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Why was Trisha sending her notes? Why not just ask Gabe for her phone number? That would be the easiest way to get in touch, surely?

"She wouldn't take my phone number?"

Gabe raised an eyebrow. "I tried. No luck. She was very insistent that you read this. I don't know what's in it, but it seems important."

Cora took the envelope from him, turning it over in her hands. It was sealed with tape, and there was no writing on it. Not even a name.

Now mystified, Cora opened the envelope.

Inside was a handwritten note.

"The Tin Roof. Corner Northern and Dove Roads. I'll be there every evening from six."

Cora stared at the note, reading and re-reading it.

"This is weird," she said. "Did she seem okay otherwise?"

"Yeah, it is weird," Gabe agreed. "And no, she seemed stressed. I got the feeling that she wants to see you face-to-face without having made contact with you first. Maybe there's something going on that she wants to ask you about. Some confidential issue."

That was exactly what Cora was thinking. The note wasn't even signed.

She sighed, feeling as if she was being pulled in a million different directions at once. She needed to focus, but now there were so many stress points in her life, and the note from Trisha was just another complicating factor.

"Look, your mom has to take priority," Gabe reasoned. "That note does say 'every evening.' If Trisha wants to see you, it can surely wait a few days?"

But Cora wasn't only worried about her parents. She knew the other complications that were looming in her life, thanks to her recent meeting with the Mob connection. There might not be many evenings left. She might have to go overseas to hunt for Rose if she could find out where she'd been trafficked to. That could well be in a couple of days, when there was news on what ship she'd been taken and where it had gone.

And for the immediate short-term future, the doc had said there'd be no change in her mother's condition.

She could take her dad home, spend the day with him, try to calm him down. Make sure he had dinners in the refrigerator for a couple of days, get a load of laundry done, give the kitchen a clean. Then she would have done what she could for him.

And if there was a problem, if there was something this old friend of hers needed help with, it would be better to know what it was sooner than later. What could be so important that Trisha would go through all this trouble to contact her?

"I have to go tonight," she said. "To that bar. I need to find out what Trisha wants, and if it's important, I can't ignore it. Other things might be happening soon, and if they do, I won't be around for a while."

Gabe hesitated. Then, he said, "You want company?"

Suddenly, the idea of meeting Trisha seemed a whole lot more appealing.

"I'd love company," she said. She realized she’d been hoping he’d ask.

"Six p.m., then," he said. "I'll pick you up from your folks' house." He paused, looking at her more closely. “Is everything okay?”

She shook her head. “I’m worried about this. Trisha never asks for help. She never has. I have no idea what this is about, but I can tell you now, it’s going to be something bad.”

CHAPTER FOUR

The Tin Roof. Cora had never heard of the place, but according to the maps app, it was a ten mile drive away, and not in a good direction. As she and Gabe headed along the eroded strip of asphalt, the houses lining the street got more and more ramshackle. Tracts of dark forest were slowly claiming the land beyond, and she could see an ancient, ruined farmhouse on the hill.

"There's an old Army base out this way," she remembered. "Or there was, at any rate. I think it might have closed up a while back. It was a smaller one." She guessed that base might have been the reason for the bar's original existence. Now, she wasn't sure what to expect inside. Apart from Trisha. Trisha had always been someone who did what she said. If she promised she was going to be inside that bar from six p.m. each night, then that was where Cora knew she'd find her.

It had been years since she'd seen Trisha, and she couldn't imagine what could be so important that she would send a cryptic note like that.

When they reached it, the bar looked exactly like she'd expected it to. It was a rundown roadside dive, with peeling paint and windows in need of a clean, and a flickering neon sign that read 'Open.' The parking lot was occupied by a few cars that had seen better days, and a couple of motorcycles. Cora could see Gabe's face mirroring her skepticism.

But this was the meeting point, so it was time to go in, and find out why Trisha needed to see her so urgently.

Cora got out of the car, and with Gabe walking behind her, she headed to the bar and pushed open the door. Hinges squealed as she walked inside.

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