one knew that better than Sydney.
It was a few minutes after seven when Sydney finally made it to the front door of Rachel’s condo. She’d spent most of the three hours since she’d landed renting a car, filling out a missing person’s report at the downtown police precinct and being interviewed by a blunt but hopefully efficient detective. The rest of the time had been spent fighting traffic.
The detective had promised to give the case top priority though she had the distinct impression he wouldn’t, at least not yet. Thankfully, she had Lane behind the scenes.
Her nerves tensed as she rummaged in her oversize travel purse for the key. Her sister had moved into the luxurious high-rise with her long-term boyfriend Carl Upton less than a year ago.
Rachel still loved the apartment but her relationship with Carl had withered and died. He’d moved out last month, and according to Rachel, they’d both moved on. He still hadn’t returned her call from this morning.
Key in hand, Sydney still hesitated. It wasn’t that she was afraid of what she’d find. Connie had assured her that she and the police officer had checked out every square inch of the living quarters.
It was exhaustion, fear and the dread of facing the emptiness that held Sydney back now. She forced herself to turn the key and step inside.
Sydney rolled her luggage out of the doorway and dropped her purse and her briefcase onto the small table in the entryway. The staggering sense of emptiness she’d expected didn’t materialize.
Instead, the space overflowed with Rachel’s aura of warmth. The scent of the many candles she’d burned whenever she was home lingered in the still air.
Everything was meticulously in order, as always. Sydney had missed out on their father’s neat-freak gene but Rachel had it in spades.
Sydney walked through the living area and into the kitchen. Nothing amiss there, either. A check of the refrigerator revealed a few jars of condiments and preserves on the door shelves and very little else.
Anything that would have spoiled while she was at the resort had obviously been tossed. The kitchen trash can was also empty. Rachel was a stickler for details. And the most reliable person Sydney knew.
She would never fail to show up for work without contacting someone.
So where was she now?
Sydney’s mind searched desperately as it had all day for explanations that didn’t include a conclusion too horrible to imagine. Nonetheless, the serial-killer scenario skulked through her thoughts like a dark shadow, creating a biting chill that reached to the bone.
But that was the worst-case scenario. She had to move past the crippling fear and focus on even the smallest scraps of evidence that could lead her to Rachel.
Was it possible she’d had a nervous breakdown from the pressures she’d put on herself to become the youngest partner at Fitch, Fitch and Baumer?
No. She had too much grit for that. If things had gotten that bad, she’d have told the senior partners off and walked away from the job.
Had she been in a car crash that left her in a coma? Or perhaps had an accident that left her with temporary amnesia?
Only Sydney—with Lane’s help—had checked every emergency room and hospital for miles around. No patients fit her description. And her car had not been located.
Sydney’s cell phone rang. She checked the caller ID. Lane. She felt anxious and hopeful at the same time. God, did she need some good news.
“What do you have for me?” she asked as soon as they’d exchanged a quick hello.
“Rachel has used two credit cards since the last time she was seen by her coworkers.”
“When, where and how much?”
“She used an American Express card on Saturday morning to pay for a room at a bed-and-breakfast in La Grange, Texas.”
“Would that be on her route to Austin?”
“It would. I’ll send you the rest of the details. Time, name of the B and B, address and phone number.”
“Good. What else do you have?”
“She withdrew three hundred dollars cash from an ATM a few minutes after noon that same day in the neighboring town of Winding Creek.”
Winding Creek, where the body had been found. The reference rattled her nerves so badly she had to hold on to the back of the nearest chair for support.
“Do we have a photo to prove that it was actually her who withdrew the cash?”
“Working on it,” Lane said.
“Were those Rachel’s only charges?”
“No. She made a purchase at Dani’s Delights, also in Winding Creek, for sixty-five dollars and eighty-nine cents at two eighteen.”
“What kind of store is that?”
“A bakery and coffee shop.”
“Rachel barely eats. She’d have never paid that much for java and scones. I don’t have a map in front of me. Is Winding Creek near Austin?”
“It’s south of Austin, closer to San Antonio, but not far out of her way once she left La Grange.”
“What’s the draw to Winding Creek? Why would she go out of her way to visit that town?”
“I don’t have the answer to that.”
“We know Rachel was there a little after two on Saturday afternoon and then never made it to her scheduled destination. So somewhere between Winding Creek and the resort, Rachel’s plans were ambushed.”
“That’s the gist of what I’ve found so far.”
Sydney struggled to focus as the fear swelled to near suffocating. “Were you able to locate her phone?”
“Not yet. It’s not putting out a signal.”
It could be at the bottom of Winding Creek or perhaps hammered to smithereens like the Swamp Strangler destroyed the phones of his victims.
“Thanks for your help, Lane. At least I have a starting point.”
If she left now, she could easily make it to Winding Creek tonight. If it was like most small Texas towns, the sidewalk would have already been rolled up by the time she got there, but at least she’d be there when the sun came up tomorrow morning.
Rachel could be most anywhere between here and Austin, but Winding Creek was the next stop for Sydney.
* * *
HANK’S HANGOUT WAS the only place within miles of Winding Creek that was still open at eleven thirty on
