Whispers from the Past (26 page)

I did not beg. I did not acknowledge this cruelty in any way. Clutching the iron ring with both hands, I backed away from him, leaned into the wall, and watched him with fierce eyes.

“Aunt Susanna!”

Dear Lord, was I relieved to hear my nephew’s voice. “Here, Josiah.”

He ran down the length of the barn until he reached my stall.

“Step away from my aunt, Mr. Pratt.”

“I do not think I shall,” my former master said, a hint of amusement in his tone.

I turned to see my nephew just inside the stall. Though not quite so tall as Mr. Pratt, he had the work-hardened body of a farm boy. Josiah held a pitchfork in one hand.

“Leave now or I shall assist you out. Sir.” His mouth was set in a grim line.

“Do not trouble yourself. I had already said my good-byes.” Mr. Pratt squeezed past my nephew. Moments later, a horse galloped away.

The tension eased in Josiah’s body. “I’m sorry, Aunt Susanna. I couldn’t get here until now.” He tossed the pitchfork into a pile of hay and then hurried to me. With a quick movement of his hand, he sliced through the rope binding me and then righted my stool. “Better?” he asked.

“I am.” I sank down gratefully, rubbing my wrists. “You’re a fine young man.”

He smiled and bobbed his head, faint color reddening his cheeks. “I shall not leave again until morning. Mama will bring us supper.”

“Thank you, Josiah.” Smiling his way, I reclined against the wall and tried to calm my breathing. With his presence, I had less to fear from this “jail,” but I would not rest easily until I was in Raleigh.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
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WO

U
PSTAGE
T
HE
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TAR

We ate at the restaurant in the Museum of Art. Between their staff and Garrett, we were left alone.

Benita looked amazing. Her dress was dark brown, strapless, and clingy. She’d done something cute with her hair, all carefully messy and roped up with pearls. Jesse had been staring at her in stunned silence since the limo dropped us off.

She wasn’t paying him any attention at the moment. Clasping Gabrielle by the hand, Benita said, “Your dress is perfect. The other girls will be so jealous. They’ll all be wearing solid colors and sequins, and you’ll stand out.”

I had to agree that Gabrielle would stand out, but for different reasons. Maybe girls would notice that Gabrielle’s dress was made from white and gold printed silk. But not the guys. The only thing they’d notice was the neckline plunging to her waist. All they would be able to think about was how that halter stayed in place and whether I could see more than they could.

I could.

After we finished our meal, the waiter approached hesitantly and then shuddered when Gabrielle gave him a big smile and nod.

“Would you like to see the dessert menu?”

I shook my head before anyone could respond. “We need to leave now if we’re going to stop by my house.”

Gabrielle gestured to Garrett, and within minutes we were driving away in the limo.

“Jesse,” I said, staring at him across the wide expanse between our seats. “Are you going to speak?”

“Could you just let me worship her in peace?”

Benita blushed and kissed his hand as Gabrielle and I laughed.

When we pulled onto my street, I was glad to see that my family was all there already. My grandparents and Marissa had shown up for the photo shoot. It made this evening feel a little more real—more like the prom I’d imagined than the media event it had become.

I was surprised, though, when they didn’t pop out of the door the instant we stepped out of the limo. I’d texted that we would be there soon. Since the front veranda would be a great place for photographs, I’d expected them to be waiting outside.

Maybe they hadn’t wanted to alert any paparazzi who might have been smart enough to hide on the greenway.

“Hey,” I called as the four of us entered through the front door. “Where is everybody?”

Gabrielle stopped to assess the staircase. It would be a good spot for photos, too.

There was a loud scrape of a chair from the kitchen. Marissa appeared in the doorway at the end of the hall. She looked dazed, her eyes swollen and red.

My heart seemed to stop. “What’s wrong?”

“Susanna,” she rasped.

I charged over to my sister and grabbed her by the shoulders. “What’s happened?”

“She… I mean…” She gasped in a deep breath.

My fingers dug in and gave my sister a shake. I was afraid my body might explode if she didn’t say something coherent
now
. “Is she hurt? Where is she?”

Marissa shook her head. “We don’t know. She’s gone.”

Gone?
The word echoed inside my head. Susanna was gone?

“Mark.” Gabrielle wrapped light fingers around my elbow. “What is it?”

“I don’t know yet.” I shrugged away from her and followed Marissa into the kitchen.

My whole family was sitting around the table in the kitchen. No one spoke. There were papers scattered everywhere. Granddad was slouched in a chair, a letter on his lap. Gran was huddled over a pile of Susanna’s clothes. Dad leaned against the far wall, hands shoved in his pockets, eyes heavenward.

And Mom? She looked the worst, sprawled in a chair, mascara raccooning below her eyes, lips trembling.

“All right. Somebody tell me what’s going on,” I said into the awful silence.

Marissa’s hands closed and opened convulsively against the sleeve of my tux. “I haven’t seen Susanna in several days.”

“When exactly did you last see her?”

“Tuesday morning.”

Mom said, “She went back to those people, Mark. I just know it.”

I ignored my mother, keeping my attention on Marissa. “You haven’t seen her since Tuesday?” I looked at my sister with disbelieving eyes. “She’s been gone three days and you didn’t notice?”

“Stop it, Mark,” Granddad growled. “You didn’t notice, either.”

“Nice.” I shot a glare his direction.

Marissa shifted uneasily next to me. “She left a lot of food in the freezer and lots of cookies, and there was this note in the cookie jar.” She held it up.

I cursed under my breath. Whatever had happened, Susanna had planned it carefully.

Marissa crumpled the note, her hand dropping. “It seemed odd that she would leave a note instead of telling me. So, I went to her room and found this.” She grabbed a small, flat box sitting on the table and tilted it up. It held Susanna’s keys, her phone, an envelope full of cash, and an envelope addressed to me.

“She left us all letters, Mark.” She handed the last one over to me. “Mine says not to worry, but that I ought to find a new roommate.”

I snatched my letter, resisting the urge to rip the envelope into shreds. “That’s all she said? To find a new roommate?”

Marissa nodded.

“She must’ve known about this for a while,” Mom said. “She told me that it was awkward living with her ex-boyfriend’s sister.”

I ignored that. It wouldn’t help me figure out where Susanna had gone. “What else do we know?”

“She quit her job this past weekend,” Mom said. “Her bike is missing.”

“Did you look in the garage? Or the backyard?”

They all shook their heads. I didn’t need to look for the bike. It was somewhere nearby.

It was possible, dammit, that Susanna had returned to the past. But why now?

A chill rippled over me. Susanna had gone to the Archives recently, and she’d admitted to researching Dorcas. Had she learned something upsetting? Could that be a reason for her to go back?

I slit open the envelope of my letter and pulled out the notecard.

I closed my eyes a brief moment and then read the note again, my gaze returning over and over to the word
love
.

The note felt like it was in code, if only I could think it through, phrase by phrase, word by word. She didn’t want to be found, which made it harder.

Did she really think I would give up just because she asked me to?

“Mark?” Gabrielle touched my back. “Is Susanna okay?”

When I turned, I found Gabrielle, Jesse, and Benita staring at me with wide, concerned eyes. “I don’t know whether she’s okay or not, but we do know that she left voluntarily several days ago.”

“I texted Olivia to say we’d be late,” Gabrielle said, for my ears only.

“Do you really care that much about the media? Because I don’t,” I whispered back.

Her lips thinned. “Do you really think that she’ll be found tonight? Because I don’t.”

“Right.” We were missing our prom—and I had no idea what to do about Susanna, but it might take days to locate her. I had to breathe and think this through methodically. Finding Susanna was a project, not something we could solve quickly.

I spun back around to my family. Mom looked panicked, Dad and Granddad stoic, Marissa guilty. I kept my focus on my sister.

“Did Susanna use your computer?”

“Yes.”

“Have you cleaned out the search history?”

“No.”

I nodded. “Good. Don’t. I’ll be over in the morning.” I frowned at them all. “There’s nothing we can do tonight. I don’t know exactly where those people are. I’ll figure something out when I get on the computer.”

“Mark, your friends are waiting,” Gran announced as she marched over to me, camera in hand. She sounded pissed. If that was directed at Susanna, it would be the first time my grandmother had ever felt anything negative towards her. “It’s time to leave for prom.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, equally calm. Gran was right. There was nothing we could do tonight, and there was no need to spoil the fun for everyone. “Photographs out on the veranda?”

We took photos fast. Gran was in charge, ordering us around efficiently. Toward the end of the five-minute session, the rest of my family showed up and snapped candids with their phones.

At last, I called a halt and escorted Gabrielle to the waiting limo, pausing as Jesse and Benita got in first.

“Mark?”

I helped Gabrielle in and then turned to my mom. “Yeah?”

“What does your note say?”

I reached up and patted the pocket in my jacket where I’d tucked it. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

She stretched up on tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “You look very handsome. I like the tie-less look.”

“Thanks.” I kissed her temple and slid onto the back seat beside Gabrielle. Garrett shut the door behind me with a solid
ker-thunk
.

We were on our way.

The paparazzi were out in force at the ballroom, but so was Gabrielle’s security team. They were a little scary, and it worked.

Most of our classmates had arrived and lingered in the lobby for the grand arrival. We were only twenty minutes late. Not too bad.

Jesse got out first and helped Benita. There was a smattering of photos.

I got out and turned to offer my hand to Gabrielle. The camera noise was loud and predictable. Yeah, her dress was going to attract attention.

She reached up to caress the onyx stud at my neck. “Olivia would’ve preferred a bowtie.”

“What would you prefer?”

“For us not to be mad at each other.”

I slid my hands around her waist and pulled her into a hug. The clicking cameras went crazy. “I’m not mad. I’m just…”

“Susanna is a habit for you. I know.”

A habit? I drew back, disturbed that the most amazing relationship of my life had been reduced to that term. Why did Gabrielle think it was okay to use it in front of me? “Let’s go,” I said, tucking her hand around my arm.

We walked slowly down the red carpet behind Jesse and Benita, stopping periodically to pose for shots. Sometimes the four of us. Sometimes just me and Gabrielle.

Olivia maneuvered me into profile a lot of the time. I understood. I was the frame. Gabrielle was the picture. I wouldn’t be allowed to upstage the star.

No problem. I was distracted, anyway.

Some of the juniors and seniors from our school wandered out onto the carpet for a closer look. When Garrett edged his team closer, Gabrielle shook her head and they backed off. Our classmates got even closer, some even walking over to greet us. They would all be scouring the media coverage tomorrow, hoping to get a glimpse of themselves.

Gabrielle whispered in my ear. “We can go in now.”

Cameras clicked.

“Kiss her,” someone shouted.

The widening of her eyes let me know that she’d heard it, too. There was a slight speed-up in her breathing. She wanted me to do it, out here in front of everybody. The kiss would be broadcast to the world, and she wanted that, too.

I bent my head slowly and pressed my lips to hers. When she swayed, I put a hand to her waist, my thumb sliding across the smooth skin exposed by her plunging neckline.