Lie in Plain Sight Read Online Free Page B

“will be up all night recalculating the ingredients, and you won’t get a moment of peace until she gets it right.”
    Trish nodded. “Got it.”
    Maeve put the money in her apron pocket. “Trish, Judy Wilkerson from the high school called and said Taylor wasn’t feeling well. She went home.”
    Trish pulled an apron on over her head. “Home?”
    â€œYes. Home. I wasn’t aware that I was your emergency contact, but Judy said that if I gave my permission, Taylor could go home. She wanted to get some rest because she had a migraine.” Maeve grabbed the mixing bowl from the counter and threw that in the sink along with the growing collection of pots and pans.
    â€œShe’s not there,” Trish said. “That’s why I’m a few minutes late. I stopped by the house to feed my dog. Taylor’s not there.”
    Maeve looked at the clock. It had been over a half hour since Judy had called. Trish lived within a five-minute walk of the high school; a lot of kids in Farringville did, since the high school was in a central location. “Maybe she stopped to get lunch on the way?”
    Trish punched some numbers into her phone. “Straight to voice mail,” she said. She tried another number. “There’s no one home, either.” She looked at Maeve, a look of panic on her face. “She’s not there. She’s not home.”

 
    CHAPTER 4
    In Farringville, everyone in the village knew that the lead detective and the bakery owner were dating. Both Maeve and Chris Larsson had tried to keep it under wraps, but now that it was out there, it was a bit of a relief. Still, they attempted to keep it strictly professional and aboveboard when they were in her place of business. Neither ever expected that his business would intersect with hers, though. Maeve sat at the high counter in the kitchen and relayed her conversation with Judy Wilkerson again.
    â€œShe said that Taylor had a migraine and would walk home.”
    Chris wrote a few notes in his little notepad. “And that was what time?”
    Thank God for Donna Fitzpatrick and her daily drop-in. Maeve wondered if the disappearance of a high school student might put Donna’s icing quandary into some perspective. Probably not. “Twelve twenty-five. Approximately.”
    â€œAnd she was going straight home?”
    â€œAs far as I know.” Maeve dropped her head to the counter. “How bad is this, Chris?”
    His face gave nothing away. In the front of the store, Trish was talking to another officer and trying to figure out potential places that Taylor might go instead of home. Maeve’s initial thought was that the girl had lied, that she hadn’t had a migraine, that she had gone to meet someone, somewhere, and didn’t want anyone to know. Trish’s immediate assumption was that she was abducted. Given that their suspicions were on opposite ends of the spectrum, Maeve kept her thoughts to herself.
    But Chris wanted to know what she thought. “Ran away? Met someone she wasn’t supposed to?” Maeve asked.
    Chris closed his notebook and stood, not giving any indication of whether he agreed with Maeve. “I’m going to talk to Trish again,” he said, leaving the kitchen.
    Maeve stared at the order board across from where she was sitting, just a piece of corkboard nailed to the wall. She had done the wrong thing, letting Judy send Taylor home. She should have waited for Trish to return. She shouldn’t have made that decision for the girl or her mother. Guilt for some things—but not others—took hold of her sometimes and wouldn’t let go, shaking her to the core. This was one of those things. She could feel it already.
    Uniformed cops had already been all over the village and had even gone to the train station to see if anyone had seen a girl buy a ticket, board a train. There wasn’t a lot they could do at this point, her