Page 58 of The Souls of Lost Lake

Wren took a bite of her cookie.

Meghan fiddled with hers.

Wayne rapped his fingers on the arm of the chair before inquiring,“Why is it important to find out about Ava Coons’s offspring—if there were any?”

It was a good question. Wren hadn’t even tied all her thoughts together. But if Ava had offspring in the area, maybe there was an explanation for Jasmine having seen Ava Coons. A misunderstanding. Someone posing as Ava Coons. It was easier to accept than that a ghost had led Jasmine off.

“I’m just curious,” Wren replied, avoiding a more honest answer.

Wayne’s eyes were sharp, and she could feel him assessing her.

Meghan shifted in her seat. She shot Wren an anxious look before speaking. So much for flying under the radar. “Mr. Sanderson, my daughter saw Ava Coons. The day before she disappeared. I need to know if this is even possible.”

He didn’t answer for a long, loaded moment. When he did, he seemed to choose his words carefully. “You mean, if Ava Coons took off with your child?”

“Yes.” Meghan nodded vehemently. “Only Wren believes me.”

Well, she’d never actuallysaidshe believed Meghan. “Or someone who appears to be Ava Coons—someone who’salive, but...” Saying it aloud made it sound even crazier.

Meghan continued, “What happened to Ava? Where did she disappear to? It’s the only way I’m going to find my baby.”

Wayne worked his jaw back and forth. Meghan Riviera was literally chasing a ghost. Wren was trying to add flesh and bones to it—for her sake as well, though she didn’t want to admit that aloud. Wayne’s responses would either make Ava Coons vanish again or come back to life.

“Mrs. Riviera—”

“Meghan.”

“Meghan, then.” Wayne bent forward, resting his forearms on his knees and looking intently at her. “Ava Coons is an age-old legend about a murder, throwing bodies into Lost Lake, and disappearing. There have been folks who go into the national forest and state lands here who never return. They just disappear. Now,I don’t know what happened to them. Is it probable that it’s Ava Coons’s ghost luring people into the woods so she can do to them what she did to her family?”

Wren held her breath. Wayne was going to demolish Meghan’s theory. Which was good—at least the ghostly part of it. But then, once it was humanized, it became more terrifying, didn’t it? That someone had actuallytakenJasmine?

“Ava Coons is a ghost story. Plain and simple.” Wayne’s conclusion took the air from the moment.

Meghan paled. “My daughter said she saw Ava Coons. How do you explain that? Where do I go to look for her?” Meghan shot a desperate look to Wren, then back to Wayne. “Wren said youknewabout Ava Coons—that you could help us!”

Wayne shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He rubbed his palms together as if considering his answer.

“Tell me something—anything!” Meghan was growing agitated.

Wren started to reach for her, but Wayne interrupted by clearing his throat.

“Ifsomeone took your child, they’d go farther toward Lost Lake—not in the search grid based on how a child would travel alone.”

“Lost Lake?” Meghan’s voice trembled.

“Why Lost Lake?” Wren interjected.

“Because—” Wayne paused and leaned back in his chair, his face strained—“it’s obscure. Murky. The bottom of the lake is all muck.”

“Why is that important?” Meghan’s faint but wobbling question chilled Wren from the inside out.

“Mr. Sanderson—” Wren tried to interrupt.

Wayne’s voice shook, and he ignored Wren’s attempt to temper his honest opinion. “A little girl disappeared years ago too. Trina. Police say her daddy took her. But I’ve said all along that the authorities need to dredge Lost Lake. They’ll find her body. They’ll find others too.” He offered a sad smile.

Wren lurched to her feet. “Mr. Sanderson—”

“I hate to be so blunt.” Wayne shrugged. “But if there’s anything true about Ava Coons, it’s that she knew the best place to get rid of a body in these parts. That’s at Lost Lake.” His stare burned into Wren’s. “Best you tell that to the search team.”