Josh pushed his truck as fast as he dared with Jake in the vehicle. Randy turned to him from the passenger’s seat and said, “Still no response on either of their phones. I’m calling Mike.”
“Dad,” Jake asked anxiously from the back seat, “Will you please tell me what’s going on?”
Josh glanced at Randy then back to the road ahead. He took a deep breath and said, “Elizabeth and Amy’s phones don’t appear to be working. We’re worried they’re having some kind of problem and want to get home as fast as possible, in case they need us.”
“Is Molly okay?” Jake asked weakly.
“I’m sure she’s fine, son.” Josh met Jakes eyes in the rear view mirror and added, “We’ll keep trying to reach them. My guess is they're out riding the horses, or they went to a movie. I’m sure everything is fine. But Randy’s calling Mike to have him run out and check on them just in case.”
************
Amy and Molly placed the pizzas on the kitchen counter. Amy realized when she saw her phone that she’d run off without it and went to check her messages. There were several missed calls from Randy, and she’d had a recent call that Elizabeth must have answered. It was strange that Elizabeth had left so suddenly. Did something happen to one of the horses?
She glanced out the door toward the stables. The horse trailer sat next to the garage. She could see the horses grazing in the pasture beyond. Amy set Molly to work making a salad while she called Elizabeth’s cell phone to see where she was. Elizabeth’s phone went to voicemail. Amy left a message, “Beth call me ASAP, where are you?”
Suddenly a knock came at the door, and Amy rushed to answer it. Mike Cain walked quickly in the door and glanced around asking, “Is everything okay here? Randy called, and he’s really worried.”
Amy glanced across the room at Molly, who was busy tearing apart a head of lettuce. She looked back at Mike and said, “We’re fine, but Elizabeth left, and she’s not answering her phone. How did you know?” Amy’s phone rang. Randy's name appeared on the screen.
“Randy,” Amy said quickly into the phone, “What’s going on?”
“Amy!” Randy gasped, “Are you all right? Is everything okay?”
Amy said, “Mike just got here. Molly and I are okay. Elizabeth went somewhere in her truck and isn’t answering her phone. What’s going on?”
Randy spoke quickly, “I want you to take Molly and go to my office. We think Franklin is the stalker. I’ve just been informed he was on a flight into Salt Lake City on Thursday. Do you have any idea where Elizabeth might have gone?”
Amy’s heart was pounding. She couldn’t understand what Randy was saying. Anal-retentive Franklin was the stalker. How could this be? Amy stammered, “It looks like she took a call on my phone. That’s probably why she left, but I don’t recognize the number.”
“Give it to me, and I’ll run a search,” Randy said. She gave him the number, and Randy added, “You and Molly need to stay with Mike and get to my office. Ed is there waiting for you.”
“We will,” Amy stammered as she fought back the tears, not wanting to alarm Molly.
“I love you.” Randy added, “Now get going.”