Susan Dern Is Missing (A Wild Cove Mystery Book 1) Read online

  LAURA GREENE

  SUSAN DERN

  IS MISSING

  A WILD COVE MYSTERY

  Copyright © 2020 Laura Greene – All rights Reserved

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Also by Laura Greene

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  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Susan Dern vanished without a trace on a cold January 28th. She was walking home from her boyfriend's house, just three streets away. It’s a harsh winter. Snow lies piled up on the sidewalks of Wild Cove and, while residents do their best to remove it with their shovels after each blizzard, fighting the icy elements is a never-ending task.

  Tonight is the night of Susan's disappearance, the snow has abated for once. The night sky above is clear, with pinpoints of starlight gazing down at the town below. Susan's boyfriend, who usually accompanies her on her way home, injured his leg just before Christmas during football practice, so Susan is making the short trip to the warmth of her family home alone.

  Not that Susan should be afraid of that walk. After all, she's traveled that route countless times and most people do not fear for their lives in Wild Cove, even during the darkest of nights. It is, for the most part, a sedate, cozy, and uneventful place. Certainly, 16 year old Susan has no real need to fear what should be a 10 minute walk. As she passes the rows of houses, she feels saddened by their darkness. Just a few weeks earlier, every house in Wild Cove was adorned with Christmas lights. The warmth of those shining decorations made the same walk back home at night a comforting one.

  Yet this night is different.

  The houses are quiet; the streets empty. The only company Susan has is the occasional snowman glaring at her from a dim lawn, lovingly sculpted from the snow by Wild Cove's residents. If only those silent figures could see. If only they could intervene.

  It is only a few minutes into her walk when she first hears the footsteps. Turning, she is greeted by the nothingness of darkness. The cold snap of winter hangs in the air, biting at her face. The street behind her is empty; and yet, she heard footsteps closing in nearby. Now they have ceased.

  Giving herself a shake, Susan continues onward, but as she does she hears the occasional unseen foot crunching in the snow somewhere in the vastness of the blackened night. Glancing nervously behind her she sees nothing, but feels dread boiling up inside of her. Picking up the pace, she turns the corner to finally see her family home at the end of Hemlock Street.

  The sight of her home provides momentary relief from the imposing darkness around her. However, that relief is short-lived as a gloved hand reaches up from behind her, pulling her into the deep black night. Hemlock Street was everything while growing up for Susan. A street she played on as a child. A street which contains both happy and sad memories. Now those images are to be covered with a shadow of tragedy, as the gloved hands of her attacker wrench her body through the snow and away from those she loves.

  When Susan's parents receive a worried phone call from her boyfriend, Keith Tillerman, their panic sets in. Susan always texts her boyfriend to let him know she has made it home safely, but tonight he never received such a text and, when dialed, Susan's phone goes straight to voicemail.

  After frantically calling Susan's phone several times, her dad, Larry Dern, runs out into the street and begins walking the area to see if his daughter can be found, tracing the route she normally takes from her boyfriend's. In his mind, Larry persuades himself that she has stopped to talk with a friend along the way, but when Susan can not be found her father makes the only call he can - to the one person in town he and the other residents of Wild Cove have come to trust the most during darker times.

  Jane Scott is just settling down on the couch in her aging farmhouse to watch an old Jimmy Stewart movie with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, while she was busy preparing popcorn in the kitchen, Jane's boyfriend Jack Macready, the town mechanic and would-be writer, fell asleep. He is snoring loudly. If he didn't look so adorable, she would be annoyed.

  Six months have passed since the Sheriff Williams scandal. In that time, Jane has been voted in as the new town sheriff. Her life is finally on track. The shadow of her prior career low in Willow County seems to be receding. Revitalized, she takes the responsibility of sheriff seriously. This significantly limits her free time for friends and relationships. Jack is also busy switching between working all day covered in grease in his auto shop and writing his still-unfinished book on local folklore and history, so he too has limited time. Despite this, both have come close to each other in the past few months, unable to resist the deep connection they clearly have.

  At first, Jane was worried about what the locals will think about her having a relationship with Jack – a man whom she arrested for a bar fight not too long ago – but, given that he was instrumental in helping Jane bring Sheriff Williams and his son to justice, there has been enough good will to let that slide. Even the town gossipers allow it to stand without flapping their lips. Furthermore, Pastor Callaghan, one of the town's most trusted residents, was a matchmaker; the local preacher encouraged Jane to explore a relationship with Jack in her own time.

  Given their difficult schedules, they have made a strict agreement to be selfish on one night of the week. Friday night is their night. It has been for months. They curl up on the couch at the farmhouse and watch a movie together, perhaps with a glass of sparkling red, sometimes with a bowl of popcorn. Jane is a stickler for old movies; there is a romance to them that she feels newer movies can't quite capture. Jack prefers movies of the superhero kind and so they compromise, taking turns to pick the movie they will watch together during their weekly meet-up.

  Tonight, it is Jane's turn and she's been looking forward to their time together all week. Jack isn't going to get out of watching the movie she's picked that easily. Sleeping is no excuse. Jane sits down next to him on the couch with a large bowl of popcorn in hand, and then blows affectionately into his ear.

  “Huh?” Jack stirs, his eyes opening. “What was that?”

  “It's a drafty old house,” Jane teases.

  Jack rubs his eyes. “Did you just blow in my ear?”

  “Yes, and you're lucky I didn't throw a glass of water over you! Don't think you can use tiredness to get out of watching this movie with me. I had to watch your silly superhero movie last week.”

  “Captain America is not silly...”

  “I could have slept through it, but I watched the whole thing last week. You know the deal.”

  Jack leans over and kisses Jane on the cheek. “I wasn't asleep, I was just resting my eyes.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah, but there's something I'd much rather be doing right now, and it requires both of us to be awake.” Jack leans in, his mouth inches from hers.

  Jane thumps the bowl of popcorn down on Jack's lap.

  “Hey!” Jack says, feigning injury.

  “You can lay your eyes on this movie. I've bee
n looking forward to this for days. Besides...”

  Jack sighs. “I know. We're taking things slowly.”

  Jane looks into his eyes. “I just don't want us to move too fast. I'm still adapting to life here and to all of this... The town, my job as Sheriff... You and me... It's all new. I don't want to get hurt.”

  “And you won't,” says Jack, holding her hand.

  “You can't promise that,” she replies quietly. “I had a life before we met, in Willow County. I had a career, a boyfriend – things were going well for me. Then it all came crashing down. It's only now that things are starting to take root for me here in Wild Cove. This is a second chance for me, and I don't want to blow it. Can we please just keep our Friday date night like this and see where things go? I promise we will move forward with time.”

  Deep down, Jack is frustrated that things aren't moving fast enough, but he has a deep appreciation for Jane. “You're worth the wait,” he says, putting his arm around her and smiling. “What's this movie called again?”

  Jane picks up the remote control and presses the Play button. The movie begins with black and white credits accompanied by orchestral music from the 1930s. “’Shop Around the Corner’. I warn you, there's a lot of snow in this one.”

  “I've had enough snow to last me all year, and we're only in January,” laughs Jack.

  “You'll love this,” says Jane, not really believing the words. She rests her head on his shoulder as the movie's opening titles play.

  Though the movie has started, the mysteries and traumas of Wild Cove lurk outside. It is not long before they make themselves known. Just a few minutes into the movie, Jane's cell phone rings.

  “Work?” groans Jack.

  “Would it be anything else? Someone's probably found Mrs. Marsden walking around at night again. Poor old lady, that'd be the third time this week.” Jane leans over and answers the phone. On the other end of the line is Larry Dern, Susan Dern's father. He is extremely worried about his daughter and, given how cold it is outside, wants to organize a search party. Jane can tell he's been drinking, but he seems sincere.

  Duty calls for Jane.

  Jack, though disappointed, understands. He can be patient. After all, he’s waited months for Jane to finally “come to her senses” and agree to be his girlfriend. However, when he realizes a kid is missing, wild bulls can’t stop him from helping out.

  Chapter 2

  The two jump from the couch and 10 minutes later, they are in her patrol car heading over to the Dern household. The roads are icy but Jane is an excellent driver, knowing when to go slow and go fast. If Jack was driving, it would be full-speed all the way. She can’t help but remember how he drove the patrol car the last and only time he got the chance, during the Williams scandal.

  The snow smothers the landscape – cars, streets, houses. As Jane drives, Jack tries to keep things light by suggesting that Susan is just out at a party, but Jane can't shake the ominous feeling that something is very wrong.

  Once on Hemlock Street, she pulls over to see Larry's worried figure standing on his snow-covered lawn. Both of them are welcomed by Larry and shown into his home, a modest, stand-alone house. They are then led to the warmth of the kitchen. Sitting at a table is Susan's mother, Rose Dern, her mascara is running down her face and her bleached blonde hair is no longer tied up and pristine as it usually is at her hair salon.

  Larry himself is a truck driver; overweight and dressed in a stereotypical red checkered shirt and blue jeans. With a small, gray-black mustache and his hair slicked back like Elvis, he looks older than his years; a product of poor diet and even poorer drinking habits. Jane is aware of his drinking. She’s been called to the Dern home on more than one occasion due to a domestic disturbance. This usually consists of Rose locking Larry out of the house because he's been out too late at the nearest bar – Arthur's Bar on Main Street being his favorite haunt. Even Arthur feels Larry hits the juice too hard, too often.

  The truth is, Larry lost his younger brother, Terry, two years ago to leukemia. It was a bitter battle with cancer, and when Terry finally passed away, Larry slowly but surely drank more each day to cope. Jane tried to keep an eye on him, breathalyzing him on more than one occasion when he'd tried to get into his truck. Thankfully, Larry is staying away from the booze enough to keep his job and not endanger anyone on the road, but he is stuck in a downward spiral of grief and addiction, drinking hard at night. It’s only a matter of time before he hits rock bottom. Jane knows that if anything has happened to Susan, Larry will drink himself into an early grave.

  Despite the regular, screaming confrontations with each other, Larry and Rose are a pair of characters and well-liked in town. Susan runs a local hairdresser, reveling in both her work and the conversations she has with customers. She’s, as Pastor Callaghan would put it, "A grade A gossip with a golden heart."

  “Sheriff,” says Rose, wiping her running mascara with a tissue. “Have you found Susan?”

  “I'm afraid not," answers Jane. "But let's not panic; she hasn't been missing for very long. Usually, these sorts of cases resolve themselves happily."

  “Hey, Jack," says Larry, opening the door to his refrigerator. “You want a beer?”

  “I don't think it's a good idea for any of us to be drinking at the moment," says Jane. "But if you don't mind, Larry, Jack is here to help in the search. The more people out there looking, the better chance we have of finding Susan... and quickly."

  Jane sits down at the table and proceeds to go through the questions she's been trained to ask whenever someone is missing. Has Susan acted strangely recently? Does she have any issues at home? Has she fallen out with either of her parents? Is there any reason why she wouldn't want to return home? Have Larry and Rose contacted Susan's friends in case she stopped off at someone's on the way home? The answers to these questions do not reveal anything useful, other than Rose making a comment about Larry's drinking, but that’s not out of the ordinary.

  It’s at this point that the lanky figure of Deputy Morris walks in. Morris has been with the sheriff's department for five years, though he is barely 26. He is a good man, a regular at the local church, and helps Jane communicate new ideas to the rest of Wild Cove Police Station about how she wants to run things.

  Needless to say, some are not happy about the woman who brought down their former boss, Sheriff Williams, stepping straight into his shoes. Jane is aware of this and that is why she made Morris her deputy. He is popular and instrumental in smoothing things over, even if he is not the quickest mind on her team.

  Morris, however, is also clumsy, and nearly knocks over a vase as he walks into the kitchen. Clipping the vase with his elbow, it and the flowers in it lurch forward. Thankfully, Jack stretches a hand out and catches the glass before the vase smashes on the floor.

  “Sorry about that, Mr. and Mrs. Dern," says Deputy Morris, his cheeks coloring, and his bashfulness not quite in keeping with a man in a deputy sheriff's uniform. He is still growing into the role.

  “What is it, Morris?” Jane asks.

  “We've found something, you better come and see.” Deputy Morris stands there silently as the room waits for more information.

  Rose Dern, assuming the worst, cries out “my baby!” and, before Morris can reassure her that what they have found isn't a body, she faints. Larry opens a beer and drinks it down in one go, looking blankly at his wife lying in the arms of Jack who, for the second time since entering the kitchen, has stopped something from breaking on the kitchen floor. This time, Rose Dern herself.

  After rousing Rose, Jack agrees to stay with the Derns to keep an eye on them while Deputy Morris leads Jane outside and back into the snow. Jane follows and, as she does, she notices that the sky above is now a thick blanket of dark white, from which the first few flakes of an oncoming snowstorm are now falling. The weather is turning quickly. I hope she's not outside, Jane thinks, knowing how bitter the winter has been in the prior weeks.

  Jane momentarily th
inks of a time three years ago when she was working in Willow County as a patrolman. A man named Jasper Miller had disappeared on a snowy night. In his early thirties, it was unusual for him to go anywhere without letting his wife know. The snow fell thick that night and did so for three days. It wasn't until two weeks later when a thaw came that the snow melted away to reveal Jasper's frozen body. He had slipped and banged his head, still alive as the snow covered him, sealing his fate. Jane was one of the first officers on the scene. To this day, she can still close her eyes and see the horrid frozen blue of his contorted face sticking out of a snow pile just a few steps from his home.

  Jane prays for a better outcome than that. Especially considering that Susan is just a kid.

  Deputy Morris stops, and then points with a flashlight at the snowy sidewalk behind a parked car. Something small lies on the ground; a solitary black woolen glove. “Do you think that's Susan Dern's?”

  Jane doesn't have to question that; she already knows the answer. While Deputy Morris found the glove, he lacked Jane's experience. Her eagle eyes have come in handy on more than one occasion throughout her career. This night is no different. Jane looks at the patterns in the snow, bringing out her own flashlight to look more closely.