Page 46 of Forbidden Whispers

They headed back downtown, and Maggie pointed out a parking spot right in front of the animal shelter entrance.

“I dunno,” Noah said. “It looks a little tight!”

“Trust me,” Maggie said. “Just pull up alongside that car in front of it.”

Noah did as she instructed, then looked at her. “I still don’t think—”

He stopped speaking when Maggie reached her hand forward and tapped a button on the touchscreen. The car instantly began rolling backward and then angled smoothly into the parallel parking spot.

Noah closed his gaping mouth and turned to give her a look. “Google?”

“Yeah!” Maggie gushed. “It has a parking-assist system. Isn’t that so cool?”

Noah rolled his eyes, but she could tell he was suppressing another grin.

“Okay, there’s the animal shelter,” Maggie said, pointing her finger toward it. “And there’s the garbage can. Does anything around here seem familiar?”

Noah glanced up and down the sidewalk, then shook his head.

Although Boon had been calm and quiet, lying in relative comfort in the cramped back seat, he sat up now, pushing his long nose between the seats. His brown eyes were alert, and he began to whine.

“What is it, boy?” Noah asked, reaching to pet the dog’s head in an attempt to soothe him. “What do you see?”

Maggie and Noah looked around at the string of small, local businesses lining the street. Since it was Sunday, most of them were closed. And being a distance from the popular tourist shops, there were only a few pedestrians around, but none of them were near the car.

“Why don’t we get out and just stand here for a minute,” Maggie said. “See if it sparks anything.” Then she looked at Boon. “I promise we won’t be long, buddy,” Maggie added her own scratches behind one of Boon’s ears, both of which were now pointed straight up again. “You know,” she added. “He could easily jump out of the car here with the top down like this.”

“I could put it back up.”

“No!” Maggie responded so fast it made Noah laugh again.

“Okay, okay. How about this,” he said, carefully looping the dog’s leash around the interior front door grip. “That should keep him secure.”

With a final pat on Boon’s head, they both got out of the car and started walking toward the animal shelter and the garbage can beside it.

Suddenly, Maggie halted in her tracks. “Oh. My. Gosh,” she said, pointing.

“What?” Noah followed the direction of her finger and saw that she was pointing at the newspaper stand in front of the building.

“I know, right?” Noah grinned. “Where else would you even see a real newspaper stand like this anymore? My Pops still loves to read what he calls a ‘real newspaper’ every—”

“Not the stand,” Maggie interrupted him. “The newspaper inside it!”

She fumbled in her purse and pulled out a credit card to swipe through the reader at the top, then opened the box to pull out a paper. She stepped several paces into the shadowed alley beside the building and unfolded it, quickly skimming the front page.

Noah came to stand behind her and looked over her shoulder.

The front page of the newspaper displayed a large photograph of Valentina beneath a bold headline, “Local Woman Missing After Date from Matches by Maggie.”

“Oh no,” Maggie groaned. She handed the newspaper to Noah and leaned back against the rough brick wall of the building, putting her hands over her face.

Noah began reading out loud. “One of Whispering Pines’ newest local residents, Valentina Romano, is missing and presumed dead. She was last seen on a date with fellow Whispering Pines resident, Noah Riley. The date was arranged by local matchmaking service, Matches by Maggie.” He looked up, sputtering. “What the heck! And where did they get these photographs of us!”

“What?” Maggie stepped away from the wall to look more closely at the article and saw small photographs of each of them included further down in the article. “I don’t know. I feel sick.”

Noah read on. “This is another huge issue for the startup dating service run by local resident Maggie Milena, who personally approves each of her clients. The company has lately been the subject of multiple negative reviews on social media.” Noah looked up from the page. “Really?”

Maggie just lifted one shoulder in acknowledgment, trying not to cry.

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