Page 27 of Wedding Cake Carnage
“We could go to the door and no farther,” she grouses. “We need you, Lottie. This cabin, these people have nothing to do with the murder Beasty came to help solve. And I’ve been forbidden entry as well.”
“You’re a ghost, Lea. Who is possibly going to stop you?”
“There are rules,” Beasty rolls the R inrulesdramatically.
“Well, I don’t like the rules. Not in your world or in mine.”
I hope Noah can read between the lines. If he doesn’t think I’m coming back here, he obviously doesn’t know me very well. I’ve got a gun—onehebought me. And I’ve got a couple of poltergeists who can do a heck of a lot of my dirty work for me if I can just get close enough to make the magic happen.
Noah takes us back to my place and he starts in on a search of property taxes to see who owns the cabin. A name pops up on the screen, and it takes a second for my mind to put two and two together.
“Oh my God, Noah,” I say as we stare at the name on the screen. “You don’t think… I mean, it can’t be.”
“I don’t know, Lottie. But it sure as hell is one big coincidence if it’s not.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences anymore, Noah.”
“Good,” he says, pulling his laptop forward and running a whole new search. “Because neither do I.”
Chapter 10
The cabin on Pine Brook Road is owned by a man named Isaac James.
“Isaac James.Hailey James.” I look to Noah as we sit across from one another on my sofa. Pancake and Waffles fill the gap between us, the four of us snuggling as if we were one big happy family. The warm scent of vanilla permeates the air from the chocolate chip cookies I baked for Noah as soon as we walked through the door—his personal Kryptonite—and if it weren’t for all the chaos in our lives at the moment, this would be bliss. I couldn’t help the baking part. It’s the only thing I know to do when I’m stressed to the max.
“Hailey James.” He nods. “Harlow James.”
The sun is cresting the horizon outside the window as the light in the room grows increasingly dim.
“You’re not implying they’re the same person, are you?”
“I don’t know”—he says as his fingers dance over the keyboard of his laptop once again—“but I’m about to find out.”
Noah hits the search engines hard, and sure enough pictures and articles begin to populate the screen.
“They’re all about Harlow,” I say, mesmerized by them all. “No mention of a Hailey. She could be a sister, a cousin, or an aunt.”
“She could be Harlow.”
“I guess you’re right.” My heart seizes at the bizarre thought. “At this point, anything is possible.”
“Okay.” Noah sets his laptop back on the coffee table. “I’m going to put in a call to Ivy. We’ll try to get an emergency search warrant.”
“Search warrant? Noah, we don’t have time for that. We have to go now. If Everett is in there, he could be in grave danger. We’ve waited too long already.” My voice hikes without my permission. “What has to happen in order to get a search warrant?”
“I have to meet with a judge and present probable cause.”
“Meet with a judge? Like tonight?”
“Most likely in the morning.”
“But Everett is in danger.”
“We don’t even know if he’s in there.”
“Well, I have probable cause to believe he is.” I try to get up and Noah gently pulls me back down by the elbow.
“Lottie, I’m sorry, but the fact someone in Hollyhock likes pizza and Chinese food may not fly with the judge.”