Close to Home by Lisa Jackson Page A

in his head turning. “The dad and online boyfriend, both in Colorado. What’re the chances of that?”
    â€œMaybe they know each other.”
    â€œCheck ’em out. Both of ’em.”
    â€œAlready started.”
    Cooke rapped his fingers on the desktop. He didn’t like the sound of this one little bit. “You got pictures?”
    â€œSharon supplied me and Missing Persons with a couple of recent shots, along with the pic and info on her driver’s license. We’ve already put a BOLO out on her and, considering her age, an AMBER Alert.”
    â€œSo much for the twenty-four-hour waiting period.”
    â€œShe’s a kid, Sheriff. And I’m going with my gut on this one.”
    â€œOkay.” He too had a bad feeling. “Start checking with friends, work with Missing Persons, look into the stepdad and old boyfriends, as well as the kid who’s supposed to be in Denver. If she met him online he could be anywhere. Maybe even just down the road. Someone who knows she’s got a dad in Colorado and is using it as bait to get close to her. You know, an opening. For that matter, the online guy might not be a teenager at all. Could be an adult. A poser.” He let out a long breath and thought of his own teenaged kids, who lived in Portland with their mom. He knew how it felt when one didn’t show up when they were supposed to, though he’d lucked out and Hallie and Ben had always been okay. “Let’s just hope she has a rebellious streak, took off, and has a change of heart. That way she’ll come home on her own.”
    Lucy Bellisario’s gray eyes met his. “That would be best,” she agreed, but she didn’t look as if she had much hope of that particular scenario happening.
    Neither did he.

C HAPTER 6
    T he ghost had been trying to communicate with her—Gracie was sure of it as she stood just on the other side of the wall to the dining room, eavesdropping on the conversation between her mother and uncles. She’d been terrified on the staircase, never expecting such a close encounter, but the woman in white had been trying to tell her something. And Gracie had been too scared to realize it until now.
    It hadn’t been a dream.
    She hadn’t imagined the ghost.
    But in the light of day, having had time to think about it, she realized that the spirit of Angelique Le Duc was reaching out to her.
    She’d blown it and now had to do something about it. She’d read enough history about Blue Peacock Manor to know that Angelique might not be the only ghost haunting the place; lots of people had lived and died here, and many of them were interred in the family plot somewhere on the property. Gracie had already been researching the people who had lived in the house and around the area.
    But she had to keep what she was doing to herself. If she was to communicate with the ghost, maybe help her spirit cross over—which was what all ghosts seemed to want to do—then she would have to keep her mouth shut. Otherwise, her mother would haul her back to see the psychologist again, just as she had after the divorce. No thanks. Gracie wasn’t nuts, she knew that much; she just sensed more things than most people, which freaked out her mother but made Gracie feel somehow complete.
    She just had to figure out how to use this gift she’d been given.

    â€œJust so we’re on the same page,” Jacob said, always one to clarify a situation. He was the more nervous of her twin brothers, and that’s how a lot of people told the two men apart. Their faces were nearly identical, their hair a dusty blond, their eyes sky blue, their builds athletic and broad-shouldered. But Joseph usually presented an easy smile, while Jacob’s forehead was already lined from years of pulling his eyebrows together. Today, there were more obvious distinctions, as Jacob’s hair was clipped and short, while Joseph’s was longer