Page 8 of Little Stolen Memories

Cora leaned back in her chair. “It’s been a long time. I’m not sure I can remember, but I’ll try.”

“Do you have a yearbook from your senior year of high school?”

“I think so. There are a few boxes of my things in my parents’ garage. I’ll go through them and see if I can find it.”

“If you do, I’d like you to flip through it tonight, see if you can jog your memory. Make me a list of anyone you think I should talk to from your school days.”

“All right. Anything else?”

I thought about what other things I might want to ask before I cut her loose.

“One more thing. I’d like to know where everyone was located when they were attacked,” I said. “I know Aubree and Brynn were inside the cabin, and Jackson was outside, not far from where you were. Where were Owen and Aidan found?”

“The police found Owen around the side of the cabin. Aidan wasn’t far from where I found Jackson. If I would have walked a bit farther, I would have seen him too.”

“You were all attacked in the same manner … blunt-force trauma, right?”

Cora sniffled and nodded, wiping a tear from her eye.

“The man who did this needs to be found this time,” she said. “Being back in town takes me back to that night. In some ways, it feels like it all happened yesterday. I don’t think I can handle dragging this all up again if there’s not a different result.”

I leaned forward and took her hand in mine, looking her straight in the eye as I said, “I’ll make you a promise, right here and now. I’ll give this case everything I’ve got. I won’t stop looking until I find him.”

CHAPTER 5

“Well, well … what a pleasant surprise,” my mother said. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”

She’d said it with a hint of sarcasm and a smile, and with the perfect dramatic flair I’d come to expect from her.

“Hi, Mom,” I said as I opened the screen door. “I’m sorry I missed family dinner last night. Our flight was delayed.”

A week earlier, I’d been in New York City with my fiancé, Giovanni. We visited his family and taken in the sights. Aside from it being the place where we both went to college and where he’d proposed, I’d always felt a bond to the city, its food, and its people. From the Staten Island Ferry to the bright lights in Times Square at night, there was a magical element to the place, a place which felt unlike any other.

My mother moved a hand to her hip, narrowing her eyes but not saying a word, and since uncomfortable silences had never suited me, I said, “Like I was saying before … since I didn’t make Sunday dinner, I wanted to stop by and say hello today.”

Based on the look on her face, she hadn’t believed a word I’d said.

“A visit from you is always welcome, dear,” she said. “But I must say, I always know when you’re not telling the truth. You’ve never had much of a poker face. Ahh, well. It’s no matter. You’re here now, and I’ve just put the kettle on. Care for a cup of tea?”

“I’d love one.”

“Wonderful.” She swished a hand in my direction. “Now get on in here before you let every fly in the neighborhood inside the house.”

I closed the door behind me and followed her to the kitchen, where I found Harvey, sitting at the table filling in a word search.

He looked up at me and smiled. “Hello, Georgiana. Nice to see you. How’s things at the detective agency?”

I glanced at my mother, who’d leaned in my direction, awaiting an answer.

“Oh, you know … things at work are humming along,” I said.

“Any new cases since I saw you last?” he asked.

I shifted my attention from Harvey to my mother, and I bit my lip, trying to decide how I was going to discuss the true reason for my visit. Ever since Harvey retired, my mother didn’t like me discussing my murder investigations with him. She thought the stress of such topics spiked his blood pressure. When he was chief of police, it had, which was the reason he’d retired. Even so, he missed working on homicides, and he never hesitated to offer his help.

“I … yeah,” I said. “There’s something I need to talk with Harvey about.”

“Out with it, Georgiana,” my mother said. “I’m guessing you have a new case. May as well get right to it and tell us what’s on your mind.”

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