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Through sheer force of effort, she refused to think of all the horrid things that could be happening to her daughter. Instead, she focused on the good thoughts. Memories of the times when she and Bethany spent time laughing together. Just the two of them.
Another picture smiled back at her from the desk. This one had Bethany decked out in her karate uniform, arms up, fists balled, ready to defend herself.
“Ah, Bethany, I’m sorry you feel like you have to put yourself in danger to protect me.”
She looked at the sheet in her hand then turned to look at the Bible on the nightstand.
Carrying the picture with her, she settled on the bed and picked up the Bible.
Work could wait. Bethany needed her prayers and that’s what she was going to get.
* * *
“Daddy, help me! Where are you?” Mason heard the words, but he couldn’t find the source. Gun drawn, he raced into the building.
“Bethany, I’m coming, darling, I’m coming!”
“Daddy! Why won’t you help me?” The tone turned accusing, the hurt piercing his heart.
“I’m coming,” he assured her. “Just tell me where you are!”
Then she was before him, her eyes glaring, finger pointing. “You weren’t there. You were never there. You should have listened to my mom. Why didn’t you listen? I’ll never forgive you.”
Her eyes welled with tears and grief twisted inside him. “I’ll listen, Bethany, I promise. I’ll listen.”
A crackle of laughter louder than thunder shattered the air and Mason whirled to see Daniel standing behind Bethany, an arm around her shoulders. “You’re a loser, Stone. Lacey never wanted you. Only me. And now her daughter feels the same.”
Wait, how did she get behind him?
He spun back to find Lacey standing there, tears running down her cheeks. “Why didn’t you listen, Mason? You should have listened. Look at what you missed. You missed it all because you wouldn’t listen.” Her voice started to fade. “You should have listened.”
With a jerk, he woke up, breaths coming in shallow pants. Sweat dripped from his hair. Kicking aside the tangled sheets, he stumbled from his bed wondering what the dream meant. He shuddered and tried to push the remnants from his mind.
This was the second time he’d had the dream and he started to worry it might become a regular occurrence unless he and Lacey worked things out. He scraped a hand across his jaw. He needed a shave.
He’d tossed and turned, the short four hours he’d actually dozed passing in a haze of dreams. Not only had he dreamed of Bethany and Lacey, he’d relived his wild chase through the restaurant parking lot. He alternated between saving Bethany from her kidnappers and not being able to reach her in time.
Still drenched from his tortuous night, he hit the shower for the longest one he’d had in a while.
While dressing, he decided to drive back by the homeless shelter and prayed he’d spot Bethany. It seemed to be where she turned when in need of a place to sleep.
The staff of the shelter had been alerted to call the police if she showed up, but so far there’d been no reports.
And those pictures from the wreck. He couldn’t get them out of his mind. Not only did his heart break for Kayla’s parents, but for the other two girls involved.
In a spontaneous move, he grabbed the phone and dialed Daniel’s number.
“Hello?”
“Daniel, it’s Mason. I need to see those accident pictures one more time.”
The man scoffed. “Come on, Stone, what do you think you’re going to find that the rest of us haven’t?”
Mason felt his jaw harden. “I don’t know, Daniel, but I just thought I’d like to go over them again. Do you think you could put aside your skepticism and work with me on this?”
For a moment Daniel was silent. Then a sigh filtered through. “Yeah, you’re right.” Another pause. “Bethany’s your daughter, isn’t she? That’s why you’re on this case.”
This time it was Mason’s turn to hesitate, but he wasn’t going to lie. “Yes, she is.”
