Is Anyone Listening?

Chapter 16 #2

"Why was there blood on the carpet?" Jeff asked from behind me.

I don't know which of the three of us was more surprised by the interruption.

"Stay out of this, Jeff," the sheriff ordered. "It doesn't concern you."

"Cassidy has a good question."

"Anna cut her hand on some broken glass in her room and bled on the carpet.

Ray took it to the cleaners," Ellen said firmly.

"You could find a mystery anywhere, couldn't you?

And you don't need to answer that question, because as I said before, you're leaving.

If you don't want a ride, you can call a taxi.

Your investigation is over. Sheriff, would you mind escorting Ms. Bennett upstairs and waiting while she packs? "

"Hold on," I said, putting up a hand as Tom took a step in my direction.

"I didn't come here just because of Natalie.

" My voice was shaking now, but I couldn't stop.

This wasn't how I'd wanted to do this. I'd never planned to reveal my connection to Ellen in public, in front of all these people.

But I had no choice. "Or the podcast. I came here to meet you. "

Ellen stared at me in confusion. "No, you didn't. You're just trying to change your story now. This is another attempt to involve me personally in these disappearances, to make this about me—"

"No," I interrupted. "I'm not changing my story.

I did come here to look for Natalie and to talk about our search for her on the podcast. But that's not the only reason I came.

It wasn't just about Natalie or the others.

It was also about your son, David. And why you two haven't spoken in more than thirty years. "

The color drained from Ellen's face. She went rigid, her hands clenching at her sides. The room had gone so quiet I could hear the tick of the grandfather clock in the corner.

"That's enough," Ellen whispered, but now her voice was the one shaking. "You will not mention my son's name in this house."

"David isn't just your son," I said, forcing the words out. "He's also my father. I'm your granddaughter. I'm not Cassidy Bennett; I'm Cassidy Clarke. And I'm not leaving until we talk about why you and I have never met before now."

The silence that followed was absolute. Every person in the room stared at me, including Ellen, who stood frozen, her face ashen, her eyes wide with shock. For a long moment, she didn't speak. Didn't move. Just stared at me as if I couldn't possibly be real.

"You can't be my…granddaughter," she finally said.

"I am." I held her gaze. "I'm David's daughter. You really didn't know?"

She squared her shoulders. "How could I? David hasn't spoken to me since the day he left when he was eighteen years old." She paused. "Are you really his daughter? Or is this another lie?"

"I'm his daughter. And I think you know that, whether or not you want to admit it."

Ellen opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. No words came out. She looked at the sheriff, at Dorothy, at the faces staring at her from the archway, and something in her seemed to crumble.

Without another word, she turned and walked out of the room. A moment later, I heard a door close.

The room remained silent. No one seemed to know what to do or say.

"Well," Dorothy said finally, breaking the tension. "I wasn't expecting to hear that. I don't think Ellen was either."

I turned to look at her. "I was going to tell her in private. I was waiting for the right moment."

"And you thought this was it?" Jeff asked dryly.

"I didn't know if I'd have another chance." My gaze moved to the sheriff, who didn't seem to know what to do now.

After a moment, he said, "I guess I'll let you and Ellen sort this out." He cleared his throat. "But the podcast needs to end. You're slandering the reputation of this town."

"Why are you so unwilling to admit that what's been happening here is real?" I challenged. "I didn't make up those women. They're gone. And no one knows where they are or what happened to them."

"Those cases were investigated thoroughly, and not just by me.

There were private investigators involved, too.

There is simply no proof that anything happened to them.

That's why the cases were closed. Not because anyone wanted to hide anything.

If you really want to tell the truth, you should put that on your podcast." On that note, he turned and walked out of the room.

I blew out a breath as he left. Then I turned to Dorothy. "Did you know my father? Do you know why he left? Why Ellen won't speak about him?"

"I knew him as a child. But I don't know what happened between him and his mother. That's a question Ellen has to answer."

"I knew your dad," Jeff interjected. "He was Tom's age, which makes him five years older than me."

"What was he like?"

Jeff shrugged. "I don't know. He seemed like a good enough kid. He wasn't a troublemaker like Tom. But if he got pushed, he'd fight; he wouldn't back down."

"Your brother was a troublemaker?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, big time. So was I." Jeff paused. "Tom thinks I still am. But he was way worse than me back in the day. Drove my father crazy."

"Your father was the sheriff, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was in charge of everyone and everything. It's ironic to me that somehow Tom turned out just like him."

I was less interested in the Holloway brothers and more interested in what Jeff knew about my father. "Do you know why my dad left? Why he never spoke to his mother again?"

"I think it had something to do with his dad dying. Some people even think David might have pushed his father off the cliff, but I never believed that."

"There's no way my father would ever kill anyone."

"Why don't you just ask him why he left?" Jeff asked. "He's alive, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is, but he won't talk about his family or the past."

"And Ellen won't speak of him," Dorothy interjected. "It's a sad situation. Maybe you can bring them back together, Cassidy."

"That seems pretty impossible right now. I don't know if Ellen is going to talk to me again."

"Well, she didn't make you leave," Dorothy said with a smile. "And she could have. That's a step in the right direction."

"I guess." I paused as Cole and Sophie came over to our table.

"Sorry I outed you," Cole said with a regretful smile. "I didn't mean to. I was telling Sophie, and my dad overheard."

I was glad Cole hadn't deliberately set out to expose the podcast, not that I could really blame him. It was public, and I had always known it would eventually come out. "It's fine. I knew someone would figure it out eventually."

"You look awful, Cassidy," Sophie said. "Do you need anything for your cuts? I can get you some first-aid supplies—antiseptic and bandages."

"I'll be fine. The paramedic cleaned the cuts. They'll heal."

"You must have been terrified," Sophie added. "I hate driving that road, especially at night."

"I was beyond scared. Luckily, your brother saved me."

"Really? I had no idea. Finn was there?" she asked in surprise.

I nodded. "Yes, and he's the reason I'm alive. He can also confirm that I didn't drive myself off the side of that road. He saw another vehicle behind me. I don't know why the sheriff won't acknowledge that."

"Why would someone want to hurt you?" Sophie asked. "It doesn't make sense."

"Sure, it does. She's stirring up trouble," Jeff said. "If someone did hurt those women, then maybe they're worried she's going to figure it out."

"I hate to think anything bad happened to Natalie," Dorothy said. "She was such a sweetheart. I really did think she just left and maybe wanted to start over."

"Tom says there's no evidence to prove she didn't do exactly that," Jeff said, sending a comforting look in Dorothy's direction. Then he pushed back his chair. "I should get going. Let me know if you want a boat ride, Cassidy, or if you want to chat more about your father."

"Thanks. I'll think about it. I need to talk to my grandmother again before I talk to anyone else. I'm going to head upstairs now."

"Take care," Sophie said. "And you have my number, Cassidy. Call me if you need anything."

"Thanks."

I felt a little less lonely as I climbed the stairs.

Not everyone in this town hated me. I had some allies, or at least I thought I did.

But maybe one of them was just pretending to be concerned.

I really had no idea anymore. The only thing I knew for certain was that I wasn't leaving yet.

Tomorrow would hopefully bring more answers, but first, I just needed to make it through the night.