Page 78 of Into the Shadows

“That’s what Noah told me.”

“Then let’s go.” Gia stands from the couch.

“Send me the notes you have, along with the corresponding dates first. Then call me when you find something,” Ginny shouts from the phone.

“Done,” we say in unison.

“Achoo.”Gia sneezes.

“Bless you,” I say as we walk through the records office.

“Achoo.”

I laugh. “Bless you again.”

“Achoo.”

“Get your shit together, Gia. Jesus,” Carson curses, making us all laugh.

“Sorry. The dust is…Achoo.Awful.”

I pull a tissue out of my backpack and hand it to her. She smiles at me in thanks.

“Okay, let’s see what we can find,” Michael says, sitting down in front of the computer. All the old records have been digitized to make searching them easier. I can’t say I’m sadabout that. If we had to dig through old paperwork, Gia probably would’ve died from sneezing too much.

“Here’s their address.” I put my phone on the desk for Michael to reference. He types it into the search bar, and a list of records pops up immediately.

We grab chairs when we realize this isn’t going to be as easy as finding the right date and clicking the link. Michael navigates to the 1800s folder and opens it. We all breathe a sigh of relief when there’s only one record in it.

“It looks like the property was owned by a Theodore Ashcroft.”

“Like Sonoma’s founder, Theodore Ashcroft?” Carson asks.

We look at each other in surprise.

“I highly doubt there were multiple Theodores in Sonoma back then,” Michael says drily.

Carson whacks Michael on the shoulder. “Shut up, I was just surprised.”

“It’s highly unlikely the letters weretoTheodore. They have a distinctly male voice to them. What can we find about family records?” I ask.

“Oh, what if his wife was having a torrid affair with two other men?” Carson theorizes.

Gia and I give him a flat look.

“We should be able to search birth records, as well.” Michael clicks out of the file and navigates to the correct database. “Hmm.”

“What?” Gia demands.

“Theodore and Mariana had two daughters, Victoria and Elizabeth.”

“What does that mean?” Ryan points to a second date.

“I believe that’s a death date.”

I quickly do the math. “Victoria died at twenty?”

“Elizabeth lived until she was sixty,” Gia says.

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