Page 70 of Hide Me Darling

I gape at her, but she ignores my astounded look and says, "When you get tired of all the boys chasing after you, maybe come over to the dark side... we have cookies," she says with a wink, turning to walk back to the counter as Jonah comes in.

My heart races slightly at her offhand comment, but I quickly dismiss it, shaking my head. As much as I appreciate the distraction, my mind drifts back to the investigation. Each encounter, every piece of information, feels like a small step closer to understanding the truth behind this mystery that I still don’t have a clear picture of.

Jonah gives me a nod as he heads back out of the bakery with his coffee, but doesn’t stop to talk. Obviously conscious of Allegra’s interruption the last time he tried.

Beth still hasn’t shown up, and a pang of worry starts to set in. I glance at my phone, checking the time with a frown. It’s already 9:45am, past the time we agreed to meet. She didn’t seem the type to simply not show up.

I decide to wait a little longer in case she is just running late. I continue to watch the people outside through the window of the bakery, sipping my coffee. Twenty minutes later, Allegra comes back over to my table, offering another top-up, but I decline with a frown.

She shrugs when she notices my look. "As I said, don't get attached. They always disappear."

My frown deepens as I decide to take the opening she gave me. "Do they?" I ask.

She glances back at me as she gets back to work. "’Do they what?" she asks.

"Disappear? Are there a lot of tourists that simply go missing? Is that a thing here?" I ask.

She laughs, but there is a tension in her tone that wasn't there before. "I mean they decide to leave early or forget they have to check out before they commit. It's why you can only trust the locals," she responds.

Her words are turning over in my mind when a notification comes through on my phone. For a moment, I think that maybe it's Beth, before I remember she doesn't have my number.

PSYCHO MASKED STALKERS

Do we need to write you a blog post, little shadow? Do we need to tell you how her blood was as red as her hair?

My breath catches and emotions I didn’t expect well up inside me as I read the message for a second time. It’s one thing knowing that it's happening with vague details, it’s another having met a victim before they die. There is no escaping what they meant, but a part of me is glad that they spared me the details this time.

Beth is dead.

Taking a deep breath I type out a message and hit send.

How? Why? She wasn’t homeless. She was a city girl like me. Was it Rye before we stopped him?

PSYCHO MASKED STALKERS

You know it wasn’t. Think about it, darling girl, what would cause the change?

I think about it for a moment, running the theories through my mind.

He’s accelerating. Losing control of his urges. His ideal target wasn’t available and he needed to satisfy a need.

PSYCHO MASKED STALKERS

It’s a good theory.

Really? That’s all they are going to give me? I can’t even curse out one of them specifically, because they are both as frustratingly vague as each other.

I sigh deeply, feeling the weight of exhaustion settling in as I close my eyes. After a moment I open them again and pull up a contact on my phone and hit dial. After a couple of rings, the call is answered.

"Hey munchkin, everything okay?" The familiar voice of Papa on the other end soothes me momentarily.

"Yeah," I reply, my voice soft with emotion. "Just…” I pause, not sure what to say while I’m sitting in the bakery and not at the house. But I needed to hear the sound of home suddenly.

“Just what, honey? Are you okay?” my mom’s voice comes over the line.

I sigh, just hearing her voice has warmth spreading through me. “Hey mom, I’m okay. I just met a tourist the other day here and now she’s gone.” I know that they will understand what I mean with the way I said it.

"Oh, honey," my mom says softly. "I’m so sorry. It's always hard to lose someone while on a case.”

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