Vanished: An absolutely gripping crime thriller and mystery novel (True Instincts Book 1) by Parker Daniels

Author:Parker Daniels [Daniels, Parker]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blushing Books
Published: 2024-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

“That’s terrible,” Mrs. Bancroft exclaimed, when I’d detailed my harrowing experience from the previous night. For the moment, I’d left out any names.

“Yes, it was.” I wasn’t about to soften the blow for her. That wouldn’t do any good.

Placing a bracing hand on her chest, Celia’s eyes shuttered closed. “So you’ve come to tell me this because you’ve decided to leave Ashland and go back North?”

She appeared upset, but resigned to the fact.

“No. I’m telling you this because there is something else we need to discuss.”

Playing coy, her china blue eyes opened wide. But she knew full well something was up. “Whatever do you mean?”

“We need to talk about Elizabeth’s relationship with Cody Longfellow.”

“Alright.”

“Just how much do you know about their relationship? Don’t hold back, Celia. It could mean the difference between finding your daughter or not.”

I needed to know everything, and Celia wouldn’t tell me if I didn’t make my position clear. I couldn’t shelter her from the details any longer. We needed to be frank with one another. Elizabeth’s final hour might be right around the corner. Time was most definitely of the essence here.

“Should Reginald be present for this?” Her eyes cast down guiltily. She knew what I was going to say, but played along as though she didn’t.

“I’d rather just talk with you,” I said, “though what you share with your husband is, of course, your choice.”

Chin bobbing up and down, she agreed.

“I’ll ask you again, Celia. What do you know about your daughter’s relationship with Cody Longfellow?”

Taking a seat, she bid me do the same. “They’ve been together since middle school. Always on and off again. They fight a lot and seem to genuinely dislike each other most of the time.”

My brow lifted. “They’ve dated for nearly a decade and dislike each other?”

“You have to understand something, Ms. Bonnie. Elizabeth and Cody are from the finest and oldest families in Mississippi. They understand one another in ways other people simply cannot.”

I didn’t comment, just sat quietly, waiting for her to finish her thoughts.

“Elizabeth struggled greatly with her relationship with Cody.”

“How so?”

Her fingers were threaded through one another, turning white from being gripped so tightly. “She had other feelings that warred with her feelings for him.”

Again, I waited. Celia’s head collapsed into her steepled hands. “She had unnatural feelings for women.” The admission cost her much.

“She was a lesbian?” I asked gently.

“God no!” Celia denied vehemently. “Just here and there she’d be attracted to a woman she’d been close to. It happens, I’m told, for some women. The bonds of friendship can sometimes be confused for other things.”

The distinction was lost on me, but I didn’t press the matter. It wouldn’t gain me any ground to do so.

“Who did she have feelings for?”

“Mary Beth,” Celia answered tiredly. “She said she had feelings for Mary Beth.”

“Did she act on those feelings?”

I felt a little like a priest at a confessional. Pressing Celia Bancroft to divulge her deepest, darkest secrets in exchange for a shot at redemption. Something I wasn’t even sure existed.

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