The Girl and the Unlucky 13 (Emma Griffin™ FBI Mystery) A.J. Rivers (historical books to read TXT) 📖

nothing seriously wrong with her that needs immediate treatment or intervention.”

“She’s healthy,” Misty says. “Hungry and worn out. But there’s nothing wrong with her that needs to be treated by a hospital.”

“Nothing that we can see yet,” I point out. “Sometimes there can be damage or problems beneath the surface. We still don’t know what Ashley has been through over the last five years. It’s not something you want to think about, I know. But the doctors have to do everything they can to make sure there isn’t any lingering effect of the conditions she was living in, or the way she was treated. As soon as they know she’s healthy and stable, they’ll send her home and you’ll be able to take care of her.”

“I can’t wait,” she says. “I want to have my babies home with me again.”

“I know,” I say. “I noticed Leona seems to be taking this pretty hard.”

“She is,” Misty says. “She and Ashley were close. It was traumatic for her when Ashley went missing. It took a lot of time, but finally, she was able to emerge from that darkness and confusion. She was really coming to terms with what happened and finding ways to move ahead with her life. I always told her she didn’t have to put her sister behind her, that she shouldn’t put her sister behind her, but that she could put the hurt behind her. I think Leona was really getting there, and then Ashley showed back up. It’s just hard for her to process. I think part of her feels as though she betrayed her little sister by not only no longer looking for her but coming to terms with her loss and being willing to move forward with her life without her.”

“How about your husband?” I ask. “How is he taking this?”

John Stevenson was at the vigil when Ashley first reemerged, and I know he was at the hospital in the beginning, but I haven’t seen him since.

“Not well, as I’m sure you can imagine. He’s struggling with the feeling that he should have been there. He should have protected her,” Misty says.

“He can’t do that to himself. He didn’t know she was lying to the two of you about where she was going that day. She was thirteen years old. It’s still so young, but at the same time, most people expect their children to have some independence by then. Where is he now?” I ask.

“He couldn’t take the chaos,” Misty says. “Especially with all the media. It’s just too much for him. He doesn’t handle stress well and this was going to push him over the edge. He wants to see Ashley when it isn’t someone else’s spectacle.”

I meet Dean, Xavier, and Ava downstairs, where they’re talking to the police about the door Xavier found.

“Dean,” I say, “I need you to look into a few things for me. I’m going to email them to you.”

“Where are you going?” Xavier asks.

“I need to go trace some steps. Meet me at the hotel later. Call me if you find anything,” I say.

“What about me?” Ava asks.

“Go with Dean,” I say.

I get in my car and attach my phone to the cradle on the dashboard. As I pull on my seatbelt and start the car, I call Sam.

“Hey, babe,” he says. “The news is blowing up over this thing with Ashley Stevenson. What have you found out? Does she remember anything?”

“Not really,” I say. “She says she remembers hanging out with her friends and then waking up tied to a bed.”

“I guess it’s really not that unusual for her to have memory lapses after everything she went through,” Sam notes.

“No, it’s not,” I say.

“Then why does it sound as if you don’t believe her?” he asks.

“It’s not that I don’t believe her. Obviously, she went through something. She’s been missing for five years. That’s not arguable,” I say.

“But?” Sam leads.

“But it feels as if everyone in her life is hiding something. The only question is whether they’re all hiding the same thing.”

Thirty-Five

Keeping track of the passage of time in the hospital was impossible. All around, there was chaos. Everyone was trying to figure out what was happening at the same time, but nobody was listening to each other. I hadn’t been able to tell if I was there for an hour or a day. Now that I’m out of the middle of it, I realize it must have been several hours.

The vigil was at noon and had been going on for less than an hour when Ashley reappeared on the soccer field. Now the sun is sliding down the opposite side of the sky and the air around me is getting that heady feeling of a summer night. I drive away from the hospital and out through the neighborhoods to the outskirts of town. An area that had been dominated by bright light and people scurrying around just a couple of days ago, examining the scene, is now silent and deserted.

I park close to the gate of the elementary school and get out. For a second, I just stand by the side of my car and let the feelings of the area come over me. I’m still not sure what Xavier meant when he told me to feel the place where I was. I know that means something to him. He lives his life interpreting the world around him in a completely different way than I do. So I try. I try to see it through his perception, to experience a place or an event on a level that goes beyond just the five senses I’ve always relied on.

I can’t help but notice the distinctly eerie feeling that comes over me here. I know something traumatic happened here, and I’m not convinced it doesn’t have anything to do with Ashley and her disappearance. The DNA proved the remains of the stillborn baby weren’t related to her, but I keep getting drawn back to that rock sitting next