caught sight of the man walking toward her, she’d wanted to demand that he tell Mason the truth about what had really happened sixteen years ago, but had nearly bitten her tongue off to keep the words from flying from her mouth.
Now wasn’t the time.
This wasn’t about her and Mason—or even Daniel. This was about Bethany. She knew a confrontation with Daniel was coming at some point, though.
And soon.
Catelyn led them into another room that looked like a small lab. “Normally, we use the big lab downtown or send stuff off to Columbia, but this little area was funded by an anonymous donor. One tool we have is a highly efficient microscope that will enable us to get a good look at this chain.”
She maneuvered her way to the device and slid the picture under the glass. After flipping a few switches, the image appeared on the oversize computer screen in front of them.
Within seconds, Catelyn had adjusted the focus and Lacey stared at her daughter’s necklace. “It’s hers.”
Even Mason had to admit it.
A dainty golden puzzle piece dangled from the end of a gold chain. The wordsKayla and Bethany—BFFfilled the screen.
CHAPTER SIX
Lacey felt the air leave her lungs. How she’d hoped she’d be wrong. But she wasn’t. She felt no satisfaction in being right. “What do we do now?” She looked up at Mason. “She was there. Something happened that night other than Kayla just dying in a car accident. Something that instilled a fear in Bethany that she felt she couldn’t share with me.”
Mason scrubbed a hand down his cheek and sighed. He looked at Catelyn. “All right, I think this is enough evidence to prove that Lacey may be on to something, don’t you?”
The detective nodded. “It’s possible.”
Standing, Lacey twisted her fingers together. “You have to get Georgia to tell you what they were doing that night.”
“Daniel?”
They all turned at the voice in the doorway. Lacey gasped and jumped up. “Janice?”
The tall, regal-looking woman paused, her attention swinging from Daniel to Lacey. A hand fluttered to her chest. “Lacey, darling, how are you?”
Feeling a tremulous smile hover on her lips, Lacey gave a low humorless laugh. “I’ve been better. My daughter is missing.”
A perfectly arched brow lifted. “I’d heard you were back with a child in tow.”
Unsure how to take that comment, Lacey just stared at Daniel’s wife, the woman who’d once been her closest friend. Then all of the pretense seemed to slough off of Janice and her expression softened. She moved forward and clasped Lacey in a hug. “I’ve been terribly angry with you.”
Lacey pulled back. “For what?”
