AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lacey gaped at the woman standing before her. Janice looked—ruffled. Her hair stood on end and sweat dripped from her chin.
“Janice! Are you all right?”
Janice pulled a tissue from her pocket and swiped at her forehead, smearing the makeup and leaving a white streak behind. She tossed it into the trashcan beside the door. “No, not really.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything.” Frustrated tears appeared in Janice’s eyes and Lacey’s heart went out to her. But first things first.
“Is Bethany here with you?”
Janice blinked in confusion. “Bethany? No.”
Lacey groaned. “Then you weren’t the woman who helped her?”
She broke off as Janice turned mid-question to head to the back of the store. “I need to clean that up,” she muttered.
“Janice…”
“Sorry, can you help me? It’s in the back room.”
“What is?”
“What I need help with.”
The sudden calm in Janice’s voice disturbed Lacey. When Lacey turned to look at her, the woman slipped around her and disappeared into the back.
The hair on the back of Lacey’s neck stood at attention. Something didn’t feel right.
But she had to warn Janice about Daniel. And ask Janice about Bethany again.
As she stepped through the door to follow Janice, the darkness hit her. “Janice, do you have some light back here?”
“Yes, sorry,” Janice called. “I’m looking for the switch.”
But then Lacey saw a sliver of light just ahead and made a beeline for it. She blamed her jumpiness on the darkness.
And then her phone vibrated.
She snatched it from her purse and looked at the caller ID.
Mason. She owed it to him to answer and let him know she’d found Bethany.
She pressed the button to answer the call when she felt something press into the middle of her back. “What…?”
“Just stay right there,” a voice hissed into her ear.
She froze. “Janice? What are you doing?”
“What needed to be done years ago.”
Was that a gun the woman had jammed into her spine? Chills shivered over her and she felt a wave of sickness claim her.
Shaking it off, she stood still. “Janice?”
“Shut up and move straight ahead.”
Swallowing, Lacey placed the phone into her purse praying Mason was on the other end.
