Page 93 of Last Seen

There is no way to send a text message from the landline, but she can make a call out. There’s only one problem. Any 9-1-1 call she makes from here is going straight to the Brockville switchboard. Which means her only chance to reach Early directly is calling the Marchburg police station, and she has to look up the number. She has no way to do that.

She has another option. Make for the kitchen and dial Theo.

He will come running, this she knows. He will send the cavalry. But to what end? Does she need saving? Rescuing? If this killer wanted her dead, she would be.

She makes a pretense of banging around in the kitchen and lifts the receiver. The phone is dead. Was it never hooked up? Or has the line been cut to isolate her further?

Noah has a phone. She can just use his.

Her hair is wet, and she is bone weary, but she takes a seat opposite the chef. He doesn’t look up.

“You okay?”

“Bad morning,” he replies.

“Yeah. You were friends?”

“I’ve known her a long time.”

“I’m sorry.”

They sit in silence for a few moments. Finally, Halley blows out a breath.

“Do you have any pictures of your family on your phone?”

Noah nods. “Of course. Why?”

“I was just curious about them. It’s unusual these days for a family to have the kind of proximity yours does. Everyone working for Dad, living where you grew up, that kind of thing. There’s usually at least one who goes off to be a monk or something.”

He laughs weakly. “I guess that would be me. I left but came back.”

“Do you have cousins?”

“Sure. My dad’s little sister, MaryEmily, has three kids—two boys and a girl. I think the girl is a doctor, and the boys ... one is a park ranger, and the other works IT for some company in Silicon Valley. They’re all very different from us.”

“Did they grow up here, too?”

“Oh, no. We’re not close. Dad and MaryEmily had a pretty bad falling-out after he came back from Maine. She was pretty pissed at him for disappearing without word for so long.”

“What was he doing in Maine?”

Noah eyes her searchingly. “Why all the questions, Halley?”

“I’m just trying to figure out some stuff.”

“Then ask me directly. I have nothing to hide, and after today, I’m not responding well to subterfuge.”

“All right. I’m looking for someone. He was in Marchburg, and I think he’s involved in all of this, deeply. For a second, when your dad was angry, I recognized something about him. I’m wondering if he’s related to you or the family in some way.”

“Well, there’s only the four of us.”

“The cousins, maybe? Any pic of them?”

“That’s a stretch. Maybe my aunt has some on her Facebook? I don’t know, I haven’t seen them in years. But I can’t imagine one of my cousins being a killer. They’re ... normal. Probably more so than any of us, considering.”

“Maybe your dad had an affair, and—”

“Halley. Stop. Okay? I don’t have it in me right now. Can we pivot?”