Page 25 of If We Never Met

She licked her lips. "What did you do today? More rehab?"

"No, I walked around town. I went through the park and down to the lake. The beach was fairly crowded."

"Wait another week and you'll barely be able to put a towel down. Fourth of July is a big holiday. You'll still be here then, won't you?"

"I think so. We'll see how things go."

"It's a good time to be at the lake. The weather is great. The water is getting warmer every day. And there are lots of activities going on all over town."

"It sounds like people do nothing but party around here."

"The vacationers do nothing but party. As for the locals, we still work a lot. However, it was a long, cold winter, and now that it's summer, everyone wants to be outside, celebrating."

Summer had always been his favorite time of the year, but that's when he'd been playing baseball. There had been nothing better than a Saturday or Sunday day game, except maybe a double-header. But he didn't want to think about that right now. "What did you do today?"

"A little digging and not only in the garden. I finally got online and looked up Mr. Langley."

He saw the gleam in her eyes. "Did you find something?"

"Yes. I'm not sure what it means or if it changes anything, but it was a little odd." She looked around, but no one was paying them any attention.

"If you're looking for Langley, I haven't seen him," he told her.

"He's probably on his way to my house. He's taking my mother out for dinner."

"If you found some dirt on him, why is your mother still going out with him?"

"I didn't tell her yet. It's not solid. She'd tell me to butt out, and I can't do that."

He had to admit he was a little curious. "Okay, so what did you find out?"

"There was an article in an LA newspaper where Langley used to live. Fifteen years ago, his house burned down, and his nanny died in the fire."

He stared at her, surprised by her words. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't that. "That's sad."

"It is. Langley's son was nine at the time. My mom told me that Mark divorced his wife when his son was nine. It happened the same year."

"Okay. What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure. There's something else. When I was talking to Mark in his office yesterday, he asked his assistant to hold his calls. But his assistant came in a few minutes later with an urgent call from a woman, who she claimed was hysterical. As I left the room, I heard Mark say, 'Mandy, why are you calling me here?' He paused to hear something she said, and then he replied, 'This stops now.' He was definitely angry."

"Okay, but we don't know who this Mandy is."

"Here's something else that's odd. The woman who died in the fire was survived by her sister, Amanda. I'm thinking Mandy could be this Amanda. What do you think?"

He couldn't help but smile. "You have a big imagination, don't you?"

"Maybe, but I'm not imagining what I just told you."

"No, but you're taking a lot of small clues and putting them together in a way that sounds sinister. Mandy might not be the same woman. And the fire… Was Mark there? Did he set it?"

"The article said Mark, his wife, and child were out of town when it happened."

"Then he was a victim."

"That's true. I know I could be putting the puzzle together incorrectly, but there's something odd about the story and about his phone call. Even putting the fire aside, I'd like to know who Mandy is and what kind of relationship she has with Mark, because he was definitely angry that she called him. I need to do more research."

"You do," he agreed. "Try not to look at everything through suspicious eyes."

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