Missing Daughter (A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist): Missing, #2

By Ann-Marie Richards

Jane's worst nightmare came true when her five-year-old daughter Mary Sue vanished into thin air.

Just like that.

Someone took her daughter.

Jane would do anything to get her little angel back even if that meant digging up and confronting a long-buried past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ann-Marie Richards
• Release date: Nov 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215900956

Book preview

Chapter 1 - Jane

You’re not going to let Mary Sue bring that thing, are you? Lenora, Jane Kartsin’s mother-in-law asked with a forced politeness. Lenora clutched her handbag to her as she stood by the open front door ready to leave. She wore a thick brown coat for the crisp fall weather.

The sky was overcast and gray to match her mother-in-law’s perfectly coiffed hair; the neatest updo Jane had ever seen.  It was a chilly Saturday in October and the leaves on the trees had already turned the colors of orange, yellow and brown.

Speaking of turning colors, it had been a while now since Jane’s big argument with her husband John and she knew Lenora took her son’s side. Things had been tensed lately. John and Jane had each been having trouble at their jobs and they were both in over their heads in debt in never-ending house repairs. Struggling to pay the bills while borrowing off their home to make badly needed fixes. Sadly, this meant less time to spend with their precious little girl.

Of course, Lenora had told her son John that she should just sell the house Jane had inherited from her grandmother, but Jane couldn’t do that. Where would they live? Not with Lenora. She and Lenora never got along—and it wasn’t for lack of trying on Jane’s part. Her mother-in-law seemed to always nitpick at anything she could find with her. She even once accused her of letting Mary Sue have too much screen time.

Lately, Lenora had been acting increasingly funny towards Jane. And she never let a day go by without making snide remarks about Jane’s parenting skills—or lack of, as she would often insinuate. Waves of anxiety rolled through Jane again. This happened whenever Lenora criticized her or put her down.

Jane wished her husband didn’t have to work overtime at the office today. The plan was for John to look after their daughter since Jane had to go into work but he had let her down at the last moment and now Jane was stuck with Lenora.  

She loves to play with her tablet, Jane said, trying to sound cheerful while defending her five-year old daughter Mary Sue. She does her little drawings with this cool app. It makes her happy.

Lenora smiled but it was a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Back in my day, we used paper to draw.

It’s not a bad thing for the environment to make art in this way, Jane offered brightly, not wanting to offend John’s mother.

Mary Sue held onto the iPad mini in her hand and looked up and gave her mom a big hug. Jane squeezed her back gently.

Mary Sue wore her favorite pink raincoat and looked like a princess. The forecast called for rain later so Jane wanted to make sure Mary Sue didn’t get wet. Her Disney backpack was slung over her shoulders and her tablet firmly held in her arms. She looked as if she was going on a camping trip. Mary Sue gave her a wide grin and her cute dimples appeared melting Jane’s heart.

What would she do without her little girl? Mary Sue was the apple of her eye, as the saying went. She fixed her daughter’s golden curls away from her face and gave her a smile. She always worried about her daughter, especially when she wasn’t with her.

Jane worried about Mary Sue’s safety as all parents did about their children. Would the person looking after their child watch them closely? Make sure to never let their child leave their sight? Jane worried about these things, especially since her mother-in-law could be forgetful at times.

Jane felt guilty for not trusting her but uneasiness always slid inside her body whenever Lenora looked after Mary Sue. There was this one time when Lenora had almost forgotten to pick Mary Sue up from the daycare and the daycare had called Jane to let her know that Mary Sue was still there after closing. It was a day when both John and Jane had to work late.

You be good now. Don’t give Nana any trouble.

I won’t, mommy.

Mary Sue’s smile warmed Jane’s heart. When she smiled, her cute little face lit up like sunshine on a cloudless summer day. Her eyes were blue like pools of water. Her cheeks rosy like cherries.

Thank you so much for taking Mary Sue for the day, Jane added with appreciation. I shouldn’t be too long at the office.

I thought you worked Monday to Friday, Lenora said, suspicion in her tone, I can’t believe they’re having you work on a Saturday.

It was interesting Lenora never mentioned anything about John having to work on a Saturday as well. Jane mused that Lenora probably thought it was okay for a man to work all kinds of hours, while women were expected to be available to their children twenty-four-seven.

I know, she said, quietly, but it’s just for this weekend.

The truth was, Jane wished she could spend more time with Mary Sue, but she’d been called in to do overtime for a special contract the agency was trying to land. She longed to have her own online business one day so that she could spend more time with her daughter.

Of course, having a business meant you wouldn’t have to work 40 hours a week for someone else, but you may end up working 80 hours a week for yourself and your clients.

Still, it also meant that if her daughter had an event at school, Jane wouldn’t have to ask permission to attend, only to have her request for a day off denied. She also had her own little marketing side hustle creating social media posts and memes and hoped that it would turn into a full-time income soon.

Jane’s stomach twisted into knots. She would rather not have let Mary Sue stay with Lenora, but she had no choice.

Bye sweetie, Jane said again, feeling uneasy.

Bye Mommy, Mary Sue said, giving her mother another hug and a peck on the cheek.

Everything Jane was doing was for her daughter’s benefit. So why did she feel terrible for not being able to spend this Saturday with her little angel?

Chapter 2 - Lenora

Lenora wished she could be there more for her son and daughter-in-law. They were always so busy. Too busy to look after little Mary Sue properly, the way a child should be looked after. But that was all right. More time for Lenora to spend with her only granddaughter.

Mary Sue looked so much like Lenora; she mused as she glanced in the rear view mirror. Lenora knew her daughter-in-law Jane thought she was criticizing her about letting a child have a tablet to play with but all she was doing was offering some kind advice. She wasn’t just a grandmother, she was also a mother, after all. She raised two children successfully.

Well, one of her children passed away, but that wasn’t her fault. Up until that time, they were raised well. And she managed to take good care of her husband too, before he passed away. It looked as if everyone around Lenora was leaving her alone. But at least she had Mary Sue.

Parents were too busy these days. She supposed times had changed. Back in her day, she didn’t have so many expenses. Houses were more affordable and the cost of living wasn’t too expensive.

And now her son and daughter-in-law were living in this big dreadful house that kept costing them money to repair. Money they should be putting away for Mary Sue’s college education.  Lenora didn’t know why they wouldn’t just live with her. Barry and she paid off for their house on Blue Belle Avenue decades ago. There was enough room at Lenora’s home for all of them to live as a happy family. She really wished they would reconsider, especially for Mary Sue’s sake.

Still, Mary Sue was so happy whenever she was with Lenora. Mary Sue always seemed to light up around her grandmother. The little girl was so free around her. She could play outside all she wanted in Lenora’s neighborhood. Soft Springs was a nice small town.

Her friend Claire and her granddaughter Sarah always came by to visit too. They always had so much fun. No arguments in the home. And she also had the ladies at the church visit as well, Marla and Joanne. They were all widows who stuck together. Lenora really wished John and Jane would get their act together though.

Mary Sue deserved so much better. And that didn’t mean spending her time staring at a screen. Lenora noticed that Jane didn’t like Mary Sue to play outside too much. What was she afraid of? If Mary Sue were Lenora’s child, she would be spending more time outdoors mingling with others. Sometimes, Lenora wished she was her little girl and she could make all the decisions for her.

Chapter 3 - The past

She watched as flames engulfed the home. She knew who did it. She knew what happened. Everything she’d ever wanted was gone. Everyone close to her had perished. She was now alone. Except for the person responsible. She had to get away from that person. She would make that person pay for taking away her family.

Chapter 4 - Jane

After Lenora pulled out of the driveway, Jane waved to her little girl, her heart pulling inside her. She hated to be away from Mary Sue but Jane had no choice since she had to work this Saturday. It should have been a mother-daughter fun day. That’s what she had originally planned. She wanted to take Mary Sue to the park and let her ride on the swings, one of her favorite things to do at the playground. Just as she had done when she was a little girl. It was a great time, no care in the world as you swung back and forth with the wind behind you. A magical time. Whenever Mary Sue laughed on the swing as she was being pushed from behind, Jane’s heart felt light, joy bubbled up inside her.

Worrying about her daughter was always at the top of Jane’s mind every moment of the day. Was she a normal parent? Did all parents obsess over their kid’s well-being every second of the day? Or was she alone?

Jane had read somewhere that the average person had somewhere between 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts every single day. The brain was unquestionably a busy organ. That was a lot of conundrums but Jane was sure she had even more. The study also said of those thoughts about eighty percent were negative and something like ninety-five percent were repetitive thoughts. Why was that? she wondered.

Imagine that. Jane knew all too well that she was in that statistic, assuming it was actually true. Her mind swirled all day with thoughts about bills, working, her marriage, survival, but on the top of that list was Mary Sue’s safety. The world was a crazy place.

Though Soft Springs wasn’t too bad for a small town, there were still thousands of people in this small town that she didn’t know. Yes, it was a change from the big city but how well did she really know her neighbors?

Jane was obsessed over her daughter’s well-being and whether or not she was doing her best as a mother, every single moment of the day. Especially whenever Mary Sue was not with her. What kind of mother was she?

As Mary Sue waved back and the car drove off into the distance down the street, Jane instinctively looked up as if she sensed being watched.

And she was right.

It was that creepy neighbor, Bruce, from across the street. He looked middle-aged from what she could tell. He had dark brown hair with streaks of gray at the side and he wore a blue T-shirt with worn jeans. Probably relaxing on his day off, just as she should be on the weekend. She didn’t know too much about him. He was sitting on the front porch.. She caught him staring and even when she met his eyes, he didn’t look away. He didn’t even smile or wave.

It wasn’t the first time she caught him staring at her. Jane would see him watching her whenever she took Mary Sue to daycare. He would be watching both of them. It was as if he knew the precise time she took her daughter to the daycare and the time she picked her up.

This never happened when John took Mary Sue to the daycare, which wasn’t often. John had told her he never noticed the guy across the street watching them. But then again, she noticed John wasn’t always observant of his surroundings.

Still, the man across the street gave her the creeps. She didn’t know what it was but it was just a strange vibe. Jane had a bad feeling about Bruce.

And one should always trust their instincts, right? She knew it couldn’t be her imagination.

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