Page 36 of Tessa's Trust

My nonna usually drove a maroon Buick that I would’ve recognized instantly, so I could not fault their logic. “Why are you following me?” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“We figured you were trying to solve Sadie’s disappearance or one of the two murders,” Nonna said cheerfully. “You need our help, honey. And you know it.”

I didn’t know what to do. To be honest, I had been greatly amused when the elderly ladies had tried to help Anna with cases. I hadn’t anticipated the heavy weight of responsibility that instantly slammed down on my shoulders. I couldn’t let any of them get hurt.

“We take it you’re going out to Sadie’s place?” Nonna asked.

“I can’t afford a private detective,” I said weakly. “I’m so sorry.”

Georgiana partially fell back into the car. “Oh, that’s okay, honey. We can exchange services.”

“Services?” I whispered, my voice barely strong enough to rise above the wind.

“You’re opening a restaurant at some point,” Nonna said. “We’ll just take food in exchange for our work.”

Well, I would’ve fed my grandmother for free anyway, so there wasn’t a way to argue about that. Still, I studied the closed campground. It was December, so nobody would be around for months until the snow melted. “I’m not sure you can get that vehicle back out of here,” I said. While my Rogue had snow tires and some heft, their tread looked pretty flimsy.

“Oh, don’t you worry. I’ve been driving in the snow for eons,” Nonna said. “Okay, we’ll lead the way because you seem to be having a little trouble with your speed.”

Without waiting for an answer, both women ducked back into their vehicle, and my nonna hit reverse. The car hissed and thumped several times on the way back to the road leading to the camping area, but they made it that far.

Sighing, I climbed back into my Rogue, put my purse and gun on the passenger seat, and turned the heat on full blast. I was soaking wet from the waist down, and plenty of snow had landed on my shoulders, as well. Muttering to myself, I followed them sedately out of the campground, noting my grandmother getting stuck several times but managing to use the gas and brake pedals to get herself out of trouble.

To be honest, she was a pretty good driver in the snow. We made it out to the main road, which was vacant of other cars, and I followed them for several more miles until they turned down a long drive that looked as if it hadn’t been plowed in several days. At least the snow wasn’t as deep as it had been at the campground. We reached Sadie’s quiet and dark cabin, and I pulled up alongside my nonna.

She was out of her vehicle first with her hefty handbag over her shoulder. She patted it. “Don’t worry. I have both my wooden spoon and my Smith & Wesson, sweetie. We can handle any trouble that arises.”

Oh, this was a disaster. Worse yet, Sadie lived outside of cell service, which was something I could barely imagine. There was no way to call for help unless I hit the 9-1-1 emergency button, and frankly, I didn’t know if even that worked out here. It probably did, but I didn’t think we were in danger. Plus, I wanted to snoop around and didn’t want the sheriff stopping us.

“All right, but if anybody sees anything suspicious or gets even a hint of danger, we’re out of here,” I ordered the ladies.

“Sure thing.” Georgiana forced herself from the vehicle.

For this rendezvous, she had worn bright pink ski pants, a lime green puffer jacket zipped up to her neck, and a pink and green scarf that somehow tied the entire outfit together. She kicked her way through the snow to the front door. At least it was only high enough to reach our knees.

“Wait, wait, wait. Let me go first.” I brushed past them both in case some idiot fired a shotgun from inside. I knocked on the door. Nothing.

Sadie’s cabin was a one-story A-frame with a wraparound porch that probably sported lots of chairs during the summer. During the winter, it held only snow.

I moved to the side to look inside a window and saw only darkness. Nonna tried the front door. It was locked.

“I’ll go around back,” I said.

“We’ll cover the front.” Nonna tugged her wooden spoon from her purse. It was a formidable weapon. I’d seen her smack everyone from errant grandchildren to a judge on the ear with it, and it always earned results.

“Good idea,” I murmured, walking around the porch. I truly appreciated that the porch wrapped around the entire property. It was brilliant, and considering there were eaves, it kept a lot of the snow, if not all of it, off the deck. Of course, the bottom was iced over, so I carefully picked my way around to the back that faced a slow-moving, ice-crusted creek.

Bear Creek was a small tributary off a couple of larger rivers, and not many people lived this way, so the eerie silence didn’t scare me. Nope. Not a bit.

The back deck was filled with snow, and I had to push my way through it, freezing my legs once again. I pulled open the rickety screen door and knocked on the back door.

Nothing.

Expansive windows looked out toward the lake, and I peered in them, cupping my eyes to look inside. Just darkness. I could make out living room furniture next to a kitchen, but that was it. The place was cold and silent and felt empty.

I tried the back door again, trying to determine how strong the lock was. It didn’t give. That figured. It made sense that Sadie would have some strong security.

Glass shattered somewhere around the house, and I jumped. What in the world? Ducking my head, I started running around the deck and slipped, going down hard. I caught myself with my hand, which went through the snow to hit ice. Pain flared up my arm.

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