Absence of Alice by Sherry Harris

Author:Sherry Harris [Harris, Sherry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2020-09-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Thirty minutes later I had a team of friends assembled at the Bedford Farms Ice Cream shop. I had an empty cup of Almond Joy ice cream at my elbow. My dinner. And yes, I was amazed I had any kind of appetite, but maybe hope gave it to me. Around the table with Harriet and me were Frida, Frida’s son who’d served in the military, and two of his friends who were also prior military. They’d all helped protect Miss Belle last summer. Charlie Davenport was with us too—she’d served in Vietnam and was as smart and tough as they came. Charlie had not only helped me when my brother disappeared, but I’d also purchased my pink ruby ring with her assistance. We were waiting for one more person who was driving in from Dorchester.

Everyone eyed one another while we waited for Gennie Elder, Stella’s aunt. She was a retired mixed martial arts fighter or a cage fighter as I called her. I just hoped she didn’t kick me from here to Jupiter when she found out her niece had been missing for three days and I hadn’t told anyone but Harriet. Gennie strode in five minutes later and pulled up a chair.

All I had told anyone on the phone was that I was in trouble and needed his or her help. That each person said yes without question humbled me. In my two years of living in Ellington, I’d found people I loved and ones who loved me. Who could ask for more?

After a deep breath, I explained the situation. Gennie turned whiter than my ice cream and then flushed an angry red as I talked. I couldn’t tell if she was mad at me or furious with the situation. Frida had taken Gennie’s hand and gripped it. Harriet talked about the situation too. How she had some resources looking into things. She glanced at me while she said it. I’d asked her not to contact anyone and she’d promised, but who was I to judge? Harriet’s comments seemed to calm Gennie down.

“I think Stella is being held in an old barn west of town,” I said.

Gennie leaped up. “Let’s go get her.”

“Please sit for just a minute. Let’s talk this through and see if my logic makes sense.”

Gennie nodded and sat back down—on the edge of her chair. I told them about the phone call and hearing the train in the background as I’d talked to the kidnapper earlier this evening. How he had sent me to the barn to pick up the package, about the newspaper articles with my past, scary connections to two different barns.

“Hearing the train was Stella’s kidnapper making a mistake. But the articles were to taunt me. He didn’t think I’d figure it out.” And I’d come close to missing the significance of the two articles about the barns and my experiences in them, to not putting it all together. I told them about the trap I’d seen in the field, explained again why we couldn’t call the police.

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