Searching For Jenna novel Chapter 16

"I'm going to be there in less than an hour. I'm going to meet C4 at the dock and pick up the package. I'll swing by your place after," Matthews said.

"Sounds good. Maybe you'll have time for some recreation," Ruby purred.

"Humph," Matthews grunted. "We'll see. I'm going to have to do something different with this package."

"I've never understood why they don't just flush them down the river," Ruby said.

"Too much of their business is done on the river," Matthews said. "Too close to home as they say."

It was Ruby's turn to snort. "Home is over nine hundred miles long. Surely they could find somewhere to dump the trash."

"But then you and I would be out of a lot of money, wouldn't we?" Matthews reasoned.

"True," Ruby agreed. "See you later, Sugar."

Matthews put his phone down on the seat next to him. He couldn't be gone too long. Someone was watching his house, he could feel it. Probably that damn Terry Howard. He should have shot that son-of-a-bitch when they were out hunting. Too late now. He would have to make quick work of this job and get back to Evansville before anyone realized he was gone. Fortunately, the air conditioning in this SUV was good. He could put the package in here, get the vehicle as cold as he could get it, and then have a visit with Ruby.

Jenna was so excited that she was getting the wires taken out of her mouth today. Having her jaws wired shut for six weeks had been a long and horrible experience. Besides being on a liquid diet for the most part, she'd had to adjust to her new life away from everyone and everything she had ever known.

The day she would have graduated from high school, Jenna trolled the Evansville news and online pages hoping for a glimpse of Cara. There had been a short post on Facebook from the graduation where someone standing close to Cara had videoed her crying when the valedictorian said that everyone was praying for Jenna's return.

Jenna spent the better part of the afternoon crying after that. It was so hard watching Cara cry and knowing there was nothing she could do. There was no way she could contact Cara to let her know she was okay. It would put Cara in more danger than she was already in.

Later that night, she found a video of Cara hugging Jenna's mom. The person recording the video was saying that it had to have been the happiest and the saddest day for Cara. She was graduating from high school, but her best friend was still missing. The friend who had posted it said they didn't know how Cara was so strong in the light of everything that had happened.

Jenna was proud of Cara. She wasn't sure she could have been as strong if the tables were turned.

"You ready?" Dana called from the kitchen.

"Yeah," Jenna said and went to find Dana.

"You look a little teary," Dana commented.

"I was thinking about Cara," Jenna admitted.

Dana reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "I know this is hard, but you have to stay hidden to keep all of your friends and family safe."

When they left the hair stylist, Dana asked, "What are you hungry for?"

Jenna thought about it while they walked to the car. "What about Chinese? We can go to a buffet, and I can try out some different things and see what's easy to eat."

"Sounds good to me," Dana said.

Later that night, when they were sitting on Dana's couch, Jenna asked, "What if I want to go to school?"

"We could help you do that," Dana said. "What do you want to study?"

Jenna looked away and shook her head sadly. "I don't know now. Cara and I planned to go to IU to study biology together, but I'm not sure that's what I want to do anymore."

"What did you like doing at school?" Dana asked and turned to face Jenna.

Jenna shrugged. "Everything, I guess. I like to learn. School was my way out of that house. It was where I got to be with Cara."

"What else do you like to do? Did you play sports? Were you in art?" Dana picked up her tea mug and sipped it while she studied Jenna. She decided Jenna looked boyishly cute with her short haircut.