Page 147 of Another Girl Lost

“Did you speak to the girl?”

“Just smiled at her.”

“How did Tanner react when you met his cousin?”

“A little tense. But he covered it with a smile.”

“Her name was Cindy?”

“I think so. But I didn’t realize he had no family then. So much I didn’t know.”

“Did Cindy seem stressed?”

“No. She was just quiet. I didn’t stay long, and we really didn’t speak.” She cleared her throat. “Who was she?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“She wasn’t Scarlett Crosby.”

“I know.” He shifted. “Tell me about this recent attack. What’s the last thing you remember?”

She blinked as if shifting mentally. “I was headed to my car. I’d been out with a friend having drinks.”

“What time was this?”

“About two a.m. We’d stayed until last call.”

“Who is the friend?”

“Debbie Watson.”

“Did she walk you to your car?”

“No. I said goodbye at the bar.”

“What bar?”

“Riptide.”

“I know the place.” It was a middle-range wine bar featuring acoustic guitars, painting nights, and book clubs. His ex-wife had loved it. “The doctors found Rohypnol in your bloodstream. Did you feel woozy?”

“The date rape drug,” she said quietly. “I felt buzzed, but I was fine when I got in my car. I keep a water bottle in the side console.”

“You drank from it?”

“I guzzled it. I’m obsessed with hydration.”

“When did you get woozy?”

“Almost as soon as I pulled up in front of my house. I could barely see straight.”

“That was about two thirty a.m.?”

“Yes.”

If her water bottle had been spiked, it could have been done at any time after Lynn entered the bar. “What’s your last memory?”

Her hand rose to her throat. “Sitting behind the wheel of my car. And then nothing. The next memory, I was struggling to breathe. I couldn’t open my eyes. And then I heard a slicing sound.”

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