Page 52

“Sure, Janice. See you then. And thank you.”
Lacey hung up the phone. Placing her head in her hands, she prayed the flyers would make a difference.
But maybe Bethany would be home by then.
Please, God.
It felt good to have a plan. To know she was going to be proactive in finding Bethany. But now, she had to focus on keeping her job.
Lacey sighed and went back to her laptop. Grabbing the yellow file from her briefcase, she searched for the sheet that would enable her to finalize the billboard ad.
It wasn’t there.
She groaned. Where was it? Pulling everything from her briefcase, she went through each and every paper.
Nothing.
Closing her eyes, she thought.
Then remembered she’d left it on her desk the day of Bethany’s disappearance.
In order to finish this and e-mail it to her boss tonight, she’d have to go to the office and retrieve the sheet from her desk.
Weariness grabbed her and held on tight. Did she want to do this now?
No.
But she needed to. She needed to keep this job. It was a good one and while she knew she had excellent skills and could find another job if she needed to, she didn’t want to have to do the whole job-search thing again. Besides, she liked the work and the people in the office—including her boss.
And right now, there wasn’t a thing she could do about finding Bethany. What she could do was ensure that she kept her job so she would be able support herself and Bethany when they finally brought her daughter back home.
Dragging herself to the kitchen counter, she grabbed her keys and headed for the door. After a stop to tell the officer where she was going and to reassure him she’d be fine, against his advice, she drove down the street and out of the subdivision. He’d offered to go with her and she’d almost let him, but what if her parents came home? They’d need him here. And she didn’t want the house left sitting for any length of time without eyes on it.
If she let the officer go with her, there wouldn’t be a deterrent to the person causing her family all this grief.
Hesitating, she thought about it. Was she being impulsive and thoughtless? Should she go to the office alone?
What if the person was watching her? What if he’d seen her leave and even now followed her?
Her eyes went to the rearview mirror and she breathed a sigh of relief at the darkness behind her.
A glance at the clock on the dash read 10:04 p.m. Should she call Mason?
For what?
She was just going to run in and grab that sheet then go home and finish the project. The office was well lit even at night. Plus there was the security guard. She’d get him to let her in and then see her back to her car. She’d be fine.
Lacey gave another cursory glance into the rearview mirror and sucked in a deep breath.
Headlights.
Her nerves tightened and she forced herself to relax. Just because someone was behind her didn’t mean someone wasafterher. This was a well-traveled road.
Nevertheless, her fingers gripped the wheel and she cast another nervous eye toward the mirror.
Still there. And then the car went around her, zooming past to disappear around the curve ahead.
She breathed easier.