Page 58 of Insidious Threats
Sasha leaned over and whispered, “No, this is good. Let them hash it out.”
She nodded and relaxed her shoulders.
Sasha stared into the fire until Barnaby cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to the group.
“Okay,” he announced. “We’re pretty sure the last time anyone saw Chuck would have been on December twenty-first, the week before Christmas. He was at the post office mailing out a tube that he said had some sketches he was sending home. Glen here is dating the postmaster, so he was mooning around the counter waiting to take Bill to lunch.” He pointed to a portly, bearded man.
Glen objected, “I wasn’t mooning around. You make me sound like a lovesick preteen girl. But, yeah, the rest of that is right. I know it was the twenty-first because Bill mentioned that it was the Winter Solstice.”
Sasha glanced at Ellie. “Does that timing track with when your mom got the sketches?”
She nodded.
“And nobody saw him after that? Everyone just assumed he left town?”
Barnaby shrugged. “Well, yeah. We come here every night that Leona’s open. So if he didn’t leave town, he’d be sitting right here right now.”
Sasha tilted her head toward the door, and Ellie stood up.
“Thanks for your help,” Sasha said. She handed Barnaby her card. “If anyone thinks of anything else, please call me.”
He tucked it into his shirt pocket. “We will,” he promised.
“Excuse me, Ellie?” Fig interjected.
She turned toward him. “Yes?”
“I’m awfully sorry to hear that your father’s gone missing. When you find him, will you tell him that Fig would appreciate knowing that he’s okay?”
“I will.” She managed a small smile.
They collected their coats from Leona and bundled up for the short walk back to the inn. They’d just stepped outside and were standing on the sidewalk in front of the tavern, getting their bearings, when Clark burst through the door behind them. He wound a long, knit scarf around his neck and rubbed his hands together.
“There’s one more thing,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s important, but Chuck had a visitor, maybe a day or two before Glen saw him in the post office.”
“A visitor?” Sasha echoed. “Do you know who?”
“Well, I assumed she was his wife, but I guess not.” He shifted his weight and gave Ellie an uncomfortable look. “She was an attractive woman, about his age. And very polished-looking. Her hair and nails were done. She was lovely, really. I was in Sleepy Hollow Used Books, just perusing the shelves and she came in and asked the girl behind the counter for directions to Light on the River. The girl, Jessie—she’s the owner’s niece, and she can’t be a day over fourteen—had no idea what she was talking about, so I stepped in. I offered to take her there because it can be tricky to find, off in the woods. She was charmingly polite but assured me that wouldn’t be necessary. So, I gave her directions and asked if she was an artist planning to stay there. She said no, she was visiting someone and volunteered that it was Charles Prescott.” He kicked at the ground with the toe of his shoe. “That’s all I know.”
“Thanks, Clark,” Sasha said warmly. “We appreciate the information.”
“Like I said, it may be nothing.” He threw another glance at Ellie.
“It may. But it may be helpful. You should go inside before you freeze,” Sasha told him.
Then she linked her arm through Ellie’s and pulled her down the street.
“Do you think my dad was having an affair?”
“Ellie, I have no idea. But I do know jumping to conclusions isn’t going to help us find him. Let’s go back to the inn. I need to call and say good night to my kids. Then we can drive over to Light on the River and see if Pete can help us. Okay?”
Ellie mumbled something indistinct. Sasha decided to take it as agreement.
She’d told Ellie the truth. She had no clue if Cinco was cheating on Gillian. But so help her, if it turned out he’d pulled his disappearing act to hole up with his mistress somewhere, Sasha would strangle him herself.
30
The video chat icon on the family tablet came to life, chirping and blinking, just as Finn and Fiona were finishing up drying the dishes after their pizza dinner.
