Page 37 of Tessa's Trust

“Damn it,” I muttered, pushing myself up and trying to wipe some of the snow off my jeans. I then opted for a more sedate pace around to the front to see Nonna and Georgiana standing in front of a small window to the left of the door.

Georgiana shook her head. “A bird flew right into that window.” She brushed glass off her handbag.

I lowered my head. There was no way a bird flew into the window. “Georgiana, did you break that window?”

“Of course not.” She drew up to her full height. “Right?”

Nonna swallowed. She was a wild woman, but one thing I knew about my nonna was that she did not lie. She did, however, hold her wooden spoon ahead of her.

“Nonna?” I asked.

She just swallowed and pressed her lips together.

“Well,” Georgiana said, “I mean, the window’s broken. Shouldn’t we at least look inside?”

I wanted to fault her logic, I really did, but I also wanted to own my restaurant, and I was really worried about Sadie. I should never have given her that much cash, but it had been her biggest demand in signing the contract. A little voice whispered in the back of my mind that someone who wanted to take the money and run, maybe because they’d already sold the property, would want cash, but I couldn’t believe that of Sadie.

“I’ll go in,” Nonna said.

“No, no, no, no.” I held up my hand. “I will go in.” I couldn’t believe I was doing this since I’d never actually committed a crime.

I took off my jacket and made sure all the glass was out of the way. The window was higher than expected, so I had to reach up and pull myself in. I tried to keep my balance, but the angle was awkward, and I fell inside, landing with a thump on a hard, wooden floor.

“Ugh.” I groaned as my shoulder protested. My body had taken way too much battering the last couple of days.

“You okay?” my nonna asked, her hands curling over the windowsill as she looked over.

I rose. “Yes, I think I’m all right.”

“I’m coming in,” Nonna said.

“No, no, no, no,” I argued more forcefully. “You two, keep watch. We’re breaking the law here.”

“No, we’re not,” Georgiana retorted. “We’re worried about Sadie, and we’re doing a wellness check.”

As far as I knew, only police officers could do those, but I wasn’t going to argue with her. Instead, I pulled my fairly useless phone from my back pocket and turned on the flashlight. Sadie’s place was pristinely clean, but a light layer of dust had settled. There were no dishes out, and nothing was out of the ordinary in the living room. The kitchen abutted that room, so I hurried over and looked in her fridge. There was no milk, no cheese, nothing to rot.

“No perishables,” I called out.

“Ooh, that means she meant to leave,” Nonna said.

“Well, maybe,” Georgiana yelled back.

That had been my thinking, as well.

I crossed the living room to go into the bedroom, which was small with a queen-sized bed. A beautiful hand-crocheted purple and white coverlet covered the bed, which was neatly made. There was one dresser and one small closet. I hurried to the dresser to find normal clothing for a woman Sadie’s age. The closet was also full. However, I saw no suitcases anywhere. Had she just gone on a short trip?

I checked out the bathroom, and again, it looked as if somebody lived here. There was no evidence that she’d left. However, I often took day trips or even weekend trips, and my apartment looked the same. “There’s nothing here,” I said upon returning to the living room.

“No signs of a struggle?” Georgiana called out.

“None.” I had a thought and hurried back into the kitchen, flipping on the light switch. No lights came on.

“Electricity’s out,” I relayed.

“Well, the storm has been pretty bad. Electricity is out up at the river, too,” Nonna yelled.

I turned on the faucet. The water was still working, so Sadie hadn’t turned that off. When a homeowner left Silverville for any length of time in the winter, they always turned off the water to prevent the cold from bursting a pipe. So, either Sadie hadn’t been planning to leave, or she’d only thought to be gone for a couple of days. Maybe she’d return any minute. I bit my lip and then looked around.

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