Little Girl Lost

By Carla Evenson

Cheryl Thomass life as an ordinary pastors wife is turned upside down when her neighbors child actress daughter, Jessica Parker, goes missing and her husband becomes a suspect.

Cheryl refuses to accept the statistics that say the chances of finding the child alive are slim. Holding firm to her faith, Cheryl searches for the truth and soon learns that all was not as it seemed in the Parker household.

Despite all odds, Cheryl fights clear her husband and bring little Jessica Parker home for Thanksgiving.

Still, that took a lot of nerve to go in and take a child from her bedroom, and then get her out of the house without waking anyone. Apparently, she never even screamed.

He may have drugged her or something. Theres also the chance that she knew him and therefore trusted him.

Janet shivered. It gives me the chills just thinking about it.

I know Ill feel better when this thing is solved, and not just because it will get Mitch in the clear.

Janet nodded. Who would ever have thought wed have a kidnapping out here in little old Fall River?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973621720

Carla Evenson

Carla Evens was born in Illinois but grew up in Kentucky. She fell in love with books at an early age and began writing short stories, poetry and plays at the age of 8. She has been a legal secretary for twenty-two years and currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky.

Book preview

LITTLE

GIRL

LOST

CARLA EVENSON

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Copyright © 2018 Carla Evenson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2171-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2173-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2172-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018902587

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/13/2018

CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

About The Author

CHAPTER ONE

Jessica Parker is missing.

I walked around the bed to our bedroom window, raised the blinds, and looked toward the big brown bricked house on the hill just beyond the parsonage where we lived. Its shape was barely visible through the nearly barren trees and early morning fog. I could see flashes of light as someone moved through the woods with a flashlight. A siren screamed in the distance.

Jessica Parker was our neighbor’s eight-year old daughter. What? Missing? How could she be missing? I asked my husband, Mitch. He’d gone out for his run nearly an hour earlier. He was supposed to be home getting ready to go to work at his office in the church behind our parsonage.

She was apparently abducted from her bed during the night.

I hurried down the hall to our daughter’s room. She lay clutching her floppy stuffed dog, still sound asleep. I breathed a sigh of relief as I closed her door. I went back to our bedroom.

Did they leave a ransom note or anything?

No. Uh, hold on Cher, I heard the sound of Mitch shuffling the phone, and muffled voices. I have to go, Mitch said. Dan and Gina are pretty distraught, and they can’t get Bea to answer the door.

Is there anything I can do?

I heard someone call my husband’s name. Cops want me, Mitch said. I’ll be home as soon as I can.

I pushed the disconnect button, hanging up the phone. I sat down on the bed for a moment to digest what I had just heard. We were living in the tiny community of Fall River, nestled at the foot of some mountains in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky. Fall River was the kind of community where everybody knows everybody, and gossip gets around faster than fleas. Why in the world would anyone think to come out here, and abduct a child?

Well, Jessica was no ordinary child. She was a beautiful red-haired little girl. She loved to sing, dance and do gymnastics. She had just played Annie in the musical Annie at the children’s playhouse in town. She also had some small parts in other plays at the community playhouse. She had done a couple of commercials for local businesses and had recently acted as an extra in a movie made nearby. Maybe someone who saw her perform took her.

Her father, Daniel Parker, was a well- known attorney. He was planning to run for judge in the next election and wanted to go all the way to the state senate. Perhaps the kidnapping had to do with one of his cases, or his political ambition, and nothing at all to do with her acting.

Katelyn would be up soon. I hurried into the bathroom and took a quick shower. I wanted to linger, letting the hot water penetrate my body, but I didn’t want Katelyn out of my sight that long. I was brushing my teeth when I heard the phone ring. I took a gulp of water, spat it out and ran for the phone.

Cheryl, can you watch the twins? Mitch asked breathlessly.

The Parkers had tried for years to have another child, but it wasn’t until Gina underwent in vetro fertilization that Chelsea and Chad, now eighteen months old, came along.

Sure. I went back and looked out the window. What’s going on?

Bea has had a stroke. We’re waiting for an ambulance now. Someone will bring the twins shortly.

He hung up before I could respond. I hurriedly dressed in a pair of jeans and sweatshirt. First Jessica, and now, Bea, Gina’s grandmother. I whispered a quick prayer for Bea, and for Gina. How would she handle Jessica missing, and her grandmother having had a stroke at the same time? Gina had suffered from depression after the birth of the twins. Her grandmother moved into the little apartment they built at the back of their house to help with the children. She was eighty-three, but she looked and acted much younger. She was an active member of our church and our ladies circle in particular.

I finished my morning make-up ritual and headed downstairs. I was pouring a cup of coffee when I heard Katelyn say, Mommy. She was standing on the landing below the steps dragging her stuffed dog.

"Mommy, where’s Wexi?’ she asked rubbing her eyes.

I hadn’t even thought about the dog. I went over, picked up my daughter, and held her tight. I buried my face in hair. It smelled like the strawberry shampoo I had washed her hair in the night before, after she had gotten glue in it at church.

She’s probably outside, Sweetie, I said. She wiggled out of my arms and went to the door. We had gotten Lexi, a miniature Dachshund mix during the summer. She was eight weeks old then. She and Katelyn had become practically inseparable. Lexi slept on Katelyn’s bed every night, and she was the first thing Katelyn wanted to see in the morning.

Wet her in, Mommy, Katelyn whined pulling at the back door.

I went out and unhooked the dog from her chain. A chill filled the air in spite of the sun shining brightly over the mountains behind our house. Lexi dashed out into the yard around the swing set, stopped beside my car, and stared down the driveway. I followed her gaze. A police car turned into the church parking lot, and then, up our gravel driveway. I called to Lexi and put her in the house. The car came to a stop, and a woman police officer with a creamy brown complexion got out. She nodded her head, and said good morning as I approached the car. She opened the back door of the cruiser, and handed me Chad. He started crying, no doubt still sleepy. The officer went around and removed Chelsea from the car.

I’ll bring the car seats and diaper bag in after we get them inside. She said as we walked toward the house.

We settled the twins and Katelyn in the family room in front of the television to watch cartoons before heading back out to bring in the car seats and diaper bag.

How is Mrs. Duncan? I asked, as I hoisted Chad’s car seat out of the car.

She appeared to be stable. She was conscious although she couldn’t move her right arm and leg, or speak, The officer stopped and looked at me over the car. Such a shame, what happened to that little girl.

I nodded and headed for the house. Chad was standing in the kitchen doorway crying. He looked so small. He had obviously just been awakened since he was still wearing a light blue sleeper, and his blonde hair was tousled. I picked him up, saw the officer off, and started breakfast.

Trying to get all three to kids to eat was not easy. Katelyn, not a big fan of oatmeal, preferred to make swirls in it instead of eating. Chelsea ate heartily, but Chad cried and would only take a bite or two. We finally got finished with breakfast, and by the time I had gotten everybody dressed and in the family room to play, I was pooped. I sat and watched a "Veggie Tales" movie with Katelyn and the twins until Lexi ran barking toward the back door. I pulled myself up and trudged into the kitchen. Mitch came in the back door. His shoulders were stooped, his normally bright blues eyes were dim, and his step was slow. I hugged him, and he held me tight.

What’s happening over there? I asked as he let me go, and sat down in the closest kitchen chair. "Have they heard anything from the kidnapper?

No. Mitch rubbed the back of his neck. They’re searching the woods right now. I told them I would change and get back out there.

Let me get you some breakfast, I said going around the table and into the kitchen.

He held up his hand. Just coffee and a piece of toast.

How are Dan and Gina? I asked as I took a cup out of the cabinet.

Mitch lowered his head and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. Not good. The paramedics had to give Gina a sedative. Bea’s stroke sent her over the edge.

Do they have any idea what happened?

Well, Dan said they got up, and Gina looked in on the kids. When she looked in Jessica’s room, she was gone. They looked all over inside, and then he headed outside. That’s when I heard him calling Jessica’s name. I ran up the driveway to see what was wrong. I overheard one of the officers say that there was a window that had been broken at the back of the house. I think they believe someone entered there sometime during the night, and removed Jessica from her bed.

I handed Mitch his coffee, and stuck a piece of bread in the toaster Why would anyone do a thing like that?

Mitch took a sip of coffee. Apparently, they think it could be related to one of Dan’s cases. He’s defended some people tied to drug trafficking, and it could have something to do with that. Of course, they are also looking at the possibility that it was some pervert who saw Jessica perform and became obsessed. There was no ransom note or anything, so it’s all just speculation at this point.

This all seems so unreal.

And you weren’t the one right there in the middle of it all. I swear it felt like I was in the middle of some movie or one of those crime shows you watch. Police and crime scene people were there, and I think right before I left the FBI arrived. You see them on television and the movies, but when it’s right next door… They must have asked me a hundred questions.

Why were they asking you questions? I asked opening the refrigerator.

I think it’s just routine. I was out running in the area. I may have seen something. Of course, they may also consider me a suspect for all I know.

I almost dropped the jar of jam I had just taken out of the refrigerator. What? You have to be kidding.

Mitch shook his head. I was in the vicinity this morning, and I live only a few hundred yards from the house.

I snatched the toast out of the toaster nearly burning myself in the process.

You’re a minister, for crying out loud.

You know as well as I do that doesn’t mean a thing. Ministers aren’t perfect. I am innocent. It’s just a matter of them looking at all angles.

I buttered the toast and smeared on some strawberry jam. I could just see the rumor mill in our little country church starting to turn.

CHAPTER TWO

I was putting breakfast dishes in the dishwasher when someone knocked at the back door. Lexi yapped at my feet as I opened the door. It was my best friend Janet and her two boys, Cody and Caleb. The boys, aged five and three, were Katelyn’s best friends. Janet usually dropped Caleb off on her way to