Book #3 of the Willow Darby Series

The carnival has come to town. An aroma of sweet cotton candy, along with other favorites, circulate on a warm summer breeze inside the fairgrounds. Laughter and screaming from the rides can be heard for a country mile, in any direction. It’s getting late, and Hannah Darby’s best friend Lori Tolliver, hasn’t exited the fun house, or answered any of Hannah’s texts. Hours later, an extensive law enforcement search including scent dogs can’t find a trace of her. The clock is Willow Darby’s worst enemy at the moment, and it’s ticking mercilessly against her. Lori Tolliver is missing.

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PROLOGUE

The middle of July was breaking heat index records across the region almost daily. A swath of warm, humid air had refused to relinquish its stubborn position over the area. Luckily, tonight was the last night of it as the Jet Stream shifted and brought much needed relief pulling milder Canadian air down from the north. The displacement of the miserable weather could not have been timed more perfectly.

Peak Entertainment LLC had arrived to set up at the county fairgrounds having traveled from Athens Georgia in less than twenty-four hours after breaking down their equipment at a previous carnival. The summer months were typically busiest for the company. Most of their rides had been shipped by rail. The remainder sat out on trailers.

Dallas Rayburn always travelled a day ahead of his employer. It had been that way since he started working for Peak Entertainment. Sitting on a bed inside a damp, dirty motel room he listened to a final storm pass outside. The pouring rain eventually gave way to large single drops that crashed onto the roof from overhanging tree limbs in the back of the property behind the row of buildings. Several large cloudy puddles had formed on the gravel parking lot. Above him, a single mosquito floated in the air precariously next to the spinning blades of a ceiling fan. He scrolled through the local news on his phone. Satisfied with his search results, he closed his eyes and laid back down. His family was safe for the moment. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and with it the opportunity to reunite.