Page 305 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
My voice wavers on the last part of my statement. I know Ophelia is alive. I can feel it in the gnawing pit twisting my gut. You know that feeling you get when you've lost something, and you know you’ll never find it again. That’s what I’m experiencing right now. The more I investigate this, the more I risk losing Isaac, and I may never get him back.
Hugo takes in the mountain load of papers stored in Ophelia’s case file. “What do you need me to do, Izzy? What can I do to help?” His eyes lift to me, briefly stopping at my engagement ring on the way by. “What can I do to make this easier for you?”
“Just remind me that he loves me,” I murmur as the first lot of tears splash down my face. “And that I’m doing this to ease his pain.”
I love Isaac so much, even knowing I could lose him won’t stop me from thoroughly investigating this. He deserves to stop living with the guilt of Ophelia’s death. He deserves to know the truth, and I plan to unearth exactly that, even if my heart gets shredded in the process.
CHAPTER28
ISABELLE
“Are you sure this is the correct business?”
Hugo huffs. “Yes.”
We’ve been sitting at the front of a family-owned pharmacy on the outskirts of Tiburon for the past hour and a half. This address was the only piece of correspondence we found in Ophelia’s case file. Hugo and I spent the majority of the night rummaging through the documents relating to her case, seeking any evidence on Ophelia’s current whereabouts. Since she was twenty when she wassavedfrom her father’s clutches, she didn’t need to live with a family. From her file, we deciphered that my uncle set her up in her own residence. She had a rookie undercover agent assigned to her case in the weeks following her ‘death.’
All dates, times, and addresses have been redacted from the extensively-noted documentation, except for one small handwritten envelope. Inside the white envelope was a Christmas card. It didn’t have anything distinctive like names or addresses mentioned. It simply had two words written on the inside—Thank you. Although it could have been placed in the folder by accident, my intuition tells me the card was from Ophelia. After seeking assistance from Hunter, we determined the card was mailed from a postal box located on the sidewalk of this pharmacy, so we’ve been sitting in a rental car for the past hour and a half praying for a miracle.
Hugo’s apprehensive gaze shifts to me “That card was sent over four years ago, Izzy. She may not even live in this area anymore.”
“I guess there's only one way to find out.”
I unlatch my seatbelt and throw open the car door. I’m halfway down the concrete sidewalk before Hugo catches up with me. He doesn’t say anything, but I can see the apprehension on his face. The blood rushing through my veins overheats my body, coating me in sweat, so the heating in the pharmacy is ghastly upon entering.
A lady in her mid-fifties greets us with a smile when she hears the bell above the door chime. “What can I get you folks today?”
“I’m not here to purchase anything. I’m here searching for a friend.”
The suspicion in her eyes grows, but she remains quiet. I remove the most recent photo of Ophelia I have from my pocket and hand it to her. “I met her at a mutual friend’s wedding at Old St. Hilary’s Church four years ago.” I use my knowledge of the local landmarks in Tiburon to my advantage. “It was a beautiful wedding with the views of Tiburon, Belvedere, and San Francisco in the backdrop. I snapped that photo before we went to the wedding reception at the Arts and Garden Center. The restored cottage there is to die for.”
Hugo smiles at my posh voice, but it’s working as the suspicion in the pharmacist’s eyes dampens more with every word I speak.
“We exchanged contact details, but before I knew it, I was married myself.” I lace my fingers with Hugo’s, shocking him. “And four years just flew by.”
“Oh golly gosh, time does fly when everyone starts having babies and getting married. I remember when I was—”
“Yes, so as you can imagine, I’m dying to see her again,” I interrupt when she gets that gleam in her eyes that says she’s ready to give us her entire life story. “So, if you could help us reconnect, I'd be eternally grateful.”
She smiles. “Of course.”
When she gestures us to follow her to the counter, I squeeze Hugo’s hand before shadowing her. “Thank you so much.” My voice is laced with both excitement and graciousness. “I can’t wait to reconnect with Ophelia again.”
Her hasty movements halt before she pivots around to face me. My breathing lowers when I notice her eyes are once again tainted with suspicion. After crossing her arms in front of her chest, she glares at me. Her stare is so white-hot, a sweat mustache forms on my top lip.
“Ophelia?” she questions, her brow raised.
I try not to balk when Hugo bands his arm around my waist and pulls me into his side, but the slightest bit of hesitation crosses my face. “Her name wasn’t Ophelia, sweetheart.” He presses a kiss to my hairline, muttering for me to follow along. “Sorry, you must forgive her, she's pregnant, and even though she's only three months, the baby brain is already kicking in.”
I slap Hugo on his chest, feigning daftness. My act must be convincing as she appears to be accepting Hugo’s bogus claims.
“Congratulations.” She sighs as the glint I referenced earlier returns stronger than ever. “When I was pregnant with my first child, I had baby brain horrendously. For months and months, I couldn’t even remember my own name, let alone a friend I met years before.”
I force a fake smile on my face when her story drags for another ten plus minutes. Once she finalizes her brain-sucking story, she cranks her neck, then shouts, “Olivia, there's a lady here requesting to see you.”
Hugo tightens his grip on my waist to stop me from tumbling to the ground in a heap when Ophelia emerges from behind the pharmacy counter. She's wearing a white pharmacist coat with Olivia stitched on the top right-hand side in black thread, but I know it is her.
That feeling of loss I was experiencing earlier overpowers me when my eyes scan her face. She's even more beautiful in real life than her photos showed. Her smile is bright and heartfelt. Her eyes are unique and dazzling, and her skin is even clearer since she's no longer in her teen years as she was in the photos I regularly scanned of her.
