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Law enforceht a hint of what they feared—that so had prevented two norirls—but her job wasn’t to solve the mystery

The neighbor who’d called the police had already fed the girls She offered to keep theirl seemed inclined to seek the woman out for comfort, Lacey decided to take them with her

Helping the girls pack a couple of days’ worth of their favorite clothes, pajamas and toys, she took them back to her office, where she set the the door open and taking a monitor with her, she headed down the hall to her office to make some calls

The girls had an aunt in Santa Barbara They’d both told her so on the way to the office, in between asking if she was taking them to their mom

my and daddy The aunt was fairly easy to trace down, but didn’t answer the phone number listed for her on the internet

She didn’t answer her door, either, after Lacey made a call to local police to n of disturbance at the hoone on a trip up the coast for the weekend

They also said she had a brother in LA, an uncle to the girls as married with a couple of kids of his own He’d already heard froht to find out that his sister and brother-in-laere , and he and his family were on the way to Santa Raquel

The overall prognosis for the faly conscientious and loving parents The girls were in good hands, though And for the night, at least, back in their own hoation, Lacey released them to their aunt and uncle

But Lacey couldn’t help thinking that their lives were going to change forever after that day Just as she couldn’t stop thinking about the one thing the police had also wondered

If the parents were so loving and conscientious, ere both cars gone, and the girls left home alone?

It wasn’t for her to figure that one out All she could do onder, and wait And worry, if she let herself get in too deep

That wasn’t her job, either

But the not knowing, and her inability to do more for the children in that moment, left her pensive

Missing lunch with her sister and Jem and Levi didn’t improve her mood, but she knew the day had transpired as it was meant to do

Her life was dedicated to helping children