Page 14

Chapter 14

Donovan

M ost days, I enjoyed my job. Being a detective in the sleepy town of Lowery’s Crossing was a far cry from the chaos of Chicago. Instead of an endless stack of cases ranging from violent assaults to homicides, each more soul-crushing than the last, now I spent my days dealing with neighborly disputes, petty thefts, and the rare domestic abuse case. No town could be perfect, but Lowery’s Crossing was the closest thing I’d found. How many detectives could say they left work at five o’clock nearly every day and almost never got called out in the middle of the night? I’d struggled at first to adjust, old habits keeping me on edge, and there were some days that were downright boring, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Today, the inaction grated on me. Despite the calendar saying it was early April, winter still clung to the mountains, its icy grip keeping everyone indoors. Snow still coated the ground and the local weather station was already warning of a possible winter storm in the next day or two, one last hurrah from Mother Nature before we could move on to spring. The few incidents that had been called in were being handled by the officers, leaving Will and me with nothing to do but finish reports.

“Is this what going crazy feels like?” Will whined, his eyes glued to the ancient clock mounted on the wall over our office door. “Because I think this is what going crazy feels like.”

“We can get through two more hours. Let’s just get this report finished and see where that leaves us.” Our most recent case had been a fight between two neighbors with a longstanding grudge that finally lead to punches being thrown, but no real injuries, so the paperwork was simple. We’d just been dragging it out as long as possible in a vain attempt to fill the day.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad nothing bad has happened to anyone in town, but I’d give anything to have just one interesting case right now.”

“You take that back right this second,” I warned. “Don’t you dare jinx us like that.”

“Come on, Donovan. It’s Lowery’s Crossing. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You’re an asshole and I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’ when we’re knee-deep in shit later.”

“I never pegged you for the superstitious type,” he teased, leaning back in his chair.

“It’s kind of hard not to be when dating a psychic,” I pointed out.

I hadn’t told anyone about what Alex’s friend Ori had revealed to us a few weeks ago, but the knowledge sat in the back of my mind, taunting my curious nature. The idea of a paranormal community fascinated me, and I wanted to learn more, but I would never betray the trust Ori had reluctantly given me. Since that day, Alex hadn’t brought it up again, but I knew it was on his mind. I couldn’t count how many times I’d found him staring off into space, eyes unfocused, as he turned over everything in his head.

All things considered, I couldn’t blame him for taking his time. His ability to see ghosts had ripped his life apart so many times that the idea of doing it more clearly terrified him. Even knowing he finally had a rock-solid support system, he couldn’t make almost twenty years of trauma just disappear.

“You guys still good? I know you said it all worked out, but we haven’t really talked since then.”

“Yeah, we’re good,” I said. “That reminds me, though. The five of us haven’t really spent any time together lately. We should all get dinner together.”

Will shrugged. “I’m in. My social calendar isn’t exactly bustling right now.”

“If you want to message your sister, I’ll text Alex. If they’re free, maybe we could do it tonight? The snowstorm will probably miss us, but just in case.”

“Now who’s the jinx?” Will glanced up from his phone. “That’s how you guarantee we get a blizzard.”

He had a point, not that I’d admit it, so I busied myself sending a quick message to Alex. The bookstore must’ve been slow, because he texted back almost immediately and agreed. He even said he’d close up a little early to meet us after work, so it must’ve been an extremely slow day.

“Alex is in,” I reported without looking up from sending Alex an ‘I love you’ text.

“Cami and Raina are in, too, as long as it’s not too late,” Will said. “I will never understand how they willingly go to work at 4:00 in the morning. When we were kids, almost nothing would get Camille out of bed before noon, if she had a choice.”

“Sounds like Alex.” I slid the phone back onto my desk and stretched. We’d managed to kill a half hour, at least, and now we had something to look forward to.

“I guess I can try to get this paperwork done,” Will said with all the enthusiasm of a man walking to the guillotine.

Somehow, despite Will jinxing us, we were able to leave on time without any major emergencies cropping up. The five of us had decided on The Taphouse for dinner, which was only a block over from the police department. Despite the cold, it was easier to just walk rather than deal with parking, so we headed that way.

The Taphouse had started life as a bar, with one cook to make some basic bar snacks to keep people drinking. The food had turned out to be so good, though, that the owner wisely changed course and turned it into a restaurant. Alex and I had been here a few times and he’d filled me in on the local history.

We weren’t the only ones who’d decided to grab some food before the snow, apparently, because the place was already filling up. Despite living here less than a year, I spotted quite a few people I recognized. Mrs. Sharper, the infamous town gossip, sat at a high-top table with her husband and another couple, talking excitedly about something. A few of the night shift patrol officers sat together in a corner booth with the remnants of their dinner between them, relaxing before they had to go on duty. I even spotted Julian Delaney and his twins, Evie and Arlo, seated together at a round table by the window. The kids were talking away while their dad just listened with a look of pure love on his face.

Alex must have coordinated with the girls, because the three of them bustled through the door together about five minutes later. Alex spotted me immediately and I rose to greet him, smiling when he pulled me into a soft kiss the moment he was close enough.

“Hi,” I murmured against his cold lips.

“Hi,” he said, eyes lighting up when he laughed.

“I’m going to put you two at opposite ends of the booth if you don’t stop being disgustingly cute,” Raina complained and Alex just laughed again, lingering for another kiss before stepping away. He slid in beside me, with Raina in the middle and Camille on her left. Will and I ended up at the two ends of the booth.

“This is nice. Thank you guys for inviting us,” Camille said once we were all settled.

“Thanks for coming. I know we’re getting close to your bedtime,” I said. Alex sat pressed against my side and I settled my hand on his knee. He immediately laid his over mine, our fingers twining.

“We’ll be fine,” Raina shrugged. “I’ll have Rachel add an extra shot of espresso to my drink in the morning.”

“You most certainly will not,” Camille said. “The last time you had extra caffeine, you talked for three hours straight. I don’t think you took a breath the entire time.”

“And that’s different from her usual how..?”

Raina turned a scandalized look on Alex. “I’ll bring back that matcha lime latte and that’s all you’ll get for a week, Alexander Henry Copeland.”

“Ooh, we’re doing government names?” Will winced, but it looked like he was trying damn hard to smother a laugh. “I’d grovel now if I were you.”

“You know I was only kidding, Raina. I love you, and you tie with Camille for my favorite woman on the planet. You make the best coffee in the world, even when you experiment with things that should never go together. Without you, I would be adrift in a decaf ocean, and that would be a genuine tragedy. I would—”

“Alright, alright,” Raina laughed, cutting off Alex’s rambling apology. “Apology accepted. Now put the puppy dog eyes away and let’s order some food.”

“You used the big sad eyes on her? That’s not playing fair,” I murmured in Alex’s ear once everyone else was distracted by the menu.

“Worth it. You never had to try that latte. I’ll use whatever weapons I have to in order to avoid ever doing that again.” He leaned against my side, a soft smile on his lips when he looked around the table. The girls shared a menu, giggling about something Raina had said, and Will watched them with a fond smile.

“We should do this more,” Alex said, loud enough for the others to hear him this time. “We don’t hang out enough as a group.”

“That’s because you guys always get sappy around each other,” Will said, rolling his eyes. “As the resident single member of this group, I have a limit on how long I can deal with it when you’re all acting twitterpated.”

“That just means we need to find someone for you to make heart eyes at,” Raina teased.

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Camille said. “I think my dear brother just needs to pluck up a little courage.”

“And we’re changing the subject now. How about this weather, huh?” The low lighting made it difficult to tell, but it looked to me like Will was blushing. His eyes darted across the room, lingering for a split second before looking away. I’d bet my next paycheck he’d paused on a small round table near the window.

“Hang on. I feel like I’m missing something,” Alex protested, looking back and forth between Will and his sister.

“Me, too. What did I miss and how did I miss it?” Raina asked. She pouted at Camille, who just patted her shoulder.

“You didn’t miss anything, and if we keep talking about my love life, I’m walking out right now.”

Camille scooted over in the booth and leaned her head against her twin’s shoulder. “We’re only teasing you because we love you, but we’ll let it go if it makes you that uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable. I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright, then. Topic closed.”

That finally got a small smile from Will and even though I knew he and Camille had been born identical, for a moment there I actually saw it when she mirrored his smile.

“Okay, if we’re moving on, we should probably go ahead and actually order food before they kick us out of here for loitering,” Raina said and I had to laugh. A bit heavy-handed, but it worked, because Alex and Camille’s attention was diverted from Will to the menu and Will’s shoulders slumped in relief.

The conversation stayed light throughout the meal and as I looked around at my friends, warm contentment settled in my chest. I’d never had a group of real friends before. Not like this, anyway. I’d had work buddies, guys I’d grab a beer with after a long shift, but they weren’t the type of friends I’d call if I actually needed anything. Now, I knew I could call any one of them and they’d drop everything and help me deal with a dead body, no questions asked. Literally, since we all knew what Alex could do.

We were debating the merits of ordering the dessert sampler to split, despite how full we were, when Will’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and frowned, but answered immediately.

“Hello?” He paused, frown deepening. “Yes, this is Detective Dodd. I remember you, yes.”

“That doesn’t look good,” Alex murmured.

“No, it doesn’t.” I caught the server’s eye and motioned for the bill. I had a gut feeling that our night out was over.

“What? When?” Will sat up straighter, catching my eyes across the table. “No, no, you did the right thing. Give us 15 minutes and we’ll be there, okay? We’ll take care of it.” He disconnected as I handed my card over to pay.

“What’s up? Do you guys need to leave?” Raina asked, and Camille’s eyes were dark with worry when she looked at her twin.

“Yeah, sorry. Sorry to dine and ditch,” he apologized, already sliding out and putting his jacket on. I did the same, looking over at Alex.

“Can you grab my card for me?” The server hadn’t returned with it and we clearly couldn’t wait.

“I’ve got it. Be careful, okay?” he whispered and I leaned in, kissing him as long as I could.

“I will. I’ll let you know when I’ll be home.”

Leaving the girls and Alex behind, Will and I hurried out of the restaurant, breaking into a jog as soon as we were on the sidewalk.

“What’s going on? Who was that?”

“Violet DeVor. I met her and her husband when we were wrapping up the Perez case and doing interviews. She must’ve kept my number.”

“Did something happen?” I pressed. We were already back in the parking lot of the precinct and heading inside to grab vehicle keys.

“Yeah. Landon DeVor is missing.”

***

Will had been the one to interview the DeVor family, but I remembered Landon and his sister Amelie from the initial interviews right after Rebecca went missing. Landon was a gangly kid, all arms and legs. With any luck, he’d hit one last growth spurt and fill out some. I’d assumed his father would be roughly the same build, an older version of his son.

The man in front of me, however, couldn’t have been more different from his son. Even sitting down, I could tell he had to be over six feet tall. His broad shoulders and barrel chest wouldn’t look out of place on a pro football team and his heavy muscles spoke of either a lifetime of hard work or a daily gym routine. The callouses on his hands and knuckles told me it was the former, his skin rough when I shook his hand.

“Mr. DeVor, we got here as quickly as we could,” Will said, shaking the man’s hand as well. “What happened?”

“I didn’t want your help,” the man said bluntly, his voice deep and rough. “My family are all out looking for him, but my wife insisted we call you.”

Violet DeVor glared at her husband from her spot across the room. She couldn’t seem to keep still, her hands twisting in her cardigan in a way that reminded me of Alex. Unlike Jean, Violet genuinely looked worried.

“Well, I’m glad she did. With this much ground to cover, it’s a good idea to have as many people searching as possible,” Will said. To his credit, he kept it professional, no hint of judgment in his voice. It took an effort for me not to respond, though. What kind of parent didn’t want help when their child went missing?

“Landon knows how to handle himself in the woods. He’ll be fine.”

“Well, just to be safe, we’re happy to help look for him,” I said. “Can you tell us what happened? How long has he been gone?”

Jean muttered something under his breath. I didn’t catch it, but Violet must have, because she finally moved away from the wall and joined us. Where her husband was tall and barrel-chested, she was shorter and stocky, but carried herself with the grace of a dancer even in the middle of this chaos.

“Thank you both for coming,” she said. “The last time I saw Landon was shortly after school, so about four or five hours ago. He and Amelie were going to walk to the Perez house and see Rebecca. She’s still not allowed to go anywhere, so they were going to hang out.”

“Is Amelie alright? Did she see anything?” Will asked quickly.

Violet shook her head. “She didn’t go. Just before they left, she was out in the back pasture helping her uncle round up the horses before the storm hits. Something must have spooked them, because her horse threw her and she banged up her knee pretty badly. She’s in the kitchen.”

“So Landon decided to go alone?” I asked. Something she’d said sparked something in the back of my mind, but it was still too vague to make out at the moment.

“Yes, he did. He’s friends with Rebecca’s brother, too. I already called Eva Perez and she hasn’t seen him,” she added, anticipating our next question.

“He wouldn’t have met up with anyone and decided to go do something else?” Will asked and I noticed he said it carefully, likely trying to avoid implying anything about Landon.

“Landon is a good kid,” Jean growled, eyes narrowing. “If he said he was going straight there, he was going straight there.”

The details of Rebecca’s case filtered through my mind and I remembered one potentially important detail. “Would he have taken the path through the trees?”

“It wouldn’t make sense not to,” Violet nodded. “Landon prefers to be outside much more than he prefers to drive and has always seemed to enjoy the walk there. Our family is looking for him, like my husband said, and I told them to start there.”

“It’s pretty dark outside. Is it safe for them to be out there in this?” Will asked, glancing out the window. The temperature had already started to drop, and it was looking more and more likely that the promised snowstorm would hit us.

“They’ll be fine. We’ll find Landon on our own,” Jean grumbled. He hadn’t moved from the couch, still watching me and Will like we’d somehow offended him.

“Still, we’d like to help as much as we can.” I studied Jean DeVor as closely as I dared, which wasn’t easy, considering how often his eyes darted to me. What was this guy’s deal? “Does Landon have any location apps or anything on his phone we could try?”

“He does. We tried that and found his phone near the path, but there was no sign of him.”

Of course, because why would any of this be simple?

“Is there anything else we should know before we start searching?” Will asked the two of them.

“Landon is a good kid,” Violet replied, quiet, every word laced with worry. “I love Rebecca dearly and I mean no offense to her, but he’s not like her. He wouldn’t disappear like she did. The only way he wouldn’t come home is if he physically wasn’t able to.”

“I promise you, we’ll do everything in our power to find him,” Will said. “Call me if anything changes, okay? If he hasn’t turned up by morning, we’ll organize a larger search party.”

“Thank you. Thank you both.” She reached out and gripped both of our hands. “If we find him, I’ll call you.”

I gave her my number on our way out the door, and Will and I walked back to the car in silence. Neither of us spoke until we’d backed out of the drive and were back on the county road heading into town.

“That was weird, right? With Jean?” Will finally asked. He was driving, leaving me free to type up everything in the MDT in our car. The computer was just as ancient as the ones in our office, but it did the job.

“That was very weird,” I agreed. “I’ve never seen a parent so unconcerned about their kid’s safety.”

“Seriously, if I had a kid and they’d gone missing, I’d be burning the entire world down trying to find them. He didn’t seem to give a damn about Landon.”

“This whole situation is strange. What are the odds that two kids that are neighbors both go missing at separate times? And why wouldn’t Jean want our help?”

Will cocked his head. “That one’s easy, at least. Did you see the way he looked at us? I know some people aren’t fans of law enforcement, but he took that to the extreme.” He bit his lip, coming to the same question I had. “Do you think he maybe did something to his kid, and that’s why he doesn’t want us involved?”

“Unfortunately, when something happens to a kid, the first suspect is always the parent.”

“Wherever Landon is, at least he’s probably just hurt and lost, right? If it were… anything else, Alex would know, wouldn’t he?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t think every single person who passes comes to him.” Thinking of Alex reminded me of Ori and what they’d said, though, and I froze in the middle of typing. Ori had repeatedly said the paranormal community didn’t trust the police. Was it possible? Could that explain Jean DeVor’s reluctance to talk to us?

“But he told us that the ones who do are usually the ones who wouldn’t be found otherwise, and that sounds exactly like what’s happening with Landon DeVor. So if he hasn’t come to Alex, that means he’s probably not dead.” Will sounded so earnest, so hopeful, that I couldn’t bring myself to disagree. We were both experienced and trained, but sometimes blind hope was all that got us through our days. The desperate hope that, just once, the most unlikely theory would win and we’d get that fairy tale happy ending.

“I’ll call him and warn him about what’s going on, so he’s not surprised if Landon tries to reach out to him.”

Will sighed heavily, fingers drumming across the steering wheel. “I don’t think I’ve ever hoped that a kid ran away, but fuck, I hope that’s all this is.”

“I get it. I feel the same.” I scrubbed my hands across my face. So much for a quiet night at home with Alex, like I’d been hoping. “Let’s stop and grab some coffee on the way back. It’s going to be a long night.”