Lacey’s parents had called Celia about forty minutes earlier, demanding to speak to their daughter. When Celia told them she wasn’t there, there had been a couple tense moments where they hadn’t believed her. Because she was too encouraging of their daughters’ relationship, Celia told James as he scrambled into his gloves and shoes. But she insisted Lacey wasn’t there and as it dawned on them that she was telling the truth, she’d heard the anger in their voices turn to fear. So she’d told them to call the police, then come over to her house. She’d get in touch with the Foundation. 

“I talked to Amelia,” she said as James locked his front door and hurried down the sidewalk. “She said they’d start looking too. I’m sorry for calling you directly. I know you weren’t there, but-”

“Celia, no, it’s me,” James said. “You’re allowed to call me anytime you need to. Come on, you know that.”

“I know,” she said. “But if you’re out sick and-”

“It’s a headache and it’s nearly almost gone,” he said, not entirely sure if it was a lie. Because it had faded, but it was certainly on its way back.

It was raining out, but not too heavily. More of a mist than a downpour. James passed his car. It’d be faster to get to headquarters walking as long as he moved quickly. His body protested this plan, but he ignored it.

“I’m at headquarters now,” he said as he unlocked the door and walked inside. “I’ll talk to Amelia and one of us will be down to talk to you guys in a little while. The cops are there?”

“They just got here,” Celia said. “So did the Renfros.”

“Sit tight,” he said. “We’re going to find her.”

He hung up as he went up into the living room, where Amelia and Gabriella were getting supplies together. Amelia looked over at him. “You-”

“I know,” he said, holding up his hands. “But I need to be here for this one.”

He expected her to argue, to tell him he was still on a sick day and needed to go home. But instead she said, “You take the lead. Do you want to do the interviews?”

“Yes,” James said. “Gabs-”

“I’m looking into Edward Clayborne,” she said. “If Lacey’s not in touch with Penny, then I don’t think she just ran away from home.”

“Agreed,” James said as he went into his office.

He took a few Tylenols as his phone buzzed. He glanced at it, saw McGovern’s name, and ignored it for a moment as he found his notebook and pen. Then he sighed and looked at the text.

MCGOVERN

Agent Forrester is on his way from Maine. Call him directly if you need him

James almost felt guilty. Of course McGovern would only text if it was important right now. This was a kid in trouble and, despite their myriad differences, he and McGovern were the same in that respect. He texted a quick thanks, then went back out as his phone rang again.

“Cel, what’s up?” James asked. “We’re on our way.”

“The police don’t believe any of it,” she said. “They basically laughed when we told them what’s been going on, so they’re not listening.”

“It’s okay,” James said, trying to keep his voice reassuring. “We’ve got things going on our end. McGovern just confirmed that Jack is on his way. And we can call in help from other teams if we need to. Tell you what, I’ll have Bradley give the police a call and explain what’s happening, he’s good at that. And it changes nothing on my end. We’re going to find her.”

“How long until you get here?”

“I’m leaving in a few,” he said. “I swear. You okay?”

“I’m holding it together for the kids.”

“You’ve got this. I’ll see you shortly.”

He went back out to where Amelia and Gabriella had their supplies laid out. “Gabs, I want you to stay here and look for any information about him,” he said. “If he’s not laid to rest by now, we need to figure out why. And where he brought that kid he kidnapped. I’ll keep checking in with you. Oh, and I need you to call Uncle Tommy. He offered any help we needed and we could use another body out searching, especially between his house and here.”

She nodded and he could see the slight shake. He was tempted to ask if she was okay, but she was. She had to be and they both knew it. “I’ll call you once I find anything,” she said.

He went to the back bedroom where Bradley was on the phone. “Yeah, call with anything,” he said. “Thanks, Saskia.”

He hung up and looked at James. “I know,” James said before he could say anything. “Listen, the cops aren’t buying the ghost angle. Can you give them a call?”

“Gladly.”

“I’m going to take Amelia and go. I know, it’s not my shift. But it’s my family, so-”

“I wasn’t about to throw you out,” Bradley interrupted impatiently. “You look like shit, though.”

“It’s part of my charm. How long are you here for?”

“As long as you need.”

He shouldn’t have been so touched by that. “Stay in touch with Amelia,” he said. “I want to talk to the families, then just start looking anywhere that might make sense. Gabs is looking into where this asshole took the original victim, but I don’t think she’ll find that information anytime soon. Wait, no.”

He paused, recalculating. “I want you in the field. I’ll see if Graham or Madelyn can come in and take comms. Once they’re here, you’re at the school.”

“Got it.”

James went out to where Amelia was waiting. “I’ll drive,” she said.

James ignored the throb of pain behind his eye and followed her out the door.

***

James’s phone rang again as they were driving over, Celia’s name on the screen. “Hey, Cel,” he said.

“Uncle James?”

Penny sounded terrified and James immediately feared the worst. Even though she was calling from her mom’s phone, could she have been taken now too? “Honey, what is it?”

“Lacey took a scarf from the school.”

“What?”

Amelia glanced over, but didn’t speak as James held his breath. “She took a scarf,” Penny said, her voice shaking. “I took a sock. I’m sorry I lied, I didn’t want to get in trouble and nothing happened at home, so we figured it was fine. But she did take something. I’m sorry.”

Penny was in tears now and James resisted the urge to slam his head against the car seat headrest. “Pen, your house has about six layers of protection on it, of course nothing happened there.”

She was silent. “Where’s the sock?” James asked, pressing the heel of his free hand into his left eye.

“At my house.”

“Alright,” James said, doing some quick calculations again. “I’m on my way there now. I have someone who is going to go to the school, I’ll have him stop by and get it. Is the scarf there?”

“No.”

“We’ll deal with that. Is there anything else?”

“No. I’m sorry.”

“Think hard. Is there anything at all?”

“Nothing, I promise.”

She was in tears and he felt bad, but they needed to get moving. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” he said. 

“I’m so sorry.”

“I love you, honey. Go tell your mom, it’ll be okay.”

She was sobbing as she disconnected the call. As soon as he hung up, James punched the dashboard, lightly and repeatedly, hissing, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Are there more artifacts?” Amelia guessed.

“A sock and a scarf they took from the same place,” James said.

He texted Bradley to meet them at the house before he went to the school. The headache had faded slightly, but he didn’t trust it to stay away. And as they got to the house and he saw the number of cars on the lawn and driveway, it made itself known again.

His phone buzzed. It was an ad for life insurance, not Bradley, so he ignored it and headed inside. Celia, Penny, and Cody were in there, along with Lacey’s parents and a couple police officers. Based on the nervous look that suddenly came over one of the cops’ face, Bradley had gotten in touch with them.

“We’ll be looking,” the cop said. “Stay in touch, keep your phones on you, and let us know if anything changes.”

“Thank you,” Lacey’s mother said, her voice small.

They left and James came into the room. “Did you talk to her?” he asked Penny immediately.

Penny nodded and he turned to Lacey’s parents. “There’s a scarf somewhere in your house that Lacey took from the school auditorium. Go home and find it. It needs to be burned.”

“A scarf?” her father repeated.

“Yeah, it’ll definitely be old and will probably be gross. Nothing like what a seventh-grader would pick out for herself. Can you do that?”

“Yes,” he said immediately.

“She has so many hiding places,” Cindy said, looking out the window at the rain splattering on the glass.

“What do you mean?” James asked.

“She doesn’t tell us things. But I know she hides things – journals, jewelry, anything she doesn’t want us to know about. I find them randomly in the house and yard occasionally, but I know there’s more.”

“Look in all of her hiding places,” James said. “Every single one you can find. Find it so we can burn it. What did the cops say?”

“At first they just said she probably ran away and they’d be looking for her. But then one of them took a call and it seemed like they suddenly believed us.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what happened,” James said. “Alright, here’s what we’re doing.”

He laid out the plan for them, keeping half an eye on the kids, who were both in tears as they gripped each other’s hands.

“We have our researcher trying to find where the original child was taken,” James said. “And there’s agents from a few different branches looking in their counties.”

“You think she went that far?” Lacey’s mother asked.

“I have no idea,” James admitted. “This is an angry, unsettled spirit that has been anchored to the middle school auditorium for all these years. But he was local in life, so we’re focusing on places where he might have left a child in the 1980s.”

The doorbell rang and both parents looked up hopefully as Celia went to get it. A second later, she came back with Bradley, whose glasses were speckled with rain.

“Where’s the sock?” he asked.

Penny picked it up from a table nearby and James winced as she touched it. But nothing happened as she handed it to Bradley, who looked at the old fabric with distaste.

“Can I light a fire in your backyard?” he asked Celia.

“I have a fireplace,” she said. “Would that be better because of the rain?”

“No, I don’t want anything getting in the house.”

The other adults looked uncomfortable and the kids looked terrified. “That’s why he’s burning it outside,” James added quickly. 

Bradley took the sock and followed Celia out the door without another word as James’s phone buzzed again. He glanced at it. It was Madelyn confirming she was at headquarters and could take comms for anyone who needed her. 

A few minutes later, the old sock was ashes, something that impressed James considering how the rain was coming down now. Bradley left for the school, leaving James with the group.

“Go home and find the scarf, we want to burn that too,” James said. “He’s going to look for Lacey at the school and find anything else that needs to be burned to keep Clayborne’s spirit at bay. When you find it, call Bradley directly. He’ll tell you what to do.”

Then they were gone too. James was at a little bit of a loss of what to do right now. Gabriella hadn’t called yet with any information, so he should go somewhere and start searching. Where exactly that was, he still wasn’t sure.

“Jack is going to come here,” Celia said once the house was quiet. “He’ll be here in about half an hour.”

“Great,” James said. “I’m going to see what Gabs has. Otherwise, I’m starting with the area around the school. The woods, the stream. Once Gabs has more details, I’ll follow up with you.”

He and Amelia left a moment later. “Could you drop me at home?” he asked. “I’ll get my car, then I’d like you to go around the city and search for her.”

“Are you sure it’s the ghost?” she asked.

“No,” James admitted. “But I’m as close to sure as possible.”

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 23