Skye's Trail Read Online Free PDF Page A

Skye waved her hand in the direction of the kitchen—or what served as the kitchen—a couple of appliances behind an L-shaped counter in one corner of the apartment.
     
    She bypassed the sofa and chair, moved over next to the queen-size bed at the far end of the apartment, snagged some fresh clothes from the dresser before disappearing into the stamp-sized bathroom.
     
    If she’d been alone she would have luxuriated in the hot stream of water then crashed. But those options weren’t available to her now. So she took a quick shower, pulled on her clothes and went out to the couch.
     
    A steaming cup of coffee waited for her on an end table, along with sugar and a small container of half-and-half. “You must have been one hell of a waitress,” Skye said.
     
    Haley’s smile was quick and infectious. “I always made good tips.” Then her smile faltered. “I don’t know what you charge to look for a missing person, probably more than most waitresses can afford. I just want you to know, whatever you charge I can pay it. My boyfriend gives me money whenever I need it.” She nervously touched the pendant on her necklace.
     
    It was old and quite beautiful, the stone in the middle a deep, dark red. For an instant Skye felt pulled toward it—almost like a hypnotist’s medallion. But then the sensation faded.
     
    “Go ahead and tell me about your missing sister.”
     
    “Where do you want me to begin?”
     
    “How long has she been missing?”
     
    “Two months.”
     
    “Did you report it to the police?”
     
    “No.” Haley bit down on her lip. “Kyle, my boyfriend, has been looking for her.” She began twisting the pendant.
     
    Remembering her visitor’s earlier reluctance to call the police, Skye said, “And he doesn’t want you to call the cops?”
     
    “It’s not like they’d do much anyway.” Haley’s voice was defensive. But then something inside her seemed to collapse. “You might as well know all of it. Jen is eighteen. My parents live in Florida. She came out here about four months ago. She was hanging out with a friend, Amy Weldon, some hotshot senator’s daughter. They were doing the club scene. At first I thought, okay, let her get it out of her system. I mean, I was like that when I was her age—fake IDs, hitting the bars, maybe saying yes to guys I should have said no to. It gets old after a while, especially if you don’t have any money. And I knew Jen didn’t have any money. I knew her friend Amy had to be paying for everything. So I thought she’d get tired of it and cut Jen loose.” Haley stopped and looked at Skye for encouragement to continue.
     
    Skye said, “Only she didn’t.”
     
    “No, finally I said something to Jen about it. How could she mooch off her friend like that? She got pissed and said it wasn’t my business but she’d tell me anyway. Amy’s grandfather left her a pile of money and as soon as she turned nineteen she was going to be rolling in it, so Amy didn’t care if she cleaned out her checking account now. She was going to be nineteen in a couple of weeks.”
     
    “Did your parents know Jen was out here?”
     
    Haley looked like she was going to cry. “Yes. But they’re real old-fashioned. I mean, real old-fashioned. They read the Bible every night. They go to church more than they go anyplace else. Vegas is Sin City to them. They won’t step foot in it and they don’t want to have anything to do with Jen or me until we repent and come back home on our own.
     
    “I didn’t blame Jen for not wanting to go back. But the more I saw her with Amy, the more worried I got. I thought maybe if Jen went back home, even for a little while, she’d chill out, find a different friend. So I called my parents and begged them to come out here and get her but they just started preaching about hell and damnation and repenting before my soul was lost for good. And then a week later Jen disappeared.”
     
    “And you don’t think she left