“Wouldn’t you act out if your parents had divorced and your mother had almost instantly remarried a man you couldn’t stand?” Clara interjected hotly. “Not to mention the fact that it’s perfectly normal to test the boundaries at her age.”
“Right. The stepdad. He’s a class act jerk from what I hear,” Daniel stated.
Jaden rocked his head. “Ashlyn and stepdad aren’t the best of buds. Mom is overly optimistic that it’s only a matter of time before they click.”
“Is there any chance he could’ve been involved in her disappearance?” Daniel couldn’t help but think about the threats of divorce Naomi had made. The thought of another man stepping in as Ruthie’s stepdad had lit all kinds of angry fires inside him. He’d convinced his wife that he could change.
“I’m not willing to rule anything out at this point,” Jaden stated.
Clara’s focus on her mug intensified.
“What about the best friend?” he asked.
“The families go way back. Met in church when the girls were little, moms figured out that they lived on the same block. There’d been some friction between Ashlyn and Makayla recently. The moms had noticed and chalked it up to hormones. The two were best friends one minute and couldn’t stand to be in the same room the next,” Jaden announced, thumping the file. “It’s all in there.”
“Why would your sister agree to send Ashlyn on vacation with the family if that was the situation? I would’ve kept the girls apart as much as possible,” Daniel said, his voice laced with judgment.
“My sister thought it would be a good idea. The girls had been best friends since preschool. Both were full-on pre-teen hormonal and Stella thought it would do them both good to be forced to spend time together.” Daniel picked up on the judgment in her voice too.
“Are you and your sister close?” he asked.
“That’s not relevant,” she fired back.
“I’m an only child. I don’t know how this sibling rivalry thing works.” He threw his hands in the air in the surrender position.
“We used to be. Timothy seems to be getting inside her head and making her question everyone’s motives. But that doesn’t mean we always used to agree. We’re very different people,” Clara admitted.
“Does your sister tell you everything?” he asked. He remembered how close his wife and daughter had been. The two seemed to share a special language that he’d never understand. The bond between females was different than what he was used to with his brothers in arms. If men disagreed they pretty much battled it out on a basketball court. Women talked until they felt better. He knew something was really wrong if chocolate was involved. Even his five-year-old seemed to make the connection that had eluded him. If he’d realized the association sooner he would’ve brought home chocolate by the armful after every deployment.
“Pretty much. I think. I mean, we’re close. We were a lot closer before her marriage started falling apart and she met Timothy,” she admitted.
“When was that?”
“Last year, so,” she paused and counted on her fingers, “they’ve been married ten months now.”
“They knew each other all of two months before they married?” Now the judgment was on his part.
“That’s right.” Clara made a face. Everything in her expression said she didn’t approve.
“I’m guessing stepdad didn’t appreciate having a kid hang around from Stella’s previous marriage. And especially not one with an attitude,” Daniel surmised.
“Ashlyn’s occasional outbursts don’t make her categorically difficult to deal with. She had a sweet side that never went away. She just developed a sharp edge sometimes,” Clara defended, her shoulders strung tight. She rolled her head as though trying to loosen stress’s grip. The taut lines of her face said she was losing the battle.
Daniel sat there contemplating the situation for a long moment. How many stories had he read about involving teens who went missing while on vacation? It was a small number, which most likely made the cases even more shocking. International law was complicated. Clara was biased, which he expected from her aunt. He needed to talk to three people: Stella, Timothy and Ashlyn’s father.
“Where does your sister live?” he asked.
“A suburb north of Dallas.”
Daniel pushed off the island and got to his feet.
“Thanks for coming by,” Jaden said. “You think of anything that can help, I’d appreciate hearing from you. And even if you don’t, I’d appreciate hearing from you.”
Daniel nodded, grateful for his friend’s words. He should feel bad for not returning Jaden’s attempts to reach out to him over the past two years. The only thing he could feel was the gut-twisting pain of Naomi and Ruthie dying alone and the hell that came with knowing it had been his fault.
“You’re leaving?” Clara’s eyes shot open wide. “Just like that?”
He picked up the picture from the island and studied it. The girl in the photo was smiling, unaware of the dangers lurking. “When was this picture taken?”
“Last month,” Clara said.
His heart fisted. Children were innocent, dammit. Someone should protect them. An annoying voice in the back of his head said it should be him.
“If we’re going to make progress on this case we need to be in Dallas by sunrise,” he said before turning to Jaden. “You got a quiet place where I can grab a few minutes of shut-eye?”
Clara had showered, brushed her teeth and changed into a new outfit of dress pants and a blouse. She’d fixed her face and hair after drinking from what seemed like a bottomless cup of coffee.
Caffeine gave her something to do. She didn’t need it to stay awake or alert. Thinking about Ashlyn out there, scared and alone, had driven Clara for the past fourteen days.
She joined the others in the kitchen.
“You’re awake,” she said to Lauren, who was standing at the island and rubbing her belly. Clara’s gaze lingered on the bump and a pang of pain nailed her. “Boy or girl?”
“Boy,” Lauren said. Her voice
