Shadow of Doubt - Hailey Edwards Page 0,79
tabs on alphas throughout the country, and their packs. He wanted names, matings, births, all of it. Fail to comply, and he killed the alpha and redistributed their pack to more responsible ones.
For Bishop to say there was no record of Jessica Burns in the Mendelsohn pack meant there was no Jessica Burns in the Mendelsohn pack.
“Who did I talk to then?” I started toward the house in earnest. “She had a small circle of girls around the same age with her. She might have been using Tammy to fish for information, scared they might be next.”
“Did she say or do anything unusual?”
“She was the only pack member who approached me.” The sister angle won me over, no questions asked. “Nothing she said or did sent up any red flags. She was a normal kid. She spent most of the time…”
“Most of the time doing what?”
“Playing with Snowball.” I picked up speed. “Any kid would have done the same. I didn’t give it a second thought.”
“Lee?” Ford kept pace with me. “What’s wrong?”
“We need to go back to see Mendelsohn.” I reached his truck first and yanked on the handle until he let me in with a fumbled mash of his key fob. “Bishop, I’m going to track down Jessica. Keep me updated.”
“Make no apologies,” he said, and I heard the warning.
“Survive,” I agreed.
Ford joined me in the cab as I ended one call and placed another.
Jessica didn’t answer.
The phone rang and rang and rang.
Strapping in, I confronted him. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know we’re going to see Mendelsohn. Something about the girl? Is she missing?”
Already redialing Jessica, I waited, but she never answered. “Bishop says she doesn’t exist.”
Seventeen
The Mendelsohn pack was cooking out when we arrived, cheddar brats and hotdogs mostly, which seemed downright dangerous considering the amount of sausage already swinging in the wind, but that was their problem and not mine.
The first person I bumped into—thankfully not literally—was a man old enough to be my grandfather.
“Can you tell me where to find Jessica Burns?” I waited a beat. “Sir?”
“He’s deaf as a stump,” a warm feminine voice said from behind us. “I’m Gayle, his granddaughter. How can I help you?”
Lucky me, she had on a flowy dress that quit mid-thigh. “I’m looking for Jessica Burns.”
“We don’t have any Jessicas in the pack.” She lifted a hand to the topmost button, and she worried it between her fingers. “Do you mean Tammy? Tammy Burns? She’s been missing eight—no, nine—days.”
“Jessica is about ten. I met her right over there.” I pointed where Ford had parked the first time. “She claimed Tammy was her big sister.”
“That’s not right.” Gayle shook her head. “Tam was an only child. Her parents died a few years back, and she came to live with Deric. He’s her second cousin. He’s all the family she’s got left now.”
Unease squirmed through my gut. “Jessica told me Tammy was about to turn eighteen, that she left because she was afraid Deric wanted to add her to his harem.”
Her laughter was a bright, sharp zing through the air. “Deric is hedonistic, but he would never lay a finger on that girl. All his partners are twenty-one years or older. They’re very much consenting adults.”
“The girl who introduced herself to me as Jessica went into a tent with other girls her age. Where are they? Can I talk to them?”
“The girls had a sleepover a few days ago. That must be when you saw them together. They jealously guard their private rituals from the boys and from outsiders. I’m amazed they would have included another child without a fuss.” She scanned the crowd. “Come on. I’ll take you to the heathens.”
Ford met my gaze, which was nice, considering he had been unwilling or unable to do so earlier, and I read my own concern reflected back at me.
Gayle led us to a tent that might have been the one I remembered seeing last time, but now there were only two cots, and one of them held a fuming preteen girl.
“Lyssa,” Gayle called, “can you come here a minute?”
“I’m grounded,” she snarled. “I can’t go anywhere but this dumb bed.”
With an attitude like that, I had to wonder what the little angel had done to get herself in trouble.
“Where’s your mom?” Gayle peered through the flap. “We have a guest who would like to speak to you.”
The girl slanted me a look, and her eyes widened. “I remember you.”
I checked with Gayle. “Okay to go ahead?”
“Sure, sure. I’ll