“They what?” Lucy almost spat her drink over the table and giggled. “I guess she insisted the Tooth Fairy exists as well?”
“Yes, and I believed her when I was six, not now though.” Amanda leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Lindy told me she thought someone was watching her too.”
“How creepy.” Lucy shuddered dramatically. “Where? In her room?”
“Yeah, and sometimes on the way home from school she heard footsteps behind her but when she turned around no one was there.” Amanda glanced behind her and then turned her attention back to Lucy. “Like they followed her from the bus stop or had been hiding in the bushes along her driveway. You know it’s long like ours and it takes time to walk from the highway to the house.”
“Did she see anyone?”
“Nope.” Amanda pushed to her feet. “I gotta go. My mom will get mad if I keep her waiting.” She grabbed her phone and a takeout bag. “You sure your mom won’t let you come for a sleepover? I’m sure I can convince my brother to take us riding in the morning.”
“I’m sure and anyhow, I don’t really want to see your grandma’s ghost.”
Annoyed by her best friend’s attitude, Amanda shook her head. “Okay then, I’ll call you later.”
“Yeah, we’ll need to make plans for the Spring Festival dance. You going with Matt?”
“If Mom will let me. He’s nice. We talked about going fishing one weekend.”
“Fishing, huh? More like skinny-dipping.” Lucy giggled. “Tell Luke I said hello.”
“Sure.” Amanda left the café and made her way along Main Street, peering into every shadow. Lindy hadn’t been alone in thinking someone was watching her. The same thing had happened to her and her neck prickled at the memory. Last week on the walk from the highway to her home, she’d heard rustling in the bushes. At first, she’d figured a bear had wandered onto their ranch and she’d pulled out the can of bear spray she carried in her bag, but bears gave off an unmistakable stink and she’d smell it. She’d looked all around but found no trace of bears, no scat or marks on the trees. The only animals she’d found had been a few squirrels bounding from tree to tree and yet it was as if someone was there, hiding in the trees, watching her.
She pushed past a group of boys hanging outside the computer store, relieved that the town was busy and she didn’t have to walk alone. If what she had heard was true, Lindy had been crazy to open the front door to a stranger in the middle of the night. She should’ve told her parents if she’d figured someone was following her after school.
Her mom was waiting outside the library in her red SUV. Amanda climbed inside and smiled at her. “I brought you some cookies.”
“Thanks.” Her mom started the engine. “If I’d known you’d be at Aunt Betty’s Café I’d have dropped by to collect you.”
Amanda gaped at her. “In front of my friends? They’ll figure I can’t go anywhere without my mommy.”
“Sure, I understand.” Her mother gave her a knowing look. “Believe it or not I was a teenager once myself.”
“You know Lindy, the girl that died?” Amanda decided to bite the bullet and tell her mother her worries. “She told me she had nightmares about a man in her room and thought someone was following her along her driveway after school. I dream about Grandma and I had the same feeling on our driveway too. I look around but there’s no one there.”
“You’ve an overactive imagination triggered by what Lindy said to you before she went missing.” Her mother smiled at her. “Dreaming about Grandma watching over you is hardly a nightmare and I often feel the same when I’m in the wooded parts of our ranch. The wind in the trees and the animals make strange sounds and the trees cast long shadows. It makes it creepy even in the daytime.” She smiled at her. “Don’t worry, you’re normal.”
Amanda heaved a sigh of relief. Normal she could handle.
Nineteen
As Rowley led the way onto the football field, his gaze set on a tall athletic man, who stood out among the other workers laying artificial turf. From the janitor’s description, he had to be Mason Lancaster. He strode toward him with Walters close behind and took in the man. Undeniably handsome, with bronzed muscular arms, but years of working outdoors had wrinkled the skin around his eyes. As they approached, a worried expression crossed Lancaster’s face and he stepped away from the other men.
Rowley pulled out his notebook and kept his expression bland. “Mason Lancaster?”
“Yeah, what can I do for you, deputies?” Lancaster waved a gloved hand toward the other men. “We’re kinda busy here.”
“I won’t take too much of your time.” Rowley led him some distance away from the other curious men. “I need to ask you a few routine questions.”
“In relation to what?” Lancaster pulled out a bandana, wiped the sweat from his face, and then removed his hat before turning to catch the cold breeze blowing from the mountains.
All the advice Kane had given him about body language and attitude poured into Rowley’s mind. He assessed the man standing before him. Lancaster appeared relaxed now but he’d seen a different expression when they arrived. “We’re investigating the Lindy Rosen case and speaking to anyone who may have been in contact with her in the days leading up to her death.”
“Lindy, yeah, I knew her.” Lancaster gave him a direct look and shrugged. “As well as I know any of the students that hang around me like butterflies all semester.” He shook his head. “Terrible thing her being murdered like that, she was a pretty little thing.”
Murdered? A cold chill trickled down Rowley’s spine. Could he be looking into the eyes of a killer? “Ah, we don’t have a cause of death. Do you know what happened to her?”
“Me? Heck no.” Lancaster replaced his hat. “I assumed when a girl goes missing then she’s found dead, someone murdered her – wouldn’t you?”