Page 25 of Vanished in the Mist
Kaden choked, then coughed and cleared his throat.
“Does the eye candy have a name?” Stella stepped in after Shanna while Kaden held the door for them.
“He can hear you, you know.” Kaden followed them toward a table.
Stella turned around, grinning. “Well, that’s one advantage you have over my Frank. He can’t hear a thing without his earpiece. You got a name or should I use the one Ms. Shanna called you?”
He held out his hand. “Kaden Rafferty, ma’am.”
She pushed his arm away. “Save the handshakes for the men. We’re all about Southern warmth here. Give this old woman a hug, young man.” Without waiting, she wrapped her arms around his waist.
He froze in surprise, then narrowed his eyes in warning at Shanna, who was obviously struggling not to burst out laughing. He put his arms around Stella and lightly returned the hug.
She pulled back and patted his chest. “He’s handsome and strong, Ms. Shanna. And too polite to refuse to hug an elder, even though she’s invading his space and making him uncomfortable.”
Kaden cleared his throat again. “You’re not making me uncomfortable.”
Stella rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you’re more comfortable hugging pretty Ms. Shanna. You’re sweet to indulge me. But we have to get back to business now, before she gets jealous. I’ll bring you both some of my famous blueberry muffins hot outof the oven. We serve them all day. Have a seat right over here, in the middle of the room, and take a gander at the menus. This here will give you the best location for listening in on everyone’s conversations.”
Shanna’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
Stella waved her into her seat. “Now, don’t you be getting upset. I mean no harm. But you’re an investigator, right? Cassidy told me about you enough times for it to click. You’re looking into that awful business with that young man who drowned at the lake, aren’t you? Can’t say it’s the first drowning around here and it won’t be the last. But it’s always sad. Anyway, you do what you need to do. Listen in, see what you can figure out about whether he was with someone or not whenever he drowned. I hate to say it but not everyone is a Good Samaritan and will risk themselves to save someone else. If he was with a friend and they refused to help or at least call for help, they deserve punishment fitting that. I’ll send Daphne over in a few minutes to take your order.”
Kaden sat across from Shanna, shaking his head. “Wow. That was…wow.”
“She’s a whirlwind, for sure.” She arched a brow. “And quite friendly with my plus-one.”
He grinned and looked around. “Guess we got lucky getting a table. There aren’t many left.”
“I figured it would be extra busy after this morning’s police activities. Everyone’s gathering to talk theories and gossip.” She pulled two pocket-size notebooks out of her purse and slid one, along with a pen, across the table. “I came prepared.”
“I’m not surprised.” He picked up the pen and little pad of paper. “Let the eavesdropping begin.”
They both had cheeseburgers, although Shanna ordered hers without bread and he added bacon. But the clock was ticking and they were both mainly focused on gathering information.
As Shanna had predicted, the town gossips were having a field day about the discovery of remains in the lake, and the even more shocking revelation that the person who’d died was one of the town’s own. From what Kaden had heard from a group of men sitting behind him, the Cargill family wasn’t exactly beloved here in Mystic Lake. They had one of the largest mansions on one of the tallest mountains and, whether true or not, at least gave the impression to many of the townspeople that they thought themselves above them socially, not just literally.
Tristan only associated with the most popular kids, allegedly using his family’s wealth as a carrot to buy his way into the school’s inner circle despite being somewhat of a nerd. It became clear that the town had given a collective sigh of relief when Tristan headed to Europe for his so-called gap year. No one, it seemed, had any idea that he’d ever returned.
Except for whoever had killed him.
The police had done well to keep the fact that Tristan had been murdered a secret. So far, at least. The people at the tables near Kaden all seemed to believe it was yet another mysterious accident that could be attributed either to the ghosts of the original people killed when the town was formed, or someone called the Phantom. He underlinedthe Phantomseveral times, determined to follow up and try to figure out what that was all about.
Across from him, Shanna had her own list going, but hers mostly consisted of names with little comments beside each one. She’d listed Tristan and Tanya in the middle of the page and had drawn lines to each name she added, forming what appeared to be a tree of spaghetti with lines crossing over each other as she apparently linked each name to other names in her tree.
A few minutes after Daphne had taken away their plates, Stella seemed to appear from out of nowhere, leaning over Shanna’s shoulder.
“You forgot Jack,” she said.
Shanna started, then looked up. “Sorry, what?”
Stella patted her shoulder. “Didn’t mean to startle you, honey. Just looking at your little tree there and I noticed you’re missing Jack Neal.” She tapped an empty spot on the page. “There. Put his name there. He’s the local bully around here.” She frowned. “Well, one of them. He’s sitting over at that table in the far corner with Sam Morton, the former high-school quarterback.”
Shanna and Kaden both looked toward the table that Stella had indicated. The plates of food in front of the two young men didn’t appear to have been touched. Instead, they were in deep conversation, ignoring everyone around them.
“Wonder what they’re talking about,” Shanna said. “Seems serious.”
Stella shook her head, a look of disgust on her face. “Knowing those two, nothing good. At least, in the old days they’d be up to some foolery. I haven’t seen them together in a long time. Either they’re discussing plans for a party or whose car to egg next. Then again, they haven’t caused much trouble since graduation, so maybe they’ve reformed.”
