Campfire Secrets Read online

  Campfire Secrets

  by

  Kathi Daley

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2020 by Katherine Daley

  Version 1.0

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Lizzy’s daughter, Grace, is missing. The last thing Sheriff Sam Stone had said to us before running from the marina toward his truck echoed through my mind as I helped Ryder West and his team secure the sailboat following the last race of the season before the regatta. I supposed we should have seen it coming. Not only was Grace a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl with long blond hair, blue eyes, and a petite frame, but she was also a surfer and an artist, which meant that she was a perfect fit for the physical profile Sam had come up with to help us understand the pattern of missing girls over the past quarter of a century.

  “Kelly, can you grab that line,” Ryder called out to me after Sam had left to respond to the call.

  “I got it,” I called back, shaking myself from my trance. Today, I was part of Ryder’s official sailing crew since Cliff Brown, one of the regulars, was out of town. I’d been honored to be chosen to fill Cliff’s role, and really wanted to do my part despite my preoccupation. “Do you need help with the sails?”

  “I got em,” Nina Collins, the fourth member of Ryder’s team, called out.

  I secured the line as Ryder had asked, and then set about wiping down all the salty surfaces while my good friend, Diane “Quinn” Quinby, helped Nina tie everything down. I knew that what I was doing was important, but it was hard to focus on my chores given the nature of the 911 call Sam had received when we’d returned to the harbor. Was Lizzy’s daughter, Grace, really missing? I supposed it was possible that she’d simply taken off with friends, but given everything else I knew, I realized that it was just as likely she was trapped somewhere, scared and afraid.

  “Now that we’ve pretty much finished up here, should we do something to help Sam?” I asked Ryder after he joined me on the bow.

  “I’m not sure what we can do,” he answered. “Sam knows we’re here if he needs us, but he’s the cop, and we’re the civilians, so at this point, I think all we can do is to wait until we hear from him.”

  I blew out a slow breath of frustration. “I guess you’re right, but I’ve gotten pretty wrapped up in the mystery of the missing girls since I’ve been on the island, and I feel like I should have seen this coming. I feel responsible for what happened.”

  Ryder turned and looked me in the eye. He reached out a hand and ran a finger along my jaw, brushing away a wisp of hair that had fallen from my ponytail before answering. “You aren’t responsible for what happened, assuming that something has indeed happened,” he spoke slowly as if to ensure that I really understood what he was saying. “At this point, we can only guess at what’s going on. It’s entirely possible that Sam was called in to deal with a simple case of teen rebellion.”

  “But what if it isn’t teen rebellion?” I asked as the tension I’d been suppressing knotted in my stomach. “What if Grace is the blond-haired blue-eyed sixteen-year-old girl who fits the pattern of missing girls for the summer of twenty-twenty?”

  “Then, we’ll find her.”

  “You can’t know that for sure,” I pointed out, as fingers of panic clawed at my chest, causing my heart to pound at an abnormal rate. “You can’t know that Grace is okay. You can’t know that she isn’t dead, or even worse, trapped and terrified.”

  He pulled me against his chest, wrapping his arms around me. “You’re right. I can’t know any of that. But I can hope. And I can pray. And I can put my faith in Sam to find her.”

  “I’m just so scared.” I squeezed my arms tightly around his waist, allowing the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my ear to calm me. I’m not sure how long we stood there, taking comfort in each other’s arms. Probably only seconds, but it seemed longer. Eventually, I took a slow, calming breath and stepped back.

  “Okay?” he asked, looking deeply into my eyes.

  I nodded. Deep down inside, I knew that Ryder was right. Panicking wouldn’t help anyone. I’d been trained to look at a situation with logic rather than emotion, which, I realized, was the best thing I could do at this point. It wasn’t like I knew Grace all that well. I knew her mother, who I’d gone to high school with, and I knew her father, who I’d dated in high school, but the first time I met Grace was a few days ago. The level of fear I’d let consume me really couldn’t be justified. I supposed the feelings of helplessness I’d been struggling with since I’d had to watch my sister die, unable to pull her back to the world of the living after months of trying, had somehow become wrapped up in my concern for Grace. Not that I wouldn’t be concerned for a missing teen no matter the situation, but the panic I felt at this moment seemed to come from out of nowhere. I took a deep breath, took a moment to acknowledge the damage Kayla’s death had done to my sense of security and willed myself to relax.

  “Does someone want to catch me up?” Nina asked after joining Ryder and me at the front of the boat. “I know it’s rude to listen in on the conversations of those around me, but I happened to overhear enough of your conversation to really fuel my curiosity, and I’ve been wondering what it was that caused Sam to bolt out of here without even helping to tie up.”

  I glanced at Ryder, who stepped aside to make room for Quinn, who’d also walked up to join us.

  “I guess you know that Quinn and I are here to visit Carrie Davidson, who we’ve known since we were children,” I started.

  “Yes,” Nina replied. “Carrie told me that she’d been a full-time resident when you were all kids and that you, Quinn, and Nora had been summer-only residents who’d gotten to know each other and became friends.

  “Basically,” I answered, although we’d been a lot closer than Nina made it sound. “We also had another friend, Peggy. She grew up with us, and we were all close, but when she was sixteen, she disappeared without a trace.”

  “What do you mean without a trace?” Nina asked.

  “She took a walk down the beach during a party and was never seen again,” Quinn filled her in.

  Nina gasped. “How awful. And you think this missing girl Sam had to leave to deal with is somehow related?”

  “We aren’t sure,” I answered. “Sam noticed a pattern after he took over when Sheriff Renshaw retired. Apparently, after Peggy went missing in nineteen ninety-five, other blond-haired blue-eyed sixteen-year-olds went missing during the twenty-five years that followed. Some were reported to be runaways, while others were classified as missing persons, but the pattern seems pretty consistent. A new girl has gone missing every five years.”

  “The last girl on Sam’s list went missing in two thousand fifteen, so we’ve suspected for a while that the next girl would go missing this year,” Ryder added.

  “And you think the next girl is this Grace?” Nina asked.

  “We think there’s a possibility that Grace is the next girl in the series,” Quinn said.

  “Have any of the girls ever been fo
und?” Nina asked.

  I shook my head. “Not until Veronica Smith washed up on the beach.”

  Nina frowned. “Does the girl they found dead on the beach fit this pattern?”

  “Yes, she does,” I confirmed.

  Nina had only lived on the island for a few years, so she wouldn’t have been around when Veronica went missing in two thousand fifteen. I could see that she was struggling to wrap her head around this whole thing.

  “So, what do you think happens to the girls after they disappear?” Nina finally asked.

  “We aren’t sure,” I answered. “Until Veronica washed up on the beach, I personally assumed that Peggy had been killed and her body disposed of either in the sea or somewhere where it would never be found. But now that we know that Veronica, who’d been missing for five years, was alive until a few hours before her body was found, I guess I may need to adjust my assumptions.”

  “So, do you think your friend from the nineties might still be alive?” Nina asked.

  Did I? I hoped that was true, but it had been a quarter of a century. The odds were very much against Peggy still being alive. “I don’t know,” I finally answered. “It’s been a long time since she disappeared, but maybe some of the more recent victims are still alive somewhere. The problem is that we have no idea where Veronica has been for the past five years. Sam is working on some clues, but so far, they aren’t coming together.”

  “Wow,” Nina said. “When Sam announced his departure, I could see that the three of you were upset, but I had no idea how upset you must be. Not knowing where this girl has been for five years or what happened to her before her body washed up on the beach must be terrifying. Are you close to the girl who disappeared today?”

  “No,” Quinn answered. “Not really. We knew Grace’s parents back when we were teens summering here, but we haven’t stayed in touch.”

  “Like Quinn, I hadn’t seen Grace’s parents since I summered here as a teen, but I ran into her mother at the Perfect Tan Surfing Competition, where her three daughters were contestants,” I added.

  “So the Grace who’s missing is the Grace who won the competition?” Nina paused, lowering her eyes as if the severity of the situation really hit home. “I hadn’t put that together. I’ve seen her around. I’ve even watched her surf a few times. She’s very talented.”

  “She’s one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Quinn agreed.

  “I hope she’s okay,” Nina said, raising her eyes to meet Quinn’s. “Maybe she isn’t in any sort of trouble. Maybe she just celebrated too hard after winning the competition and is sleeping it off at a friend’s.”

  Boy, I hoped that was true.

  “Why don’t the three of you head over to the beach,” Ryder suggested. “The race has been over for a while, so Carrie must be wondering where we all are. I need to run Baja home, so I’ll just meet you there.”

  Nina announced that she wasn’t going to join us at the beach this week since she had plans to meet up with her fiancé, so she said goodbye to Ryder and then headed toward her car. Quinn and I confirmed that we would do as Ryder suggested and head over to meet up with Carrie, so we moved toward the parking area and piled into my Mercedes. Once we were underway, Quinn texted Sam and asked him to call when he had a chance. I was sure he would think to call even without a text to remind him, but both Quinn and I were more than just mildly interested in what was going on.

  When we arrived at the beach, we immediately noticed Carrie standing next to the huge bright purple and lime green umbrella she’d brought. She was waving her arms as if to get our attention, but truth be told, I’d recognize that umbrella anywhere. Carrie had always been one to go colorful or go home, and it seemed that while many facets of her personality had changed after her husband of twenty years had left her for another woman, her tendency to stand out had stayed much the same.

  “Did you hear?” Carrie asked the minute we arrived with our beach bags.

  “Hear what?” I asked, figuring it was unlikely Carrie had heard about Grace.

  “Lizzy Chambers’ daughter, Grace, is missing.”

  I glanced at Quinn. She looked as surprised as I felt. “I did know that,” I answered. “Sam had a message when we got back to the marina after the race. But how did you hear?”

  “I called Lizzy,” Carrie explained. “I wanted to congratulate her on Grace’s victory. She told me that she hadn’t seen Grace since she’d left for a party at the beach last evening.”

  I grabbed a bottle of water from the ice chest before asking the next question on my mind. “So, what exactly did Lizzy tell you?”

  Carrie sat down in the lime green beach chair she’d placed under the umbrella. Quinn and I both sat down on two of the other five chairs Carrie had brought. Eventually, Carrie spoke. “According to Lizzy, the whole thing started after Grace won the surfing competition. As we’d discussed earlier, Lizzy had really hoped that Hope would win this year since a loss most likely would mean an end to Hope’s participation in the competition.”

  It was true that if you weren’t a contender by the time you reached your twenty-first birthday, you probably weren’t going to attract the attention of sponsors, so a lot of surfers dropped out at that point.

  Carrie continued. “Lizzy admitted that even though Grace won and she was happy for her to a degree, she was disappointed that Hope didn’t come in high enough to earn a medal. Apparently, Grace picked up on this and was angry and hurt that her own mother didn’t support her. The two exchanged words, which led to tears and hurt feelings all around, so when Grace announced that she was leaving to attend a party on the beach with her friends, Lizzy let her go. When Grace didn’t come home last night, Lizzy figured that Grace was even madder about the sponsorship than she thought, and assumed she’d spent the night with a girlfriend.”

  “Hang on,” Quinn said. “What’s this about a sponsorship? I thought Grace was mad because her mom wasn’t happy for her.”

  “She was,” Carrie said. “But apparently the fight they’d had was really over the fact that Grace had been offered this huge deal to go pro, which is something she really wanted but Lizzy didn’t. I think the fact that Lizzy was actually disappointed Grace had won added fuel to the fire.”

  “Go on,” I said. “Grace tried to talk to Lizzy about this amazing opportunity, but Lizzy shot her down. I’ve been there. I know how frustrating it can be to have a parent stand in the way of something, which at that moment, is the most important thing in the world to you. I also get where Lizzy is coming from. Grace is still in high school.”

  “Exactly,” Carrie said. “Anyway, mom and daughter fought and then daughter left to go to the party she’d already been planning to attend. When Grace didn’t come home, Lizzy initially assumed she’d stayed over with a friend. But when she didn’t come home by this afternoon, Lizzy got worried and began to call around. According to Grace’s best friends, Grace was in a mood last night when she arrived at the party. After she’d been there half an hour or so, she told everyone that she was just going to head home, but she never arrived there. Her car isn’t at the beach, so Lizzy assumes she left the party, but as of the point when I spoke to Lizzy, no one knew where she’d gone after she left the party.”

  “This is an island. I’m sure her car is somewhere,” I said. “Unless she took the ferry this morning, but even then, the ferry has security cameras that record all the cars as they load and unload.”

  “I’m sure Sammy will think of that,” Quinn said. “He’s probably got the crew from the Sea Haven office looking at the tapes as we speak.”

  “I’m sure Quinn’s right,” Carrie said. “Maybe Ryder will know more about what’s going on. Did he say when he’d be here?”

  “He shouldn’t be long,” I answered. “He had a few little things to finish up, and then he was going to run Baja home. I think he mentioned that there were a few things he wanted to grab from the house as well. I guess we should assume that Sam won’t make it.”

&nb
sp; “Probably not,” Quinn agreed. “Unless, of course, they find Grace safe and sound at a friend’s.”

  “Let’s hope that’s true,” Carrie replied.

  “I think I’ll text him again, just to be sure,” Quinn said. “I’d hate to go ahead and eat without him if he’s on his way.”

  Quinn texted Sam, not really expecting to hear from him right away, so I think we were all surprised when he called back.

  “I wasn’t expecting you to get back to me right away,” Quinn said. “But I’m glad you did. Carrie and Kelly are here. Is it okay if I put you on speaker?”

  He must have indicated that it was okay since that’s what Quinn did.

  “Did you find her?” Quinn asked as soon as the phone was switched over.

  “No.” Sam sounded frustrated. “I’ve spoken to several of her friends, and no one has seen her. Lizzy is making me a list of other friends to talk to, and Grace’s best friend, Loretta, is making me a list of everyone she can remember being at the party. I still haven’t given up on the idea that Grace might be intentionally hiding out after the argument with her mother, but I’m not holding out a lot of hope at this point.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help?” Quinn asked.

  “No. Buford and I are going to talk to the friends on the list as well as those who were at the party. The Sea Haven office has two deputies out looking for Grace’s car. If she’s still on this island, we’ll find her. If not…”

  “Find out if Wilson Montgomery is still on the island,” I suggested. “I have a bad feeling about the guy.”

  “Yeah, you mentioned that when we talked before,” Sam said. “I’ll look into it. I also called Moon. He didn’t answer his cell, but I left a message. One of the deputies from the Sea Haven office is going to see if he can track him down.”

  Moon was a local artist who summered on Shipwreck Island but lived in a mansion near Carmel the rest of the year. He’d known all the girls who’d gone missing since Peggy’s disappearance, which made him a suspect in my mind, but Sam had talked to him and didn’t seem to think he was the guy we were after.