Hearths of Fire (11 page)

Their tongues played, but it soon turned to who could dominate the other. Charlotte
wasn’t going to win and when he held her still, her body melted into his. Neal savored
her surrender and he wasn’t sure how much time passed as he drank from her. He only
knew that he didn’t want this time with her to end. When her phone rang, reality finally
crashed upon them and he slowly pulled away. He rested his forehead against hers,
giving both of them time to catch their breaths. He closed his eyes so he didn’t have
to see the rejection that surely showed in her blue eyes.

“Neal?”

Charlotte had whispered his name and he heard the haunting question in her voice,
but he had no answer as to why he’d just done what he did. Neal released his hold
on her slowly, letting her hair sensually glide through his fingers one last time.
He’d be gone by tomorrow afternoon and she would carry on as if this had never happened.
He should too, but he had a gut feeling that it would be harder for him to forget.

“Answer it,” Neal ordered, allowing Charlotte to slide back into her seat.

For the first time since he’d come home Charlotte actually did what he’d requested.
Neal was grateful, for it kept them talking about something that didn’t need rehashing.
He’d been inundated with past memories and it had gotten the best of him. It wouldn’t
happen again. They had more important things to deal with, such as Mandy’s future.

“Hello?” Neal could feel Charlotte’s gaze on him as she answered the phone. It wasn’t
until she’d placed her hand on his arm that he finally looked her way. The alarm that
had settled over her features drove away any worry that he might have had over his
actions. “What do you mean she’s missing?”

“Who?” Neal mouthed, putting the truck in drive and pulling back onto the backcountry
road that would lead them back into town.

“Becky didn’t go home last night,” Charlotte murmured, tilting the phone away from
her mouth. Putting it back in place, she asked the person on the other end, “Where
did you hear this? Okay. Thanks for letting me know, Pam.”

Charlotte immediately disconnected and then placed another call. Neal came to a stop
sign and once he saw the way was clear, he then continued forward. He thought back
to their visit with the Ashes, but nothing stood out that they might have abducted
Becky. They had probable cause though, especially if the young girl was going around
town telling people she’d overheard Garreth talking about rituals. The most likely
circumstance was that the girl had spent the night at a friend’s and had yet to call
home.

“Pam said that Thelma stopped into the bookstore today and of course spilled the town’s
gossip.” Charlotte continued to listen to what Neal presumed was still ringing on
the phone while she caught him up. “She’s saying that Becky was reported missing by
her parents a couple of hours ago. They contacted all of her friends before going
to the sheriff. What if they have her, Neal?”

“We don’t know that,” Neal said calmly, taking a left when he came into town so that
he could cross over to Main Street. “Obviously old Sheriff Plinkton didn’t get to
speak with Becky this morning. I’m sure he’s looking into it, but we both know the
likelihood of them abducting her is nil. They haven’t committed any crimes—”

“You and I both know they are the reason for the missing livestock,” Charlotte insisted
before she groaned and pulled the phone away from her ear. “Mandy is not answering
her phone. I know for a fact that one of the deputies had to have talked to her. She
is one of Becky’s best friends.”

“I’m sure Mandy’s on the phone making calls of her own.” Neal made a right onto Main
Street, taking the first parking spot he came across. This kind of news in a small
town would gather up the troops. He shifted into park and then turned off the engine.
Before they both walked into chaos and the remainder of the day was spent trying to
locate a missing teenage girl he needed to make something clear. “Char, I’m sorry.
That kiss…it was uncalled for. It won’t happen again.”

Neal reached for the door handle and had opened it halfway before her voice reached
his ears. “And what if I want it to? Happen again, that is. I’m not saying I regret
our choices back then, but we’re in a different place in our lives. That’s what I’ve
been trying to tell you since yesterday. Would it be so bad to get to know one another
again? We—”

“
Your
choice, Char,” Neal stated without turning his head. He wasn’t about to get sucked
up in those blue eyes of hers and live in a fantasy world. “It was your choice. We
could have made it work and regrettably, we can’t go back to a past that you didn’t
want.”

“Why did you stay away from me when you came back to town earlier this year?” Charlotte
asked, even though he’d opened the door and stepped out onto the road. Neal sighed
when she once again couldn’t leave well enough alone. He turned to face her over the
seats. “Are you still that angry with me?”

“I was angry for a long time,” Neal finally admitted, not that it would change their
circumstances. If this was what she needed to hear to drop the subject, then so be
it. “Time has passed and we both have gone on with our lives. Mine is now in San Diego
and yours is here. Nothing has changed, not even how I feel about Mandy, which is
why I’m here. I’ve already apologized for my mistake, so let’s put aside our past
and concentrate on making sure Mandy makes the right decision about her own future.”

*

Charlotte hadn’t felt
so alive since she’d been nineteen. The excitement and sexual attraction that had
consumed her when Neal had pulled the truck over and swung her into his lap was unlike
anything she’d ever felt. Even when they were teenagers he’d never all out claimed
her the way he had today. She wanted more.

Neal was right though—they had both moved on with their lives. She’d been with a few
other men and she sure as hell knew that Neal had been with many other women. A man
of his virility didn’t live the life of a monk. But just because time had passed and
they’d gone their separate ways didn’t mean they couldn’t find out if there was a
spark once again. She hated to admit it, but Neal was right. She
was
impatient and she would damn well go after what she wanted. She wasn’t saying she
was making up for past mistakes…their choices had brought them here where they were
today. It was about being given a second chance and if she had the ability to spend
one more night with him, then she would make damn sure it happened. There would be
no regrets this time…for either of them.

Charlotte stood on the sidewalk outside of the sheriff’s office as she tried to call
Mandy once more. Neal had already gone inside to see what he could find out in regards
to Becky’s disappearance, but with the amount of people in the waiting area trying
to offer their help it was better that Charlotte remained outside. She breathed a
sigh of relief when her sister finally answered her call.

“Charlotte, did you hear what happened to Becky?” It was apparent that Mandy was trying
to keep her composure, but Charlotte heard the worry and panic in her sister’s voice.
“No one knows where she went.”

“Neal and I are at the station.” Charlotte debated on whether or not she should tell
Mandy about their afternoon visit to Ashes to Dirt and figured it was best to be upfront
after everything that had transpired. “We just came from visiting with Garreth’s parents.
I’m not thrilled with them.”

Charlotte might have undermined the truth, but it was better than telling Mandy that
the Ashes were psychotic fanatics who thought their son was the messiah. That’s basically
what this boiled down to and Charlotte was afraid that Becky might have gotten caught
up in whatever the Ashes had planned. Why else would she go missing on the day she
was supposed to speak with the sheriff about what she overheard Garreth say on the
phone?

“Don’t start with me, Charlotte.” Mandy must have been with some other friends, because
it sounded as if she’d pulled the phone away from her to talk to someone else. It
wasn’t long before Mandy was back on the line. “Look, we’re going to head back to
the festival and start showing Becky’s picture around. Someone may have seen her last
night. I don’t think we should have dinner tonight…not with everything going on.”

Charlotte bit her tongue instead of saying what she wanted to say. Mandy had come
home early last night, but where had Garreth gone afterward? Had he done something
to Becky because of what she’d overheard? If Charlotte even mentioned such an idea
she was relatively sure that Mandy would pack her bags tonight and go live with Garreth
outside of town. Until they knew for sure it was better for Charlotte not to say anything.

“Please be careful and stay with your friends.” Charlotte leaned against the black
lamppost and looked up at the sky. Something caught her eye and she wondered if it
could be of help. “Keep your phone on and stay in touch with me, please.”

Charlotte disconnected the call, all the while keeping her eyes on the security camera
attached to the streetlight. How many of those were actually around the town? She
glanced down the street toward the shop but didn’t see any more. She’d just turned
to head inside the station when Neal came down the stairs, his face set in stone.

“What?” Charlotte asked, afraid to know the answer. Had the sheriff found Becky? Was
she alive, hurt…dead? “Neal, tell me.”

“They think she ran away,” Neal replied, his voice indicating he believed anything
but that. He looked up and down the street as if he were looking for someone in particular.
“Becky had gotten into an argument with her parents over her curfew last night. They’re
assuming she overreacted and went to a friend’s house or to her boyfriend’s.”

“But no one has seen her.” Charlotte held up her phone. “I just spoke with Mandy.
She’s with her friends right now and not one of them has seen Becky. You mean to tell
me the sheriff isn’t even investigating?”

“I didn’t say that,” Neal replied as he started to walk down the street. To what location,
Charlotte didn’t know. She followed along, sliding her cell phone in the back of her
jeans. “Sheriff is running a full investigation, according to him. The mayor was inside
as well, sitting with the parents and doing his part. You and I know she didn’t run
away.”

“Do we?” Charlotte asked, playing devil’s advocate. Neal was damn straight she didn’t
think Becky had just run off because of an argument with her parents. Garreth had
something to do with the girl’s disappearance, but how did they go about proving it?
“We were just out at the Ashe’s property and we didn’t see anything unusual. You originally
said I was jumping to conclusions and that she was probably at a friends.”

“I’ve changed my mind.”

“What if we’re making assumptions because we don’t like the Ashes’ beliefs? Our opinions
could be skewed because—”

Neal abruptly stopped and before Charlotte had realized what he’d done, she was two
steps ahead of him. She shaded her eyes as she turned to face him, having to look
up into his face. The muscle in his clean-shaven jawline was visible and it was easy
to see that he was frustrated.

“Char, you’re right. We don’t know. What I do know is that everything that has taken
place has somehow been connected to the Ashes. The livestock didn’t start to go missing
until the Ashes had moved out on Ryder’s Road. Certain groups of members of this cult
are loitering around town making the townsfolk feel uncomfortable. Garreth starts
dating Mandy, who gradually pulls away from her regular friends and family. Now Garreth
is overheard talking about a ritual on Halloween and that person whom overheard it
is missing. The law ties the sheriff’s hands until something illegal happens and can
be proven. I’m not bound to the regulations he has to follow. I can act as an independent
agent.”

“So that leaves us where? We sneak on their property and look around? We break into
their house and see if they have Becky hidden in some cold dark room in the basement?”
Charlotte didn’t think of herself as someone who would break the law, but if the sheriff
had to follow procedure that would delay any chance of finding Becky, then Charlotte
was ready to do what needed to be done. “I could cause a distraction and—”

“
You
are not going to do anything illegal, Char,” Neal said with exasperation. He started
walking once more. “And technically I won’t either.”

“What does technically mean?” Charlotte asked, giving him a sideways look to show
him that she didn’t buy a word of what he was saying. “Do you have some sort of special
license that comes from working with those people you’re connected to out there in
California? Becky’s not a hostage, at least not that we know of, but I’m sure an abduction
goes along those same lines.”

“No license or badge for what you’re talking about, no.” Neal looked a little annoyed,
but he still grabbed her hand as they crossed the street. He’d done this simple gesture
from the time they’d started dating until the day they were to be married. It still
touched her heart. “We’re heading over to the festival since it started a half hour
ago. We’ll talk to the people who were running some of the booths last night and see
if we can dig up some kind of lead.”