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She clicked on the newest message from armybrat, an unknown email address. Excitement fizzed through her veins when she read the message. It was from her brother, and he’d signed the email with his name—David.
An image invaded her mind, and she squeezed her eyes closed to focus on a scene with a baby, almost a toddler, in a bouncy seat and a little girl with blond curls waving at him and giggling and chanting. “Wavy Davy, Wavy Davy.”
Her lids flew open. Is it possible David had kept the same name Mom had given him? She’d remembered his name was David or maybe Tiffany told her that, but this was the first time she remembered the nickname she’d given him—Wavy Davy.
A tear trembled on the edge of her eyelash as she smiled. He wanted to meet her, but he had reservations, and he only wanted to meet one sister at a time. The tear dropped to her cheek and rolled down to her chin where it quivered before splashing onto the laptop. He’d never have that pleasure.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she composed an email to the brother she hadn’t seen in over twenty-five years.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNINGall through breakfast, Jessica could hardly eat due to the butterflies in her stomach, but for a change these butterflies signaled excitement instead of fear. After exchanging several emails with David last night, they’d agreed to meet for dinner down in Kingston, as he’d be in Edmonds today and could take the ferry over. She felt giddy that she could complete one of Tiffany’s dreams for her.
The hotel phone startled her, and she crossed the room to answer it, the butterflies turning into knots. “Hello?”
“It’s Finn. How are you this morning? I regretted leaving you after dinner, but I figured you’d fall asleep right away.”
“Not quite.” She proceeded to tell him about the fire alarm and Denny’s warning.
Finn swore. “Did Denny tell the police?”
“He’s trying to avoid the police, but I’m going to mention it to them when I drop by the station today to get my phone.”
“My first class starts in about an hour, but I called to see if you need a ride to pick up your car.”
“No, I’m good. I can get there on my own. Then I’m going to see if I can get my phone.” She paused. “I made contact with my brother last night.”
Finn asked, “How’d that go?”
“Better than I expected. He’s kind of guarded, and I still have to tell him about Tiffany.”
“What’s his name?” Finn had an edge to his voice.
“David, and he lives in Seattle. We’re meeting for dinner tonight in Kingston.”
“What’s his last name?”
She cleared her throat. “H-he didn’t reveal that to me. Like I said, skittish.”
“Or weird. Why doesn’t he want to tell you his last name?”
“Calm down. Celine vetted him. Remember, I reached out to him, not the other way around.”
“Where’s the dinner?”
“A restaurant called Salty Girls. He let me pick, and I figured that was appropriate as both Tiffany and I were salty girls.” She checked the time on her laptop. “I need to run. I’ll give you a call before I leave for Kingston, hopefully from my recovered cell phone. Good luck with those online classes.”
She made her next call to the sheriff’s station. When the deputy at the front desk answered, Jessica identified herself and asked if she could retrieve her car from in front of the crime scene at Fairwood Flats Mobile Home Park. When he gave her the okay, she traipsed down to the front desk to call a taxi. She couldn’t even order a car without her cell phone. She should’ve asked that deputy if she could get her phone, too.
Fifteen minutes later on the taxi ride to Ashley’s mobile home, the driver twisted in his seat as he pulled out of the hotel parking lot. “You heard about that murder out there.”
“Yeah, terrible.” Jessica clapped her sunglasses on her face and turned her head to stare out the window. She should follow Denny’s lead and try to cover up so people wouldn’t recognize her. Luckily, this driver just seemed to be sharing gossip with a fare.
When they arrived, she had the driver drop her off at the entrance to the mobile home park. She didn’t want him dropping her off in front of a mobile home ringed with crime scene tape.
The deputies hadn’t removed the yellow tape yet, butnone of it circled her car. She crept up to the driver’s-side door, her head turned away from Ashley’s place.
As she grabbed the door handle, a woman across the way looked up from her gardening and gave Jessica a hard stare. Jessica yanked open her door, dropped onto the seat and cranked on the engine. Denny had been right—she needed to leave this town. As soon as Deputy Morse gave her the go-ahead, she was out of here.