Case of the Vanishing Visitor by Shanna Swendson

Author:Shanna Swendson [Swendson, Shanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shanna Swendson

Chapter Ten

Wes moved toward the car, and I instinctively took a step forward before remembering that I wasn’t allowed to go beyond the crime scene tape. I watched Wes’s face carefully as he looked inside the trunk. I was pretty sure I saw an expression of horror before he got himself under control. “Get pictures and collect evidence,” he instructed. An officer with a camera came over and snapped pictures of the inside of the trunk.

Wes turned to face the crowd watching the proceedings, and his gaze stopped on me. “Miss Lincoln, can you please come over here?”

Him calling me “Miss Lincoln” made me feel like my mother was using my full name, but I didn’t think I was in trouble. Someone was, but for once it wasn’t me. I ducked under the crime scene tape and approached Wes, who escorted me to the car.

“Can you identify these items?” Wes asked me with a gesture at the open trunk.

I couldn’t believe my luck. I was not only getting a look at the trunk to find out what was in there, but I was being asked to look, so I didn’t have to sneak around. The first thing I spotted was a purse. My mind flashed back to that night at Margarita’s and the big, slouchy bag Florrie had slung over her shoulder when she made a rapid departure. “It looks like the purse Florence Marz had with her Thursday night,” I said, feeling a bit queasy.

One of the officers angled a flashlight to spotlight something that glittered in the trunk. I leaned closer to see an earring. “Does that look familiar?” Wes asked me.

I couldn’t summon a clear mental image of Florrie’s face, but the big, dangly earrings she wore popped out at me. “I’m pretty sure Florrie was wearing those earrings,” I said.

“And what about this?” Wes asked as the officer directed the flashlight beam to a single woman’s shoe.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t think I got a look at her feet. Contrary to popular belief, women don’t always notice each other’s shoes.” Near the earring was a tangled length of nylon rope, like the kind used on boats. I felt dizzy. This was even worse than what I’d been imagining.

I heard a roaring in my ears, and the world started to go black around the edges. I don’t remember what happened immediately after that, but the next thing I knew, I wasn’t on my feet anymore, but I was still somehow moving. A voice coming from close to my ear called out, “Does anyone have any water for Lexie?”

“I can go get some,” another voice said. Cissy?

“You stay right where you are,” Wes ordered. That was the voice close to me. I didn’t realize until I was being put inside a car and being hit with a blast of air conditioning that he’d been carrying me, cradled in his arms like a damsel in distress. And I hadn’t even been conscious enough to enjoy it.

“I didn’t faint,” I told him.

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