Page 16 of Long Time Gone

“Your dad is mentioned in some of the articles I’ve read about the disappearance of . . . my biological parents and me.”

Eric smiled. “Good ole Sandy Stamos. He’s been gone longer than I ever knew him. He was the quintessential small-town sheriff who everyone loved.”

“Then why would someone kill him?”

“My grandfather’s theory? He stumbled over evidence that pointed to the truth about what happened to you and your parents, and someone didn’t want that truth to come out.”

“Where did your grandfather’s theory come from?”

“My dad spoke with my grandfather about the case back then, asked for some advice. My dad was struggling to make sense of what he discovered. And my grandfather was convinced—absolutely one hundred percent convinced—that my dad discovered something about the night you and your parents disappeared, and that’s what got him killed. The timing was just too suspicious.”

“What did he discover?”

“Good question. I’m hoping you’ll help me answer it.”

“Me? I was an infant when all of this happened. I have no idea what happened to my birth parents. Or your father.”

“But you can help me figure it out. You’re actually the only one who can help.”

The waitress walked over and slid a large pepperoni pizza between them, along with plates and napkins.

“Can I get you anything else?”

“We’re good, thanks,” Eric said.

“You’ve lost me,” Sloan said once the waitress was gone. “How am I supposed to help you figure out what happened to your dad?”

Eric lifted a piece of pizza and took a bite. “News is sure to break that Charlotte Margolis has resurfaced nearly thirty years after she went missing. I’m sure the FBI will inform the family. When they do, the Margolis family will want to meet you. It will be the perfect opportunity to go to Cedar Creek.”

“To Nevada?”

“Yes.”

“To do what?”

“To work with me, secretly. No one can know we’re in contact with each other.”

“Work with you to do what?”

Eric moved his plate to the side and placed his elbows on the table so his face was closer to Sloan’s.

“You asked me why I can’t just go to the state police, request all the files, and start poking around. The reason is because it would get back to the Margolis family. And if I overtly start asking questions, the family will know I’m looking into my father’s death.”

“And that’s a bad thing? Why?”

“Someone inside the Margolis family knows what happened to my dad, and maybe even to you and your birth parents. According to my grandfather, my dad was convinced that another crime he was investigating was linked to your parents’ disappearance.”

“What other crime?”

“A hit-and-run accident that killed a local Cedar Creek resident.”

Sloan paused a moment as her mind retreated back to the articles that chronicled her and her parents’ disappearance. “I read something about that.”

Eric nodded. “I’ve looked into it, too, and it’s legit. My grandfather was old and suffering from dementia before he died. I wasn’t sure how much of what he was telling me about my dad was true, or just the ramblings of a dying man with dementia. But he was on to something. I went back through old cases that were still archived at the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office and learned that my dad had been investigating a hit-and-run accident that happened the summer you disappeared. According to my grandfather, my dad believed the case tied directly to the disappearance of you and your parents.”

“Have you looked into it?”

“Yes. No one was ever formally charged, and the case is still cold today. But when Annabelle and Preston Margolis disappeared, Annabelle was the main suspect in the case. And the guy she mowed down? He was a partner at the Margolis law firm. The case went cold after you and your parents went missing.”

---