Alone (Bone Secrets, #4)(79)

“But she hasn’t called. She always calls when she’s gone this long,” Katy repeated. “Surely she could ask someone to use a cell phone.” Her eyes were red-rimmed. “After all the crap she’s been through in the last week, I don’t like this. Something is wrong.”

“I heard you say she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Are you sure that’s true?”

The woman snorted. “I can’t say what’s true anymore. You were a teenage girl once. Did you always tell your parents the truth?” Victoria saw her eyes shadow a bit as she recalled Victoria’s circumstance with her parents.

“Actually, I almost always did. But I’ve learned I was an exception to that teen girl rule,” she said slowly. “You know, Trinity asked me some odd questions about a friend this morning.” She thought hard to remember the conversation. “And it was a boy she was asking me about.”

Katy studied her. “She’s said nothing to me about a boy.”

Victoria had a small sting of guilt. “I think I was in the right place at the right time. If you’d been in the room, no doubt she would have asked you. Anyway, she said he’d asked her to do something, and she wasn’t comfortable.”

Katy sat up straighter, her hand stiffening in Victoria’s. “What did he ask her to do?” Panic rang in her tone.

“No! Nothing sexual. Not like that. I didn’t get that vibe from the conversation at all.” She crinkled her nose in thought, looking out the window. “It had to do with his parents. He was trying to avoid them and asked her for help. She’d told me she didn’t know him that well.”

“Then why did he ask her?”

“That’s what I asked her. I told her he must have closer friends he could ask. She did say he was worried about some sort of punishment from his parents.”

Katy didn’t relax. “How horrible to put that sort of guilty request on her. But I don’t think she took your advice. She gave someone a ride this morning, and I’ve talked to all her girlfriends. None of them have heard from her.”

“Maybe the thing to ask them is if she has a new boyfriend or has been talking about a boy.”

“That’s what Detective Callahan said, too,” Katy admitted. “But I’m afraid she’s in trouble.” She looked at the kitchen window. “This rain has been insane. There’s flooding all over the place. Maybe she got stranded.” Her voice lowered. “What if someone took her somewhere? What if whoever she gave a ride to had different ideas?”

The door between the garage and kitchen opened. Seth entered, stomping his wet shoes on her large mat. “Katy, you had a street drain clogged out front. I managed to move the debris with a branch. The thing was packed with leaves. That lake out there should vanish in a minute.” He looked up, his gaze flickering from the women’s grasped hands to their faces. “What’s happened?”

“Trinity’s missing. No one’s seen her since this morning and her phone is either off or dead,” Victoria stated.

His eyes filled with concern, and he shrugged out of his wet coat. “You’ve talked to her friends?”

Katy patiently updated him. His frown grew deeper as he listened.

“This isn’t right.” He squeezed Katy’s shoulder, holding her gaze. “We’ll find her.”

Victoria’s heart melted. He’s a good man.

“I’m freaking out,” said Katy, her eyes wide. “What if the same person who killed those girls got Trinity? She told the police Brooke was with a photographer. What if he decided Trinity saw or knows too much about him? What if this person contacted her for a ride?” Hysteria elevated her tone.

Victoria bit her lip. Why hadn’t she asked Trinity more questions this morning instead of giving advice? Police had theorized a man had used the photography cover to recruit the girls. What if Trinity had fallen for a similar ploy?

Katy stood. “I’m going to go call her friends again. God help them if I find out one of them is hiding Trinity’s relationship with a boy or knows more about this photographer. They better understand how serious this is.” She left the room.

“This isn’t good,” Seth said. He pulled Victoria out of her chair and into his arms in a deep hug, kissing her forehead. “God, I’m glad my Eden made it home safe and sound. And I’m thankful I was blissfully unaware she was missing for a few hours when her mom couldn’t reach her. I would have been sick with worry. Exactly how Katy is feeling right now.”

“I’m worried,” Victoria whispered into his neck. “I’m afraid she might have done something stupid, trying to help this friend. What if it wasn’t a friend? What if Katy is right that someone is upset with what she told the police?”

Her cell phone vibrated inside her big bag. She reluctantly pulled out of Seth’s arms to address it. An unfamiliar number showed on her screen. Trinity?

“Hello?”

“Ms. Peres?” An old man’s voice came through her cell. “My name is Cecil Adams. A reporter contacted me, saying he was helping you search for your birth parents.”

Victoria’s heart jumped. “Yes. Michael Brody is helping me.”

“That was his name. He called me asking about some records of the Leader’s Way church. He was wondering if any of the records still existed from when they used to organize adoptions.”