Page 68 of Five for Silver

The kitchen walls were painted a bright,canary yellow, and light streamed through the window at Candice’sback. Her eyes tracked the floor again before trailing up to findChad. His small smile got flatly rebuffed when she turned her backto him.

“Do you want anything to drink?” sheasked.

“Water would be great.”

She nodded, retrieving a glass from thecupboard. “Must’ve been quite the drive to get here.”

“Just over six hours.”

He’d tried other names on the list beforeCandice, but they’d relocated too far for him to travel, died, orhad been lost from the system. He struck gold with Candice, friendswith both Hastings sisters from an early age.

Candice handed him the glass of water beforepouring orange juice into a glass for herself.

“What is it you want to know?”

“You were friends with Lucy andHarriet.”

Candice frowned. “I was in the same year atschool as Lucy. We were best friends a long time ago.”

“Not anymore?”

She laughed softly. “I moved away fromLittle Wren and out of Bardhum. Sometimes friendships don’t lastthe test of time and sometimes they don’t last distance either. Wedon’t speak, but there’s no bad blood between us. I want closurefor her, and closure for her family, but above all, I want Harrietto be found.”

“Did Lucy and Harriet get on?”

“There was a time they did, but hormoneskicked in,” she laughed, then sipped her orange.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Teenagers with teenage hormones. Boys.”

“Boys?”

Candice sighed. “They fell out over a boy.Over Gavin Hargreaves. He used to be the bad boy back then. Shaggyhaired, with bright green nail varnish, smoked like achimney—yeah—both of them had the hots for him.”

“Lucy … liked Harriet’s boyfriend?”

“See,” Candice pointed a finger at him.“Lucy became friends with him first, hoped they’d become a thing,but Gavin only saw Harriet like that. I think he was friends withLucy just to be around Harriet, but Lucy got upset when I mentionedit.” She shrugged. “Silly schoolgirl crushes.”

“But they broke up? Gavin and Harriet brokeup?”

“Yeah, after he found out about the lettersand gifts from that creepy police officer, James, he dumpedher.”

Chad pressed down on his thigh to stop hisleg jumping. “Did you know how Harriet felt about James?”

“I was closer to Lucy than Harriet. Shedidn’t talk about him with me,” Candice screwed up her face. “Buthim lingering around the school, whisking her away toMelbournSpring… it wasn’t right.”

“Why is Melbourn Spring significant?”

“There is a parking lot there now, but backthen, there was a rest area. You could squeeze two cars in, threeat most, but the spring was popular for making out, drinking, andskinny dipping. It was inappropriate for a police officer to bedriving a seventeen-year-old there, but the police didn’t want toknow.”

“Was Gavin angry about the break up?”

Candice laughed lightly. “He wasn’t angryabout anything, ever. Lucy hoped Gavin would stick around, but heleft to live with his father. I heard he died of an overdose yearsago. I was shocked, but not surprised. He loved to smoke, butHarriet hated the stuff. The smell was enough to turn herstomach.”

Chad bit his lip. “Do you know if Harriethad a tattoo?”

“Oh, yeah.” Candice snorted. “It was adolphin on her ankle. She showed us once when we were doinghockey—rolled down her sock and there it was. I remember thinkingit was amazing at the time, and I ended up getting one, too, with arazor blade and black ink, that’s all it was. I got it covereddecades ago, but you can still feel it,” she stretched her armacross the table.

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