Chapter 1 #2
"I need wine and food before we start researching," Tessa said. "Do you want to order from that Thai place down the street?"
I picked up my phone. "On it." After ordering our favorites, I got up and grabbed a baggie of veggies from the fridge, poured ranch dressing into a small bowl and took it to the table.
"Thanks." Tessa immediately reached for a carrot. "I didn't have time to grab dinner before I came over."
"Me, either. Food will be here in ten minutes."
Tessa refilled our wine glasses, finishing off the bottle. "Morgan seemed stressed tonight. This is why I don't date men with children and ex-wives. It's far too complicated."
I nodded, popping a slice of cucumber into my mouth. "It wouldn't be my first choice, but I guess you love who you love."
"Or you choose to love someone else," Tessa said dryly.
"Speaking of choosing someone, did you hear from that guy you went out with on Saturday?"
"Nope. He gave me the usual, had a great time, let's do it again speech, and then nothing. I'm over dating, Cassidy."
"I hear you."
She gave me a more serious look. "I'm also over not having a real job and real money. That's why we need to make this podcast work."
"I get it." I paused, glancing down at my phone. "Our food is here. I'll go down and get it. Then we'll figure out our next case."
An hour later, we'd finished our late dinner and were deep into our computer files.
But as I read through all the cases that I'd made notes on in the last few months, they all seemed wrong—too big or too scary or too far away.
I was beginning to think our idea was only great in theory, not in practice.
Then the name of a town jumped out at me—Stonecross, Maine. I let out a breath of surprise.
"Did you find something?" Tessa asked, looking up from her computer.
"I—I'm not sure." My gaze ran down the news article about a woman who had gone missing a year ago in the small town of Stonecross. She'd last been seen at the Stonecross Inn. Now I remembered why I'd saved this story.
"Cassidy?" Tessa's questioning gaze brought my head up.
"It's…nothing."
"It doesn't sound like nothing. What's the case?"
"A year ago. Natalie Warren, thirty, from New York City, vanished after a three-day stay—checking out two days early from the Stonecross Inn in Stonecross, Maine."
"That sounds good," Tessa said with excitement. "Natalie is only a few years older than us. She's from New York. And Maine isn't that far away. Plus, the town name makes it sound kind of gothic."
"We can't go there," I said flatly.
Tessa's eyes widened in surprise. "Why on earth not?"
"Because…we can't. I can't."
"I don't understand. What's the problem?"
"My father was born in Stonecross, Maine."
"Really? But why is that a problem?"
"My father left when he was eighteen and has never been back. There was some family drama that he refuses to speak about."
"Is that family still in Stonecross?"
"My grandmother runs the Stonecross Inn."
"Where the girl disappeared? Oh, come on, Cassidy. That's a crazy coincidence. This is our case. Every sign is pointing in that direction. You'll have the inside track with your grandmother. You'll be able to get information no one else can."
"I won't, Tessa. I've never met my grandmother. And my father would kill me if I went there. Whenever I asked about my grandmother, he refused to tell me anything except that his mother would never meet me unless it was over his dead body."
"Okay," Tessa said slowly. "I see what you're saying, but aren't you curious as to why you can never meet your own grandmother?"
"Of course, I'm curious. But my father is my only family, and he barely tolerates me. I can't cut the last connection I have to him."
"Does he have to know? You don't see him that often, do you?"
"A few times a year," I conceded. "But somehow he'll find out."
"How would he? Does he listen to our podcast?"
"God, no! I told him about it when we first started it, and he dismissed it like it was nothing."
"Then I don't see how he'll know. You're twenty-eight years old, Cassidy. Do you really need to factor your father into this? If you want to meet your grandmother, why shouldn't you? And she must be pretty old by now. Maybe it's time to connect before it's too late."
"He told me to forget about her a long time ago. If I go to Stonecross, he'll feel like I betrayed him."
"Now who's being dramatic, Cassidy? What on earth could your grandmother have done that was so horrible?"
"I don't know, but it was something."
"Don't you think it's time you found out what that was? And this isn't just about you, remember? This is about looking into the disappearance of a young New York woman, who disappeared from your grandmother's inn. What if we could find out what happened to her and bring her family closure?"
"Technically, she didn't disappear from the inn. She checked out, and no one saw her again."
"Either way, your grandmother is right in the middle of this case."
I frowned. "Even if I did agree to dig into this with you, I still don't see how we're going to find out what happened to this woman. Obviously, the police and her family looked for her."
"Maybe a year ago. Cold cases tend to crack as time passes. And when you put a bright light on a dark corner, sometimes the rats scurry out. You've always said your dream was to be a real journalist. Here's your chance."
I groaned. "Can't I be a real journalist somewhere else besides Stonecross?"
Tessa smiled. "Of course, but fate is leading you back to your past. I don't see how you can say no to that."
"Then I guess I'm going to say yes."