Page 27 of In Her Eyes

She wraps her leftovers in her napkin and tosses them in the bag. “Can you tell me more about Alice?”

This surprises me. “You didn’t look her up on Google?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “I don’t want to be influenced by any outside sources.” She gestures for me to continue.

“Alice disappeared a week ago. Her roommate reported her missing in the morning when she realized Alice didn’t come home the night before and wasn’t at her job either. We confirmed that Alice worked the day before and left at five. Her car was found on the side of the road about an hour outside of town, with a tire blown out. The car was empty, except for the key fob, which was left inside.”

“Is she local?”

“Yes.”

“How old was she?”

“She was twenty-three.”

“And her family?”

“Her mother died when she was fourteen and she has no other family. Grew up in a group home.”

Ava gazes at the water. “That’s terrible.”

“It is.”

Her gaze drifts to the lake. Ava squints as if in deep thought. “Did you go back to the antique store?”

“Yes, that’s what I meant before—about having an interesting afternoon. The owner confirmed what you said. And he was quite angry about a civil war revolver?”

She laughs. “Did he say where he got the necklace from?”

Why am I telling her all of this? If anyone at the station finds out, I’ll not only be a laughingstock, but I’ll probably get fired. But she’s the first lead in the right direction I have, and my gut tells me to trust her. “Yes. From a small-time, local thug who’s been in jail once or twice for petty crimes.”

“How did you find that out?”

“Security cameras.”

“So, you watched Lynn and me go into the store . . .”

“And I watched the video of the thug selling the necklace to the store owner.”

She crosses her arms over the table. “Now what?”

“Now, I’ll pay our guy a visit and ask some questions.”

Her eyebrows scrunch. “Our guy?”

Why did I say that? We are not a team. I shake my head, more for myself than for her. “Did you remember anything else?”

She shivers. “No new information. But I had the visions again, and—”

“Is that normal? To have visions a second time without touching anything?”

“No, it’s never happened to me before. But I think I know why I had the visions again.”

“Why?” I lean closer to her, my torso halfway over the table.

“Because right after I had the visions, I saw Alice’s spirit standing in my room. And she asked for my help.”

Every muscle in my body tenses. My jaw locks, and I force myself to smooth my features. I push the words out. “What do you mean, you saw Alice standing in your room?”

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