The Girl and the Unlucky 13 (Emma Griffin™ FBI Mystery) by A.J. Rivers (i have read the book .txt) 📕

Vivian’s mom and stepdad thought she was with her dad. We weren’t planning to do anything wrong. We just felt old enough to hang out in a place we were already comfortable with by ourselves. We didn’t want adults hovering over us.”

Her voice breaks a bit, and her lip starts to quiver, but she takes a deep breath and steels herself.

“I still feel guilty about it. And for not looking for her. We should have realized something was wrong.”

An idea comes to my mind. “Dean and I will be up there at the lake the day after tomorrow to continue the investigation there. Would you be able to meet us at the park and show us where everything happened?”

“Sure,” Allison nods without hesitation. “I’ll talk to Vivian and see if she can come, too.”

“That would be perfect.”

When the call ends, I look over at Dean. He has the same expression on his face.

Something isn’t right about her story.

Fourteen

“You are absolutely positive you’re okay and nothing’s going to happen over the next couple of days?”

 I’m holding my phone between my shoulder and ear as I pack for my trip down to the park.

“Yes,” Bellamy insists. “Everything is perfectly okay. I feel fine and I just went to the doctor this morning. She says as far as she can tell, I’m still not showing any signs of impending labor. Things will take their time for a little while. So, you’re fine. Go do what you need to do.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too. I’ll see you when you get back,” she says.

“It better just be you,” I warn her. “Don’t you dare let that baby come without me.”

“I’ll give her a stern talking-to and make sure she understands Auntie Emma tells her she has to wait.”

“Do I get to be there?” Eric calls out from the background.

“If you have to be,” I roll my eyes.

“Great,” he says. “Thanks for your flexibility.”

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Doing fine,” he says. “I’ve got everything under control. I’m putting the car seat in today. We packed B’s hospital bag. Now it’s just a matter of picking out what she’s going to wear on her way home, and we’re ready to go.”

Eric sounds completely calm and collected. Which tells me he’s still freaking out. He gets very calm and steady when things are really getting to him. If he’s a little bit upset or things are going wrong, then they’re going to work out, so he can be loud and upset. When they are really serious, he starts to shut down. When Eric gets quiet in a crisis, that’s when you know it’s time to worry.

“Alright. Well, I’m not going to be gone long. A couple of days, max. Call me if anything happens or if you even think something is going to happen.”

“We will,” Bellamy says.

I don’t feel a lot more confident about this trip when I get off the phone. But I try to tell myself I’m only going to be a few hours away. If something happens, they can call me, and I will get to her as fast as I can. But it’s not just worrying about missing the birth of Bellamy’s child that’s giving me pause. I also know what’s waiting for me in Harlan.

And it’s more than Xavier and whatever complicated, potentially disturbing game he’s playing with my father. Creagan made sure to go over my head and get in touch with the new agent so she knew to be waiting for me today when I go through town.

It wasn’t that I was going to try to not meet with her or pretend I’d forgotten about the whole thing. I know this is inevitable. But his setting it up makes it feel like a blind date. It’s uncomfortable, to say the least.

When my bags are packed and I’m prepared with the basket of road trip snacks I always keep in the car, I call my father and let him know I’m heading out. He mumbles his usual words of wisdom, which are basically the same ones he’s been giving me since I was a little girl. Apparently, his advice is applicable whether I’m trying to jump rope a thousand times without missing, going to my first formal dance, starting college, or investigating serial murder.

There was a time when he would have started and I would have just let his voice go to white noise because I’d heard it a thousand times before. I might have even tried to cut him off early and hurried away. I can’t do that anymore. After spending so many years without hearing those words, I treasure every time I hear them. Any chance I get to hear my father’s voice, I want to take it. I know too well what it’s like to not have that chance.

The drive from my father’s house to Harlan is uneventful, and soon I’m in the outskirts where Xavier and Dean live to pick them up. They will ride with me down to the park, and Agent James will follow us. The guys are waiting outside when I pull into the driveway. Xavier waves enthusiastically and grabs the handles of the three duffel bags sitting at his feet.

I’ve gotten used to his compulsion to obsessively overpack for anything we’re doing. It makes him feel more comfortable. I’ve actually found that sometimes he brings along things I never would have thought of, but that prove useful. As long as I have an extra corner of the trunk and the floorboards are open, he is welcome to bring whatever he wants.

Dean is much more practical with his single bag and a pillow tucked under his arm. They climb into the car and Dean searches my face.

“You look excited,” he notes.

“You know how I feel about this,” I say.

“About what?” Xavier asks, bouncing forward and leaning around my seat so he can look at me. A second later it seems to sink in. “Oh. The new agent. What’s the problem