Tia grabbed the hat. "Well, then, why is it here?" There was a faint sound of hope in her voice. "Does that mean she didn't go?"

"I don't know," Tony sighed.

"Either she went and didn't wear the hat," Shari said. "Or she didn't go at all."

"Then where is she?" Tia cried out.

Tony placed his wife's hand in his own, and then extended his other hand toward Tia. "Let's pray," he said.

Shari held Tia's hand firmly in her own as they lowered their heads and Tony began to pray.

"Father, in the name of Jesus we come to You."

"Yes, Lord," Shari whispered.

"Have mercy, Lord. Let Your grace be with Serenity right now, Father, and keep her safe from all harm wherever she is. Give Tia strength, Lord," Tony squeezed her hand harder, "strength to make it through this situation. You said we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us, Lord. And because you said it, we believe it."

"Yes, Lord," Tia said through her tears, "I believe."

"So let it be done," Tony continued. "In the name of Jesus we pray, amen."

"Amen," Shari and Tia whispered in agreement.

Shari raised her hand and wiped the tears away from Tia's face. "Remember, G.o.d is in control," she said.

"I know," Tia sniffed. "But where is Serenity?"

Chapter Thirty-nine.

Twenty minutes later, two female police officers arrived at Tia's house. She opened the door and immediately pointed to where Homer lived before noticing a squad car was already parked in front of his house.

"Ma'am, you called about your missing daughter?" one of the officers asked.

"Yes, yes," Tia said continuing to point toward Homer's house. "He knows something."

"How long has she been missing?" the officer asked.

"Well, I dropped her back off at home," Tia said wringing her hands, "and then I went to work. That was around two o'clock. She called me at work a few hours later to tell me her father had fallen and n.o.body's seen her since."

"We were out looking for her," Tony said, "but obviously we didn't find her."

"And how are you two related to Mrs. Sparks?"

"We're her friends," Shari said, "and we also live in the last house next to Homer's."

"Did either of you see anything suspicious going on over there?"

"Well, it's like my husband told you," Shari said, "we were out looking for Serenity."

"But we did find her hat here at home," Tony added.

The officer looked at the hat. "What's the significance of the hat?"

"My daughter said she was supposed to wear this hat when she went to meet a boy she met online."

The officer addressed her next question to Tia. "I thought you said your neighbor might have something to do with your daughter's disappearance."

"That's what he implied," she said with a worried look on her face.

"But it's possible your daughter might have gone to meet someone else?"

Tia placed both of her hands on the side of her head. She shook her head violently from side to side. "I don't know. I don't know."

"What time did you get home, ma'am?" the police officer asked Tia.

"A little after eight o'clock," she answered.

"So pretty much no one's seen your daughter or heard from her in about six hours. Would you say that's about right?"

"Yes," Tia answered. "Yes."

"What was she wearing?"

Tia thought back to the rush she'd been in to get to work. "I don't know." She became distraught again. "I can't remember."

"Didn't you take her to that audition after church?" Shari asked.

"That's right," Tia perked up. "I did. And she had on a black chiffon dress with a white lace trim." Suddenly, her shoulders slumped. "But I doubt she kept that on because it got torn when she fell."

"She fell?" Shari asked.

Tia remembered the exact moment when Serenity had tumbled off the makeshift runway. She remembered the look of total devastation on Serenity's face as she'd gotten back up and hobbled to the other end. As hard as she'd tried not to, Tia could also remember the look of dissatisfaction she'd worn on her face as she'd watched Serenity fall. "Yes," Tia said sadly. "She fell."

"She must have been pretty upset about that, huh?" the police officer asked as she continued taking notes.

"She was," Tia said, feeling convicted by the fact that she'd done little to console Serenity before she'd rushed out of the house to get to work.

"Do you think she might have run away?"

Tia looked at the officer. "Of course not," she said enraged by the question. "I just told the lady on the phone that my neighbor called saying he knew something about my daughter! Why would I think she ran away?"

"Try to stay calm, Tia," Shari said, patting her knee. "They're just trying to get all the information they need."

"All the information they need," Tia said, her anxiety escalating, "is right down the street."

"And that's why we have two officers talking to Mr. Woodard right now," the police officer replied.

Chapter Forty.

Serenity finally managed to free her wrists from the string Homer had tied them with. She quickly ran toward the washing machine below the window that was partially covered with newspaper. She climbed on top of the appliance and tried to raise the window. It didn't budge.

She pushed it a second time and nothing happened. She saw that the lock to secure the window was missing, and just as she was about to try to push the window up for a third time, she looked down at the newspaper covering half of it and stopped.

The date on the newspaper was from a year ago, and there was a picture of a young girl on the front of it. Serenity stared hard at the picture. The girl had been in one of her cla.s.ses last year, and Serenity remembered when she had suddenly stopped showing up at school.

According to the news, her cla.s.smate had been missing for several days, and then had mysteriously shown up at the front door of her house. She never returned to school after that, and Serenity never saw or heard anything else about her. To this day, she still didn't know what had happened to her.

Although there was no heat in the bas.e.m.e.nt, the palms of Serenity's hands grew moist and a layer of sweat began to form underneath her shirt. Why did he have this piece of newspaper on the window? She began pushing up on the window for the third time, but it remained unmovable. Just then, she heard the doorbell ring and she stiffened.

Homer walked to the front door and looked through the peephole. He saw two male police officers standing on the other side of his door. He stood watching them as they rang the doorbell several times, and then began knocking loudly on the door. Finally, he decided to answer.

"Who is it?" he yelled from the other side of the door.

"Police officers."

Homer opened the door slowly.

"Are you Homer Woodard?" one of the officers asked.

"I am."

"We received a complaint from your neighbor, Tia Sparks, that you might have something to do with her missing daughter."

Homer grunted. "Missing daughter? Don't n.o.body want her daughter."

The two police officers looked at each other. "Do you mind if we look through your house, sir?"

Homer had to maintain his composure. If ever there was a time for him not to show any emotion, this was it. He stepped to the side and bent over slightly. "Welcome," he said as he waved them in with his left arm.

One of the officers searched the main floor while the other one asked to look in the bas.e.m.e.nt.

"I can't get that door open," Homer said as he fingered the key in his pocket. "It hasn't been opened in years. I think it's been glued shut or cemented or something," he said with ease.

The police officer looked at him. "How long have you lived here?"

"Almost three years," Homer replied.

"And you're telling me you've never been in your bas.e.m.e.nt or tried to open this door?"

Homer wiped the sweat from his top lip. "Well, I tried to open it," he lied, "but it just won't open."

"So," the officer said frowning, "you just left it like that?"

"That's correct." Homer let out a nervous chuckle. "Is that a crime?"

"No, it's not a crime," the officer said, pulling on the doork.n.o.b. "It's just not believable." He waved his partner over to him, then looked at Homer. "We're going to need to open this door," he said.

The second police officer went to the squad car to retrieve a crowbar.

Homer's calm demeanor was quickly replaced by a growing level of apprehension. Once they opened that door and went downstairs that would be it. "What right do you have to mess up my property?" he blurted out.

"Well, if you would just open the door we wouldn't have to do this, now, would we?"

"I told you, I can't," Homer said moving closer to the door.

The police officer put one hand on his gun holster and pointed to the sofa with his other hand. "Sit down," he said sternly.

Homer sat down slowly as he watched the second police officer return and begin prying the bas.e.m.e.nt door open with the crowbar. His eyes darted around the room as he gripped the edges of the sofa. The door hinges creaked under the pressure of being pried apart, and with each cracking sound Homer flinched, expecting to hear Serenity cry out at any moment.

Serenity heard the m.u.f.fled voices and the sound of someone trying to open the bas.e.m.e.nt door. Fearful of Homer's return, she wiped her moist hands on the fabric of her pants and gave the window another push upward as hard as she could.

At the same time, the bas.e.m.e.nt door cracked lightly and a sliver of light came racing down the stairs. She began pushing wildly on the window and felt the top ledge hit something. She ran her hand across the front of the window ledge and felt a nail partially sticking out. She quickly pulled it out and pushed on the window again. This time, it slid up, and she eased her slender body out through the opening. She ran wildly toward her house, screaming hysterically as she got closer.

The police officer stopped trying to pry the door open when he heard what sounded like a young girl screaming. His partner ran outside to investigate while he remained indoors with Homer.

Homer stood up instantly when he heard Serenity scream.

"Sit back down!" the police officer ordered.

A wave of heat spread through Homer's body. He remained standing as he wiped away the chain of moisture that had formed on top of his balding head.

"I said sit down!" the officer repeated with more a.s.sertiveness. He began walking toward Homer.

Homer's respirations increased, and his pupils began to dilate. His impulses quickened as he charged at the police officer.

A struggling match began, and ended with Homer grabbing the officer's gun and running out the back door of his house.

"Stop!" the officer yelled as he chased Homer through the backyard, and then out of the cul-de-sac. He called for backup on his radio as he continued his foot pursuit of Homer.

Homer had no intentions of using the gun he'd taken from the officer, and he was sorry he'd taken it. He threw it onto a snow-covered lawn as he continued to run. The icy patches on the sidewalk along with his foot deformity would not allow him to run any faster.

The second officer had joined in the chase and was quickly getting closer to Homer. Out of breath and outnumbered, Homer stopped and fell to his knees.

The second officer drew his weapon. "Don't move!" he yelled. "Put your hands in the air!"

Homer raised both arms as he labored to catch his breath. Both of the officers approached him with caution. They placed the handcuffs on him as several squad cars came to a screeching halt directly in front of the sidewalk.