Page 2 of Vanished in the Mist (A Mystic Lake Mystery #2)

The stress she’d been struggling with from her most recent case, her arguments with her ex and even her few minutes on the dock all seemed to lighten as she stepped across the threshold. It was as if she’d left her worries outside. It felt good. Really good.

She drew a deep breath, smiling as she turned and shut the door.

But when she saw what was on the back of the door, the stress came hurtling back, like a fist slamming into her chest. A faded eight-by-ten piece of paper was taped to the door.

Across the top, printed in large black letters was a heart-wrenching, ominous word.

MISSING

The color picture beneath the caption framed the smiling face of a young girl with long red hair and a smattering of freckles across her pale cheeks.

Her bright blue eyes stared back at Shanna, making her throat tighten.

This was the girl her sister had wanted her to try to find.

Had Cassidy simply forgotten to take down the flyer?

Or had she put it there to make Shanna feel guilty?

Maybe it was worse than that. Maybe her little sister had tricked her and this wasn’t a simple vacation opportunity.

The couple was probably hiding in the bedroom right now, waiting to ambush her and beg her to look for this girl.

No, not this girl . She was a real person and deserved to be thought of by her name, the name printed beneath her picture.

Tanya Jericho

She let out a shuddering breath and turned away, her good mood having completely evaporated.

“Cassidy? Are you here?” She headed to the door in the middle of the back wall and yanked it open.

“Cassidy? Gavin?” She strode into the bedroom and glanced around, fully expecting one or both of them to be there.

But aside from the king-size bed, with its patchwork quilt and the usual assortment of nightstands and a dresser, the room was empty.

She checked the closet and surprisingly large, attached bathroom as well.

Both were devoid of a sneaky sister or her equally sneaky husband.

Okay. Maybe assuming the worst about them was unfair.

A faded poster of a girl who’d been missing for almost a year wasn’t enough evidence to prove her sister had an ulterior motive for inviting her here.

Shanna strode back into the main room of the cabin, circling the two-tiered kitchen island to get a drink of water while trying to quiet the suspicions in her mind.

But when she rounded the island, what she saw on the countertop by the sink had her tensing up again: a half-inch-thick manila folder.

Her sister had promised to leave a note about the local sites, hiking trails and restaurants.

Nothing about the thickness of that folder had her believing that’s what she’d find.

Drawing a bracing breath, she took the folder to the table and flipped it open.

And swore, viciously.

She’d been tricked. Shanna didn’t have to be a private investigator to reach that conclusion. It was spelled out clearly and succinctly on the very first line of the first page in the folder.

Hey, sis. I’m so sorry that I tricked you.

Shanna swore again and plopped down in one of the chairs at the table to read the rest of the note.

Her sister explained that she was desperate to help the Jericho family and the only way she knew how was to ask her brilliant private-investigator sister to look into Tanya’s disappearance.

Cassidy begged her to please read everything in the folder, which had been given to her by the missing teen’s parents.

The stack of pages contained background information on their daughter, what they’d documented and collected about the investigation that the police had done, as well as their own attempts to find out what had happened.

If you read this and are still set against helping, I’ll understand. You can enjoy the cabin regardless and have the vacation you deserve. I had to try one last time to get your help or I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Forgive me, please? Love you.

Shanna sighed. Of course, she’d forgive her sister…

eventually. Honestly, in her place, she’d have probably done the same thing.

But what Cassidy didn’t seem to get was that Shanna hadn’t made her decision lightly to not investigate the girl’s disappearance.

She’d agonized over whether or not to come here and help.

But in a town built around and dominated by a deadly lake, she’d decided it was best to trust in the local police rather than try to interject herself into the investigation.

Thankfully, her sister had given her an out, telling her it was okay to stay and use the cabin anyway.

Cassidy and her husband hadn’t lied. They really were on a cruise, as the note went on to explain.

To do right by her sister, all Shanna had to do was read the folder.

Then she could set it aside without any guilt and get on with her plan to do absolutely nothing but sleep, read and eat for the next seven days.

Her gaze, seemingly of its own accord, slid back to the picture of the young woman on the flyer.

So young. So innocent.

Shanna had been that young once, that innocent. And what had happened to her had been horrendous. But she’d survived, because of the help of some really good people. Who was helping Tanya? Who was helping her parents?

Shanna started to shake. No. This wasn’t her problem. It wasn’t Shanna’s fault that this girl was missing. It wasn’t her duty to help every single person who got into some kind of trouble. She was only one person. There was only so much she could do.

Anger came to her rescue, giving her the strength to surge to her feet and snatch the missing poster off the door.

She was about to slap it on top of the stack of documents in the folder when she noticed dark shadows of words bleeding through to the front of the flyer.

Someone had written on the back and she didn’t have to guess who.

Cassidy.

She fisted her hands at her sides. Ignore it. Don’t turn it over. Don’t read it.

Oh, for the love of…who was she kidding?

She was an investigator for a reason. Her curiosity was her superpower, driving her until she uncovered every little crumb of evidence to solve a case.

Unfortunately, it was also her kryptonite.

She let out a strangled groan and flipped over the flyer.

Her sister’s neat teacher’s handwriting flowed across the page.

There is one more thing I need to tell you, and it’s a doozy. I really hope you can forgive me.

“Oh, Cassidy. What else have you done?”

To make sure you have the best possible chance at finding out what happened to Tanya, I—

The cabin door suddenly opened and a man stepped inside, eyes wide with surprise as he stared at her.

Shanna clawed for the pistol in her pocket.

The man leaped at her, tackling her to the floor.

Bam! The gun went off.