Chapter 49
CASSIE
Light poured into the room, my head pounding when I woke up.
I blinked, then realized it wasn’t my head.
Someone was at the front door.
“What the fuck…?” Hawk was up before I could say anything.
We were tangled up, all of us naked, Vigo ass-up at the foot of the bed, where he always seemed to end up when we spent a night together.
“Check the cameras,” Jagger muttered, still half asleep.
“My phone’s in the other room,” Hawk said, pulling on his sweats.
He left the room and I heard him bound down the hall as the pounding started up again.
“I better go.” Jagger threw his legs over the side of the bed and reached for his underwear.
But he was still pulling on his jeans when Hawk returned carrying a manilla envelope.
“Delivery.” He held out the envelop. “For you.”
“Me?” I studied the envelope.
An address I didn’t recognize.
From London.
“I had to sign for it,” Hawk said.
My heart raced as I tore open the flap. and removed a single piece of paper.
Scrawled writing — cursive — unfurled in blue pen across the blank page.
I was wrong about your mom. She would want you to do this. You might find what you need at the Mill. Third floor, fourth office on the right, above the desk. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. She’d be so proud of you.
I reread it three times, then handed it to Hawk.
“It’s from Anna.” She’s obviously sent it after we left England.
Before she’d been murdered.
My mind spun, trying to make sense of the message, grasping for the pieces of the puzzle that were almost in reach. The Mill was a bar that straddled the north and south sides of town.
Hawk read the message, then passed it to Jagger.
“The Mill,” Jagger said. “Why would your parents hide something at the Mill?”
“Has it always been a bar?” Vigo asked, awake now and starting at the message from Anna.
“I have no idea.” Jagger looked at me. “Cass?”
I shook my head. “It’s not about the bar.”
“It says the Mill,” Jagger said.
“Wait…” Hawk said. “This isn’t about the bar, is it? It’s about the old paper mill.”
“My dad worked there,” I said. “He was an engineer.”
“And it’s still around? “Jagger asked.
“And still abandoned,” I said. “As far as I know.”
Vigo opened his mouth to say something but Hawk stopped him.
“Don’t ask,” Hawk said. “Because I’m thinking exactly what you’re thinking.”