Page 8 of To the Grave

“We’re good,” Otis said. “Really.”

I nodded and retuned my gaze to Wolf.

“It sucks not having him here…” Wolf said. “But we’re staying busy with the house and trying to figure out who’s behind the kidnappings, especially after the most recent girl went missing.”

I’d read about her — a twenty-one-year-old bartender from Carlton — when I’d gotten the breaking news alert on my phone but hadn’t been able to think too hard about her kidnapping. Thinking about it meant acknowledging that whoever was snatching (trafficking?) girls was still out there.

That Jace had died for nothing.

But my head was clearer now. Whoever had killed Jace was behind the missing girls too.

Solve one mystery, solve the other.

My mind felt rusty, like an old machine creaking to life. “How long has Aloha had Blake’s phone?”

“A few weeks,” Wolf said.

“Do you think he’s done with it?” I asked.

“No idea. Why?”

“I don’t know…” I’d been kidnapped right after I found Blake’s phone. There hadn’t been time to dig into it. Then, afterthe Beasts had rescued me, it hadn’t seemed like there was any point. I’d gotten the information I’d wanted: proof the Beasts had killed Blake. “I’d like to look through it. Maybe there’s something there.”

“We searched it before we gave it to Aloha,” Otis said.

“I figured, but I want to look at it anyway.”

“You think you’ll find something we didn’t.” Wolf wasn’t asking a question. He was following my train of thought.

“Maybe?” I sighed. “I don’t know.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Otis said. “You probably knew him better than anybody.”

“I doubt that.” It was hard to feel like I knew Blake at all now, but we’d been family. We’d shared history and vacations and memories. “But I’d still like to take a look.”

“We’ll talk to Aloha,” Wolf said, “see if he’s done with the phone.”

“Thanks.” I stood and took my plate to the sink, then walked to the terrace doors to slip on the shoes I kept there. “I’ll be back.”

I wasn’t surprised they didn’t ask where I was going. They knew.

I was going to see Jace.

Chapter 9

Daisy

Landscaping work — overseen by Wolf and Otis — had continued around the house while I’d been out of it. The pool and jacuzzi had been installed, surrounded by symmetrical concrete pavers with enough space for grass to grow between them. It gave the patio, which was outfitted with a modern outdoor kitchen and pizza oven, an old-world look, and I was glad I’d made all the design decisions before Jace’s death.

If I hadn’t, the space would probably still be an overgrown mess marked with the pieces of wood and string Otis had used as a low-tech blueprint for the patio layout. Either that or I would have ended up with something less than perfect because I’d been in no condition to make decisions.

Now, it was perfect, exactly as I’d imagined back when I’d dreamed of restoring the house to its former glory, modernizing it without sacrificing any of the historical details that made it special. Steam rose off the pool thanks to the cool early morning air, giving the patio an otherworldly aura. Somewhere in the trees a mourning dove called in ten-second intervals.

Whoo-whoo… whoo-whoo-whoo.

I walked past the pool area and started down a path lined with crushed pea gravel. The landscapers had installed the rose bushes, hydrangeas, and dahlias I’d chosen closer to the house, but behind the pool area the grass was still long and wild.

I stepped off the path and into the meadow that led to the cliffs over the falls and the old family cemetery that was slightly upriver.

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