Page 76 of Little Hidden Fears

“Noelle hired a private investigator to find one of the women who’d visited the women’s center and then disappeared. The investigator she hired couldn’t find her, but he still put together a file on his investigation. That was in my bag too.”

“What’s this about a woman?”

I turned, noticing Foley had entered the room.

“I went to the women’s center today ... I mean, yesterday, and I spoke to Barbara. She’s worked as the manager of the center ever since it opened. Barbara told me about a woman named Dawn who arrived at the center in bad shape.”

“How bad of shape are we talking?”

“She’d been severely beaten. They were trying to get her to talk, to tell them what happened. I think the pressure ofadmitting what happened and who hurt her was too much, and she fled the center. No one has seen her since. Noelle was worried about Dawn, so she hired a private investigator to find her.”

“Why would Noelle get involved to such a degree?” Foley asked. “From what we’ve been told, it wasn’t like her to do that—for her own security.”

“I believe there’s a connection between Dawn and the reason Noelle was murdered. What’s more, Noelle told Zoey she recognized Dawn. She’d seen her before at the tennis clubbeforeshe was assaulted.”

“Did Zoey say anything else?”

“There was an argument in the club parking lot between Dawn and someone else, but we don’t know who Dawn was arguing with, or why.”

Foley ran a hand across his bald head, his expression one of shock and amazement. “Well, Georgiana, I think you’ve made the biggest breakthrough in the case so far.”

“I do too. I just wish I had that file.”

“Yeah, there’s a good chance it was taken for a reason.”

“If my attacker thinks taking it will change anything, he’s mistaken. I know the name of the private investigator she hired. As soon as I get out of here, I’m going to go see him.”

“Do you think you were attacked because of the file Barbara gave you?”

“I think it’s a combination of things. Someone is trying to send me a warning. And they either wanted to get their hands on the file in the process, or they were trying to find out how much I know. Ask me, they’re scared, which tells me, we’re getting close to nailing this guy.”

Foley leaned against the wall. “You were hit by a blunt object of some kind. If you blacked out, your attacker could have finished the job. Wonder why he didn’t?”

My mother raised a finger. “Haven’t you spoken to Simone yet?”

“No, she was on the phone when I got here,” Foley said. “Why?”

“Simone left her phone in the kitchen at the office last night, and she went back to get it. When she turned into the parking lot, she saw someone in a hoodie standing next to Georgiana’s car. He looked toward her, and then he took off. When she pulled up next to the car, she saw Georgiana. By then, the guy was long gone.”

“I hurt him when I slammed into him,” I said. “I know because he groaned. I’m not sure how much of an impact I made, though.”

“Did you get any indication as to his size?” Foley asked.

“He seemed taller than me. When I rammed into him with my head, it felt like I’d hit his chest, and I was in two-inch heels, so that would make him at least six feet tall, I’d say.”

“Good to know.”

“As soon as I’m given the green light to get out of here, I plan to speak to every person who has ties to the tennis club, try to dig up possible motives for Noelle’s murder.”

Wagging a finger in the air, my mother shook her head. “Oh, no you’re not! No, siree! You need rest and lots of it. It’s time you left the policing to Foley and Whitlock. Let them catch this guy.”

Not wanting to incite an argument while Giovanni and Foley were in the room, I said nothing, my inner dialogue telling me what I couldn’t tell her—Noelle’s killer may have slowed me down, but he hadn’t stopped me.

The next time he came for me, I’d be ready.

CHAPTER 30

The next morning, Giovanni entered our house looking chuffed, sporting a big, wide smile on his face. He’d come bearing gifts, which I was happy to accept. In one hand, he held a drink tray with a couple of lattes. In the other was a department store bag.

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