Page 18 of One Cry Too Loud (Coastal Crime Unit #9)

H olly had seemingly calmed down by the time we pulled up into the driveway of Alice Masters’s home.

She had been calm before, of course, only to see the panic come back.

So, while that definitely might happen here, seeing her sitting upright and not crying in a ball on the backseat was certainly a good thing.

The Masters’ house was nice. A large brick home that looked as though it was no more than five or ten years old, it had a sort of mini castle vibe as we drove up the concrete driveway.

Though it didn’t necessarily say that the people who owned this home were rich, it certainly did imply that they were comfortable.

In the front yard, tied around a large live oak sat something I recognized immediately.

Given my job and my history, I had seen more than my fair share of yellow ribbons.

While most people, thanks to a catchy little diddy by Tony Orlando and Dawn, knew it as a gesture of love and fondness, a symbol that you’re yearning for the person you love to come back to you from a hospital stay or a business trip, I knew it as something different.

I knew it as something desperate. Every time I had ever seen that damn yellow ribbon, it came connected to a broken family.

It came complete with a group of people whose lives would never be the same, even if things ended the best way they possibly could.

I hated that damn yellow ribbon, and looking at the way it made Holly’s eyes sink in, I had never hated it more than I did today.

“Are you okay? Do you still think you can do this?” Kat asked, looking at Holly from the rearview mirror. “It’s not too late to turn around.”

“We’re in the bloody driveway, luv,” she said, sinking deeper into her English accent than I had perhaps ever heard from her before.

“That doesn’t mean it’s too late,” Kat said. “Say the word and Jackson will turn this car around.”

“No,” Holly said. “It’s already been too long. It’s not your fault, but we may already be too late to save my daughter.”

“We’re not too late,” I said.

“You don’t know that,” Holly said.

“You’re right. I don’t, but I believe it, and that’s all any of us can do right now,” I said. “Besides, if your instincts are right and Joe is Nefarious.”

“He is,” she answered.

“And if Nefarious is the person that took that little girl, then it stands to reason that he wouldn’t hurt her,” I said.

“I know it’s awful and I know it doesn’t give your mind much ease, but if Nefarious wants his daughter, it means he almost certainly doesn’t want to hurt her.

She might be gone, but I believe she’s okay, and that’s a hell of a lot better than the alternative. ”

“Do you believe that too, Kat?” Holly asked, her voice shaking.

“You know I hate to tell Jackson he’s right, but in this case, I think he is,” Kat said. “I think we’ll find your daughter, and when we do, I don’t think that cyber sociopath will have harmed a hair on her precious head.”

“I do so hope you’re right,” Holly said as we pulled to a stop in front of the house.

We stepped out, and as we did, Holly caught sight of something that made her gasp. Along with the bright yellow ribbon tied around it, the live oak also housed a tire swing. It swayed gently back and forth, a victim of the breeze.

“Do you think that’s hers?” Holly asked, swallowing hard. “Do you think Cindy played on that?”

“I do,” I said, nodding at her.

“Do you think she loved it?” The woman asked, still staring at the thing.

“Probably,” I said. “It’s a swing. Most kids love a swing.”

She sighed. “I don’t know anything about her. She’s my own flesh and blood, the closest person in the world to me, and I don’t know a single thing about her. Isn’t that horrible?”

“Nothing about what you did was horrible, Holly. I told you that,” Kat said.

“You did what you had to for that little girl. You gave her a life that she wouldn’t otherwise have.

The fact that you don’t know anything about her is a product of that good choice.

You don’t need to feel guilty about that.

You don’t need to feel guilty about anything.

” She patted her shoulder. “And we’re here now.

If you want to know something about your daughter, you’ve come to the right place. ”

“I hope that’s also true when it comes to finding her,” I said, giving Holly one last look. “Now, it’s now or never, Holly. If you want to turn around, or if you want to wait in the car until Kat and I are done here, now is the time to say so.”

“No. I’m here. I want to be here. I want to do this,” she said.

“Okay.” I nodded.

Marching up to the porch with Kat and Holly behind me, I knocked on the front door.

It opened nearly instantly. A woman of maybe sixty stood on the other side. She was well kept and put together. She had rings on her fingers and a necklace with a rudy sitting in a locket at the center.

“If you’re here about the association dues, now is really not a good time. I’m afraid Ms. Masters has suffered a personal tragedy and overdue payments really are the last things on her mind.”

“We’re not here for association dues,” I replied. “We’re here to see Ms. Masters because of that personal tragedy.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Are you?

“We are,” Kat said from beside me. “We think we can help her with it. We hope we can help her with it.”

“Are you with the police?” The woman asked.

“We aren’t,” I said. “We’re-”

“Are you in a club?” She cut me off.

“A club?” I asked. “I mean, I suppose it’s kind of a club. It’s a Unit.”

“That’s just another word for a club though, isn’t it?” She smiled. “I had a dream last night. I drew the three of clubs and a voice in my head said that it meant our troubles would be behind us. Do you think that’s a sign? Do you believe in signs?”

“Ma’am, I just need to see Ms. Masters about her daughter. We believe we have a chance at bringing her home,” I said.

“She’ll be very happy to hear that, assuming the spell she’s casting right now doesn’t do the job first,” the woman said.

“Spell?” I asked.

“Why yes,” the woman answered. “She’s in the backyard with the rest of the coven right now.”

“Coven?” I asked. “You mean to say that-”

“Certainly,” the woman replied. “Alice Masters is a witch.”

I groaned as I heard the words. “Right.” I rolled my eyes. “Of course she is.”