Without A Trace

Apprehension tickled at the back of Rae’s neck, but she told herself there was no cause for alarm. Sophie had probably gone down to the kitchen for a snack. Rae checked the hallway bathroom before heading downstairs, turning on lights as she went. Sophie wasn’t in the living room, den or kitchen. Not in the downstairs bathroom or out on the screened back porch. She wasn’t on the front porch, either, or in the detached garage. She wasn’t anywhere.

Don’t panic. She’d probably sneaked out of the house to meet her boyfriend.

Disregarding the late hour, Rae called the kid’s house, rousing his dad, who gruffly assured her that Dylan was in his room and had been since he’d come home around ten. Rae insisted he go check to make sure, which he’d begrudgingly agreed to do. Then he’d put Dylan on the phone and the kid had sworn he hadn’t seen Sophie since he’d dropped her off at home at 10:00 p.m.

Rae sat out on the front porch and called everyone else she could think of. None of Sophie’s friends had seen her. No one knew anything. How could she have slipped out of the house without Rae knowing? She was usually such a light sleeper.

Okay, just stay calm. It’s not that late. A few minutes after midnight. Well past curfew for a school night but Sophie wasn’t one for following the rules. Rae tried the girl’s cell phone for the umpteenth time and then sent her a barrage of text messages.

Where are you?

I’m starting to freak out a little. Call me as soon as you get this message. Just let me know you’re okay.

Sophie, call me! Call me right this minute! I’m serious!

You’re not in trouble, I promise. Just call me. I need to know you’re okay.

Sophie, please call me.

I’m worried.

After a bit, Rae got up and went back inside. She climbed the stairs to Sophie’s room and checked the laptop, then searched through the dresser drawers and closet looking for a clue as to where the girl might have gone. Then she got in her car and drove through town, up one street and down the other.

By the time she got back home, she could no longer keep panic at bay. It didn’t matter that Sophie had been missing for only a couple of hours. It didn’t matter that her niece had once pulled a similar stunt on her parents. Rae was responsible for the child now. She was the one in charge.

Plopping down on Sophie’s bed, she sent off another volley of texts before reaching for the laptop once again. Then she called the last person on earth she had expected to talk to that night.

RAE CAVANAUGH WAS the last person Tom had expected to hear from that night…or ever. He automatically checked his watch when the call came in. He should have left for home an hour ago, but he supposed it was just as well that he hadn’t. No matter the time, a call from a Cavanaugh would have been forwarded to his cell phone or landline. They were important folks, the Cavanaughs, and they weren’t shy about letting you know it.

He figured the call had something to do with the kid he had in lockup, one of their young roughnecks who’d gotten himself into a little trouble earlier in the evening. Tom wasn’t in the mood to be raked over the coals, but he could face Rae’s wrath now or in the morning. Didn’t much matter to him. He’d developed a thick skin when it came to the Cavanaughs.

“Sheriff Brannon.” He answered the phone in his usual manner, fully expecting a surly comeback.

“This is Rae Cavanaugh.”

She sounded out of breath. Distressed. Tom frowned. “What can I do for you, Rae?”

“Sophie’s gone missing.”

The unease that had niggled all evening deepened. “Sophie?”

“My niece. Jackson’s daughter. She’s been staying with me for a while. I went to check on her earlier and she’s not in her room. I called everyone I could think of. All her friends, her boyfriend. No one has seen her. Tom…” He could imagine her clutching the phone as everything she’d done to find her niece came pouring out in her panic. When she finished, she took another moment to gather her poise. “You and I have had our differences in the past, but I didn’t know who else to call. I don’t know what else to do. I’ve looked everywhere. She’s not answering her phone or my texts. I just keep thinking about that night—”

“Hold on,” he said. “You say she came home at ten and went up to her room. It’s just after midnight now. At most she’s only been gone a couple of hours. Teenagers sneak out of the house all the time.”

“I know that. I keep telling myself she’s just gone off with a friend, but I checked with the girls I know she’s close to. No one has seen her.”

“Maybe she has a friend you don’t know about.”

“It’s possible. She hasn’t been living with me that long. Tom.” Dread crept into her voice. “I found something on her laptop just now. She has dozens of pictures of the Ruins. I think she took them herself. They look recent. You don’t think—”

“I was just leaving the office. I’ll make a run out there before I head home.”

“I’m coming, too. It’ll be faster if I meet you there.”

“Maybe you should stay home in case she comes back,” he said.

“I’ll leave a note and I’ll take my cell phone. I can’t sit in this house and do nothing. I’ll go crazy with worry.”

He sighed under his breath. “Okay, but if you get there first, wait for me by the bridge. Don’t go any farther without me. Understand?”

“Tom…”

“What is it?”

She hesitated. “Aren’t you going to say it?”

“Say what, Rae?”

“This is my fault. She’s my responsibility.”

“Let’s just find her and bring her home.”

Tom ended the call and then went out to the squad room to speak with the dispatcher. A patrol car would meet them at the bridge. They could all traipse through the woods together. Most likely, the girl was out partying somewhere, but Tom didn’t take chances with missing kids.

As he went out to his own vehicle, he couldn’t help glancing skyward once more. The moon had disappeared behind a storm cloud.

Chapter Two

Rae’s car was pulled to the side of the road by the time Tom got out to the lake. He half expected she’d already taken off for the Ruins alone, but he called out to her anyway. To his surprise, she answered back immediately.

“Down here!”

He used his flashlight to pick his way down the embankment, half running, half sliding in the loose dirt and pebbles. His light flicked across Rae. She stood at the edge of the lake peering up under the bridge. His heart skidded but he kept his voice calm as he greeted her.

“Glad you waited for me.”

“I found her bike,” she said over her shoulder. She used her flashlight beam to guide his attention. “See it up there under the braces?”

“You sure it’s hers?”

“I’m certain. She brought it with her when she came to stay with me.”

“How long has that been?”

“Nearly three weeks. There was trouble at home,” she admitted reluctantly.

“What kind of trouble?”

“The usual stuff. Jackson doesn’t approve of her friends or the way she dresses or the music she listens to, and you know how well criticism goes over with a teenager. Even under the best of circumstances, Sophie’s a handful and my brother has never been the most tactful or patient person in the world. They all needed a break.”

“So you came to the rescue.” Tom hadn’t meant anything by the comment, but he regretted how it might sound to her.

“I offered to help. That’s what families do.”

“The good ones.” As he turned to scan their surroundings, his light caught her again. She seemed unaware of his quick scrutiny. The bike had her full attention. She looked uncharacteristically unkempt, her light brown hair tangled down her back, freckles exposed across her nose, clothing rumpled. Understandable under the circumstances. She’d undoubtedly left the house in a hurry, but what Tom couldn’t help noticing was that her frayed demeanor did little to disguise her appeal. He’d always admired Rae Cavanaugh’s good looks if not her disposition. As far back as high school, she’d been a real piece of work. Prickly, suspicious and obnoxiously competitive. Riley had been the sweet one. It pained Tom even now to think about her.

He kept his voice neutral as he asked the necessary questions. “You two didn’t have an argument, did you? Maybe she left the house to cool off. Or to teach you a lesson. Kids are like that.”

“We didn’t fight. We’ve been getting along reasonably well, considering.”

“Considering?”

“Like you said, she’s a kid. I don’t have a lot of experience dealing with teenagers except for…” She trailed off.

Except for Riley.

Tom finished her sentence in his head. Their mother had died when the Cavanaugh kids were still young. West Cavanaugh had remarried a few years later and there’d been a string of nannies and housekeepers in between. But Rae was the one who had looked after Riley. She’d been fiercely protective of her sister, so much so that Riley had taken to spending all her free time at their house just so she could have a little breathing room.

Tom wondered if Rae ever thought about that in those late hours when she couldn’t sleep. He wondered if she remained so hard on him because it was easier to attack than to reflect.

A car engine sounded on the road. Doors slammed and voices carried down to the lake. He called out to the patrol officers and both Billy Navarro and Naomi Clutter responded. A moment later, their flashlight beams bobbed in the dark as they hustled down the embankment.

Tom made short work of the introductions and explanations. Then they left the bridge and the abandoned bike and headed toward the Ruins, dread dogging their every step. Tom told himself it was much too early to worry. Two hours, going on three was nothing in the life of a teenager, especially one who might be acting out because of a difficult home life. He didn’t know Jackson and Lauren Cavanaugh well, but he’d had enough run-ins with the former to know that he could be a real jerk. The wife appeared to be the high-maintenance type, and Tom could well imagine how a spirited teenage stepdaughter might get in the way of spa treatments and country-club luncheons. Not a fair assessment, he readily admitted, but he wasn’t inclined to be all that generous when it came to the Cavanaughs.

None of that mattered at the moment anyway. Just find the girl and we’ll sort the rest out later.

The eclipse had entered its final stage. The moon drifted from behind a cloud, glimmering like quicksilver on the surface of the lake. Somehow the illumination made the woods all around them seem darker, thicker. No one said much. Billy and Naomi had taken the lead, Rae trailed behind them and Tom brought up the rear. He couldn’t stop thinking about that night fifteen years ago when he’d raced along the water’s edge alone. He couldn’t help brooding about the outcome.

Rae slowed and fell into step beside him. “Your sister lives out here somewhere, doesn’t she?”

“Her house is on the other side of the bridge.” Tom glanced over his shoulder. “If you look close enough, you can see the lights on her antenna flickering through the pine boughs.”

“I’ve listened to her show a few times. She has a soothing voice, but her callers are pretty strange,” Rae said. “Where do those people come from anyway? Are they for real?”

“She gets the occasional prank call, but most of them are real and they call in from all over the place. They just need somebody to listen to their story. At least, that’s what Ellie tells me.”

“I don’t see her in town much anymore. How is she?”

“She’s fine. Busy. Likes her solitude.”

Rae shivered as she glanced over the water and then turned her head and gazed up at what could be seen of the Ruins. “I would go crazy out here.”

“The Cavanaugh ranch is pretty isolated,” Tom pointed out.

“That’s different. People are always around. My dad, the housekeeper and all the ranch hands coming and going. It’s like a small town out there. One of the last big cattle ranches in the area,” she said proudly.

And quintessentially East Texas, Tom thought as he conjured an image of an Angus herd grazing peacefully in lush green pastures dotted with pumper jacks. The peaceful scenery in his head was a far cry from the disturbing reality of their current surroundings. Echo Lake held too many bleak memories, too many deep, dark secrets.

As if reading his thoughts, Rae glanced out over the water with a shiver. “I’ve heard people say that when the air is still and the hour is late, you can hear the screams of the patients echoing across the water. I never put much stock in all those old legends, but being out here like this… One can imagine almost anything.”

“Most likely what they hear are the peacocks from the old Thayer place,” Tom said. “They’ve roamed the countryside ever since Mrs. Thayer passed. My sister walks over a few times a week to feed them.”

Up ahead, Billy and Naomi had already begun the ascent to the top of the embankment. Tom knew better than to offer Rae assistance. She was too proud to accept his hand. Instead, she propelled herself up to the summit like a seasoned climber and stood waiting for him to scramble up behind her. Then they all took a moment to gaze at the Ruins.

Moonlight glinted off the windows, giving the place a strange sense of animation. Of being alive. Tom scoffed at himself. Maybe Rae’s trepidation had rubbed off on him. Maybe he was letting his own imagination get the better of him because if he listened closely enough, he could hear the creak of a door somewhere inside. Or was that the squeal of a rusted gurney? With very little effort, he could conjure ghostly images behind the broken windowpanes and phantom whispers rippling down through the trees. He shook off those visions, reminding himself that a place couldn’t be evil or haunted. The only real monsters were human.

“We’ll check around back,” Naomi said.

Tom nodded. “We’ll take the front. Call out if you find anything.”

“Roger that.”

She and Billy headed off into the darkness and Tom turned to Rae. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait for me outside?”

“No, I need to go in with you. If Sophie’s inside and she sees you come in alone, she might get scared and think she’s in trouble. I don’t want to take the chance that she could run off again.”

She had a point. “Okay, but we need to stick together. And watch your step. I don’t trust the integrity of this place. One wrong move and the whole structure could come down on top of us.”

“It’s been standing for decades,” Rae said. “Even been through a few tornadoes. I think we’re safe enough, but your point is taken. I’ll be careful.”

They entered through one of the archways, pausing to rake their flashlight beams over the graffiti.

“I always wondered what this place was like on the inside. It’s even creepier than I imagined,” Rae said in a hushed voice. Her light lingered on the ceiling mural. “What’s that?”

“Preacher.” Tom swept his light over the demonic fresco. The eyes seemed to glow, but he knew that was only an illusion of paint and moonlight. “So you’ve never been inside before? That’s surprising. Spending time at the Ruins has been a rite of passage in these parts ever since the place closed down.”

“I was never much of a follower, and then after Riley disappeared…” She trailed away. “I’ve been outside plenty of times, but I could never make myself enter. After it happened, I’d drive out after school and walk around the area calling my sister’s name even though I knew she was long gone. I tried to picture where she might be. Tried to put myself in her place, imagine her fear, her screams…”

Tom heard a tremor in her voice. He was having flashbacks of that night, too. He’d been so panicked by the time he entered the building, he hadn’t stopped to assess the risk. On some level, he’d been aware of the structural danger and the possibility of rattlers or copperheads, but the human menace had eluded him until he heard the softest of footfalls behind him. By then it was too late. He was struck across the back of his head, so hard he fell to his knees. Another blow knocked him out cold.

He came to the next morning at the bottom of the rise, his hair and clothing stained with blood. He’d been rolled down the embankment and left for dead, no doubt bleeding so profusely that the assailant hadn’t bothered to finish him off. Tom had found Ellie lying facedown at the water’s edge. How she’d gotten away from her attacker or why she hadn’t drowned was anyone’s guess. Tom had administered CPR and then carried her all the way to the bridge, up the embankment and out to the road where he’d left his vehicle the night before.

Eighteen stitches and a week in the hospital later, he’d still blamed himself for not being able to save the others, even though he knew in his gut that Riley and Jenna had already been taken by the time he regained consciousness.

Beside him, Rae froze as she angled her beam along the cracked floor tiles. “Tom, look at this.”

He came over to stand beside her. Then he squatted, focusing his light on the red droplets.

“Is that blood?” she asked fearfully.

He touched his finger to a drop. “It’s fresh, but there isn’t much of it. Let’s not jump to conclusions.” Too late for that. He heard the sharp intake of Rae’s breath as she swung the flashlight wildly around the crumbling interior, tracking up the stairs and searching in all the dark corners.

“Sophie! Are you in here? Sophie, it’s Rae. Answer me!” He heard another gasp. “I saw something!”

He rose. “Where?”

She positioned the light at the top of the stairs. “Someone was up there watching us. A man, I think.”

“Stay here.” Tom unholstered his weapon as he moved toward the stairs. Running the flashlight beam along the landing, he started up, testing each step with his weight before moving on to the next. When he got to the top, he angled the beam down the long corridor, taking note of open doorways and piles of debris, places from which he could be ambushed.

“Sophie!” he called out. “Are you up here? This is Sheriff Brannon. You’re not in any trouble. Your aunt is with me. We just want to make sure you’re okay.” Gun in his right hand, flashlight in his left, he eased down the corridor, shining the beam inside the empty rooms. He heard footsteps on the stairs. “Rae, is that you?”

“I’m coming up,” she said.

He didn’t bother to argue. “Watch your step. The floor is rotting through up here.”

He heard her behind him, but he didn’t turn. Up ahead, in one of the gloomy recesses, he’d caught the glimmer of human eyes. “Whoever you are, put your hands behind your head and come out where I can see you.” Rae was at the top of the stairs now. He said over his shoulder, “Stay where you are, Rae.”

“Who’s up here?” she asked on a breath.

“I don’t know yet. Stay by the stairs.”

In front of him, a shadow darted across the corridor. Startled, Tom called out, “Freeze!”

A face peered back at him for a split second before disappearing. Just vanished before Tom’s very eyes.

He moved forward cautiously until one foot found nothing but air. He found himself teetering on the brink of the old elevator shaft. A rope swung wildly from a rafter as if someone had rappelled down into the chute. He leaned over the opening, allowing the flashlight beam to peel away the inky layers. Something was down there, crumpled on the floor.

“Tom?”

He threw out an arm to halt Rae’s progress. “Careful. Long drop. Looks like it may go all the way down to the basement.”

“What is it?”

“The old elevator shaft. Someone’s rigged up a rope. I think whoever was up here used it to lower himself down.”

Tom holstered his weapon and reached for the rope, rocking precariously for a moment before Rae grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Are you crazy? You don’t know how old that thing is. Who knows how much weight it’ll hold.”

She was right. A broken leg wouldn’t help them find Sophie. “Let’s see if we can figure out another way into the basement.”

They backtracked along the corridor, down the stairs and through a maze of hallways to the back of the building. Outside, Tom glanced once again at the sky. The eclipse was nearly over. He wanted to take that as a good sign, but the blood drops inside, coupled with the crumpled form he’d seen in the elevator shaft, didn’t bode well for a happy outcome. Beside him, Rae remained tense and silent.

He could see the deputies’ flashlight beams bobbling in the dark. He called out to them. “Stay alert. We saw someone inside.”

“Any sign of the girl?” Naomi called back.

“Not yet. We’re looking for a way down into the basement. One of you stand guard out here, the other go around to the front. Make sure no one leaves this place without our knowing.”

They split up, Billy taking the rear while Naomi went around to the front. Tom and Rae searched along the house until they located the outside basement entrance. A set of concrete steps led down to a metal door that hung open on one rusty hinge. He pulled back the door and then angled his flashlight beam into the cavernous space.

An odor of sour mud and dead fish emanated from the cellar, reminding Tom of a bog. He imagined there were plenty of rats and snakes in there, too. He didn’t relish an exploration, but he wasn’t about to delegate that job to a rookie.

He said over his shoulder, “You two wait out here. Keep your eyes peeled.”

“I’m coming with you,” Rae insisted. “Sophie is my niece. She’s my responsibility. I need to help you find her.” She touched his sleeve. “Please, Tom.”

He stepped back. “Can you smell that? You still want to go in there?”

“I don’t want to, no. I want to be back home asleep in my bed with Sophie safe and sound down the hallway. But I’m not leaving here until we’ve searched every square inch of this place.”

“All right, then,” he said. “Let’s get it done.”

RAE PUT THE back of her hand to her nose as she followed Tom into the basement. That smell! As if she hadn’t been apprehensive enough. The stench of sour mud and rotting vegetation permeated her nostrils and clogged her throat. She swallowed past her gag reflex and braced herself. She had to do this. Now was not the time to go wimpy and squeamish. She had to find Sophie. Nothing else could be allowed to matter.

She cleared her throat, dropped her hand from her nose and took a few tentative breaths until she felt clearheaded and steady. The building was on high ground, but enough rainwater had seeped in over the decades to allow mold, mildew and all manner of creeping things to take up residence. Even now Rae could have sworn she heard dripping water, but they hadn’t had rain in weeks. Maybe it was condensation. The air was damp, and the stone floor felt slippery beneath her sneakers.

She resisted the urge to cling to Tom’s shirt as they made their way through small mountains of discarded equipment and debris. She didn’t want to think about the original purpose of all those old contraptions, but already she had visions of restraints and drain tables dancing through her head. Once upon a time, the hospital had had its own morgue. She wondered if that was where they were now.

The elevator was just ahead. She tried to get a better view, but Tom’s broad back kept blocking her, as if he wanted to shield her.

“What are you doing?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“You keep moving in front of me. Why? What are you afraid I’ll see?”

“I’ve got a weapon and you don’t,” he said. “We don’t know who or what we’ll find down here. It’s best that you stay behind me.”

“You saw something from above, didn’t you?”