Page 15 of One Last Chance

“She said that she and your dad were going on vacation.”

Really?Okay, so maybe Flynn should catch up.

“What’s that face?” Eve set the cupcake on the paper and pushed it between them.

Flynn took the other stool. “I haven’t talked to them for a couple weeks.”

“Really? Why not?”

“They want to have a memorial service.” She took a bite of the cake. “This is good.”

Eve nodded with her mouth full. She put the fork down. “That’s not a bad idea. Closure.”

“Except that Kennedy isn’t dead.”

Eve drew in a breath.

“Listen—” Flynn said. “I know what you think. But her body has never been found, and?—”

“And you’re wearing her necklace. Taken off a dead woman who was found in the Copper River, just like thirteen other women.”

“A lead that led nowhere. They tested the DNA. It belonged to Kennedy, but they couldn’t identify the dead woman, so the Copper Mountain sheriff gave it back to me.”

Eve sighed. Nodded. “Okay.”

“No, you don’t get it.” Flynn pressed her hand to her chest. “I feel her. In here. She’s my twin.Identicaltwin. And no, I don’t buy all the crazy things they say about twins feeling each other’s pain, but . . . maybe sometimes I do. Maybe sometimes I wake up suddenly and feel like she’s talking to me. Or calling for me. Or . . .” Her eyes had started to burn. “What if she needs me and . . . I can’t find her? And I don’t show up?” Flynn looked away, closed her eyes. “I’m just tired.”

But Eve had slid off the stool and now put her arms around her, pulled her tight. “Yeah, that’s it.” She held her a long moment, then pushed her away. “But if you believe she’s still alive, then you should keep looking.”

“I don’t know where to start.”

“Alaska.” Eve slid back onto her stool.

“Yeah, well, I was there three years ago. They had nothing for me. The sheriff in Copper Mountain is this younger guy with zero investigative experience. I tried to interest the Anchorage police in the case—linked it to the Midnight Sun Killer, but they didn’t bite.” She took another forkful of cake. “Said that people disappear into the bush all the time, and that I’d have to get in line. Last I checked, they’d added her to their missing persons list, but it’s listed as a cold case.”

“Things can happen. New clues . . . I don’t remember you taking any PTO for the last three years. Maybe you have some time coming . . .”

“I do. Over a month. But . . .” She sighed and picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth. “Maybe Mom is right. We do need to move on. But I’d like to move on with the happy idea that Kennedy is out there, somewhere, living her best life.”

“Is that why you have a crime-scene board that covers an entire wall of your office?”

A beat.

“So, is this really a birthday call or . . .”

“It’s a birthday call,” Eve said. “But if I could give you one gift . . . There are things you can change and things you can’t, and knowing the difference is the key to a happy life.”

“Thank you, Dr. Stone.”

Eve winked and slid off the stool. “Happy birthday, Flynn.”

Flynn walked her to the door. “Thanks for the cake. Tell Rem I loved his new book.”

“Stop by. He’d love to bore you with some of his old cold-case files. He keeps copies of them in a box in his office—untouched. Maybe someday you can help him solve them.”

She laughed. “Maybe.”

Eve didn’t. She stopped at the door, turned. “Flynn, you’re one of the best detectives I’ve ever met. Even better than Rem. But you spend an awful lot of time in your head, and . . . I just don’t want the what-ifs to consume you. Get out of the house. Go live your life. Take a risk.”

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