Symphony of Bones by L.T. Ryan (most romantic novels .TXT) 📗

trying to deal with her own tragic life—but none of them were good enough. None mattered.

“I’m here now,” she whispered to the room. If he heard her, he didn’t acknowledge the promise implicit in her words. But it didn’t matter—nothing would assuage her guilt.

Cassie scrolled through the other names and clicked on each of their profiles. She read through all the missing posters. Other than the fact they’d all gone missing from Savannah in the same year, nothing stuck out as a common denominator. The ages ranged from six to fourteen. They were all different races. Their socioeconomic backgrounds were also widely different, though most of them had been from the poorer side of town.

She went back to the drop-down menu and chose the year 1995. The page reloaded. Sarah’s picture was at the top. She remembered the day it had been taken. It was at Sarah’s tenth birthday party. The most recent photograph they’d had of her at the time. At least the most recent photograph that didn’t have Sarah connected at the hip with Cassie.

Three other kids had gone missing that year. Tommy Whitmore. Chase Goode. Annabelle Dodge. According to the website, all four were still unsolved. Just like the ones from the year before. That made eleven cold cases over the span of two years in a single city. Eleven kids whose lives were taken before they’d even been able to live them.

Cassie found the drop-down menu again. There were countless reasons why people trafficked children across the globe, but she would never understand how anyone could do something like that to another human being, let alone a kid. If Sebastian’s case connected with Sarah’s, that implied there were more cases related to their disappearances. There had to be a beginning to the thread.

Cassie clicked on the year 1993. She’d keep going back until something jumped out at her. And if nothing did, then she’d keep searching. If she couldn’t find a connection, then she’d ask for Laura’s help. And David’s. Viotto’s. Even Sebastian. He had more to say. She just had to be patient enough to listen.

But after an hour of trying to figure out if the same person took any of these kids, she’d come up with absolutely nothing. David hadn’t answered her, and Laura hadn’t come back in from the garage.

Cassie took to Google. She searched for other kids who had gone missing between 1990 and 1995. The police had solved some. Usually, it was someone close to the child—a mother or father or uncle or family friend. Some of them had died, their bodies found discarded in a field or at the bottom of a river. A few headlines spoke of the children who’d been victims of tragic accidents.

That’s when she spotted him.

Ethan Miller.

He’d died in 1993 when he was ten. He’d drowned while his mother, Sherry Miller, had her back to the swimming pool. Police hadn’t been able to prove negligence, so they didn’t charge the parents. There was nothing about the case that appeared connected to the two Cassie was investigating, and yet she couldn’t take her eyes off the picture of young Ethan.

His hair color, his eye color, and even the sad, faraway look on his face was hauntingly familiar.

He was a dead ringer for Sebastian Thomas.

21

Cassie was so engrossed in her search that when there was a sharp knock at the door, she almost launched her computer across the room. After a deep breath to slow her pounding heart, she angled the screen away from the door.

“Come in.”

Laura nudged the door open with a large box in her arms. “Hey.”

“Oh, it’s just you.”

“Gee, thanks.” She set the box on the floor. “Found this in the garage. Guess mom missed it. Has your name on it.”

“Oh, thanks for bringing it up here.”

Laura flopped down on the bed. “No problem. I needed an excuse to get away.”

“Dad driving you nuts?”

“Did you know he works in complete silence? No music, no audiobooks, nothing. Just…silence.”

Cassie laughed and readjusted the computer. “He likes to be alone with his thoughts.”

“That sounds terrible. I hate my thoughts. Who would do that to themselves?”

“Normal people.”

Laura pretended to shudder. “What have you been up to?”

“Trying to find out more about the missing kids. Look at this.” She turned the screen so Laura could see. “Three guesses who that is.”

“Sebastian Thomas?”

“Wrong.” When Laura’s eyebrows shot up, Cassie continued. “His name is Ethan Miller, but at least I’m not crazy for thinking they look alike.”

“They look identical. Are they long-lost brothers or something?”

“Not that I can tell, but I don’t have concrete proof on that.”

“Did he go missing, too? Maybe the kidnapper has a type?”

Cassie blew a piece of hair out of her face. “That wouldn’t explain the connection between Sebastian and Sarah, though. Besides, Ethan didn’t go missing. He died in an accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

“He drowned. As far as the police figured, there weren’t any suspicious circumstances. Didn’t even charge the mother for negligence.”

“But there’s gotta be some connection, right? They look crazy identical.”

“Ethan died in 1993. Sebastian died in 1994. They both lived in Savannah at the time and were born about two years apart. Other than that, I can’t find anything else.”

“What’s your next move?”

Cassie closed the lid to her laptop and sighed. “I don’t have one. I’ve looked at hundreds of missing kids from all over Georgia between 1990 and 1995. There are some similarities between a handful of them, like the time of year they went missing or where they went missing from, but it’s not enough to say they’re connected.”

“Have you asked David for help? Maybe he knows something you don’t.”

“I’ve tried.” Cassie looked at her phone again, but there were no updates. “He still hasn’t responded.”

“I’m sure he will, when he can.” Laura craned her neck at the phone. “How’s Jason?”

“Fine.” Cassie couldn’t help the grin that spread over her face. “He was just telling me about work stuff.”

“I’m sure it was perfectly PG.” Laura rolled her eyes, then narrowed them.