Chapter 32
— chapter thirty-two
Jeremy might have had a point—Evan had waited long enough for Leanna to get over her grudge. He tossed out the rest of the pizza and returned to her house. It was almost too late to call. Likely close to eight in the evening.
But if she was uncomfortable inviting him in, he’d stay on the front porch. At the very least, maybe she’d listen to his new, improved apology.
He’d been practicing it.
“All ya got to do is tell her that you’re falling in love with her,” he said to himself. “You’re falling in love and only want to make her happy.” Surely that would make even the most hardened of hearts soften a bit?
All thoughts of pretty apologies evaporated when he got to her house, though. All the window shades were up, but it was completely dark inside. He couldn’t see a single patch of light shining anywhere.
More concerning was the fact that Bumble had started scratching at the window and barking pitifully the second he spied Evan. “What’s going on, pup?” he asked.
Leanna doted on that dog. Not only did she have lots of toys for him, she had a sturdy kennel with soft blankets inside for him to stay in when she went to work. Evan couldn’t imagine a situation where she would have knowingly left him running about in the dark.
“Leanna?” he called out. “Leanna, are you okay?”
There was no answer.
He tried the front door. It was locked, so he walked around to the back door and tried the knob. When it easily turned, his slight worry became real concern. Opening the door, he called her name again. “Leanna? Leanna, I’m coming inside.”
Bumble, looking frantic, rushed toward him. Kneeling down, Evan tried to calm him. “Hush now, pup. I’ve got you. Come on. Let’s get you outside.”
Bumble scurried down the small set of steps and did his business, then ran to Evan’s side. Crouching again, he ran his hand along the pup’s side. “You okay, hund? Come on. Let’s go in and look for Leanna.”
After lighting a kerosene lamp, Evan began walking through each room. Nothing looked out of sorts. It was as if she’d just vanished.
After much debate, he hurried out to Leanna’s shanty and called his house. Jeremy answered on the first ring.
“Jeremy, I’m over at Leanna’s, but I think something might be wrong. Leanna’s gone, but Bumble is here. He was running around and seemed frantic.”
“Maybe he got out of his kennel.”
“Maybe, but it don’t seem likely.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure. What do you think? Should I wait a bit in case she returns?”
“I guess, but won’t she get upset if she finds out that you’ve been waiting inside her haus?”
“I’m sure she will, but the back door was unlocked, Jeremy.”
In the end, Evan elected to sit with Bumble by the front door for a little over an hour. When she still wasn’t back by a quarter after nine, he ended up writing her a note apologizing for walking into her empty house but letting her know he was taking Bumble home with him until she returned.
Evan barely slept all night, hoping against hope that he’d hear a quiet knock from Leanna looking for her dog. When he didn’t, Jeremy volunteered to go back over to her house to see if she’d returned but hadn’t thought to call them yet.
Unfortunately, Jeremy didn’t have any news to report when he called from his cell phone. “There’s nobody here, Daed. The house looks empty, and the hens in the barn are squawking something awful.”
“All right, go gather the eggs and give them some grain, okay?”
“Jah, sure.”
When Jeremy returned, Evan called the police and explained his concerns. The officer told Evan that he’d be right over.
“I am really worried about her, Officer Tombaugh,” Evan said an hour later. “When we stopped by her farm this morning, it was obvious that no one had been there to care for her hens in the barn.”
“You said you broke into her house last night too?”
“No, I went inside through the back door because it was unlocked. Her puppy was carrying on something awful. After waiting around until after nine, I left her a note and brought the pup back here.” Taking a fortifying breath, he added, “Officer, you have to believe me. Leanna would never leave that puppy alone overnight. She dotes on him. Something is very wrong.”
“I agree, Evan.” After a brief pause, Officer Tombaugh said, “How about you come with me to her house. We’ll look around. You can let me know if you find anything that looks suspicious or strange.”
“All right.”
After they arrived at Leanna’s house, Officer Tombaugh knocked on her back door and called her name before opening it and walking inside with Evan.
“Leanna?” Evan called. “Are you here?”
As he expected, there was no reply. Feeling like they were on a fool’s errand, Evan walked through Leanna’s house with Officer Tombaugh. Everything looked in order.
Only when they went to the kitchen did something catch Evan’s eye.
“Officer, come look at this,” he called out as he pointed to Leanna’s open address book.
“What is it?”
Evan tapped a page. “This is a list of drivers for the Amish. Since it’s lying open, it could be that Leanna needed a driver to go somewhere.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Evan. I wouldn’t have caught that.” Looking down at the names, he added, “Do you know any of them? Or do you know if Leanna has a favorite driver?”
“I don’t know her favorite, but she’s circled this lady’s name. Maybe we could start with her?”
“Sounds like a good plan.” Picking up his cell phone, Officer Tombaugh called the number that was circled.
Evan watched him raise his eyebrows.
“This is Officer Kendrick Tombaugh. I’m here at Leanna Mast’s house. She hasn’t been home all night. Is there any chance you’ve seen her?”
Evan stepped closer, eager to hear the news.
Two minutes later, Officer Tombaugh hung up. “Miralee dropped Leanna off at Alliance State Park yesterday to go hiking.”
“Hiking?”
“The lady said Leanna talked about going there with her mother years ago. It seems she decided to visit there again.”
“How was she going to get back?”
“Supposedly Miralee gave Leanna some names and numbers. She said there was a pay phone at the entrance and a couple of restaurants nearby.”
Evan frowned. If Leanna had gone to the park alone, she could’ve gotten hurt . . . or someone could’ve harmed her. Or maybe something happened at one of the restaurants.
A dozen awful scenarios filled his head. Knowing they weren’t helping, he pushed them to the side. “What can I do to help?”
“I’m going to take this book and give another officer a call. We need to see if anyone at those restaurants saw Leanna last night.”
“And if they didn’t?”
“If no one has seen her, then we’re going to need to look for her in that park,” the officer replied, looking worried. “All sorts of things could’ve happened to her there.”
That was exactly what he was afraid of.