Page 8 of Girl Long Gone

With his back pressed against the wall, Connor tiptoed down the hall. He reached the bedroom first. He crept into the streaks of sunlight from an uncovered window, and the tingle at the base of his neck alerted him to...something.

He opened the closet door and pushed Monica’s clothes to the side. It was too small of a space to hide, but someone had left the door ajar. Why? He sifted through the random shit scattered on the floor.

No intruder and no Porkchop.

Having cleared the bedroom, he moved on to the bathroom. Light slipped underneath the closed door and illuminated the worn carpet at his feet. He pressed his ear to the thin wood and held his breath. Soft snorts and snarls penetrated the door and relief swept through him. He thrust the door open wide, gun braced to fire, but found only Porkchop.

He ripped open the shower curtain, only to be greeted by shampoo bottles and washcloths. No one else was inside his apartment.

Connor dropped to his knees and laid the gun on the floor. Chewed up toilet paper littered the ground, hiding the blue tile that lay beneath. Porkchop’s soft grunts grew louder, and he wiggled his rump as he pressed his flat nose against something hidden under the mess his dog had no doubt made while being confined in the small room. Damn dog didn’t even understand how scared Connor had been. He grinned and grabbed his dog to pull him onto his lap.

Porkchop growled, and something fell from his mouth.

Connor pushed the pissed-off pug out of the way and leaned over. A slender hand, severed at the wrist, with delicate fingers stared up at him.

Same skin color, same long nails, same fucking red polish Monica always insisted on wearing.

4

Evelyn stroked the purring tabby on her lap and stared at the untouched website template before her. She needed something new and exciting to show Gabriel but couldn’t stop replaying her earlier conversation with Detective Mitchel. She wasn’t used to so much excitement in her life, and in one day she’d spoken with a mogul about a new job and met the sexiest cop in existence. Even if his story made her question whether she should keep talking to Gabriel.

Could he be right about the boy she’d known in high school?

She shut her laptop, along with the chance of getting any work done, and picked up the business card she’d tossed on the desk when she’d gotten home. She leaned back in her chair and twirled the card between her fingers. Detective Mitchel had asked about Gabriel’s behavior when they were younger, and she was somewhat embarrassed she could recall so much about him after so long.

Gabriel was as built now as he had been as a teenager. His blond hair hadn’t been as well-groomed back then, but he’d been the picture of quiet rebellion. Not enough of a bad boy to get him into trouble, but enough to let everyone know he wouldn’t fall in line with the status quo. His ability to turn his charm on like a kitchen faucet and his family connections had garnered the attention of every high- profile student, coach, and teacher at their private school, but Gabriel hadn’t wanted anything to do with high school politics.

Which Evelyn had found fascinating.

Not that she’d ever told him or anyone else. She was too busy trying to be invisible and survive her own hellhole of a life.

But while trying to blend into the background, had she missed signs of him being a sadistic psychopath? If she had, so had everyone else, or he wouldn’t be the successful entrepreneur he was today. And try as she might, she couldn’t picture the mysterious boy with the wide hazel eyes and constant smirk as someone who would kidnap an innocent woman. Just because he’d raised his nose at authority as an angry teenager didn’t mean he’d become a monster.

“Hey Evie, what are you doing?”

The sudden burst of noise set her nerves on edge, and Snowball hissed before leaping off her lap. Evelyn took a second to compose herself then turned to face her roommate with a plastered-on smile. Her only friend from childhood stood in the doorway of the apartment, her arms loaded with grocery bags. “Hey, Lacey. The time got away from me. I didn’t expect you home.”

Evelyn stood and stretched her arms above her head, trying to ease the tension in her shoulders that had nothing to do with hunching over her computer for too long.

It didn’t help.

Ignoring the shroud of questions hovering over her like a dark cloud, Evelyn intercepted Lacey in the kitchen and grabbed a few bags and put them on the counter. “Where’s Abbie?” she asked as she opened a cabinet door and put away a box of cereal. Evelyn hardly ever saw her roommate without her little blond princess prancing around her.

“She had playgroup after school today. It’s so much easier to get through the market when I don’t have a four- year-old hanging on my arm.” The whoosh of plastic rustled around the room.

Evelyn glanced over her shoulder at the bags of groceries littering the floor. “I’d say it was easier to buy more without her, too.” She snorted out a laugh and returned to shoving boxed food wherever it would fit.

“What can I say? I had more time to wander around, which means more opportunity to shop. It’s just a good thing I went to the market and not Sephora.”

The hint of sadness in Lacey’s voice spoke of more than a missed trip for makeup. Her meager salary as a preschool teacher hadn’t been enough to support her and her daughter after Abbie’s father took off. She’d been stranded with a toddler and no way to afford to keep a roof over her head.

Evelyn might have been raised by the poster-image of bad parents, but the tainted money they’d left behind had afforded her a two-bedroom apartment with plenty of space to share. Even if using it always made her feel dependent on the two people she’d desperately tried to get away from.

She’d insisted Lacey and Abbie move in with her until Lacey could stand on her own feet. Two years had passed, and Evelyn hoped the two never moved out. They gave her the joyful home she’d always craved.

With the last of the groceries put away, Evelyn closed the cabinet door and faced her friend. “Makeup is the last thing you need, but thanks for the supplies. I hadn’t found the motivation to go to the store the last few days, and we were running low.”

Lacey brushed a lock of shoulder-length auburn hair away from her deep green eyes, and a wicked grin lifted her lips. “Oh, that’s right. You’ve been too busy obsessing over your coffee date with Gabriel. How’d it go?”