Chapter 2
MITCH
Mitch stood at the kitchen window of Seabird Cottage, watching the first rays of sunlight break over the horizon and paint the ocean in shades of gold and pink.
It should have been beautiful. On any other morning, he would have appreciated the view, maybe taken his coffee out onto the deck to watch the waves roll in.
This morning, all he could think about was that Tessa had been missing for over twelve hours now, and they were no closer to finding her than they'd been when Ryan had called from the park yesterday.
Behind him, he heard Lori moving around the kitchen, opening cabinets and pulling out pans with more force than necessary.
Neither of them had slept. How could they?
Lori had been up and down, up and down the entire night, pacing the hallway, checking her phone every few minutes, staring out windows as if she could will Tessa to materialize on the front lawn.
Around two in the morning, she'd come downstairs to find Mitch on the sofa, his laptop open, going through police reports and old case files.
"Why hasn't anyone called?" she'd asked, her voice tight with barely controlled panic. "If this is a kidnapping, shouldn't there be a ransom demand by now? Something?"
Mitch had tried to reassure her, but the truth was, he didn't have a good answer. Kidnappings without ransom demands usually meant one of two things: either the kidnapper wanted something other than money, or they didn't plan to keep their victims alive long enough to negotiate.
He'd kept that second thought to himself.
"Why hasn't someone called about anything?" Lori had pressed, pacing in front of the coffee table. Then her eyes had widened, a new fear clearly dawning. "You don't think they called Carrie, do you? Maybe they contacted her directly in Florida?"
"No," Mitch had said firmly, though the same thought had crossed his mind earlier.
"Marcus would know. He's keeping tabs on Carrie's phone and email, watching for any unusual contact.
If anyone reached out to her, or if Carrie or even Trent somehow found out what happened, they would've been back here by now.
You know Carrie. Nothing would stop her from getting on the first plane. "
That had seemed to calm Lori slightly, though not much.
They'd talked for another hour about Marcus taking both Sally and Haley Simons to the safe house in New York.
It was a good thing, they'd agreed. Sally had been receiving threats, and with Dr. Simons kidnapped, her daughter needed protection.
Marcus's team in New York could keep them safe while Mitch focused on the investigation here.
Mitch was both pleased and terrified that Lori had refused to go with them.
"I'm not going anywhere," she'd said, her jaw set in that stubborn way that reminded him so much of Carrie. "Not until we find Tessa. I won't leave her."
Eventually, around four in the morning, Lori had gone back upstairs to try to sleep.
Mitch had stayed on the sofa, his mind working overtime, trying to catch whatever they'd been missing.
That piece of information or connection that would make it all fit together.
The thing that would lead them to Tessa and Dr. Simons.
But the pieces didn't fit. No matter how many times he rearranged them in his mind, he couldn't see the complete picture.
Now, as the sun continued its slow climb above the water, Mitch turned away from the window and smiled slightly as he watched Lori pull eggs and bread from the refrigerator. She moved with determined efficiency, cracking eggs into a bowl, setting up the toaster, pulling out butter and jam.
He knew neither of them was really hungry. The knot of anxiety in his stomach left no room for food. But making breakfast was something to do. Something normal in a situation that felt increasingly surreal and dangerous.
Misty, who they'd just let in from Sunrise House, was eating her breakfast from a bowl Lori had set down near the back door.
The German Shepherd had spent the night with Ryan, and Mitch had been grateful for that.
His son needed the company, the comfort of the loyal dog's presence while he processed his own guilt and fear over Tessa's disappearance.
"It's going to be a long day," Mitch said, moving to the kitchen table and sitting down heavily in one of the chairs.
Lori glanced up from the stove, where she was scrambling eggs, and nodded but didn't speak.
Her face was pale, with dark circles under her eyes, making her look older than her years.
She'd pulled her hair back in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a cotton shirt.
Even though Lori looked dressed for a casual day, they both knew there was nothing casual about the day.
All they could do was try to fit normal activities like showering, getting dressed, and making breakfast to make it feel that way.
Like in this whirlwind of chaos that was swirling around them, there was still a bit of calm they could cling to.
The silence stretched between them as Lori finished cooking, the only sounds the scrape of the spatula against the pan and Misty's quiet eating. Finally, as Lori was dishing the eggs onto two plates, she spoke.
"Has Marcus called?" Her voice was carefully controlled, but Mitch could hear the desperate hope underneath. "Did his contact get back to him about anything regarding the evidence he sent through?"
Mitch nodded. "He called about an hour ago, while you were upstairs."
Lori set the pan down with a clatter and turned to face him fully. "And?"
"His contact, I'm fairly certain, is Glory Gains. She’s a young woman who lives here in Nantucket and is a forensic specialist. Marcus said she didn't find anything useful in the evidence we collected from the beach.
" Mitch held up a hand when Lori's face started to fall.
"But she did find something in Elias Dane's hospital report. "
"What?" Lori moved to the table with both plates, setting one in front of Mitch and keeping one for herself, though she remained standing. "What did she find?"
"According to the medical examination, Elias was hit twice with a cylindrical object.
Something like a pipe or a baton." Mitch picked up his fork but didn't eat, using it instead to push the eggs around his plate.
"And they found skin beneath his fingernails.
He fought back and managed to scratch his attacker. "
"Whose skin?" Lori asked immediately. "Do they know who it belongs to?"
"Glory is still trying to find that out. She's running the DNA against every database she has access to, but so far, there are no matches." Mitch finally took a bite of his eggs, forcing himself to swallow despite his lack of appetite. "It takes time, and we don't have a lot of that."
"If only Elias would wake up," Lori muttered, finally sitting down at the table but making no move to touch her food. "He could tell us who attacked him. Who's behind all of this."
"I know." Mitch took a sip of coffee, grimacing at how bitter it tasted. Or maybe that was just his mood coloring everything. "But his condition hasn't changed. The doctors say it could be today or next week. There's no way to know."
Lori was quiet for a moment, staring at her untouched plate. Then she looked up at Mitch, her brow furrowed in concentration. "What do you think Elias meant when he said what he did to Sally? What was it exactly?"
Mitch set down his fork and leaned back in his chair, recalling the moment in the hospital when Marcus had relayed what Elias had muttered. "He said, 'Sally is in danger because of what she said in court.'"
"Right." Lori nodded slowly. "So what does that mean?"
"It must be something to do with her trial for the murder of Bradley Lane," Mitch said, though even as the words left his mouth, he felt uncertain. "She testified about what happened at the hunting cabin. Maybe someone connected to the Lane family is seeking revenge."
"I don't know." Lori's response surprised him, and he could hear in her voice that she'd been thinking about this as much as he had. "I mean, yes, that's the obvious answer, but... it doesn't feel right to me."
"What do you mean?" Mitch raised an eyebrow, wanting to hear what she was thinking about all this.
“If this is about the Lanes.” Lori leaned forward, her elbows on the table, "then where do Tessa and I fit in?
" Her frown deepened, lines appearing between her eyebrows.
"If this is about revenge against Sally for Bradley Lane's death, why take Tessa?
Why target me? And I don't buy it that they just thought Tessa got in the way.
This was planned. Professional. Not some spur-of-the-moment decision. "
Mitch nodded. She was right. He'd been thinking the same thing, but hearing her say it out loud made it more real.
"Like Ryan suggested when we met Haley Simons last night," he offered.
"Haley and Tessa do look a lot alike. Similar height, similar build, same dark hair.
From a distance, or if someone only had a photo to work from, they could easily be mistaken for each other. "
"Mistaken identity?" Lori's tone made it clear she wasn't convinced, and honestly, neither was Mitch. It was a theory, but it felt incomplete. "Okay, maybe. But that still doesn't explain everything else."
"What do you mean?"
"Why was Elias Dane spying on Seabird Cottage?
" Lori counted off on her fingers. "Why leave a dead bird on the front porch of this cottage?
Why break in and turn off the electricity by stealing the fuses, no less?
" She shook her head firmly. "No, there is something else going on here. Something we're not seeing."
"Something we're missing," Mitch added with a soft smile that held no humor. "I know. And it's frustrating me to no end."