Free The B Girls by Cari Cole Page A

believes she knows where
to find the Declaration?" Mae said. "If what Perry said is true it
would probably be priceless."
    "I'm sure the only person who would know is
Perry and he obviously doesn't know where Belle is," Lucy said.
    "We don't know that," Jane said.
    "Why would he come here if he had something to
do with Belle going missing?" Lucy said.
    "To find her notes. Just like he said,"
Mae suggested.
    The whole thing seemed a little far-fetched to
Lucy. Except for the fact that Belle was indeed missing and she was willing to
grasp at straws. "I'm more concerned about Belle than some mythical copy
of the Declaration of Independence but since we don't have any other
explanation for her disappearance, looking for the Declaration seems the only
way of looking for Belle." She had to do something more than call the police every hour and worry.
      Mae
suddenly clamped a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God!"
    "What?" Lucy said.
    "Maybe the house was open when we got here
because somebody took the notes," Mae said.
    "So we're screwed," Jane said. "If
there was anything here it's gone."
    Lucy so hoped that wasn't the case. Belle off on a
tear somewhere was one thing. Belle in some kind of danger because of this
treasure hunt was another--and something Lucy didn't want to think about.
"Let's hope not. Those notes may be our only chance of finding
Belle."
    "And finding ourselves. We don't know anyone broke in," Mae said.
"I think we should still see what we can find."
    "Okay then, we search for clues," Jane
said. "After we finish coffee and get dressed."
    Lucy wasn't excited about the delay but they'd be
sharper after caffeine and showers.

 
    ###

 
    "Kitchen, bedroom and study," Mae said a
half hour later when they reassembled in the kitchen. "We should each take
one. That's where the paper is in my house. At least the paper that doesn't
belong to the kids."
    "I'll take the study," Jane said.
    "Kitchen," Mae said.
    "Okay then I'll take the bedroom. If anyone
finds something labeled 'Declaration of Independence' holler. Otherwise bring
everything back here and we'll sort through it together."
    They split up and Lucy took a deep breath before
heading up to Belle's bedroom.
    She swallowed past the lump in her throat when she
crossed the threshold into Belle's room. Belle would be fine. She had to be.
    Lucy went to the bed and sat down to pull herself
together. She loved this room because it reflected Belle's personality
perfectly.
    Nothing in here matched. The bed was Shaker style
covered with an assortment of brightly colored pillows, a crazy quilt and a
Navajo blanket. The art on the wall was a mix of black and white landscape
photographs, Native American sand paintings and a couple of masks of unknown
origin. The bed-tables were made of twigs and had silk scarves thrown over
their tops. The lamps were almost certainly Tiffany. The only other furniture
in the room was a pair of slipper chairs upholstered in cream colored silk and
an old steamer trunk plastered with postcards and other bits of paper
memorabilia between them that served as a table. Belle added layers to the
decoration over the years, saying she liked to lounge and daydream about all
the things she'd seen.
    Nothing matched but it all somehow made sense.
    Since Belle had a huge, custom designed walk-in
closet/dressing room there wasn't a need for dressers or mirrors in the
bedroom. And since there were no drawers in the bed-tables there wasn't much to
search.
    After gathering herself, Lucy shook out the books
scattered around the room, noting their titles as she did. No papers fell out
but she saw that Belle was going through a Patricia Cornwell phase.
    Lucy moved on to the dressing room. There was a lot
more ground to cover in here.
    She opened drawers, slid her hand between folded
sweaters and checked handbags. Luckily all the shoes were housed in transparent
plastic shoeboxes so she didn't have to sort through them all--well over a
hundred pairs.
    Nothing.
    Until she