Page 45 of Forbidden Whispers

“Calm down, Noah. I admit it doesn’t look good, but right now there’s still no body and no hard evidence specifically linking you to her disappearance.”

Maggie saw Noah go pale.

“One more thing,” Hugo said. “The police found Valentina’s cell phone.”

Chapter 13

Maggie and Noah exchanged a shocked glance.

“Where?” Noah asked.

“There’s an old guy who regularly goes through public trash bins downtown looking for stuff he can use or sell. He found it in the garbage can on Main Street, just outside the animal shelter. The battery was removed, so it’s pretty clear that it was intentionally tossed there.”

“How strange,” Maggie said.

“The old guy posted it for sale on a local social media marketplace, and a young hacker bought it,” Hugo continued. “She was messing around with it and accessed the photos on it. Because of the news story, she immediately recognized Valentina’s image in several of the pictures.”

“What news story?” Maggie and Noah said together.

“Uh...” Hugo hesitated. “I thought you guys would have seen it already. I hate to have to be the one to break this to you both, but somehow the story got out about Valentina missing and...”

“And what?” Noah cried.

“Look, there’s no need to get worked up about that right now,” Hugo said reassuringly. “It’s just typical media trying to stir up drama. What I want you to know is that the hacker did the right thing and turned the phone over to the police. Their IT specialist was able to retrieve Valentina’s call history and text logs, which showed she had been contacting one specific number frequently, but it wasn’t yours. The police suspect that the messages are in some sort of code. I’ll keep you updated as they gather more information.”

Noah thanked Hugo and they disconnected. He leaned back against the side of the car, looking dazed. “Now what?”

Maggie thought for a moment. “Well, since we don’t have any other leads right now, maybe we should visit the place where the phone was tossed out. It might help you jog your memory.”

Noah agreed and they all climbed back into the car. Noah started the engine and Maggie hit a button on the center console. She clapped her hands with delight as the convertible top opened smoothly, folding into a secured slot at the back of the car.

“How did you know how to do that?” Noah asked.

She gave him a sidelong look. “I might have done a little Googling about Porsches after I went to bed last night.”

Noah laughed, and Maggie thrilled at the sound of it. She was pleased that in the midst of all the stress they were under, she could make him smile.

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