Free Blood Trails by Sharon Sala Page A

money to take care of you by herself, so I’m guessing she stayed with him to make sure you had a roof over your head and food in your belly.”
    Holly felt sick. If she wanted to play with what-ifs, then the mere fact of that she’d been born could have gotten her mother killed—if, in fact, she was really dead. However, she wasn’t ready to take herself down that road.
    Lynn eyed Holly closer. “You say you haven’t seen your mother? So what happened to you?”
    “I was sent to live in Montana with a friend of hers, but it was only supposed to be for a little while. She was going to come get me so we could start over somewhere new as soon as she settled some stuff with my dad.”
    Lynn slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God! Are you saying she stayed behind to tell him she wanted a divorce?”
    Holly wasn’t going to get into the serial-killer aspect of the story, since it was obvious her mother hadn’t mentioned any of that to Lynn.
    “I’m not sure what she was planning to do. All I know is she never made it to Montana.”
    Lynn grabbed Holly by the wrist. “That means Harold lied about everything—about the both of you disappearing at the same time, I mean.”
    “Yes, I realize that,” Holly said. “Unfortunately, I have no idea where he is, so—”
    Lynn jumped up from the bench, her face flushed, her expression animated.
    “I do! I know right where that lying bastard is at!”
    Holly felt the ground shift beneath her feet. It took every ounce of courage she had to ask, “You do?”
    “Hell yes! He still works for the same wholesale warehouse he used to, driving the same delivery truck he’s driven for nearly thirty years. I see him now and then, but we don’t speak. He doesn’t like me any better than I ever liked him.”
    Holly’s hands were shaking, but she had to keep pushing. All of this would matter when she went to the police.
    “I thought they weren’t in business anymore. I looked in a phone book, but—”
    “Oh. Right. You wouldn’t know. The old owner sold out to another company ten, maybe fifteen, years ago. It’s Riverfront Wholesale now, which is stupid, because they’re not on the riverfront, but whatever. They moved to a larger warehouse here in St. Louis but kept most of the employees who weren’t ready to retire.”
    Holly felt sick. She had to leave—now. The skin was crawling on the back of her neck as she began digging in her purse for her car keys.
    “I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, but I wonder if you’d do me a favor?”
    “Sure, honey. What do you need?”
    “Don’t tell anyone I’m in town, especially my— Especially Harold, if you should happen to see him.”
    “Trust me. My lips are sealed,” Lynn said.
    “I’d better let you get back to work,” Holly said, and stood. “Thank you again.”
    Lynn shrugged. “You’re welcome. Really sorry about your mama.”
    Holly had no words for the fact that Lynn had immediately assumed that if Twila had gone missing, Harold was responsible.
    She got in her car but was too stunned to trust herself to drive. She kept thinking about a mother she couldn’t remember, sacrificing herself to make sure Holly stayed safe. The longer she sat, the more determined she became to see justice served.
    She finally drove away, giving herself a stern reminder that she needed to think instead of react every time she got another piece of news she didn’t like. She wasn’t a crybaby, and she was disgusted that she’d been letting her emotions get the best of her.
    Now she really needed to go to the police, but finding out that Harold Mackey was still alive and well and living in St. Louis had shocked her. The longer she drove, the angrier she became. How dare he go on with his life without a care in the world, presenting himself as the wronged and abandoned husband? Only a cold and calculating man could pull that off.
    He hadn’t eluded police for all these years by making mistakes, but she had