Read Fear the Dark for Free Online Page B

late forties who liked to fish at night? What did they have in common? Why would both be targets to be . . . taken?
    They all lived in Serenity. They were all white, which was the majority demographic for the town, so possibly not something important to victimology. They had all been taken, apparently, sometime before the sun rose.
    Jonah didn’t know that the latter mattered; if he’d wanted to abduct someone, he probably would have chosen the darkness as a cover himself. And so late, between midnight and dawn, there was certainly less chance of being seen or heard, especially in a little town not exactly famous for its nightlife.
    But . . . the unsettlingly weird aspects were true of all three disappearances. It was as if those three people had simply vanished in an instant. No signs of struggle. In the case of the kids, there had been footprints that had seemed decidedly strange when Jonah had seen them with his own eyes; the fact that the camera had not shown them at all just added to the eeriness of his memory of them.
    The fact that both his watch and his cell had apparently been affected at the site where the kids had vanished, just as Sarah’s and Tim’s had been affected, was decidedly weird.
    Jonah mentally kicked himself for not having asked Sarah if the same . . . situation . . . existed at the judge’s fishing site. Though he’d find out soon enough, he supposed.
    He hadn’t realized he’d been lost in thought so long until a steaming plate of eggs, hash browns, and bacon slid in front of him, along with a smaller plate of toast.
    â€œWhat the hell’s going on, Jonah?”
    It was Clyde, and he kept his voice low.
    Jonah glanced back over his shoulder toward the kitchen.
    â€œAlec’s minding the griddle. Kid’s a fair cook—and nobody can screw up breakfast anyhow. Where’s the judge?”
    â€œI have no idea,” Jonah replied honestly, keeping his own voice low, his tone determinedly casual.
    â€œSo he’s just gone? Gone like those kids last weekend?”
    â€œThat’s how it looks. I’m going to meet Sarah at the stream as soon as I finish up here so we can put our heads together and try to figure it out. Wanted to ask you if he’d said anything to you recently. If he’d noticed anything odd, strange phone calls, a car he didn’t recognize parked near his house or office, anybody following him.”
    Clyde leaned an elbow on the counter, looking very casual until Jonah met his very level, steely gaze—and reminded himself that even though he was only a few years older than himself, Clyde had served in Iraq back in the beginning.
    â€œNot a word. Nothing out of the ordinary. And you do know, I hope, that he didn’t talk to me about those kids going missing, not the way he must have talked to you, about details I imagine you’ve mostly kept to yourself.”
    â€œYeah, I figured.”
    â€œI know how to keep my trap shut too, Jonah. Do me a favor and keep me in the loop about the judge as much as you can, okay? We’ve known each other a long time.”
    Jonah nodded.
    â€œAppreciate it. Now eat your breakfast. You don’t look much better than you did last night.”
    Without bothering to comment, Jonah merely dug into his meal, knowing he needed to eat even though he had absolutely no appetite. He was aware of Clyde returning to the back and his griddle, joking normally with the two waitresses working this morning and talking to Alec. And then he cranked up Waylon and Johnny—though a few notches lower than normal in deference to its being Sunday.
    At least, Jonah figured that was it.
    He finished his meal, also aware that more people were coming in for breakfast or brunch or lunch as the area churches were letting out. He ordered two coffees to go, paid his bill and left a generous tip, then managed to leave the Diner without anyone saying anything to