Page 60 of Whispers of the Lake

Along the way, I gave Kennedy a call. She didn’t answer the first time but did get around to it on my second try.

“Kennedy Windsor,” she answered.

“Hi, Kennedy. It’s Rose. I—I think I found something, about Eve. I don’t think she felt safe in the cottage and there’s some guy she talks about a lot named Victor, but I have no idea who he is. I don’t think I’ve met him. There are also other things I saw that might help us figure out what happened to her.”

“Okay, okay. Slow down,” Kennedy insisted. “What exactly did you find?”

“I found recent journal entries on her laptop, but there’s proof in here that she was with Alex and Damian while staying at the cottage. She talks about stuff they did.”

“Good Lord.” Kennedy sighed. “Alright. Where are you?”

“I’m on the way to Sage Hill. I should be there within the next hour.”

“Right. Well, you can’t come to the sheriff’s office. Reed is here,” she said in a lower voice. “I’ll send you my address. You can meet me at my place. My shift is almost over.”

“Okay.”

“You called at a good time,” she added. “My friend got back to me, and I also received a call from the DA. I told her about Eve and what we suspect. It has piqued her curiosity and she wants more details. The more proof we have, the better our chances are of bringing them in for questioning.”

“Okay, good.” Questioning wasn’t enough, but it was a start. Perhaps they’d slip or more proof would be revealed. Who knows, maybe there would even be a confession.

“Drive carefully,” Kennedy said before ending the call.

Once she’d sent her address, I tapped it, and my phone provided me another route.

Kennedy Windsor lived in an apartment on the second floor in the heart of town. The parking lot was massive but hardly filled with cars. The complex was well kept. I took the stairs up and gave her door a knock.

In a matter of seconds, she answered. It was interesting seeing her out of uniform. She wore jeans and a graphic T-shirt with an ice cube wearing sunglasses. The words TOO COOL were above it. “Come in,” she said, stepping back.

I walked past her, and the smell of baked chicken and spices flooded my senses. A candle was lit on the center of her glass dining room table. The rug in her living room was furry and black. Her furniture was suede brown. A corgi mix circled my ankles, sniffing at me.

“That’s Pinto,” Kennedy said after locking the front door.

“Hi, Pinto.” I squatted, giving the dog a rub on the head. He sniffed my hand then chuffed before twisting around and trotting away.

“You really think something bad has happened to her, don’t you?”

I faced Kennedy, who had her arms folded and an expectant look on her face.

“I really do,” I admitted. “At first, I thought it was just Eve being Eve. She can be flaky and sometimes she just flat out ignores people. But this time it’s different. She’stooquiet about it.”

Kennedy dropped her arms and shook her head as she walked past me. “I used to have a friend like Eve. Do you want something to drink?”

“Um, just water is okay.” I watched as she opened the fridge. “What do you mean, you had a friend like Eve?”

“The flaky, self-absorbed kind,” she said, plucking a water bottle out and carrying it my way. “We’re no longer friends.”

“Oh.” I accepted the water when she offered it to me. It wasn’t until I took a few chugs that I realized how thirsty I was. The bottle was nearly empty.

Kennedy laughed as she returned to the kitchen, grabbed another bottle, then handed it to me. “When was your last full night of sleep?” she asked, making her way to the stove to stir something in a pot.

“Not sure, honestly. Two nights ago, maybe.” I shrugged, finishing my first water then opening the next. I hadn’t slept much with Jayson last night in the hotel either, though he’d slept like a baby. I envied how calm he was, how none of this was truly his concern.

“You should rest. Seriously, you can’t get anything done running on empty.” Kennedy turned off the stovetop and sat on the sofa. “Come on, sit. Tell me about these journal entries you found.”

I sat with her, placing my purse on my lap to dig the laptop out. Once I’d signed in, I started to hand the journal to her.

“Oh—hold on.” She shot back up and returned to the kitchen to retrieve a box from one of the cabinets. When she returned, she was sliding her fingers into a pair of latex gloves. “Evidence.” She sighed before taking the laptop from me and pressing a finger to the mousepad.

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