Page 59 of Secret Shifters Next Door

What the hell? I was positive this was the road she’d mentioned. The other houses didn’t look like they’d been newly bought. Even if Emily had listed it and sold it on the same day I’d seen her last, it would have taken at least two weeks for all the paperwork and stuff to clear. No one could have bought and moved into a new house that fast. It didn’t make sense.

I walked slowly back to my car, wondering how I’d find Emily. As I got back in the car, a lightbulb went off in my mind. Her grandma. She said she was in a home, and there was only one nursing home in the whole county. Emily had said she was there. If I could find her anywhere, I’d find her there.

Fifteen minutes later, I walked into Harmony Grace nursing home. A small part of me hoped to see her car in the parking lot. I hadn’t. I thought she might be inside in a waiting room of some sort. Again, no luck. The nurse at the reception desk smiled at me as I walked up.

“How can I help you, ma’am?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m here to visit Ms. Heath?” I said, using Emily’s last name. There was a fifty percent chance her grandmother shared it with her.

The nurse frowned but tapped at the keyboard for a moment. “That’s what I thought,” she said to herself before looking back up at me. “Yes, ma’am, I’m afraid we don’t have a patient by that name here.”

Well, that hadn’t worked. I smiled back at her apologetically. “I’m sorry. I assumed they shared a last name. I’m friends with her granddaughter, she’s her caretaker. It’s her only family. Can you find her by the guardian’s name? Emily Heath?”

The nurse typed at her workstation again and shook her head again. “We don’t have any guardians by that name. We don’t have anyone with the first name Emily.”

What the hell was going on?

The nurse looked at me, concerned, and said, “Are you okay, miss?”

Snapping out of my daze, I said, “Oh, I’m sorry to have bothered you. I must have… I guess I was misinformed.”

“No problem at all, ma’am. Have a good day.”

This time, the walk back to my car was filled with swirling thoughts and questions. Emily had lied about this? Why? Tate said he didn’t trust her, and I’d been hesitant to believe him. Was he right after all? I refused to believe that she was working with Luis. It made my skin crawl to even think about it. But if not, what was she doing?

I drove around town, stewing on all the questions, for thirty minutes. My stomach growled, and since I was already out and Tate was working, I decided to treat myself to lunch. Giving it one last shot, I dialed Emily again as I waited for my food. Still no answer. An uneasy feeling had filled my chest as the day drew on, as more things started to not add up. After my food came, my next call was to Tate.

“Hello, beautiful,” he answered.

Despite my misgivings about Emily, I blushed, and said, “Hello, handsome. How’s your day?”

“It’s fine. Just going over some contracts for jobs later this year. What are you up to?”

I hesitated. I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure Emily was sketchy, but something was going on, and I needed his opinion. In the end, I decided to be honest.

“Well, here’s the thing. I haven’t heard from Emily since she gave me that jewelry. She hasn’t answered her phone or responded to texts. I decided to stop by her grandma’s house, the one she’s been fixing up to sell.”

“Yeah?” Tate said, his voice wary.

“So, I found the house, but it’s a dump. Looks like it hasn’t been lived in for at least thirty years. The yard isn’t even mowed.So, then I went to see if she was visiting her grandma, but there is no grandma at the nursing home. Emily’s name isn’t on the register as a guardian. It’s… it’s like she’s lied about everything. Maybe you were right.”

There was a long pause before Tate said, “I’ll look into it. I can have the guys check the nursing home admittance. There’s always a chance that maybe grandma died. Could also be that Emily put her on a secure list, and no one is allowed to visit or ask about her. If that’s the case, it could be why the nursing home said they had no one registered by that name. That’s all pretty unlikely. For now, I’d prefer it if you didn’t reach out to her anymore. It sounds like it’s really possible she’s involved in something and tried to wedge herself into your life for some reason.”

My worries had become much more pronounced after talking to Tate.

“Yeah, you’re right. No more calls, no more texts.”

“Good. Where are you right now?”

“Um, out to eat. This little boy is gonna cause me to gain a hundred pounds.”

His chuckle sent a thrill down my spine. “Okay, but I’d like you to head straight home after. Set the alarms and stuff.”

“Got it, captain. See you tonight.”

“See you, be careful.”

My food didn’t look as appetizing as it had when it came out. The conversation about Emily had robbed me of most of my hunger, but I still managed to eat half of my meal. The other half went into a box, and I left, doing exactly what Tate told me to. The drive back home seemed longer than usual. Every time a car passed, I glanced at it to see if it was Emily. Before, I’d wanted to know she was safe. Now? I wanted to know if she was following me. Or stalking me.

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