Page 74 of Last Seen

Hurt. As if they can recover.

There is a three-word email from Theo.

Please check in.

He just will not let her go.

Do you want him to, Halley? Do you want him to just walk away? Or do you want him to keep fighting for you?

It. Doesn’t. Matter. We want different things.

In the end, after debating with herself and her powerful, resilient, impetuous aura for five minutes, she calls, reminding herself to keep it light.

Theo answers on the first ring, voice frantic. “Tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.”

He sighs in relief. “It’s been hours. I thought something might have happened.”

“I ran afoul of the local sheriff. This place is a little odd.”

“Do they know anything about your sister?”

“More than they’re saying, for sure. I can’t seem to get a straight answer out of anyone. I lucked into a conversation with a woman who teaches at the writers’ retreat and filed the missing persons report on Cat. She was a little drunk and said a lot of things. I get the sense Cat’s disappearance was brushed under the rug.”

“Never good.”

“No.”

“So what’s your plan? You said you’re heading home tomorrow?”

“I think so. I’m being encouraged to do just that. I’m all tucked up at the Inn, in a bright-red room because that’s what my aura dictated, and will be given my Jeep keys in the morning. The sheriff actually putme in cuffs earlier and dragged me to the station. Which is incredibly nice and totally modern. The architecture is beautiful. There’s a lot of money here.”

“Wait. Back up to the handcuffs.”

In another world, another life, she would make a silly comment about the handcuffs, and Theo would respond with something seductive, and they’d have a fun few hours. Now, it just feels wrong. Everything feels wrong and she just wants to collapse.

“He was just trying to scare me, I think.”

“Unlawful arrest is a serious issue. And he’s holding your keys?”

“Long story. So Baird Early, the chief of police in Marchburg, remember? He called down here and warned them I was coming. Brockton, that’s the sheriff here, he’s one of the sons of the founder, claims he knows nothing about my sister, and treated me like a suspect for a while. I think it was more a scare tactic, to be honest. I lawyered up, then he backed off and told me what was going on.”

“Suspect for what? What’s going on?”

She explains about Dr. Chowdhury, dead on the heels of Kater. The stranger in the bar, and the female stranger who followed on the video.

“Halley,” he says with dread. “You’re in danger.”

“I mean, obviously I’m rattling cages. The more I do, the more information I get.”

“And people are dying. You could, too.”

“Fair point. That was never my intention. But there’s something going on here. Why would all of this suddenly happen? I make a few phone calls and people start getting killed? It makes no sense.”

“It makes perfect sense. Whoever killed your sister fifteen years ago is huntingyounow.”

“Assuming she was killed ... I suppose that’s possible. What a cheery thought.”