Page 120 of Trapper Road

But that’s not the real horror. The real horror is that we can’t get out. She’s trapped us in this room with no way to escape.

Mandy plans to burn us alive.

40

GWEN

I don’t bother saying anything to Chief Parks. He’s already forbidden me from talking with Willa and Mandy once before, I don’t need him to do so again. Instead I pull one of the deputies aside and explain who I am and that I’ll be by the station later to give my statement. He asks me to wait while he checks in with the Chief, but the minute he turns his back I head to my car.

I’m sure Parks won’t take my leaving lightly, but I doubt he’ll spare any manpower to come after me. Not when he has his hands full with Juliette’s crime scene.

Once I reach town I notice the lights still on at the coffee shop. I realize in that moment how exhausted I am and how little sleep I’ve gotten in the last few days. A significant infusion of caffeine sounds like just the thing I need to continue my investigation.

I pull off the main road and detour down the side street to the small gravel parking lot. Inside, most of the chairs are turned over on top of the tables, and the floor glistens like it’s just been mopped. Valeria, the woman I met before, is behind the counter and she smiles when she sees me.

“Am I too late?” I ask.

She waves me forward. “Not at all, come on in.” She’s already filling a mug by the time I reach the counter, and she slides it across to me.

I cup my hands around it, letting the warmth seep into me for a moment before taking a sip. It tastes like heaven, and I practically groan with pleasure. “You have no idea how much I need this.”

She smiles. “Tough day?”

It’s hard to even remember when I woke up and how much has happened since then. The secret app, Juliette’s remains, the suicide note, Sam’s possible arrest. I’m exhausted just thinking about it, and I still have so much farther to go before I can even contemplate sleep. “Not the easiest,” I admit.

“Sorry to hear that,” she says.

“Yeah, and it’s looking like another long night.” I hold up the coffee. “This will definitely help.”

“I’m glad,” she says. “Here, let me get you a travel mug.”

I start to protest as she dips below the counter, but the words die on my lips when she returns with an enormous insulated mug. That thing can hold a lot of coffee. I need a lot of coffee. “Thank you,” I tell her.

“Something to remember us by,” she says as she turns to fill it.

“Thanks. I’ll definitely miss this place once we leave. I’m sure my kids will too. They loved coming down here.”

She glances over her shoulder at me. “Your kids came in? How did I miss that?”

“Yeah, my son and a family friend who’s basically like an adopted daughter. They spent the afternoon here the other day and dropped by earlier today.”

She thinks for a moment and then seems to remember. “Oh right, yeah, I know who you’re talking about. I don’t know why I didn’t make the connection. I guess I was surprised they were hanging out with those two girls since you’d been asking about them earlier.” She turns and places the large, steaming travel mug on the counter.

I start to reach for it and pause. “Two girls?”

“Yeah, the missing girl’s friends. They came in together yesterday.”

She must be misremembering or confusing my kids with someone else. “That can’t be right; they don’t know those girls. It would have just been the two of them.”

She frowns. “Huh. You’re right, I must be mistaken.” Something flickers in her eyes, though, making it clear she doesn’t believe that.

A terrible feeling begins to brew in my gut. I dig out my phone and pull up a recent photo. “This is my son Connor.”

She examines the picture. “Yeah, he was in Thursday for several hours.”

“With Vee,” I say, flicking through pictures until I find one of her.

Valeria seems suddenly uncomfortable. My heart begins to hammer, a familiar panic starting to hum through my system.