Stranger in Town

CHAPTER 23





“So, that’s it?” Maddie said. “You’re packing up?”

It was morning, but my lack of sleep had made it seem like the past few days had all blended together somehow. I was packing, and for the first time in my life, I had no plan. No next move. Nothing. I didn’t know why I was packing or what I was doing, but I had to do something. So I folded and organized. My current method of finding out what happened to the girls wasn’t working. I needed a new one. I just didn’t know what that was yet.

“I’m thinking of going home,” I said.

“Why?”

“I need to clear my head.”

“You’re not quitting, are you?”

“Have I ever?” I said.

She shrugged.

“You’re running away. It’s what you do when things like this happen.”

“That’s not true.”

“Of course it is. How long did it take you to return to your hometown after you graduated? And even then, you’ve only been back twice: once for your aunt’s funeral and just recently to solve a murder.”

I flung a folded shirt into the suitcase, knowing I wouldn’t be able to resist refolding it and lining it up with the others later. “Getting my head clear is not the same thing as running away. I don’t bail on my cases. I don’t need a lecture, Maddie. Not from you. Not today.”

“Sloane, listen to me.”

I folded a few more items and tossed them in.

Maddie stood in front of the suitcase, blocking me. “Will you stop for a minute and listen to me, please?”

I didn’t want to, but I did anyway.

“You have the ability to push past all this,” she said. “You’ve never backed down from a case before. Mrs. Tate is dead, Cade yelled at you, you haven’t had any new leads in a few days, and you’re under pressure. Part of it is probably because you’re worried that when you find these girls, they won’t be alive. I know it’s hard. But you can’t leave, not now.”

“I’m not backing down. It’s just…I’ve never had a case like this. It’s not going anywhere. I feel like all I’m doing is letting people down. It’s not who I am, Maddie.”

“All you need is one break,” she said. “Just one. Who knows? Maybe you’ve already set something in motion and you don’t even know it yet.”

“I honestly don’t know where to go from here, Maddie,” I said. “The children are ghosts in the wind. I have no idea how to find them—not even with the few new leads I have.”

“You know why you’re feeling this way, right?”

I shrugged. She continued.

“You haven’t had any sleep, sweetie.”

“I don’t have time to sleep.”

“Sure you do. Stop arranging your already-organized suitcase and lie down and rest for a few minutes. Clear your head. You’ll thank me later.”

“I don’t know,” I said.

Maddie flipped the lid of my suitcase closed. “It wasn’t a suggestion. The Sloane I know doesn’t back down from anything. So you’re getting in that bed, and when you wake up, we can talk about where to go from here.”

I took her advice, changed clothes, and snuggled up next to Lord Berkeley. It felt good to shut down, and this time, my body allowed it. When I woke several hours later, it was dark outside. Maddie was in the living room talking to someone. Her voice was low, and I couldn’t make out what she was saying. I swept my hair back into a ponytail, pulled some pants on, and opened the door. To my surprise, Cade and Maddie were sitting at the table, chatting like they’d been friends for years. His snub from a few nights before at the bar seemed to have been long forgotten.

“Cade came by to see you,” Maddie said. “But I’ve kept him a lot longer than he bargained for.”

I looked at him. “Why?”

“We can discuss it tomorrow,” he said, “when I take you to breakfast.”

“Why don’t we talk about whatever it is now?”

He glanced at his phone. “Because it’s almost midnight, I’m tired, and it can wait.”

“How long have you been here?” I said.

“A couple hours.”

Cade stood up and walked to the door.

“I might not be here in the morning,” I said.

Maddie disregarded my comment and looked at Cade. “She’ll see you in the morning. I’ll make sure of it.”

Cade nodded and opened the door, glancing at me before he went through it. “Night ladies.”