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only imagine what she must be feeling.  Every now and then when she thought of the things Reed told her in the woods,   a terror would find its way up her spine chilling her in spite of the warm blanket wrapped around her.  
         David and Danny stayed beside her, their playful antics replaced by a somber spirit.
         Everyone waited while the police and the canine unit combed the woods. Reed rejoined the search party along with his dad and the hired men. A news reporter showed up eager to question the officer in charge. Her stomach churned while she listened to the reporter announce that the daughter of a well-known local minister had gone missing.
         Esther stared into the dying flames wishing she hadn’t suggested coming tonight. Felicitas had not wanted to come. She had wanted to talk to her about something. There was a deep fear growing within her that whatever it was that Felicitas wanted to disclose had something to do with her disappearance. She mentioned it to the officer, but he seemed to dismiss it. He was more interested in hearing about Felicitas relationship with Ian. Esther could tell he had already made up his mind that whatever happened to her had something to do with Ian. His suspicion fell short when Ian and Catlin arrived with an alibi.
         By 4:00 AM, only a few faithful friends remained.  The search party emerged from the woods empty handed. There was no trace of Felicitas. Esther held back her tears for the sake of Felicitas' parents. She would cry when she got home.
         Reed made his way over to the fire and sat down beside her.
         “I’ll drive you home.”
     
        At 4:30 AM, Reed pulled his truck into Esther’s driveway. She didn’t make a move for the door handle; instead she sat staring out of the windshield.  He turned off the engine and waited.
         “Taz was supposed to spend the night with me tonight. I never dreamed I’d be coming home alone. How does something like this happen? It’s so frustrating not to know anything. How could she have disappeared in plain view?”
         Reed didn’t answer. Instead he turned and looked out of his window.
          She never knew him to be a loud talkative type of guy anyway. It was his silence that made him mysterious and sexy to the girls. His dark eyes would conceal his thoughts as he scanned the crowd never revealing what he was thinking. Tonight, however, his silence made her uneasy.
         “What are you thinking about? The well?”
         “Uh huh.”
         “You think it has to do with her disappearing don’t you? Why do you think that?”
         Reed turned away from the window and cast his black eyes on her. Even in the dark of the night it took her breath away.
          “I lost something to that well once.”
         Esther felt the trembling begin again so she wrapped her arms around her body to try and keep from shivering.
         “What are you talking about?”
         “The night I discovered the well, I was in the woods playing with my dog, Lancer. He saw something and began barking like crazy. Then he took off running. I chased him but couldn’t keep up. Then his barking stopped. I looked everywhere, called his name over and over. Nothing. I kept searching and that’s when I found the well. It looked just like it did tonight with the water running over the top. I had a flashlight on me and I shined it past the trees and I saw Lancer's collar broken off lying near the well.”
         “Did he fall in?”
         “Lancer was a bull mastiff. He weighed over a hundred and eighty pounds. He would have never fit past the tight space between the trees.”
         Esther shifted in her seat disturbed at what she was hearing. “So what do you think happened?”
         “I wish I knew. I loved that dog and he loved me. He would have never just abandoned me like that. The next day I went to the well and it was completely dry, no water at