Perhaps he’d had to use the bathroom. “Logan,” she called softly. “You there?”
Silence. Not even the thump of Tony’s tail on the wooden floor. Bailey slipped out of bed. Naked, she grabbed yesterday’s jeans and shirt from the floor and slipped them on. “Logan!” she called again as she stepped out into the hall.
Nothing. She flipped on the light and headed down the stairs. She saw that a light burned in the kitchen and from under his office door. Working. No doubt Tony curled up by his feet. She smiled and shook her head. Probably brewed himself a cup of coffee, too. No wonder he couldn’t sleep.
Bailey used the bathroom, then headed downstairs. The floor was cool against her bare feet. She tapped on the closed door, then nudged it open. Her greeting died on her lips.
He wasn’t there.
Bailey acknowledged the sliver of fear even as she chastised herself for it. She was being ridiculous. “Logan!” she called, starting for the kitchen.
That room proved as empty as the office. So she checked the courtyard, then the remainder of the first floor.
Heart rapping against the wall of her chest, she headed back up to the second floor.
Still no sign of her husband. Where had he gone? Why would he have left her this way?
The way her father had, in the dark of night.
Sudden, complete panic crashed down on her. The garage. His car. It would be there, she told herself. It would.
Bailey ran down the stairs to the mudroom door. She grabbed the flashlight Logan kept there and yanked on her rubber boots. She stepped out into the night. Pitch-black. No moon or stars, both obscured by clouds. A chill wind blew and she shivered, wishing she’d grabbed a jacket as well, but unwilling to go back.
She snapped on the flashlight. The beam sliced through the darkness and she hurried to the garage.
His Porsche was there, she saw. As was her SUV and his truck. So, where was he? Walking on a night like tonight? Dark as pitch? Riding? Would he endanger one of the horses that way—
The horses. The barn. Of course.
She ran around the side of the garage where he parked the golf cart, the vehicle used to get between the various residences on the property and the barns. It wasn’t there.
Bailey made a sound, part relief, part embarrassment. The barn. Of course that’s where he’d gone. He’d said something about one of the horses being colicky. And he’d taken Tony with him.
She was such an idiot.
Bailey turned to go back to the house, then stopped, flashlight beam landing on the courtyard gate. A memory snapped into place, filled her head.
She and Logan standing there. She had rushed out to meet him, to tell him what she and Tony had uncovered.
Logan, staring at her as if she had lost her mind. “Tony found what?”
“A shoe. A lady’s high-heeled shoe. Bright red.”
“Okay.”
“By the pond,” she said.
“What were you doing out there?”
“I told you, going to see Henry. Tony ran off and I went searching for him.”
“Bailey, baby, that wasn’t very smart. You could have gotten lost. It gets pretty swampy in places, you could have fallen … there are snakes, too. Water moccasins.”
The mention of snakes made her queasy. “Except for the snakes, those all crossed my mind. But you’re missing the point. When I found Tony, he was digging up something. It turned out to be the shoe.”
“Did you bring it back with you?”
“No. But I snapped a picture.”
“Seriously?” When she didn’t return his smile, he said, “Okay, let’s see it.”
She showed it to him. He’d gazed at the image for a long moment, then handed her phone back. “Okay.”
“Then Henry showed up. He walked me back.”
“You’re right, it does sound like a big adventure.” He opened the gate, started through. “And Tony stayed with him?”
“Yes. Wait—” She touched his arm stopping him. “What should we do?”
“About Tony?”
“No. The shoe.”
“I don’t see that we need to do anything about it.”
“But … how did it get out there?”
“Kids go out there all the time to go swimming. It may seem like the middle of nowhere, but it’s actually not that far from the edge of the property and Hay Hollow Road.”
“It wasn’t a kid’s shoe. It belonged to a woman.”
“When I say ‘kids,’ I’m talking about young people. It’s a make-out spot. One time somebody couldn’t find their shoes, so they left without them.”
It sounded logical. “I suppose that could happen.”
“I can promise you it has. Come on, let’s go inside. I’ll pour us a glass of wine.”
But she had hung back, Bailey remembered. “How did a woman wearing high-heel shoes get to that spot?”
He looked back. “What?”
“Like you said, it’s swampy and uneven. And she wouldn’t take them off and go barefoot, because of the snakes.”
“Maybe the man she was with carried her?”
An image popped into her head, one of a victim being carried.
Logan returned to her side, took her hands. “They’re cold.” He rubbed them between his. “This has really upset you.”
“Yes, Logan … two women from Wholesome have gone missing.”
He searched her gaze. “You’re being serious?”
“I am.”
“You really think Tony may have unearthed one of those women’s shoes?”
“It probably isn’t. But it could be.”
“On our property?”
“Why not? It could happen to anybody. And what if it was and we did nothing?”
“Look, I’ve lived here all my life and have seen just what I’ve described to you a hundred times before. Hell, I’ve participated before. It’s so swampy there because it’s spring and we’ve had so much rain. In the summer, it’s dry and lovely. But, if it would make you feel better to take it to the police—”
“It would, Logan. It really would.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” He rested his forehead against hers. “It’s getting too dark now. In the morning, we’ll go out there, collect the shoe and bring it to Billy Ray.”
Bailey blinked; the memory evaporated. The flashlight in her hand, illuminating the deep of night. The empty drive.