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CHAPTER 42

Cedar Creek, Nevada Thursday, August 1, 2024

“LISTEN,” SLOAN SAID, STANDING FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE WITH a brimming urgency to tell Eric what she’d learned from Margot Gray. Hell, she considered calling John Michaels at the FBI. She had a phone number belonging to Guy Menendez. Surely one of them could track the number and find the man.

“We can’t stay here much longer. I mean, you found me through a records search of my Vrbo reservation, so it won’t be long before the press shows up. I’m not ready to talk with them yet.”

“Yeah,” Margot said. “Makes sense. Ryder Hillier said she was coming to Cedar Creek to investigate.”

“I have a friend who’s a police officer. His name is Eric Stamos. He’s the sheriff here in Cedar Creek. And I also know the FBI agent who’s been investigating my case ever since I figured out that I was Charlotte Margolis. Would you be willing to talk to them?”

Sloan saw a change come over Margot’s eyes.

“I . . . I’m not sure about that. The FBI? Would I get in trouble? I mean, I’m probably in some kinda trouble for what I did, right?”

“I don’t know,” Sloan said, and knew immediately by Margot’s expression that it was the wrong answer. “Look, let’s forget about the FBI. We’ll just talk to my friend. He’s local.”

“The sheriff?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess I didn’t really think this through. I just wanted to tell you what I did so I could, I don’t know, get it off my chest. I never planned to tell the cops ’bout none of it.”

“I understand. And I’m grateful you tracked me down, Margot. I’m so, so grateful. But the authorities are going to want to talk with you. You’re probably the biggest break this case has ever seen. Trust me, though, they’re not after you. If you tell them everything you just told me, I’m sure they’ll work with you.”

Margot offered a nervous smile. “Work with me how?”

“I don’t know, Margot. I’m not a cop. But trust me, the police and the FBI will be interested in what you can tell them.”

“I don’t wanna go to prison.”

“You’re not going to prison,” Sloan said. “There’s probably a statute of limitations on what you did. At this point, you’re useful to the FBI for the information you can provide, that’s it.”

“The FBI scares me.”

Sloan nodded. “Me, too. So let’s start with my friend. He’ll be able to help us figure out what to do next.”

Margot slowly nodded. “Okay. I guess I’ll talk to him.”

“Perfect. Where are you staying?”

“Nowhere. I just drove up from Reno.”

Sloan thought quickly of the best way to keep Margot Gray calm and close. “Let’s do this. Let’s get you a hotel room in town—”

“A hotel? I gotta be back in Reno for my shift tomorrow night.”

“Fair enough. But you’re available tonight, right?”

“I guess, yeah.”

“Perfect. I’ll put you up in a hotel tonight. We can go there now and I’ll bring my friend over so you can talk with him. It’ll be private.”

Margot looked around and finally nodded. “Okay, yeah. I’ll do that.”

Sloan swiped through her phone and booked a room at the Cedar Creek Inn, then led the way through town with Margot following in her Mazda. They checked in at the front desk and accepted two keycards to room number 303. The elevator deposited them on the third floor and Sloan swiped her keycard to open the door.

“Just stay put,” Sloan said, standing in the doorway as Margot carried her overnight bag into the room and sat on the bed. “I’ll be back in about an hour.”

“Promise me your friend ain’t gonna arrest me or nothing.”

Margot kneaded her hands together as she rocked on the edge of the bed.

“I promise,” Sloan said, although she didn’t know if she was telling the truth or boldly lying to this woman. Her college years, which had been spent studying criminology, told her that there was no way for Margot Gray to come out of this ordeal unscathed. But in that moment Sloan would have said anything to this woman, because Sloan knew that Margot Gray was a conduit to her past, through which all the answers about her birth parents’ disappearance might be answered.

A few minutes later Sloan was in her rental car, driving toward the foothills and Eric’s cabin. She tried his cell phone again, as she had on her way to the Cedar Creek Inn, but the call went straight to voicemail. No service. In a perfect world Sloan would have convinced Margot Gray to drive with her to Eric’s cabin. But Sloan knew the woman, as jumpy as she was, would never go for that. Leaving her was a risk. But even if Margot ran, she wouldn’t get far. Still, Sloan hoped she’d been convincing enough for Margot to stay put, safe and sound at the Cedar Creek Inn.