Read Online One Chance: A Thrilling Christian Fiction Mystery Romance by Daniel Patterson - Free Book Online Page A

the teenagers when they got back into town.
    "Oh, by the way," Jim said just as Penelope was about to hang up.
    "You're kidding, right? What now?" Penelope asked him.
    Jim laughed at him. "Nothin' like hat, Penelope. Good news for a change. Got a call from the Gainesville PD earlier thanking us for the tip on your stolen car cases. They nabbed the entire frat house out there. Turns out...get this...it was a front for a chop shop."
    "Oh, wow," Penelope replied. "Guess it always pays to go that extra step."
    "Yup. They also found the two Buicks that were taken from here, right where them kids said they'd be. They promised to return them to us right after they're processed."
    "Great," Penelope said. "Thanks for letting me know, Jim. You're right. Good news for a change."
    "Sure thing," Jim replied. "Figured you could use some. Uh. How is the thing with Doug going?"
    Penelope chose her words carefully, walking down the hallway nearer to the bedrooms, further from the kitchen and where Doug and Trevor sat, before she answered. "I'm not sure anymore. There's something else going on here, Jim. Doug has something to tell me about his ex-wife. I know it's something important but he doesn't want to talk in front of his kid."
    "Smart," Jim said. "Too many parents put this stuff on their kids. It's a lot to recover from for minds that young."
    "Yeah. I'm sure that's all it is. Still, there's way too many puzzle pieces that fit outside the borders on this one, you know what I mean?"
    "Sure do. I'll meet you down here in a few."
    She walked back with the portable and returned it to its cradle to charge. The way things were going there'd be another phone call any minute now.
    "Doug—" she called to her friend, headed back to her bedroom to change into her uniform once more.
    "I know, Penny," Doug said before Penelope could even finish. "Duty calls. It's all right. We'll be here when you get back."

CHAPTER 14
    Deputy chance drove her cruiser to the west end of Main Street, just inside the town limits. She turned around and parked facing back into town. This way she could keep her eye on the rearview mirror in case Tommy and Missy came home this way. Jim was on the other end of town. Either way, they'd find them soon.
    She had been watching her mirror for less than ten minutes when she saw a car in the distance. It was hard to tell, but it looked like it could be Tommy's light blue Honda. A little more than a minute later she was sure. They were approaching quickly, so she turned on the emergency lights and pulled the cruiser onto the road to block them. She radioed Jim quickly to say she'd found the two errant teenagers.
    Tommy was driving the car. He slowed and eventually stopped about ten feet from Penelope's police car. Going up to the driver's side to speak with the young man, Penelope leaned down and was relieved to see that Missy was with him.
    "Deputy Chance," Tommy said, nervously gripping the steering wheel, knowing they'd been caught. "What did I do, ma'am?"
    "That's what I was hoping to find out," Penelope said.
    "I'm not sure I understand, ma'am," Tommy said, not able to look Penelope in the face.
    "You put a scare into Missy's parents, for starters," Penelope replied. "They reported her as missing yesterday afternoon."
    Tommy's lips pressed tightly together and he refused to answer. It was Missy who leaned over and said defiantly, "We're both eighteen, Deputy. Last I knew, that means we're adults in the eyes of the law."
    "You're absolutely right, Missy," Penelope said, "but you still live with your parents and you're still in school. That makes it their responsibility to be sure you're okay. You want to be treated like an adult, you need to act like one. You two are acting like children. And mind your tone with me, too."
    Tommy and Missy glanced at each other. Missy sat back in her seat in a huff, arms folded across her chest.
    "If we told them, ma'am, they wouldn't have let us do it," Tommy told her. "We had to keep it quiet