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Natalie

Her mother isn’t answering her texts, and Natalie is about to explode. Because if Tim had these reports, he probably found Beatrice’s picture, too.

And he would have wanted to ask her some questions. About the medallion around her neck. And the name tag.

Natalie also has questions. Beatrice said her father was “too good for us.” Did she mean Marcus Wincott?

And if she did—and Wincott also had a child with Betsy Jones—then it leads to an even wilder possibility. It means Natalie could be Marcus’s grandchild.

And also Beatrice’s niece ?

It’s too crazy to say out loud.

She grabs up her phone and sends another text to her mother.

Natalie: Where are you?

She checks the time and sees that it’s past seven o’clock. Her mom has literally been gone for hours. And with the dog?

A prickle of fear climbs down her spine. This isn’t ordinary behavior. Especially not now, when her mother has become the queen of locked doors and checking in with Natalie every half hour.

But hang on. She can use her mom’s favorite trick. She opens the FriendFinder app and looks for her mom. No avatar pops up. She waits, but there’s nothing. Her mom isn’t on the map.

Okay, that’s super weird.

Natalie puts her phone down and gets up off the couch. She walks away from the stacks of reports and the list of names they’d been searching for.

Suddenly it doesn’t feel like a fun little game anymore. She puts several paces between herself and the pile of research. As if that would make the whole thing less eerie.

Zoe the cat wanders into the room and brushes her sleek body against Natalie’s ankles. “Where is she?” Natalie wonders.

The cat meows.

Natalie scoops her up and carries her back to the sofa. She picks up her phone and finds her father’s number. He’s probably playing the bass right this minute.

Call for any reason, he’d said.

So she does.