Dark Hollow Road (Taryn's Camera Book 3) Read online

“What do you think happened?” he asked, keeping his eyes glued to the road in case a deer or other wild animal decided to try to play suicide games and jump out in front of the car.

  “I don’t know,” she mumbled, staring off into the deep thicket of trees that surrounded the small road. “But I guess that’s what I am going to have to find out.”

  A letter from her Aunt Sarah’s attorney was waiting for her at the cabin. Everything was out of probate now, and she could take control of the house if she so desired. He’d sent the keys. They were surprisingly light in her hand, considering the weight of her aunt’s personality.

  Taryn wasn’t sure when she’d be able to get up there, or if she even wanted to go. Losing her aunt had been a huge blow, and had come at a terrible time when Andrew was always on her mind. The amount of guilt she felt over not spending more time with Sarah, or at least keeping in touch more regularly, couldn’t be measured.

  Still, she couldn’t just ignore the house. She’d have to do something about the rambling structure, tucked away in the New Hampshire mountains. She hated the idea of selling it but was certain the amount of renovations it would need (Sarah had never been good about keeping stuff like that up) was more than Taryn was capable of doing–or affording. Of course, Matt had offered on more than one occasion to go with her and help her out, but this was really something she felt like she needed to do alone. She already let him do too much for her, from cooking dinner to taking time off work to stay with her in Georgia. She couldn’t expect more out of him, especially since they hadn’t defined their relationship yet.

  She wasn’t real sure where she was supposed to start now. Should she talk to Thelma about her daughter? Nah, that would be crossing a line. She couldn’t just call her up and say, “Hey, so I heard your daughter disappeared on the property next to me. Want to fill me in?”

  She didn’t want to bring it up in her class and have word get back to Thelma or other college administrators. That would come across as unprofessional and gossipy.

  So what then?

  Taryn sat bolt right up in her recliner and slapped herself on the forehead. Well, duh! Ye Olde Google was what she usually turned to first.

  Turning the television off she sprinted back up the stairs and into the bedroom where Matt was going back over her pictures on her laptop. “Hey, you’re gonna get stiff sitting like that for too long,” she admonished.

  “Well that sounds like fun,” he teased her but he did hold his arms up over his head and stretched. His neck cracked a couple of times from the effort. “I am in a little bit of pain, though. I should stop while I’m ahead.”

  “Did you see anything we missed?”

  “I don’t think so. I zoomed in on the house, thinking I might catch something, but I didn’t. Nothing in the woods, either. Just the girl.”

  “Cheyenne,” Taryn supplied because, after all, the victim had a name.

  “Right, Cheyenne. So did you need anything?”

  “The computer, actually,” she answered. “I want to do some searching on the case. See what I can find out.”

  “Good idea,” Matt agreed. “I’m going to go down and fix myself some cocoa. You want any?”

  “Yes, please, and doctor mine with a little bit of Baileys if you could,” she smiled sweetly.

  “One semi hot toddy coming up,” Matt sang as he sailed out of the room, leaving Taryn to the bed and computer.

  It didn’t take her long to find answers. Simply typing in her name brought up at least a dozen news articles. Leaning back into the throw pillows and propping the laptop on her lap she began reading. The first article was written two days after she disappeared.

  Local Girl’s Whereabouts Unknown

  Cheyenne Willoughby, 18, is missing. Upon attending a summer party at the farm of Chris Hinkle on Dark Hollow Road, Willoughby was expected to return home the next morning. When she didn’t arrive by noon, her worried parents began calling her friends, assuming she’d gone home with one of them. Although many of the other party-goers, mostly local high school kids, remember seeing Willoughby at the party none of her friends reported anything suspicious.

  The pretty, active brunette was on the honor roll all four years in high school. Her parents, Jeff and Thelma Willoughby of Telford Avenue are asking anyone with any information to please come forward and alert them or the police. Willoughby is 5’1”, weighs approximately 100 lbs. and was last seen wearing a red jacket, red cowboy boots, and a white sleeveless top. Locating her is of the utmost importance considering the fact that Willoughby has severe asthma and has suffered complications in the past.

  The next article contained more information the police had uncovered.

  Willoughby Last Seen with Male Friend

  Cheyenne Willoughby, the missing 18-year-old high school graduate from Apple Valley, Georgia was last seen with a male friend, witnesses say. Willoughby, who had attended a party on Dark Hollow Road on May 31, has been missing for one week.

  After a series of interviews it was determined Willoughby was last seen with 23-year-old Travis Marcum. Party goers reportedly saw Willoughby climb into Marcum’s truck at approximately 3 am. Marcum submitted to interviews with detectives and denies having taken Willoughby with him. He has told reporters that he is “not friends with Willoughby but knows her as an acquaintance” and that the last time he saw her was before he left, on his own.

  More searches throughout the community are expected to take place within the next few days. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Cheyenne Willoughby, please contact the Evarts’ County sheriff’s department.

  Taryn had all kinds of questions about that article, but figured she’d wait until she read the others before jumping to any conclusions.

  Case of Missing Girl Could Be Runaway

  The search continues for 18-year-old Cheyenne Willoughby of Apple Valley. Willoughby went missing two months ago, but so far has turned up no leads have. There has been some speculation that Willoughby could have left on her own accord. “We’ve interviewed dozens and dozens of people who saw her that night, including the two fellows who were the last to see her,” Detective Anderson of the Evarts’ County sheriff’s department said. “But we don’t have any solid leads yet. We can’t rule this out as a runaway case just yet, but we are exploring every angle.”

  The lines on Taryn’s forehead grew deeper as she read Detective Anderson’s statement. Of course, running away would make sense. But then again, she was eighteen years old. Why would she have had to run away when she could’ve just gone ahead and moved somewhere else?

  Willoughby Family Holds Massive Search

  The parents of the missing Cheyenne Willoughby gathered more than five hundred volunteers last Saturday morning to search several different parts of the county, including the forest around Dark Hollow Road and the rock quarry on HWY 67. Searchers walked a grid and looked for clothing, accessories, and other belongings Willoughby might have had with her, including her purse and cell phone. Dogs, including cadaver dogs, were used in the search which did not yield any results.

  “We don’t understand what happened to her,” Thelma Willoughby told our reporter. “Cheyenne was a happy, friendly girl. She never hurt a soul. She was excited about the party and said she’d be home in the morning. We talked to her twice that evening, and she sounded fine.”

  Investigators have recovered Willoughby’s cell phone records but have not yet released a statement concerning Willoughby’s last calls.

  Willoughby Family Holds Fundraisers

  The family of missing teen, Cheyenne Willoughby, is holding a fundraiser on Friday, September 15, at the Evarts County Fairgrounds. The fundraiser, which features music by country music band Freedom Express and includes vendors, crafts demonstrations, and bounce houses for children will run from 6-10 pm. The cost is $5 per person and all proceeds go to the Bring Cheyenne Home fund. Monies are expected to be spent on a billboard to be placed along I-75 and further searches in an expanded ar
ea.

  Willoughby, who has been missing since early last summer, soon after graduating from high school, is 18 years old. Although several area searches have taken place and countless witnesses interviewed since her disappearance, investigators are at a standstill.

  Phone records reveal that her last text message was sent at 11:30 pm. The text, to her mother, stated that she had a ride home and would return early. However, Thelma Willoughby was in bed at the time and didn’t get the message until that afternoon. “I heard the phone go off, but it was so late I figured I’d check it later,” Ms. Willoughby has been quoted as saying. “Of course, in hindsight, I wish I’d looked at it. It was the last time anyone heard from her, and I would’ve known something was wrong sooner.”

  The phone continued to receive calls and voicemails from Willoughby’s concerned parents throughout the morning and afternoon. Her last known whereabouts were at a friend’s house in the Dupont Subdivision. However, the phone has not yet been recovered.

  Investigators Believe Fire Not Linked to Missing Teen

  Investigators have ruled that the fire of the one story house on Poplar Road on the same night as Cheyenne Willoughby’s disappearance is “most likely” not linked the case of missing. Instead, they believe it was a coincidental act of arson that unfortunately just happened to occur on the same night.

  The house, which had been recently unoccupied, did not have electricity. Arson investigators claim it’s unusual for house fires to start where electricity isn’t present. An unnamed accelerant was found, however, and it’s been concluded that the fire was intentionally set “for reasons not yet known,” according to Police Chief Randy Mason.

  There is not yet a suspect or person of interest at this time. At the time of the fire Cheyenne was allegedly at a friend’s house twelve miles away.

  Willoughby’s whereabouts are still unknown. Although she had a purse with personal belongings with her, according to witnesses, these have not been recovered.

  Mason says he hopes she left on her own freewill and “wants to be missing” rather than “the alternative.” “I know it’s hard on the parents,” he told WTVX, “but I hope she left because she wanted to because that at least means she’s out there safe somewhere. That’s the best case scenario at the moment.”

  Cheyenne Willoughby, 18, Still Missing

  It’s been one year since 18-year-old Cheyenne Willoughby went missing. On her nineteenth birthday, her parents are sending out another plea for anyone who might have information to contact authorities. “You can be anonymous,” her mother, Thelma Willoughby says. “We just want information and to know she’s okay.”

  Despite the efforts of local law enforcement and concerned citizens, there is still no sign of Cheyenne or clues as to what may have happened to her.

  “When your daughter is gone and you don’t even know where to start looking, it’s heartbreaking,” her step-father, Jeff Willoughby said. “It feels like if someone would come forward and say something so we could at least look in the right direction. But nobody’s talking.”

  Although it has been a year of sadness and frustrations for the family, they remain hopeful that Willoughby will be found and brought home safe. There is currently a $15,000 reward for anyone offering information leading to Cheyenne’s whereabouts.

  Chapter 8

  By the time she’d read through all the articles and even checked out Cheyenne’s Facebook and Instagram sites, Taryn felt drained. She’d started making a list of questions as she went along, and now her notes were two pages long. There were more than twenty articles she’d recovered in all, although most of them just repeated the same information. It all came down to this: Cheyenne had attended a party, left with a male friend, and then disappeared. Nobody had seen or heard from her since she left the party. And the fire at the other location apparently wasn’t connected to her disappearance. Supposedly.

  “Hey,” Matt stood in the bedroom door, a glass of Coke in his hand. “How’s it going?”

  Setting her laptop on the bed, Taryn stretched her legs out and reached for the drink. “It’s going. I found a bunch of articles and stuff about the missing girl.”

  “Yeah? What’d you find?”

  Matt perched at the foot of the bed and began stroking Taryn’s foot, something that made her purr like a kitten. She was a sucker for getting her feet rubbed.

  “A lot of things. But basically she was at this party, left with a dude, and then disappeared.”

  Matt cocked his head to one side and studied Taryn. “So what’s the mystery? Sounds like the guy Travis did something to her.”

  “Yeah, you’d think,” Taryn agreed. “Only the police don’t seem to think he’s a suspect. He claims she never left with him at all, that he barely knew her and left before she did.”

  “That should be easy enough to prove, shouldn’t it?”

  “You’d think so.”

  “Still, to me, it sounds like the guy did something,” Matt pointed out. “I mean, if witnesses saw him...”

  “Oh, and another thing. There was a house that burned down. Same night, and arson at that. But the police don’t think it’s connected.”

  Matt laughed, his face lighting up in delight. “Are you kidding me? Well that’s a big coincidence then.”

  “Maybe,” Taryn answered. “It’s all so confusing really. Too easy to think of this guy as the one who did it.”

  “So give me a rundown on the list of our suspects,” Matt prodded. “I know you; you have some ideas.”

  “Okay,” Taryn agreed, rubbing her hands together. She tried not to think about the fact that this was a real person they were talking about, a real missing girl. She would think about that later, and it would sadden and depress her, but for the moment she needed to be analytical about it. “First we have the guy she went home with.”

  “Alright, we have a guy. The last one to supposedly see her. Assuming he was the mystery ride.”

  “Right!” Taryn exclaimed. “She texted her parents and said she had a ride home and would be there early. We are assuming it’s the guy witnesses claim to have seen her left with.”

  “Okay, what about a random stranger?”

  “I thought about that, too,” Taryn confessed. “Maybe she did get a ride from the other guy, he made a move on her and she didn’t like it so she asked to be let out of the car. She gets picked up, gets killed, and now he’s denying taking her home because he feels responsible for her death.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “The parents. I hate to say it, but people area freaks and you just never know. Although I’ve met Thelma and she seems okay.”

  Matt leaned back against the bedpost and closed his eyes. “And that’s not even counting all the people we don’t know about. For instance, what if the guy was lying and there were more people at his house. Did he live alone?”

  “No, with his parents.”

  “Can’t rule them out either. Brother? Sister?”

  Taryn sighed, rubbing at her temples. “And then the people at the party. What if she made someone mad and they came out and found her? They may never find this poor girl.”

  “So are you discounting her being runaway?” Matt asked.

  “Yes,” Taryn answered quickly.

  “That was fast. What makes you think she didn’t just up and leave? Get mad and go off to blow some steam?”

  “Because I wouldn’t be seeing her if she wasn’t dead.”

  Taryn’s sleep was restless. Although she’d never been a great sleeper, she’d been doing a lot better with Matt around. It was soothing to reach her foot or hand out in the middle of the night and touch his toe, his thigh, his stomach… Not only did Taryn have trouble falling asleep and staying there, terrible nightmares had plagued her since she was a child. Her parents had sought medication for her before she moved in with her grandmother full time (she’d promptly had Taryn stop everything, thinking it was probably making things worse rather than better and she was right) and even
seen a therapist. Nothing but having an actual physical body there with her helped.

  Sometimes the nightmares were so bad she wondered if she maybe she wasn’t reliving some former past live and horrors that befell her back then. The recurring dream of burning in a fire, feeling her flesh smoldering and then peeling was much too vivid to come out of her random imagination.

  Tonight, the dream started out innocuous enough.

  The grass beneath her feet was brittle from the lack of rain, but the air was damp, foggy. It was sweet-smelling from the fire and the mixture of dampness and smoke clung to her hair, to her skin, to her clothing. She breathed in deeply, taking in the scent, and then let it roll off around her, engulfing her in its saccharinity. There was a chill in the air, a small but biting one, and she found herself pulling her jacket closer around her, discovering warmth and protection in its thick, lined fabric.

  The sound of laughter was all around her, although she couldn’t see where it was coming from, and the noise was a comforting one. The sense of being surrounded by people, being a part of something, was tantalizing. The wine cooler she’d downed earlier set solidly on top of her stomach, a nuisance but not an unpleasant feeling. She felt loose, carefree, relaxed.

  Then, the air changed. It wasn’t a subtle change, but abrupt. Suddenly, she was conscious of the fact that she was alone. As the fog grew denser around her and the cacophony of voices dissolved a panicky fear she’d not known since she was a child clawed at her chest and stomach. In frantic circles she turned around and around, trying to peer through the thickness of the night. The fire was gone, replaced by a coldness that sank into her skin and bubbled there, mixing with the fear until a putrid stench erupted from her in tiny clouds; she could smell her own terror.