Missing Intuition Read online

  Missing Intuition

  By Amanda Sowers

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2020 Amanda Sowers

  All rights reserved.

  This book is dedicated to

  Two special young ladies who need to learn to use their phones and social media wisely.

  Seven years ago

  I don’t think anyone will be able to link the missing girls in Kentucky to me, they haven’t yet, but I need to be more careful. It’s been a long six months since I’ve gotten to find a new girl. I had to make sure that no one came looking for me.

  Now I find myself parked outside a playground in rural South Dakota, watching as a group of kids play basketball. There’s one girl in particular that caught my eye.

  The way her blonde hair is neatly braided back out of her face makes her look so mature for her age. It’s a warm day, and her soft skin is covered in sweat and dirt. She’ll be having to go home soon to shower before her family heads off to church this evening.

  If I have it my way, she won’t be making it. If I have it my way, she will decide to come with me instead. I always get my way.

  I wait for her to look down at the watch on her hand and realize that she is late. Good, she’ll be in a hurry. She waves goodbye to her friends as she crosses the park heading towards the alley. Good girl.

  I put the car in gear and drive around the block so that I will be coming up behind her when she gets to the next street. She knows my car, and she will be grateful for the ride so that she’s not late, and her mother doesn’t ground her again.

  There she is, just as she should be. Walking fast on the shoulder of the road, three blocks from her house. I look around to make sure that no one else is coming our way. If someone sees us, I will have to take her home.

  “Hey, Polly! Running a late today, aren’t you?” I laugh as I call out the window.

  “Yeah. I forgot to check the time, I guess.” She shrugs, stopping, and walking towards my open window.

  “Well get in, I will take you the rest of the way, so your momma isn’t worried,” I tell her, waving her into the car.

  “That would be awesome! Thank you so much. My mom will ground me if I am late again.” She says, climbing into my car.

  “It’s hot out there today. Here have some water.” I offer her a bottle of ice-cold water.

  “Thanks, I am so thirsty.” Taking the water, she giggles a little bit.

  I can’t help but notice her blush. I’ve always had that effect on them. The older attractive man that shows them a little bit of attention, they soak it up.

  I drive slowly away as she chugs half the bottle before coming up for air. Good girl.

  “How’s your summer going?” I ask her, making small talk waiting for the water to take effect.

  “It’s been good; I don’t want it ever to end.” She says, yawning.

  I take a wrong turn, needing to wait just another couple of minutes as her eyelids droop. She doesn’t say anything about the fact that I am now driving away from her house, so I know that the drugs are kicking in already.

  This one was easier than I thought. She’s spunky; I thought she would put up more of a fight. I’m going to miss her when she’s gone, but I know there are plenty of others out there just like her. Maybe not as pretty, but pretty enough.

  I watch as she sleeps in the makeshift bed that I had made in the trunk of my car. Maybe I put too much sleeping meds in that water. It’s been a while, and she did drink quite a bit really fast.

  I would never touch a girl that isn’t awake; I want her to enjoy it as much as I do. It’s part of the experience for both of us. I’m just running out of patience. Soon the whole side of the state will be looking for her, and I can’t have her in my trunk when they do.

  I shake her arm a little bit to try and startle her awake, but there is nothing. I get closer and shake her a little harder. Still no movement.

  Suddenly I am concerned, I check for a pulse, and there isn’t one. No! This can’t be happening. I know that I didn’t drug her enough to kill her, I couldn’t have I love her! I wouldn’t do that.

  “Wake up!” I yell as I shake her little body. “wake up!” I sob, begging her to open her eyes.

  I allow myself a few minutes to grieve. My first girl in months, and I made a mistake that took her life too early. How could I do this to her? How could I do this to me? I said that I had to be more careful.

  I have to get rid of the body. Somewhere that no one will find it, if they find her, then they could link her back to me, and I can’t let that happen. Not when I need to find another girl.

  I get back in my car and drive for a while, looking for the perfect place to lay her to rest. It’s starting to get dark now, which will make this easier.

  Soon I find myself a few miles outside of the town that I currently live in, I shouldn’t do this so close to home but I want to keep her close so that I can keep an eye on her.

  There’s a field outside of town that has corn planted in it, but due to a recent thunderstorm, a majority of the crop has been destroyed. I will bury her there, where no one will be able to see me from the road, and no one will notice the disturbed dirt.

  I wrap Polly in the blankets from the trunk and carefully carry her and the shovel to the middle of the field. Laying her down softly, I begin to dig her grave.

  When I am finished, I lay on top of the replaced dirt and tell her how sorry that I am that this had to happen. How I wish she could have stayed with me for a little while, and we could have been happy.

  As I walk away, I start to run through some of the girl’s names on my list. Tomorrow I start again.

  “In a town like Hyattsville, you don’t expect bad things to happen. Even when the rest of the world is going crazy, you know your neighbors, and you assume everyone is good.

  That’s what we all thought anyway. When the first girl went missing from a town much like ours, it was terrible. All of our hearts hurt, and we prayed for her and her family.

  I think I heard on the news that something like eighty million children go missing around the world every year. The odds were, unfortunately, good that one would end up going missing around here.

  Then another girl vanished and another one. Soon there were four missing girls in a two hundred mile radius and no sign of where they went or where they could be.

  Every night we held our kids a little tighter. People stopped letting their kids leave the house without them. Even the schools stopped letting the kids outside for recess. Our town was on lockdown because we didn’t want one of our girls to be the next one to disappear.

  Then it happened anyway, right from under our noses. Straight A student, athlete, and adored by everyone that she came in contact with Stephanie’s disappearance has left a hole in the heart of our community.

  We want to plead with the person who has her to please return her back to us safely. It’s been a month, but we are still holding out hope that you have her and she is safe. If there is something that you want or something that we can do to ensure that she comes home, please let us know. We will do anything to reunite the Hills with their daughter.

  Thank you.”

  “Thank you. That was Hyattsville’s mayor, Gorden Donovan. The police have confirmed that Stephanie Hill is the suspected fifth and currently the last known victim of the man that the media is calling a monster.”

  A monster? I loved those girls. None of them could love me back, though. Even little Stephanie didn’t make it as long as I had hoped. Once they try to run away, I can’t trust them anymore, and they have to join the others in their final rest
ing place.

  I wish there were only five of them there. I wish the sixth girl were the one that loved me without me having to force her too. Unfortunately, the number is closer to a dozen, but I think I have finally found the one.

  This girl found me. Actually, I was concerned at first because she’s too close to home for comfort, but I didn’t’ even have to drug her. She just keeps coming back; she loves me.

  I still visit my other girls, the field has been plowed, and the family that owned the farm has foreclosed on it. In this economy, I don’t think anyone is going to buy the land from the bank anytime soon. So it’s harder to get close to them, but I still visit sometimes.

  Those girls mean everything to me.

  Present Day

  It’s been a few months since I had to say goodbye to my girl. She grew up and we no longer needed each other, I can’t blame her for that. She loved me, and I loved her. Now it’s time for us to move on.

  It’s been a struggle; I don’t know if I will ever find true love like that again. It’s harder now than it was years ago. I can’t blame the people in the towns surrounding us though, years ago, a dozen girls never made it home, and they don’t want history to repeat itself, so people are more careful now.

  It just means that I have to adjust with the times. The hardest part is finding girls that are still good. The girls these days want to grow up so fast. They try too hard to look older, to be older. They have make-up and cell phones. It makes it hard to find a good girl.

  I thought I had found a few, but they all turned out to be wrong for me. This time instead of keeping them for myself, I have decided not to be so selfish. When it doesn’t work out, I just return them home to their families so that they can say their goodbyes and lay them to rest.

  I remember the first time that I had ever laid eyes on this sweet girl. The way that her long black hair blew in the wind, and her deep brown eyes lit up when she laughed. She was perfect. I knew within minutes that I had to make her mine. There was nothing that I wouldn’t do for her.

  It wasn’t hard getting her to trust me, to come with me. Once I had her in my arms, she was much like the others, not sure what she wanted, but I tried to make her see things my way. I thought she was the one that was going to stay. I thought she was the one that was going to love me back.

  By day four, it became clear that she wasn’t the one for me. I decided that no matter how much I loved her and wanted to keep her for myself, I knew that it was time to return her to her family.

  So now we are here, in this field outside of town. This is the last time that I will hold this beautiful angel in my arms. She isn’t the one for me, but she is still perfect. I brush my fingers through her hair one last time before I let her go.

  Goodbye, sweet girl.

  Hannah Holder

  "I'm sorry to report that the body found this morning in Forest County has been identified as missing eleven-year-old Lizzy Aguilar. The scene remains blocked off, and the police are investigating this as a homicide."

  My heart skips a beat as I stare up at the tv screen, that's the third girl in 2 months. This time it's even closer to home. Too close.

  I turn around and see my daughter Quinn sitting out on the back patio. She's on the phone again. Probably with Hazel or another one of her little friends, those girls are always on the phone, but they are good kids and stay out of trouble, so I can't complain too much.

  A noise in the bedroom down the hall catches my attention. It's my husband's work phone. I know the sound well, and I know what it means. In a couple of minutes, he'll walk out of the bedroom in a suit and tie and tell me they've been called out to assist in the investigation. I know that it's necessary, but it never gets easier.

  My husband is Agent Declan Holder, with the FBI. We met when he was called in to assist on a case that I was involved in a couple of years ago. All of that is left unspoken now, but somehow we all ended up getting our happily ever after out of it.

  "I got the call. I wish it came in four days ago." Declan says, coming down the hall.

  I will never get over how this man looks in a suit. Every suit he owns is tailored, especially for him, and it hugs all the right places. Unfortunately, he typically only wears it for work, so I don't get to see it as often as I would like.

  "It's going to be at least a few days this time." He leans over the counter for a kiss.

  "Your go bag is packed and in the car. Text me when you can."

  I try hard to be the supportive wife, but in the year we've been married, it hasn't gotten any easier to let him go. I know how dangerous the job can be; sometimes, I can still feel his blood on me.

  "I will text you every chance I get, I promise, and you know that you can call me anytime if I'm busy I'll call you back as soon as I can." He looks out the patio door before continuing. "I'll go out through the back so that I can say goodbye to Quinn."

  "Okay. Be safe."

  "You know, I will." He comes around the counter and takes me into his arms. "I promise I'll come back to you."

  "I love you," I whisper.

  "I can't live without you," He whispers back before letting me go and walking out the back door.

  "You'll never have to," I whisper back as I watch him walk away.

  I lean back against the counter and watch him interact with Quinn. I'm so grateful for this man, he doesn't have to be such a good dad to her, but he is. He tells everyone that although he didn't help conceive her, she's his. He's the only dad that Quinn has ever known, and she loves him so much.

  "Can I go to Hazel's?" Quinn asks, coming in through the backdoor.

  Hazel is Quinn's best friend, she lives down the street, and she's a good kid. Her mother is a teacher at the local high school, even though she doesn't need to work. Her husband is a corporate lawyer and makes more than enough money to support his family, but she loves her job, so she keeps teaching.

  "Okay, but be home by dark." I agree.

  We live in a gated community, the safest one around. I made sure of it. We shopped around quite a bit, looking for the right place to call home. What we found six months ago was a fantastic community of families that have been nothing but exceptional. I haven’t had much time between getting settled and going to class to meet many of the neighbors, but the ones that I have met have been great.

  I imagine in a community like this once summer starts, they will have some cookouts and get-togethers where I will get to meet a lot of people. I hope that Declan can make it to at least a few of them with us. He is gone more than he’s home, but I know that what they are doing out there is essential, and he never makes me feel like I am not important to him.

  We have been talking about expanding our family and trying for a new baby this year, but that is hard to do when we hardly get any alone time. I know that Declan loves Quinn as if she were his own, but I also know that he wants more kids. He wants to do the supportive husband thing; he wants to hold my hand as his baby comes into the world. He wants sleepless nights and milestones, but I don’t know if he is ready to take time out of the field to do all those things.

  I sigh and look around the big empty house that surrounds me. It’s everything that I have ever wanted. Everything is perfect; maybe perfect isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

  Quinn Holder

  “Did you hear that they found another girl?” Hazel asks as I walk into her room.

  Hazel is my best friend, probably the best friend I have ever had. We connected immediately and have been inseparable ever since. Sometimes I feel like we don’t even have to talk to each other, and we know what the other one wants.

  “Yeah, they called my dad in, he just left.”

  Declan isn’t my dad, but he is the closest thing that I have ever known. We don’t talk about my real dad, just that he was a bad man and that we are better now that he’s gone.

  “Good. I mean, it’s not good that he had to leave again, but maybe they will actually find the man who killed those girls and put him
in prison where he belongs.” She pauses. “Should we get some snacks?”

  I smile, she knows that I don’t like it when he has to go on cases, I miss having him home, and my mom gets sad and extra worried when he is on cases. I know that he has a job and is really good at finding the bad guys and saving people, so I try not to be too selfish. Hazel is really good at keeping my mind off of it while he’s gone.

  “Yeah, did your mom make any more of those cookies?” I ask I could go for some peanut butter cookies right about now.

  She smiles and nods. Last time her mom made them, we snuck like two dozen into her room and ate them all until we were so sick that we almost puked. She wasn’t mad, though; she said that maybe we shouldn’t eat so many so fast and gave us something to help our stomachs feel better. That’s the difference between Hazel’s mom and mine. She’s not so uptight about things.

  “We can grab some cookies and sodas and come back in here and watch that new movie that’s on Netflix. I won’t tell your mom if you don’t.” She winks.

  I laugh, I know exactly which movie she is talking about, and my mother would freak out if she knew that I was going to watch it. So of course, we are going to watch it. She will probably find out somehow, but it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.

  “I’ll grab the sodas; you grab the cookies, and we’ll meet back in here in five minutes,” I tell her as we both walk out of the room.

  The Owen’s family is kind of strange, they allow all sorts of junk food in the house, I mean the kitchen is loaded with it at all times, but they insist that everyone eats vegetables with every meal and that we have some fruit after school when we are here.

  They also don’t allow soda in the kitchen fridge; the soda and the beer are kept in the garage fridge, which is where I have to go to get it. I don’t mind, though; the garage is awesome. Mr. Owen uses one whole stall for a man cave. He has a pool table and a bar area, three refrigerators and two huge televisions out here.