Chapter 1
Shelly, Juliet, and Jay, short for Jayne, sat around the little table on Shelly’s front porch eating slices of apple and cinnamon cake and drinking iced tea and lemonade. Shelly’s Calico cat, Justice, sat on the porch railing listening to the human’s chatter and watching the people stroll by on the sidewalk. It had been nearly a month since two murders in the mountain resort town of Paxton Park had been solved and Shelly’s breaks and bruises from the killer’s attack on her were healing well.
“I’m feeling almost back to normal. The doctor said I can start biking for exercise now.” With a sparkle in her blue eyes, Shelly gave her friends a little grin. “I didn’t tell him I started biking to work a week ago.”
“Well, you’re careful when you bike and it’s only a mile to the bakery,” Juliet said.
Ever the pragmatic one, Jay said, “You really should have let Juliet drive you to work until you got the okay. If you fell, you would have delayed the healing process.” Forty-three-year-old Jay Landers-Smyth was Juliet’s older sister and a twenty-year veteran of the Paxton Park police force. Tall, stocky, and strong, and with a keen intelligence and ability to handle difficult situations, she had gained the affection and respect of the community.
Lifting the last bite of cake from her plate, Juliet said, “This apple cake is one of the best I’ve ever had.” She flashed a smile at Shelly. “Nothing like having a talented baker living in the house right next door to me.”
Twenty-eight-year-old Shelly eyed Juliet with mock suspicion. “Sometimes I wonder if my baking skills are the only reason you became friends with me.” A recent transplant to Paxton Park, Shelly had been in a horrific automobile accident seven months before accepting a job as a baker at the resort. The accident claimed the life of Shelly’s twin sister, Lauren, and Lauren’s boyfriend and it left Shelly with physical injuries that still plagued her with occasional pain in one leg and a limp, but it was the hole in her heart from losing Lauren that was the heaviest burden to bear.
The chat turned to the arrest of the perpetrator of the recently solved murder investigation. Juliet, twenty-eight, slender and athletic, had the opposite build of her older sister. She asked Jay, “Did I tell you that Shelly had dreams that gave her clues about the mystery?”
Jay almost dropped her glass. Once she set her drink down on the table and wiped up the spill, she turned to Shelly with a serious gaze. “Did you?”
Shelly gave Juliet a stern look. “No, I didn’t.”
“That’s a big fib,” Juliet scolded. “You had dreams and some of the details in them gave hints about what was going on with the case.” Addressing the next comment to Jay, she said, “Her twin sister appears to her in the dreams.”
Jay straightened and stared at the brunette across from her.
Before Shelly could speak, Jay said, “I’ve heard about this sort of thing. It happens sometimes after a trauma. People have dreams that provide them with information, or send them a premonition, or point the person to things they’re overlooking from daily life. I’ve read that sometimes in dreams a relative or friend appears to the person as a guide.”
“Mine are simple dreams,” Shelly protested as she shifted uncomfortably on her seat. “On occasion, my sister shows up in them because I miss her. There isn’t any hocus pocus involved.”
“Do you believe in the paranormal?” Jay asked.
Justice stood up, balanced on the porch rail, arched her back, and let out a loud meow.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Shelly leaned back in her chair subconsciously increasing the distance between herself and the two women.
Juliet said, “You know, like extrasensory perception, being able to see spirits, telekinesis, faith healing, psychic ability.”
“Then, no, I don’t believe in the paranormal.” Shelly crossed her arms over her chest. “Those things are the stuff of campfire stories and horror movies.”
Jay spoke gently. “Did you know that police departments sometimes employ psychics to assist with difficult cases?”
Shelly’s face lost a bit of its color. “I’ve heard that, but I thought it was only silliness or rumor or people making it up.”
“It’s a fact. At times, the assistance of a psychic has been very helpful.” Jay could see Shelly’s discomfort with the subject. “I have a hard time wrapping my head around such a thing, too, but I know for a fact that now and then police investigations have been helped by people with these unknowable abilities.”
“Has your department ever used a psychic?” Juliet’s voice was tinged with excitement.
“Not while I’ve been on the force, so I doubt it,” Jay said. “But that doesn’t rule out the possibility in the future. There are plenty of things I don’t understand or know about and until there’s evidence to the contrary on a topic, I believe in keeping an open mind.”
Shelly picked up her glass and took a long swallow wishing the conversation would shift to something else. At times, her dreams were unusual and did seem to be trying to send her a message, but she always thought it was her subconscious at work pointing out things she hadn’t paid any attention to. It also seemed normal that her sister would appear in her dreams since Lauren had been torn away from Shelly so unexpectedly. Still … no matter how much she wanted to dismiss the possibility, some dreams did seem to be trying to tell her something.
The one Shelly had last night left her shaken and anxious and she had to get up, make tea, and read for an hour before attempting to fall back to sleep. In the nightmare, Lauren was sitting on the grass near an apple tree sobbing. Shelly was hiking in the woods trying to get to her sister, but so many things blocked her path and impeded her progress … she navigated a raging river, a thunderstorm broke out with wild wind and pelting rain, and lightening hit the ground not far from Shelly. The rain then turned to snow and, exhausted, she trudged through deep snow drifts.
At last she reached the edge of the field, but a tornado had blown through the area knocking down houses and trees and Shelly had to climb over the rubble trying to find her sister. When she spotted Lauren sitting near the tree, Shelly called out to her.
Lauren raised her head and shook it slowly back and forth and when she lifted her arms out to her sister, Lauren’s hands were missing.
Shelly awoke with a start, covered in sweat and trembling.
Sitting on the porch with her friends, thinking about the dream made Shelly’s heart race and she gave herself a little shake, rubbed her forehead, and straightened her posture. “So, anything new going on in town? I know there’s an annual meeting of some nature conservatory being held at the resort in the next few days.”
“I hope they’re not a rowdy bunch.” Jay shook her head. “People have been known to go a little crazy when they’re away at a conference. It will mean more work for the department if a few of the event-goers get out of hand.” She added with a smile, “I prefer the peace and quiet and tranquility of the forest and mountains, not the rowdiness of convention goers.”
Juliet chuckled. “Then you shouldn’t have chosen to live and work in a resort town.”
“Maybe I should move somewhere off the grid,” Jay joked.
“Then you’d be out of a job,” Shelly teased. “There probably aren’t many career opportunities in the deep woods, and definitely no jobs in law enforcement.”
“I guess I’m stuck here then.” Jay smiled as she finished her apple cake.
“If you’re free tomorrow around 5pm,” Juliet said to Shelly, “and you feel up to it, I’m leading a hiking tour for a group of tourists up to the Crooked Forest.” The forest was a good-sized grove of trees on the south side of the mountain where the pines had grown into weird shapes with the trunks coming out of the ground and bending at ninety- degree angles. The trees then grow horizontally for about four to nine feet and then bend and grow upright again.
Juliet said, “We’re going to the waterfall area and the granite quarry, along the streams and fields, and then into the forest. It’s a big group and I could use your help. It wouldn’t be strenuous at all … we’ll be moving slowly as some members of the group aren’t in great physical shape.”
“I’d be glad to go along.” As Shelly nodded, her long, light brown hair moved over her shoulders. “It would be nice to go for a hike after I finish up at work. I haven’t been on the trails since I got hurt.” Her eyes darkened as she recalled the attack on her life. “It sounds like a good way to start getting back in shape.”
Jay swallowed the last of her iced tea. “I’d better get back to the station. I have a mound of paperwork to get done. Let’s hope things stay quiet around here like the past two weeks have been so I can make a dent in the work.”
Jay’s phone buzzed with an incoming call and she stood and walked down the porch steps to take it while Juliet talked to Shelly about taking tomorrow’s group kayaking on the lake if time allowed.
A wave of anxiety washed over Shelly when Jay’s phone had vibrated with the new call and she was only half-listening to Juliet while trying to make out what Jay was saying. Unease bubbled through her veins and she could barely force herself to stay sitting at the table.
Justice watched Jay holding the phone to her ear and, with her ears flat against the top of her head, the cat let out a long, low hiss.
Clicking off from the call, Jay returned to the porch wearing a worried expression. As she picked up the keys to her squad car from the table, she said, “I need to scoot.”
“What’s wrong?” Juliet asked picking up on the sudden change in her sister’s mood.
“Just some police business.”
“You don’t look happy about it.” Juliet noticed the look of worry on Jay’s face and the shift in her bearing.
“I’m not happy about it.” Jay’s facial muscles tensed and she took in a long breath. “I’m hoping it’s a false alarm.”
Even though Jay was nearly fifteen years older, Juliet always worried about her big sister’s safety. “Is it something serious?”
Jay forced a smile. “Probably not.” She looked to Shelly and thanked her for the cake and tea before hurrying away to her police car parked at the curb.
When the vehicle zoomed away and turned onto the main street of town, Juliet turned to her friend with a look of distress. “Something happened. Something bad. I can see it on Jay’s face.”
Shelly didn’t need to see Jay’s face to sense trouble descending on the town. Her body had flooded with the same terrible emotions she’d experienced during last night’s dream and it made her want to pack her bags and run far away from Paxton Park.
Chapter 2
Shelly and Juliet strolled the aisles of the market located at the end of Shelly’s street picking up a few things for dinner that night. Carrying the Italian bread, a variety of vegetables, a box of spaghetti, and a bottle of sparkling cranberry juice to the checkout, the young women saw a group of people gathered around the cashier and the owner of the store.
“The police are at the house right now. I saw them as I drove by.” A delivery man had carried in a large box from his truck and got sucked into the conversation.
Clay, a short, spry, gray-haired man who had lived in town all of his life was gesturing animatedly. “I was at Matt’s Garage and he had the police scanner on. That’s how I first heard the news. Then I went to the café. Everyone was talking about it in there.”
Chet, the owner of the market, stood with his arms crossed over his chest, nodding gravely. “Kids take off sometimes though. She’ll probably be back by tonight.”
“What’s going on?” Juliet placed the items on the checkout belt and looked from person to person.
“Abby Jackson didn’t go home last night,” June, the cashier, said. “Mrs. Jackson called the police early this morning.”
As she took a candy bar from the display rack and placed it with the other things they were buying, Shelly felt the cold finger of dread running along her skin.
“How old is Abby?” Juliet asked.
“She’s eighteen,” Clay reported.
“When was she seen last?” Shelly hoped the situation was nothing more than a girl and her boyfriend taking off for a few days together.
Chet said, “Abby was out with her boyfriend last night. She dropped him off at his house. He lives about a block from Abby’s parent’s house. She drove away and hasn’t been seen since. Mrs. Jackson is crazy with worry.”
June, a pretty, slender, dark-haired young woman, started to ring up the items on the checkout counter. “Abby doesn’t do stuff like this. She’s a good kid. I’ve been in school with her for years. We just graduated high school two months ago.”
“Are you friends with Abby?” Juliet asked.
“Not best friends or anything like that,” June said. “We’re friendly with each other though. I like Abby. She’s a nice person.”
“What about the boyfriend?” Juliet asked. “He’s at home?”
Chet told them, “We’ve heard that Adam went inside as soon as Abby dropped him off last night. His parents talked to him for a while, he ate some leftovers, and went up to his room.”
“He was at home this morning?” Shelly asked.
Chet gave a nod. “He got up early. Adam works part-time at the hardware store. His parents were up, they ate breakfast together, and Adam went to work.”
Clay said, “Abby’s mother called Adam’s house. She said she’d gone to bed at 10pm and when she got up this morning, Abby wasn’t at home. Abby’s bed hadn’t been slept in. Adam’s parents told Mrs. Jackson that Abby dropped Adam at the house around 11pm and he’d been at home all night. They hadn’t seen Abby at all. That’s when Mrs. Jackson called the police.”
“Has Abby ever done anything like this before?” Juliet questioned.
June looked at her wide-eyed. “I’d be shocked if she did. Abby wasn’t like that.”
“I don’t know,” Clay said. “I didn’t hear anything about Abby ever taking off before. I’m heading back to the café. I want to hear the latest. Hopefully, this girl turns up safe and sound, otherwise it might go badly for the town. Those two women murdered a little while ago and now this.” The older man pushed the door of the market open and strode away down the sidewalk.
Shelly picked up the grocery bag after paying for the food and she and Juliet left the store to walk home.
“This must be the call Jay got when we were sitting on your front porch.” Juliet gave her friend a look. “You didn’t have any dreams about this, did you?”
“No, I didn’t.” Shelly groaned when she answered, but something about the missing girl filled her with the same feelings of anxiety she’d experienced while dreaming last night about trying to find her sister. She gave herself a shake and tried to push that awful dream from her mind. There was no connection between the nightmare and this missing girl.
Juliet tried to take the grocery bag from Shelly, but Shelly wanted to keep carrying it saying she was feeling strong now and didn’t need to baby herself anymore. “I want to get back to normal as quickly as I can.”
“Clay was right about these events possibly having a bad effect on the town,” Juliet said. “The economy will suffer if people don’t come to the resort. Too many bad things will scare off the tourists … people will panic. Maybe the townspeople will, too.”
“I wouldn’t worry. Abby Jackson will turn up. Maybe she and her boyfriend had an argument and she went off in a huff.” Shelly shifted the bag in her arms. She wished she believed what she was telling her friend, but deep down, she had a bad feeling about the eighteen-year-old’s disappearance.
“Yeah. Maybe.” Then Juliet asked, “Do you want to wander over to the café after we drop off the food? I know it’s like rubbernecking … wanting to know what’s going on … I know its nosy and all that. I just really want to know the news. I can’t stop thinking about it. Should we do something to help? Should we form a search party? Where’s the car Abby was driving? Has it been found? Are there any clues to where she went?”
“Do you know Abby?” Shelly asked.
“A little. Abby took snowboarding lessons from me last winter. It was a group lesson so I didn’t get to know her all that well. I liked her though. She was upbeat and friendly. She worked hard. She’s really pretty … slim, athletic, long blond hair, big brown eyes.”
“Abby recently graduated from high school? Do you know if she was going to college?”
Juliet said, “I heard she was accepted at a lot of good schools. I thought someone told me she was going to a school in Boston in the fall.”
“So she was smart,” Shelly observed.
“Yeah. She was a good athlete, too. She ran, played sports, skied, did a little snowboarding.” Juliet said, “I wonder what Jay knows. I’d love to text her, but I won’t. I know she must be knee-deep in the middle of all this.”
Climbing the steps to her front porch, worry continued to pick at Shelly and she looked pointedly at Juliet. “Why don’t we put these things away and head over to the café for a coffee.”
Juliet gave a quick nod. “Yes, let’s.”
* * *
The outside patio of the café was crowded with tourists sitting under table umbrellas chatting and enjoying the hot sunny day in the shadow of the mountains rising in the distance. Juliet knew the regulars would be inside the coffee shop sharing news and information about the town goings-on so they opened the door and found a crowd of people gathered in small groups discussing the missing girl. The air-conditioned space was a lovely contrast to the outside heat and humidity.
Juliet looked around for a familiar face and saw a co-worker standing near the back of the room talking with a few other people. Shelly and Juliet ordered drinks at the counter and carried them over to join the small group.
“Hey, Jules,” her coworker, Matt Tucker, greeted Juliet and nodded at Shelly. “Your sister must be up to her neck in this one.”
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