Chapter 1

Emily Bradshaw pulled her knees up to her chest as she settled on the window seat. Staring through her childhood bedroom window not really focusing on anything in particular. The room was one of the highest points of the large mansion. On a clear day, the entire town could be seen, but Emily hadn’t been in SummerBrook for months and didn’t miss it one bit.

The town was a place full of people who snubbed their noses at anyone who didn’t have money. Of course, that wasn’t Emily’s issue. The Bradshaw’s were very wealthy. The problem was the spoiled brats who turned their noses up at the career she’d chosen for herself. Emily didn’t care. There was only one reason she was back in SummerBrook.

She rested her chin on top of her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. It was the first time in her twenty-nine years, she’d seen police cruisers parked all over the Bradshaw Estate. She’d counted at least six as well as some vehicles that were most definitely unmarked cars. The reason they were there brought a lump to her throat, and she had to blink back the tears before they fell.

Emily turned her gaze away from the scene outside and scanned the room. It had been left behind when she was twenty, but it didn’t look any different. The Purple Princess Room was what her father named it. Her sister had a similar room on the opposite side of the large house known as The Pink Princess Room. There was a Yellow one too, but that had been sealed off a long time ago, and it was something she didn’t want to think about considering what had brought her back.

The room was every little girl’s dream. In the center of the room was a white canopy bed draped with a sheer purple mesh. A white vanity with purple trim sat in the brightest part of the room still had pictures stuck around the edge of the mirror. Next to the bed was a matching nightstand and the dresser on the far side of the room. The dark purple comforter and throw pillows with crowns on them brought the whole room together.

As beautiful as it was, she had to leave it behind. Not that she wanted to go, but a huge argument with her father had her packing bags and moving into a small basement apartment just outside St. John’s. If Emily was being honest with herself, he had every reason to be so furious with her. She’d turned down a full scholarship to Dalhousie University without even discussing it with him or anyone.

Her father’s dream was for her to become a doctor, not hers. So when she put her foot down and told him, she’d follow her own dreams and open a beauty salon, he was more than a little pissed. It was actually where she got the name of the salon because he kept telling her not to be ‘snippy.' Hence the name, Snippy Gals.

“Are you okay, Em?” the deep timbre of her brother’s voice brought her back to the current nightmare. Edward was eleven months younger than her and had been one of the good children. He went to law school like Nelson Bradshaw had wanted.

“I don’t know how I feel. Numb mostly.” Emily dropped her feet to the floor.

“I know the feeling.” He joined her on the window seat, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“It’s not like her to disappear.” Emily choked out.

“I heard one of the cops tell dad her phone was off. No way to track it.” Edward wrapped his arm around her and gave her a little squeeze.

“She’s been gone for almost thirty-six hours.” Emily blinked back the tears she tried to hold in for the last day and a half.

“Any room there for me?” Elaine’s soft voice came from the doorway.

“Always room for my baby sis.” Emily forced a smile as she scooted over for Elaine to join them.

Elaine was a little less than three years younger than Emily and just finished a business degree. Now she was working with their father. According to her dad, Elaine was going places, but Emily knew it wasn’t what her sister wanted to do. Elaine loved to design clothes, and she was good at it, but dear old dad convinced her that it wasn’t a viable career.

For a few minutes, Emily sat with her siblings as they silently comforted each other. The only sound was the muffled voices from downstairs. The house had been invaded by police since Lynn Ann Bradshaw disappeared.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Elaine sighed.

“Mom’s a tough cookie.” Edward always a cup half full kind of guy.

“But…” Elaine began to sob.

“We’ve got to think positive, El.” Emily hated to see her sister so shaken, so she followed her brother’s lead. “Mom’s gonna be okay.” Emily reached across Edward and grabbed Elaine’s hand. “You’ll see. Mom will be home soon.”

Elaine nodded, but from the tears running down her cheeks, Her sister seemed to have trouble believing their mother would ever come back. Emily had to force herself from those thoughts more often than she liked.

“Excuse me.” Emily glanced towards the bedroom door. A very dreamy police officer filled the doorway.

“Did you find her?” Elaine jumped to her feet.

“There’s been a new development.” Emily glanced at the officer’s name tag. O’Connor was printed in thick white letters. Apparently, the police from Hopedale had to be all related because she’d seen at least three with the same name. “Your father asked me to come get you.”

“Thanks, Constable O’Connor,” Emily didn’t know how she actually got the words out.

“It’s probably a good idea to call us by our first names. There’s three of us O’Connors here now, but counting Uncle Kurt, there are five. You can call me Nick.”

“We appreciate everything you guys have done for us.” Edward shook Nick’s hand.

“No need to thank us. It’s our job to help people.” Nick turned and disappeared from the doorway.

Emily descended the stairs behind her brother. With each step, her stomach seemed to flip flop more. There was just one thought swirling around her brain. What was this new development? Was it good news or bad?

“I’m telling you I don’t know what the hell Lynn would be doing in Gander.”

Emily gasped when her father’s voice echoed through the living room. When he was stressed his voice could probably be heard from one end of SummerBrook to the other.

“Does she know anyone who lives in that area?” Kurt O’Connor stood in front of her father.

“How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t know.” Her dad’s face was flushed as he leaned forward. “Kurt, you need to find her.”

“Nel, we’re doing everything we can.” Kurt placed a hand on her father’s shoulder.

Kurt was a friend of her father’s and had been the first one to come when her mom went missing.  He was the uncle Nick had mentioned, and the superintendent of the Hopedale division of the Newfoundland Police Department. His wife, Alice, was one of the many O’Connor ladies to come into Snippy Gals.

“I know. Really I do, but Kurt, she’s everything to me. You know that.” Anyone who knew her father knew he thought the world started and ended with his wife. The love they had for each other was timeless.

“I’ve got most of my men out there,” Kurt said.

“Dad,” Edward interrupted.

Her father and Kurt turned. Their expression said everything, but when her father’s eyes filled with tears, Emily’s stomach lurched.

“Nick told us there was a development and you wanted to see us,” Edward’s voice shook just a little.

Emily grabbed her brother’s hand to keep her own from trembling. To her surprise, his hand shook as much as hers.

“What is it, daddy?” Elaine clutched Emily’s other hand and squeezed it so hard she was sure her fingers were going to break.

“They found your mother’s car in Gander.” Her dad blurted out and took a deep breath. “Her phone and purse were still in the car.”

“What does that mean? Did someone take her? Did she run off? What?” Elaine almost knocked her father off his feet when she ran into his arms.

“Forensics are checking the car now,” Kurt said. “Right now we’re just waiting. If there’s anything there, they’ll find it.”

The huge lump in her throat made it impossible for her to speak. It was a known fact, the longer someone was missing, the less likely they’d be found alive. She wouldn’t let her thoughts go there, but it was hard.

Emily turned towards the patio doors and focused on the rose bush growing in the middle of the garden. She’d planted it with her mother for the youngest of the Bradshaw children. The one that never got to see her sixth birthday.

It nearly killed her father when sweet Ella passed away. If anything happened to her mother, Emily was sure it would probably kill her dad. He wouldn’t be able to function without her. She’d always prayed to find love like her parents, but it didn’t seem to be in the cards for her. Right now all she wanted was her mother home safe and sound.

Mom, where are you?