“Hi, Ro,” Adam said, rising.
“Adam,” she said, accepting his kiss on her cheek as the waitress came over with their food.
“What are you reading?” he asked, noticing the magazine tucked under her arm.
“An article on Hammond Castle. Did you know it was haunted?” she asked.
“Of course it’s haunted,” Eve said.
“He experimented with human corpses, you know,” Adam added.
“Forget that,” Eve said grimly. “We have our own local corpse to worry about now.”
“She’s not our corpse,” Adam said irritably.
Eve stared at Rowenna. “I can’t believe you found her,” she said in a horrified tone.
Great. News had traveled. Rowenna wondered if that was all anyone would think about when they looked at her now: there goes that woman who found the body in the cornfield.
“How did you know I found her?” she asked.
“Don’t you watch television?” Eve responded.
“Or read the papers?” Adam queried.
“Or a little thing called the Internet?” Eve told her.
“Oh,” Rowenna said simply.
“It must have been horrible,” Eve said.
“It was,” Rowenna agreed.
Adam leaned closer to her and asked softly, “Did he really stick her up on a stake in a cornfield and leave her there?”
Rowenna looked at her omelet and pushed the plate away, her appetite gone.
“Yes,” she said flatly.
“Do you think it was some kind of ritual killing?” Adam asked.
Rowenna shook her head. “It looked like some sick psycho viciously killed a woman,” she said. “Listen, guys, it wasn’t a great experience, so if you don’t mind…”
“Sorry,” Adam said quickly.
“I just hope that maniac doesn’t have Mary Johnstone,” Eve said darkly, staring straight at Rowenna.
Had there been an edge to her friend’s voice? Rowenna wondered. Or was she just imagining things because she was still upset from yesterday?
Adam’s hands were on the table, knotted and tense. “Let’s hope,” he agreed quietly. But he was upset. There was a pulse beating hard at his throat.
“Is anything wrong?” Rowenna asked.
“Wrong?” Adam repeated blankly then asked, “Where’s your friend?”
“Jeremy?” Rowenna returned.
“Did you bring another friend home?” Eve asked lightly.
“He’s…out. He’s here trying to help Brad. They used to be partners,” Rowenna said.
“Brad is still a diver with the Jax police,” Adam said. “We talked a bit,” he told Rowenna. “I liked him.”
“And his wife,” Eve said, her tone slightly acidic.
“I hope they find her. She was beautiful, and really sweet. You could tell she was a dancer with every step she took,” Adam said, ignoring what seemed to be a surprising jealousy that his wife was barely concealing.
“Is a dancer,” Rowenna said.
“Is,” Adam said, correcting himself. “Of course.”
“Do you really think there’s any hope she’s alive?” Eve asked, and her concern sounded genuine.
Eve might be jealous of the woman, Rowenna thought, but she would never wish her harm.
“I believe with my whole heart that she is,” Rowenna said.
“Intuition?” Adam asked.
Rowenna shrugged.
“Your intuitions are good,” Eve said.
“So what are you up to in town today? You certainly came in early, whatever it is you’re doing.”
Rowenna didn’t give them a reason for being so early. She didn’t care if people knew that she was sleeping with Jeremy Flynn—she just didn’t feel the need to broadcast the news. “I want to do some reading. Anyway, I think I’ll go wander around a bit till the library opens,” she said, standing. “I’ll see you all later. I want to stop by the shop and pick up something to wear.”
“You didn’t eat your breakfast,” Adam pointed out.
No, she hadn’t, but she didn’t feel any need to make them feel bad by explaining why.
“I just wasn’t hungry, I guess. Not to worry—one thing you can always find around here is a place to eat,” she said, then waved and left them, stopping by the counter on her way out to pay her breakfast check and her friends’ check, as well.
Out on the street, the sun was rising higher, and the air was cool and clean. It was a beautiful day.
She headed to the Peabody Essex Museum, which she knew would be open, and spent some time there going through history. The reading room offered insights into the past, but she grew restless when she didn’t find what she was looking for—even though she wasn’t certain just what that was. When she left, she stopped for a cup of coffee from a local beanery, then meandered along. Her mind wandered back to the article she’d read about Hammond Castle, and from there she started thinking about the haunted history of the area.
Like the legend of the Harvest Man.
Was there any truth behind it?
She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.