been on speaking terms for years. And Paige’s mom died years ago.”
“Damn it. I was hoping Paige’s mom might be a possible lead.”
“I hate to break it to you, but unless you know something I don’t, I doubt you’re going to find any new leads.”
Oh, like the part about one of the girls being my half sister. Nope, I was honoring my mother’s request and keeping her suspicions to myself until I had proof. Even without that piece of information, there had to be something new to learn, at least for me. “You’re probably right, but will you write down the names and addresses you have? I’m not going to do it tonight, but I want to do a few more searches. I get that you’ve already done it, but all of this is new for me and I want to see the search results for myself.”
“No need to explain. I’d be the same way,” he assured. “You got a piece of paper or something I can write on?”
I gestured to the multiple notebooks scattered around the room. “Pick one. Any one. Don’t judge me. I’m an author. This is totally normal behavior.”
“I’m sure it is.” With that, he wrote down the information he had and handed the notebook to me. I quickly glanced at the paper and recognized one address as Adelaide’s, but the other was a new one for me to check out.
“Whose address is this?” I asked.
“That’s the rental house where Heidi and Paige used to live. You wanted what information I had, but I can tell you not to waste your time. The house is basically empty.”
“Basically?”
He shrugged. “There were still a few boxes in one of the rooms the last time I went over there.”
“Did you go through them?”
“Not really. I looked inside one or two. They were full of books, so I assumed the others were too. I can’t think of anything in them that would be helpful to you.”
“Oh, well, I’ll just have to look elsewhere,” I said and refused to let his words discourage me.
8
I finished my drink and placed my glass down with a notable clink. “Help yourself to another if you’d like,” Sloane offered.
“You sure?” I asked. Normally, I wouldn’t have even considered it, solely because the price of mini-fridge liquor was outrageous, but after the conversation we’d just had, I wanted another.
“Of course. You comped how many of my drinks at the bar last night? Plus food. I’m sure those two drinks cost far less than all that.”
I knew there was no point in arguing with her. Instead, I made my drink knowing I would stop by the front desk on my way out and put some cash toward her bill. With any luck, she wouldn’t notice until after she was long gone.
Disappointment unexpectedly washed over me at the thought of her leaving. “How long are you planning on being in town?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends on how long it takes me to find Heidi. I’ll figure out the rest from there.”
“Sloane,” I said slowly. “Don’t get your hopes up. I’ve been trying to find Heidi for months with no luck.” She was clearly excited to have new information at her fingertips and chomping at the bit to start sorting through it. I started to tell her Spazz already searched every avenue I had, but just like with the phone number, I knew she would want to see it for herself. And who knew? The chances were slim, but maybe we’d get lucky and she’d find something we hadn’t.
I sat back and enjoyed watching her squirm in her seat for several minutes before she finally came to a decision. “I’m sorry. I know this is incredibly rude of me, but she’s the reason I’m here. I can’t wait until tomorrow to start on this.”
I chuckled. “I knew that was coming.” Picking up my glass, I emptied the contents and got to my feet. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Her head shot up. “What? No. You don’t need to leave. I’ll only be a few minutes, but I have to at least peek at a few things. Plus, you’ll be here if I have any questions.”
I snorted. “I’ve been down that road. Trust me; you’ll be more than a few minutes.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “I won’t, but help yourself to another drink while you’re waiting.”
After spending my day at a bookstore in an itchy pink dress on a few hours of sleep, I decided I was going to