Page 46 of Colton's Last Resort

She circled the space once before she saw the little notebook on the edge of the bar. She opened it and was confronted with Allison’s pretty, sprawling handwriting. “I might have something,” she whispered.

Noah looked up. He saw the notebook splayed across her palms and rose.

As he crossed to her, she turned so he could see what Allison had written. “It’s not really a journal. It’s mostly Zen proverbs.” She flipped a few pages and shook her head fondly. “She dotted heri’s with hearts.”

He said nothing as he pried the notebook gently from her hands. Lowering to a stool at the bar, he journeyed through the pages, one after the other.

She turned away. His expression might be inscrutable, but she could feel the sadness coming off him.

The photo on the fridge caught her attention. It was a stunning snapshot of Allison in dancer’s pose on top of Merry Go Round Rock. Underneath, a flyer was pinned with Allison’s yoga class and guided meditation schedule for the New Year. She’d made small notes next to each time to help keep track of repeat students with their initials and Vinyasa sequences.

Laura took down the flyer and folded it in two, wondering if Noah would find something useful on it.

The photograph behind it slipped to the floor. Laura crouched to pick it up and was shocked to recognize a young Allison next to a fresh-faced Noah.

In the photograph, Noah was clean-shaven. The wide, uninhibited smile underneath squinty green eyes and the brim of a navy dress-blue cap struck Laura dumb. His smile made him ridiculously handsome, not altogether innocent, but happy.

She stood to pin the photo back to the fridge with a Buddha magnet. A glass of water had been left on the counter. There was an empty breakfast bowl in the sink, unwashed. Alstroemerias in a vase next to the sink drooped.

She couldn’t stand to think of them being left to die. Laura picked the vase up by the base and lowered it to the bottom of the sink. She turned on the tap and filled it halfway.

Noah stood. He tucked the notebook into the back of his jeans under his jacket before wandering toward what could only be Allison’s bedroom.

Laura didn’t want to follow. But she couldn’t imagine him facing everything in there, in his sister’s most private space, on his own. She tailed him.

The bed was half-made. Dirty clothes were still in the hamper. Noah had switched on the bedside lamp and was dragging the tip of a pen through the little ring bowl on her dresser. He opened a drawer, then another.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“Bracelet,” he said, riffling through a jewelry box.

“I can help,” she told him. “What does it look like?”

He shut the box, then thrust his hand deep into his pocket. He opened his fist to reveal an evil-eye pendant on braided leather strings.

“That’s Allison’s,” she realized.

“This one’s mine,” he argued. “I picked it up at the condo just now. She wore hers, always.”

Laura frowned. She couldn’t remember Allison without the bracelet either. “Wasn’t it on her when she...?”

He shook his head. “I viewed the personal items found on her person. The bracelet wasn’t among them.”

Laura looked around. “If it’s not here...”

“Then it’s lost,” Noah finished, “or her killer has it.”

“I’ll look over here,” she said, pointing to the bathroom.

They searched for another twenty minutes, combing each drawer, cabinet and closet space. The bracelet was nowhere to be found. Laura gathered the scarf she’d bought Allison for Christmas. She’d seen the warm, cozy wrap with its bright rainbow pattern and fun fringe at a local arts and crafts festival and had instantly thought of her friend.

She ran her hands over it and felt tears burn behind her eyes.

“Did you find it?” Noah asked from the door.

She lifted her gaze to his.

He froze, wary, and turned his stare elsewhere. “You need to come out of there.”

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