AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was easy to forgive him, though, and Nelson was happy to stand back and let Nox break the ice with Elsa Hansen’s sister, Heidi. The timid younger woman warmed up to Nox’s warm, easy charm and sincerity. He held her hand and listened as she outlined everything she recalled about the sisters’ last conversations and their plans, openly and honestly sharing Heidi’s fears.
“None of this makes sense,” Nox agreed with her. “But Agent Nelson and I won’t rest until we’ve found her.”
All Nelson had to do was nod and keep taking notes. Heidi sobbed tears of relief into Nox’s shoulder while he comforted her and she told them anything and everything she could think of. Afterwards, she showed them to Elsa’s room and logged into her laptop so they could search for anything that might be relevant to where she went and who she talked to before she disappeared. The room itself was very tidy and reminded Nelson of a nicer hotel room with its clean white duvet and crisp white pillows. A few orchids were scattered around the room, but most of the clutter was contained to Elsa’s desk and the cork board above it.
“It was ‘Bake Off’ night,” Heidi said as she lowered onto Elsa’s bed. “She wouldn’t have missed that and she definitely would have texted me if something that important had come up.”
“I see that she’s a lanyard girl,” Nox observed, pointing to the collection hanging from the top corners of the board. There were at least a dozen on each side and he smiled as he read through a few of the cards in their plastic protectors. “West Central Stallions Senior, Disneyland, Witches For Literacy, UMD… You went to UMD, didn’t you, Nelson?” He turned and Nelson nodded in confirmation.
“What’s a lanyard girl?” He asked and Heidi smiled weakly.
“Elsa collects them,” she explained as she nodded at the various brightly colored ribbons hanging from the board.
Nox made a knowing sound. “They make wonderful mementos.”
“I’ll make a list in case we need to compare them against others later,” Nelson said as he joined Nox at the desk.
“Very good thinking,” Nox said, then flipped open her journal to the last day and scanned while Nelson recorded the names on the lanyards. Businesses, organizations, clubs, theme parks… There was a good chance she’d have at least one of those names or places in common with the other missing girls.
“Nothing here about meeting anyone or anything except…” Nox’s finger tapped at the bottom of the page. “Bake Off night with Heidi,” he read and glanced at Nelson.
“Noted,” he said, turning back to Heidi. “They found her phone in her car but not her purse. Is it her habit to leave it there when she’s working?”
“Ha!” Heidi shook her head. “She doesn’t let it out of her sight and we’ve never gone more than a shift without checking in.”
Nelson nodded slowly and underlined the address of the bookstore. She was last seen by her coworker and the shop’s owner as she was leaving so it was safe to assume something occurred after her shift and after she reached her car. He went to the window and held back the blinds to see who could see in from the outside but they were on the fourth floor and much of the view was obscured by a neighboring office building.
“You said it was close. How far is this bookstore?” He asked.
“Just a few blocks around the corner,” Heidi supplied. “She usually drives, though, even when the weather’s nice. She never wanted to take any chances walking home in the dark.”
“Can you think of anyone she’s had trouble with lately?” Nelson asked, certain she wasn’t selected at random. Whoever took Elsa knew her well enough to take her phone out of her purse because they knew it would be an immediate liability. If it had been a random, compulsive event, her abductor would have taken Elsa and dealt with her purse and phone along the way or once they reached a secondary location. “Or anyone new who’s been a little too persistent or made Elsa uncomfortable?”
“No…” Heidi’s lips twisted as she considered, but she continued to shake her head. “Julian and Howard wouldn’t allow that. They’re quick to run off any guys who give Elsa the creeps.”
“Julian and Howard?” Nelson asked, earning a faint smile and a chuckle from Heidi.
“Howard owns Bippity Boppity Books and Julian’s his son. Elsa’s known them forever. Howard’s a little…eccentric, but he owns an occult shop. He’s the one who got her into witchcraft,” she said with a quick shrug. “He’s about what you’d expect and Julian’s a love. He’s a little weird too.” She rolled her eyes, laughing shakily. “But he was raised in an occult bookstore and it’s rubbed off on him, I guess. He’s always been like a big brother and the store was Elsa’s happy place. She said it never felt like working, but like she was just hanging out with Howard and Julian and talking about books and magick.”
“A love?” Nelson looked at Elsa and then at Nox.
“A sweetheart,” Nox supplied.
Elsa nodded. “The sweetest. He’s been broken up about this and has been posting flyers all over town with her picture and the shop’s offered a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to her discovery,” she said before she began to gasp and sniffle.
“That’s so thoughtful of them,” Nox said, sitting next to her and taking her hands in his. “Listen to me,” he said in a low, soothing tone. She pulled in a shuddering breath and nodded, her eyes clinging to Nox’s. He hummed softly and raised her hands to his lips. “She’s ours now, too, and you can rest. We’ll take over the hunt and we won’t stop until we bring her back to you.”
Nelson became alert at the word hunt and grunted in agreement. “We’ll find her.” He looked at a framed picture of the sisters laughing and hugging on a beach and his stomach turned at the thought of where Elsa might be and what she had already suffered. His gut ached and his stomach was sour because she looked so much like the young woman on the tree.
They all do.
The grim reminder only made him feel worse. “I need to step outside and make a call, but I think we have everything we need. Take your time and meet me out front,” he told Nox, then thanked Heidi for her assistance before excusing himself.
Outside, Nelson paced on the sidewalk, anxious to get to the bookstore and interview the shop owner and his son. He checked back through his notes and found their names to add to the page dedicated to the shop.
“Howard and Julian Sherwood,” he said under his breath, then tapped the page while he wondered how much extra cash a small business like that would have on hand at any given time. “That’s a generous reward,” he decided and circled the amount.
Nox appeared a few minutes later and his eyes were ringed with red and swollen. He’d been crying and looked softer, lacking much of his edgy darkness without his eyeliner.
