The Forgotten Girl by David Bell Page B

spot in the driveway. He turned back to Nora, who had followed along behind him.
    “She’s gone,” he said. “Absolutely. I’m calling the police.”
    “Should we?”
    “She’s gone. She’s under eighteen. She either took our car—” Jason stopped himself. Was history simply repeating itself? Had Sierra wrapped their car around a tree somewhere?
    “What else were you going to say?” Nora said. “She took our car or what?”
    “She didn’t take all of her stuff,” Jason said. “Her clothes. Some of her books. They’re still up in the room. I didn’t see her computer, but I guess I’d expect her to take that.”
    “Are you saying she’s just running an errand or something?”
    “She’s looking for her mom. She has to be.”
    “Probably.” But Nora didn’t seem at ease. She brought her hands together and rubbed the palms against each other. “But what if . . . You said Hayden is out with this criminal somewhere. And that crazy woman killed the cat. What if . . . what if they came here and
took
Sierra?”
    “Then why is the car gone?”
    “I don’t know,” she said, her voice rising. “I don’t understand any of this. I just know that if a child disappears, you call the authorities. You’re right. She’s probably looking for Hayden.Even if she is, that could get her in trouble. Or something worse happened. She was taken or lured out of the house.”
    “What about foster care?” Jason asked. “What if she did take the car to go looking for Hayden? If the cops come . . . she could be looking at foster care, Nora. We’d have to tell them why she’s here and what Hayden might be doing.”
    “I don’t care,” Nora said. “A child is missing, and we don’t know where she is or who she is with. We have to call the police.”
    Jason dialed. Even though he hated the thought of dealing with the police, he knew she was right.

Chapter Thirteen
    Colton arrived as the uniformed police officers left the house. Jason watched him speak to them for a few minutes, and their conversation ended with a laugh. Jason looked away.
    “Colton’s here,” he said.
    He and Nora had both already called in to work, using personal days in order to stay home. Jason wondered how many of those days they would need to take before all was said and done.
    “Do you think we need a lawyer?” Nora asked.
    “He’s not really here as a lawyer. He’s here because he knows everybody and everything in Ednaville. I figured he could help.”
    When Colton reached the door, Jason let him in, and Colton wore a somber look on his face. He clapped Jason on the shoulder. “How you hanging in there, buddy?”
    “Not good.” Jason introduced Colton to Nora.
    She offered Colton something to drink, and he waved it off. He lowered himself onto the couch, exhaling a little air as he settled his body. He wore a tan summer-weight suit and no tie. When he sat down, his pants legs went up high enough to reveal the pale skin above his socks.
    “Are you satisfied with what the police had to say?” he asked.
    “I guess,” Jason said.
    “I thought there’d be more fuss,” Nora said. “A missing girl.”
    “She’s not missing,” Jason said. He spoke more sharply than he intended, his voice almost like a whipcrack. “I’m sorry, but she’s just looking for her mom.”
    “I’m going to get some coffee.” She turned on her heel and left.
    Jason turned to say something to her, but she was gone so fast he couldn’t get the words out. He started to sit in a chair across the room, but before he could, Colton waved him over to the couch. “Come here,” he said.
    Jason sat on the couch.
    “What are the police saying?” Colton asked.
    “They’re sending out her description. And a description of the car. We don’t have a current photo of Sierra, so we couldn’t help them there.”
    “If they need one, maybe they can go to Facebook or someplace like that,” Colton said.
    Jason nodded. “We told them about Hayden and