Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Drake Pond was a gorgeous place to go running, and as I flew down the pavement, Rogue kept pace beside me.
There were plenty of other people out, but he didn’t pay them any mind, just as focused on the exercise as I was.
I wondered how he would handle hiking and thought about taking him out to the Benham trail to test it out.
As we passed a massive white tent that was set up in the middle of the park, I thought about what else Rogue and I could do together. Things that would keep me from digging into cases that didn’t belong to me.
“Hale!” a voice called, and I turned to find Gracie Shepherd standing outside the tent.
She wore jeans and a fuchsia blouse, gold earrings dangling and hair pulled back once again.
Resigned to pausing my run, I changed direction and jogged towards her, pasting on a friendly smile.
Beside me, Rogue went to work sniffing the grass, unconcerned that our run had been interrupted.
“Gracie, how are you?” I asked, not sure what else to say.
We didn’t know much about each other, but she had flagged me down, so I figured it was only polite to stick around and make small talk for a minute before we parted ways.
As I looked at her, I couldn’t help but notice the differences between her and Lexi.
Her cousin had been open and carefree in her videos, whereas Gracie held herself with composure and discipline, like if she let go of all her edges she might just unravel entirely.
“Can’t complain,” she replied, such a generic response that I raised an eyebrow, wondering why she had called me over.
We knew next to nothing about each other, though I probably knew more about her than she realized.
A moment of silence, and then she added, “Well, I could but I won’t.
It’s not a good habit for Hadley to pick up on. ”
Hadley, I had gathered from her words and the conversation she had with Detective Shepherd the other night, was her daughter. I glanced around as though I might be able to spot a child I hadn’t even met.
“Oh, she’s still in the tent with the phlebotomist,” Gracie told me, hooking a thumb over her shoulder to the entrance. I glanced at the bandage around her arm and then over to the white tent with the big red plus sign of the Red Cross logo printed on the canvas.
“I take it you just donated?” I asked, and she beamed and nodded. “I didn’t realize your daughter would be old enough to donate.”
I didn’t know the exact age required to donate but even if it was 16, that would put Gracie at much older than I thought. Or, a teenage pregnancy, in which case I had really shoved my foot in my mouth just now.
“She isn’t,” Gracie told me, and I felt the wash of relief at knowing that I hadn’t made this moment of small talk with a near-stranger even worse.
“But she and Lexi were always close and losing her hit Hadley hard. Coming with me when I donate means a lot to her, and Hads has always been curious about science, so one of the phlebotomists offered to answer some of her questions and show her what they do after they draw the blood.”
“That’s nice of them,” I said, trying my best to stay engaged and not hone in on Gracie bringing up her cousin again. Gracie hummed her agreement but seemed distracted as she glanced around the park before focusing back on me.
“I’m glad I caught you, actually,” she said. “I was thinking about what you said the other night, about what it takes to solve a cold case and how talking about it helps.”
I watched the way she fidgeted with her necklace—an opal pendant in a gold setting—and looked at me with wide, hopeful eyes.
I could feel the unspoken question settle between us and my instinct was to say yes, to take in as much information about the case as I could and try to find the answers that this woman had been waiting years to find.
But I had sworn to Noah that I wasn’t going to get caught up in anything that might lead the FBI to my front door, for his sake and for mine. But ever since Gracie had opened up to me the other night, I had wondered if she would be willing to say more if Kenna wasn’t around to distract her.
Besides, what harm could there be? As far as I could tell, this wasn’t the kind of case that required actively knocking on doors or doing interviews.
Lexi Tate had gone missing on a trail and the only mystery lay in where to find her remains.
If talking to me about it helped Gracie do that, I was more than happy to help.
Besides, the FBI would have no reason to suspect a connection between the recovery of a woman who had gone missing years ago and their current favorite fugitive.
“I’m not sure if there’s any insight I can offer,” I said after a moment of consideration, my heartrate kicking up at just the idea of having something to focus on that wasn’t my own complicated case.
Something that felt real and attainable, that could make a difference in someone else’s life.
“But I’m willing to listen if you want to talk about it. ”
“Are you free now?” Gracie asked. “I have to drop Hadley back off at school, but I could meet you after.”
“Sure,” I said, trying to mourn the rest of the run I would be giving up in favor of finally learning the details of the case that seemed to haunt this town.
Plus, it gave me a good excuse to get out of the rest of my run for now.
Rogue seemed satisfied with the two miles we’d already done, now laying down sprawled out in the grass and gnawing on a stick. “Where?—”
“Mom, Dad wants to know if he can take me to the fair next Sunday,” a young Black girl said as she walked up to us, looking down at her phone.
A man in scrubs stood behind her, his pale skin a sharp contrast to the mop of dark hair that fell into his eyes.
I blinked as I realized that I recognized him from my shift this morning.
Ellie the hair stylist’s brother. He didn’t look like he recognized me, however, his eyes wide as he focused on Rogue instead.
“Hadley,” Gracie admonished, sending me an apologetic look that I only half paid attention to as I realized there was a low rumbling sound coming from Rogue, who had abandoned his stick in favor of standing up and snarling at the newcomers.
“Settle,” I ordered and he quieted but he did not relax.
I pulled on his leash a little to get his attention, but he refused to budge, eyes focused on Hadley, who didn’t seem to notice the dog at all.
I tightened my grip on the leash just in case he decided to do more than growl.
Behind Hadley, the phlebotomist continued to stare at the growling dog, backing up a little.
“I know it’s your weekend, but it’s just a few hours and—” Hadley started, looking up at her mom with a scowl.
“Young lady,” Gracie cut her off, crossing her arms. “I did not raise you to be this rude. Apologize to Hale for interrupting her, thank Dr. Lombardi for giving you a tour, and then we can talk about the fair.”
“Sorry, Ms. Hale,” Hadley said right away, and I nodded at her even as a discomfort fell over me at how close ‘Ms. Hale’ sounded to McHale.
It wasn’t intentional. These people didn’t know about my past, didn’t know how much I missed the days when my future colleagues and current instructors would address me only by my last name.
Hadley turned towards the man behind her and her smile brightened.
“Thank you, Dr. Milo. That was very cool.”
“My pleasure, Ms. Shepherd,” Dr. Lombardi replied, giving Gracie a quick nod before heading back the way he had come, one last fearful glance thrown over his shoulder at Rogue, who was still standing with his hackles raised.
“Thank you,” Gracie said to Hadley, looking pleased as she uncrossed her arms again. “And of course your father can take you to the fair. But right now, I need to get you back to school. Hale, why don’t we meet at The Commons Café?”
“Sure,” I replied, despite not knowing where that was. I was resourceful. I would figure it out.