Finding Hope



  FINDING HOPE

  by

  ROBIN P. WALDROP

  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Finding Hope

  Copyright © 2012 Robin P. Waldrop

  CHAPTER 1

  TROUBLE IN PARADISE

  The sound of breaking glass stopped Lana from attempting to exit the bedroom. Her heart raced as she briefly glanced down at the charm bracelet dangling from either side of her clenched fist. After ducking back inside Reginald Cavanaugh’s closet, she didn’t move a muscle only held her breath and waited. Please God, don’t let him come in here. In her hand lay the proof that Reginald had lied to the police about not seeing Hope Thomas the night she disappeared. Lana’s best friend went missing from the sleepy little seaside community of Paradise Cove, Massachusetts three days earlier.

  Unlike the majority of Paradise Cove’s residents, Lana Jenkins had lived there for eighteen of her nineteen years. Most of the town’s residents were either vacationers or elderly wealthy couples who relocated for a more serene setting. The town had all the luxuries of bigger cities without the hustle and bustle. Lana’s dad had taken the job as chief of police and moved there from Chicago shortly after her mother’s fatal car accident.

  Reginald was supposed to be out yachting. Lana had seen him—along with his parents—on the deck of the family’s fifty foot luxury cruiser as it pulled away from the pier earlier that morning. It was brand new and easily stood out from most of the smaller ones at the pier.

  Lana watched from behind the Old Sea Wharf restaurant at the edge of the marina, and continued watching through a pair of binoculars until the boat disappeared over the horizon. “Now’s my only chance,” she mumbled through a sly grin as she hurried down the wooden plank walkway to the parking lot. Even if they turned around, she didn’t think they could’ve made it back to land quickly. So, who was it inside the Cavanaugh’s beach house? And what were they doing there?

  What seemed like an eternity passed before Lana heard the sound of a car door slam shut, and an engine rev as it raced away. Looking at her watch she realized it had only been a few minutes.

  “That was close,” Lana sighed, and stuffed Hope’s charm bracelet inside the front pocket of her brown checkered board shorts.

  Lana slipped out from behind one of the racks of hanging clothes in Reginald’s enormous closet. After turning the corner of the hall, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and screamed. She quieted and laughed silently after realizing it was her own reflection staring back from the large floor to ceiling mirror on the wall.

  “Geez, Lana, crime isn’t your strong point,” she said with a sigh of relief and shook her head. She studied her reflection briefly, realizing what her dad meant all those times he had said she looked just like her mother. Dark brown shoulder length hair, eyes the color of melted caramel, tanned and thin, with a well-toned figure. Her heart ached when she thought about the picture of her mom sitting on her dad’s desk at work.

  She pulled her mind back into what she was doing and hurried toward the back door. On the way she couldn’t help but admire the Cavanaugh’s exquisite furnishings. In the living room alone there were leather sofas, Chippendale tables, a solid marble fireplace, and oil paintings Lana felt sure were expensive originals. The sparkling of an enormous crystal chandelier in the dining room caught her attention as the sun reflected through the large bay window. However, she didn’t envy the Cavanaugh’s or anyone else with money. She had lived there long enough to see money in its true light—a curse, not a luxury.

  After exiting the house, she sneaked over the back fence to the beach. Once she was safe from view on the other side of the sand dunes, she sat down, and removed the bracelet from her pocket.

  “Damn it, Hope! What were you doing with him? And why would he want to hurt you?” Lana asked herself.

  Reginald was not only gorgeous, but also rich to boot. He could get any girl he wanted, and did, so why would he hurt Hope? They moved in different circles. That’s why Lana was shocked to see Hope getting into Reginald’s Corvette as she drove past Angelo’s Pizzeria on the night Hope disappeared.

  Tears filled her eyes. “Where are you, Hope?” She clutched the bracelet against her heart.

  After collecting herself, Lana walked north on the beach toward her car, thinking about nothing except Hope.

  Ten minutes later, Lana stepped from the sand onto the boardwalk and rushed to pull her keys from the side pocket of her shorts. After she climbed in and sped out of the parking lot, she headed straight for her dad’s office—Paradise Cove Police Station.

  She parked hastily and bolted toward the police station doors. Once inside she quickly made her way toward the door labeled: Chief of Police, Walter Jenkins.

  “Dad!” Lana yelled, as she pushed through his office door. Her dad casually peered over the top of his reading glasses that rested on the tip of his nose.

  “What now, Lana? Someone been messin’ with the sea turtle eggs again?” He grinned.

  Lana reached in her pocket and pulled out the shiny silver charm bracelet, tossing it across the desk to her dad. He caught it just before it landed in his coffee cup.

  “What’s this?” The chief asked, examining it closely.

  “It belongs to Hope. See the four leaf clover charm?” Lana stepped around the desk and brushed her finger across the charm. “Turn it over.”

  When he did, he saw the birth date engraved on the back. His tired brown eyes grew as big as silver dollars. “Where’d you get this, Lana Elaine?” He only used her middle name when he was angry with her or it was something serious.

  “Well…I-I, uh, I got it from Reginald’s bedroom.” Even though Lana knew her dad would be furious, she crossed her arms and stood her ground. She didn’t care how angry he got as long as he arrested Reginald.

  He furrowed his brow. “Girl, have you lost your ever-lovin’ mind? I told you to let me handle this,” He ranted.

  “But-”

  “Do you realize what you’ve done?” Her father stood and crossed the room to the window. He pulled the cord, opening the blinds, and stared out toward the marina.

  “Yes! I’ve gotten the evidence that makes it possible for you to arrest Reginald, and make him tell us what happened to Hope.” She paused for a moment. “I told you he was lying about being with her, and that bracelet proves it!”

  He spun around to face her. “No, damn it, you’re wrong! What you’ve done is broken into someone’s home! It’s your word against his at best. You’ll never be able to prove you found Hope’s bracelet in his house, let alone in his room!” He stormed back to his seat. “I’ll tell you exactly what will happen if I try to arrest him using this bracelet as evidence. Reginald's father will bring in a team of fancy attorneys from his New York firm, and they will waltz into the courtroom and chew you up into little pieces. That’s if it ever gets that far, which I seriously doubt. As it stands, I don’t have anything to arrest him on.”

  “I had to do it. She’s my best friend! Reginald Cavanaugh is lying and the bracelet proves it.” Tears spilled from her eyes.

  The chief rose from his seat, stepping around the desk with open arms. Lana rushed to him and he pulled her in close. “Shh,” he said softly, stroking her hair. “I’m just trying to make you understand how the law works.”

  At that moment her memories of a little girl, heart-broken
from the grief of losing her mother, came flooding back. Her dad had held her just the same way, stroked her long curls and told her she would always be his little girl.

  A short time later, Lana left her dad’s office and climbed into her driver’s seat. She put the car in reverse and noticed a piece of paper wedged under her windshield wiper. She leaned up over the steering wheel to get a better look. It appeared to be a note. After placing the shifter in park, she opened the door just enough to put one foot on the ground and retrieve the note with her left hand.

  Her heart stopped when she opened the note and started to read. “I need to talk to you. It’s not what you think,” Lana read aloud. “Meet me at the boardwalk. I’ll be waiting.” The note was signed … “Reginald.”