with animals and planned to be a veterinarian. All of these things were important for victimology and determining a commonality to tie the disappearances together. Unfortunately, he still saw no real relationship between hers and Kelli’s disappearances. That gut feeling he’d had that they were related was fading fast.
After shaking both parents’ hands and assuring them that if any information about their daughter’s whereabouts became available, they would be contacted immediately, he and Honor went through the door and headed to their rental car.
Doing what he’d been taught to do from the time he was strong enough to handle a door of any kind, he opened the passenger door for Honor. She barely acknowledged the gesture, and Seth could tell something was on her mind that she wanted to discuss. He had an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knew what that something was. Not only were they on a wild goose chase, but they’d probably given hope to Drenda’s parents when there was no hope.
Seth got into the driver’s seat and put the key in the ignition. Instead of starting the engine, he looked over at her. “This is pointless, isn’t it?”
Turning to face him, her eyes dancing with excitement, she practically shouted her answer: “Are you kidding? We’re on to something, Seth, I know we are.”
eight
Seth stared blankly at Honor. It was obvious he’d missed the connection. He confirmed it with “We are?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Honor saw Mrs. Greene peeking out from beind the blinds of the living room. Since she didn’t want to get the woman too optimistic until she checked the information on the other missing girls—seeing them have an animated discussion might well do that—she said, “Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you.”
Seth started the engine and pulled out onto the road. As he maneuvered through the subdivision, she collected her thoughts. This had to mean something … it had to .
The Greenes’ upscale neighborhood had a large park exclusively for the residents. They’d passed it on the way in, and Honor instinctively knew that was where Seth was headed. As he turned onto the paved parkway, she pondered her ability to read him after all these years. Which seemed odd, since she didn’t think she’d read him well when they were together.
He parked the car under a shade tree, turned off the ignition, and faced her. “Okay, what’d I miss?”
“Did you hear Mrs. Greene talk about how Drenda hadn’t liked the college she was attending the year before and transferred to a smaller school last year, just a couple of months before she disappeared?”
“Yeah … so?”
“That’s a similarity, Seth. Remember, Kelli did the same thing this year.”
The expression on his face wasn’t encouraging. “So what? Lots of kids can’t settle in one school and move to another to finish up. Two of my sisters did the same thing.”
“But it is a similarity … something that ties these girls closer together.”
“Hell, honey, that’s a stretch.”
She did her best not to show a reaction to his endearment. It meant nothing. Seth was from Texas. She used to live there, too, and had gotten called “honey,” “sugar,” and “darling” a hell of a lot more than “Honor.” It meant absolutely nothing. But when Seth said it, in that gravelly bedroom voice she remembered so well, her body took it a different way.
Pushing past the need, she said, “A stretch, but still something.”
“So, even though they have this similarity, how does it connect them? They went to different schools, all across the country.”
Refusing to be discouraged by his underwhelming response to her theory, Honor shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m going to call Jared and ask him to check. If he hears the same thing about Karen or Missy, it could very well mean the beginning of a new thread.”
Muttering under his breath with what sounded like a “Pollyanna” slur, Seth
After shaking both parents’ hands and assuring them that if any information about their daughter’s whereabouts became available, they would be contacted immediately, he and Honor went through the door and headed to their rental car.
Doing what he’d been taught to do from the time he was strong enough to handle a door of any kind, he opened the passenger door for Honor. She barely acknowledged the gesture, and Seth could tell something was on her mind that she wanted to discuss. He had an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knew what that something was. Not only were they on a wild goose chase, but they’d probably given hope to Drenda’s parents when there was no hope.
Seth got into the driver’s seat and put the key in the ignition. Instead of starting the engine, he looked over at her. “This is pointless, isn’t it?”
Turning to face him, her eyes dancing with excitement, she practically shouted her answer: “Are you kidding? We’re on to something, Seth, I know we are.”
eight
Seth stared blankly at Honor. It was obvious he’d missed the connection. He confirmed it with “We are?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Honor saw Mrs. Greene peeking out from beind the blinds of the living room. Since she didn’t want to get the woman too optimistic until she checked the information on the other missing girls—seeing them have an animated discussion might well do that—she said, “Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you.”
Seth started the engine and pulled out onto the road. As he maneuvered through the subdivision, she collected her thoughts. This had to mean something … it had to .
The Greenes’ upscale neighborhood had a large park exclusively for the residents. They’d passed it on the way in, and Honor instinctively knew that was where Seth was headed. As he turned onto the paved parkway, she pondered her ability to read him after all these years. Which seemed odd, since she didn’t think she’d read him well when they were together.
He parked the car under a shade tree, turned off the ignition, and faced her. “Okay, what’d I miss?”
“Did you hear Mrs. Greene talk about how Drenda hadn’t liked the college she was attending the year before and transferred to a smaller school last year, just a couple of months before she disappeared?”
“Yeah … so?”
“That’s a similarity, Seth. Remember, Kelli did the same thing this year.”
The expression on his face wasn’t encouraging. “So what? Lots of kids can’t settle in one school and move to another to finish up. Two of my sisters did the same thing.”
“But it is a similarity … something that ties these girls closer together.”
“Hell, honey, that’s a stretch.”
She did her best not to show a reaction to his endearment. It meant nothing. Seth was from Texas. She used to live there, too, and had gotten called “honey,” “sugar,” and “darling” a hell of a lot more than “Honor.” It meant absolutely nothing. But when Seth said it, in that gravelly bedroom voice she remembered so well, her body took it a different way.
Pushing past the need, she said, “A stretch, but still something.”
“So, even though they have this similarity, how does it connect them? They went to different schools, all across the country.”
Refusing to be discouraged by his underwhelming response to her theory, Honor shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m going to call Jared and ask him to check. If he hears the same thing about Karen or Missy, it could very well mean the beginning of a new thread.”
Muttering under his breath with what sounded like a “Pollyanna” slur, Seth
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