Page 88 of Snowbound Threat

Charlie sat up straighter. Deborah remembered something.Please let it be useful.“What is it?”

Deborah blew out a breath. “There was something that showed up in the last diary she kept. Hang on, I think I have it here.”

Charlie reached for Ryan’s hand in a move she couldn’t explain except that it had been a horrific two days, and she was scared. Having Ryan close made her feel less so.

“Here it is. It’s a single paragraph entry. ‘I met EHJ today. I can’t wait.’” She stopped reading.

“That’s it?” Charlie tried to rein in her disappointment.

“That’s it. And there isn’t any mention of an EHJ anywhere else in the diaries. I’m sorry. I know it’s not much.”

Charlie did her best to reassure her it was important. “If you think of anything else or remember something that might be useful, please let us know.”

“We will,” Deborah assured her. “Jim remembered the blue container you mentioned earlier but it was empty when we removed the items from the attic. Of course, by that time, Jim and I had been living at our present location for a while so anyone could have gone in and gotten its contents.” An awkward moment passed. “How are you, Charlie? We heard that Pete died. I know how close you two were. Jim and I are both so sorry.”

Charlie swallowed back the lump in her throat. She and Pete had been close. He deserved better from her. “I’m okay. It’s hard.”

Deborah of all people would understand. “We’re praying for you. Abby loved you so much.”

Tears threatened to take away her vision. She somehow managed to get words out. “Thank you, Deborah. When this is over, I hope we can get together and talk about Abby.”

“We’d like that. Please be careful.” The call ended.

Any idea who EHJ is?” Ryan asked as soon as the conversation was over.

Charlie had no idea. “It could be someone’s initials, or it could be some type of code Abby created to keep anyone from finding out their identity.”

“So, in other words, we’re back to square one.” Ryan rose and paced the room. “I sure hope Boone and Will find something useful.”

She absently went over the initials in her head a moment. Then she sat up straighter and snapped her fingers. “I think I know who it is.”

Ryan whirled toward her in anticipation.

“You remember Eddie Hawthorne Junior?” The mayor’s grandson had been raised by Eddie and his wife. He’d gone by Junior a lot during school. “His initials are EHJ.”

Ryan dropped to his deserted chair. “You’re right. Wasn’t he older than us?”

“He was. But I think he was held back in school. Do you remember why he came to live with his grandparents?”

Ryan shook his head. “I don’t. But he still lives here in Pine Haven. He’s part of the city council. Eddie’s been grooming him to run for mayor at some point.”

Sarah appeared in the doorway with coffee for both. “I wasn’t intending to eavesdrop, but I heard you mention the mayor. You should ask Lila about the fight that happened between Eddie and your uncle recently at the café.”

Nothing prepared Charlie for this. “Who did you hear this from?”

Sarah crossed her arms. “My aunt mentioned it. She works at the café. She didn’t hear what it was about, but she said that Lila had to break it up before it came to blows.”

Charlie struggled to imagine her uncle being so angry with his friend that it might lead to a fist fight . . .unless this wasn’t about Eddie and Pete but something Pete had discovered about Junior. “We need to speak with Lila.”

Ryan hesitated. “It’s not safe for us to leave.” He illuminated his phone. “The café should be closing soon. Maybe we can get her to drop by here.”

“I’ll call her.” Charlie remembered she didn’t have a phone.

Ryan handed her his. “Here you can use mine. I’m going to get an update from Boone.”

He stepped from the conference room with Sarah. Charlie punched in Lila’s number.

“What’s going on, Ryan? Is everything okay?”