Gathering Shadows by Mehl Nancy

Author:Mehl, Nancy [Mehl, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042040, FIC042060, FIC053000, Journalist—Missouri—Saint Louis—Fiction, Broadcasting—Missouri—Saint Louis—Fiction, Missing Persons—Fiction
ISBN: 9781441264190
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2014-03-17T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Fifteen

I left my father downstairs with Reuben. Although I needed time to deal with the truth about my birth, finding Ryan had to come first for now.

I knocked on Zac’s door. It was opened by Esther.

“Everything okay, honey?” she asked.

I nodded. “Fine. I wonder if I could have a moment with Zac?”

“Of course. I think he’s tired of my company anyway. Old women’s stories aren’t very interesting.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” I said, trying to paste a smile on my face. “I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.”

After Esther closed the door behind her, I went over and stood next to Zac’s bed. He was sitting up, Clyde curled next to him. I was pleased to see that Zac’s color was much improved.

“I have to ask you a couple of questions,” I said, keeping my voice low.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said. “I thought I was the sick one.”

“I can’t get into everything now, but this has been quite a day, and it’s barely begun. You picked a really bad time to get sick.”

“Sorry. Next time I’ll try to pick a more convenient time to almost die.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, Zac. Now shut up and listen.”

His eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything.

“First of all, did you hear from your friend last night?”

He shook his head. “Wow. I forgot all about that. I seem to remember hearing my phone ring, but I was too sick to answer it.” He gazed around the room. Then he pointed at the dresser. “There it is. Hand it to me.”

I grabbed the phone and took it back to the bed. “Before you check your messages, tell me something. The fudge I gave you last night. Do you remember it now? You didn’t earlier.”

At first Zac look confused. Then awareness changed his expression. “Oh yeah. The fudge. I do remember. I ate a couple of pieces, but it wasn’t very good. I threw the rest of it away.”

“I looked in your trash. The box wasn’t there.”

“I emptied my trash can before I went to bed. It was overflowing, so I took it downstairs. Tossed everything in the big metal trash bin on the side of the house.”

“Okay. I’ll have to look out there.”

“Why in the world . . .” Realization dawned. “You think the fudge made me sick?”

“I have no idea, but when I asked Esther about it, she said she didn’t put that box in my room. There was a note too that said, ‘Welcome.’ I threw that away. Wish I’d kept it now.”

“Wow. That’s interesting.”

“Yes, and a bit scary.”

Zac nodded. “I’ll be checking out everything I put in my mouth from now on.” He frowned. “What else did you want to ask me?”

I pointed at his phone. “It was about your friend. Check your messages.”

Zac punched several options on his phone and then looked up. “No message, but he did call. I’ll call him back now.” He immediately pressed a button, put the phone to his ear, and then waited. After a moment, he shook his head.

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