worth to the discussion, claiming she had too much homework.
It didn’t take her long to find the real reason why it had been canceled. The character who played Felicia’s college boyfriend died of a drug overdose after the first season. She read that the network decided not to continue on without him. Further on in the article, it said that Felicia and her costar, Dean Wells, had been linked romantically, but that the two had broken up shortly before Wells killed himself. Or overdosed. Gossip rags speculated that he was so distraught over the breakup with Felicia that he went on a self-destructive drinking and drug binge.
She clicked on the images of Felicia and scanned her photos. She was quite beautiful back then and wore her hair in a curly blond style. Perfect white teeth and radiant smile. Looking at Felicia’s old photos, Isla found it almost difficult to believe that this was the same woman she knew. Age and grief had utterly transformed Felicia into a different person. Darker and more mysterious. Or maybe marriage and motherhood had caused this. She scrolled down farther and discovered a photo of Felicia with Gil at some awards show. Soon after breaking up with Wells, it seemed, she’d taken up with Gil.
Did any of this really matter? It intrigued her but meant nothing in the bigger scheme of things. She knew she should be more concerned about Chip Hicks, Bugger Walsh, and Julian McCallister than the grieving mother of a missing girl. And about helping Katie recover, so she could remember who had done this to her. She feared now that Willow Briggs hadn’t survived her ordeal. Someone out there had killed those two prominent Harper’s Point kids. But for what reason?
KARL
HE STOOD IN THE SMALL CONFERENCE ROOM AT THE POLICE STATION and stared at the chart on the wall, scribbled with arrows and lines. What connected everything together? A possible love connection between Dakota, Willow, and Julian? Now that he knew drugs and alcohol were involved at these parties, it made the idea of violence more predictable. He suspected that Julian was involved in one or more of the crimes. The kid’s arrogance and entitled attitude made him the number one suspect. But what about Bob Oden? Any number of people in town could have done this.
His phone rang, and he saw Isla’s number pop up. Why was she calling him? Had Katie remembered something?
“I’ve learned a few things you should know,” she said when he answered.
“Good. I could use any help I can get.” He wondered if he should tell her about Katie, the parties, and the drug use.
“Did you know Chip Hicks had been accused of inappropriate behavior with a female student?”
“Do you really think Chip Hicks has anything to do with this?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore, especially when my mother-in-law tells me she’s seen Bugger Walsh riding around with Ray—in his new truck.”
The name Bugger Walsh set off alarms in his head, and he hastily scribbled his name down on the whiteboard, for no other reason than Bugger was a well-known lowlife with a considerable rap sheet.
“Are you there, Karl?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“How much do you know about Julian McCallister?”
“Not much.”
“A friend of Samantha’s claims that he got kicked out of his private school in Manhattan for fighting and selling drugs.”
“It’s amazing what people in that salon tell you. You should have been a cop.”
“A lot of times it’s things I have no desire to know. Clients tend to open up to me after spending twenty minutes in my chair.”
“How do you do it?”
“I shut my mouth and try not to interrupt them,” she said. “There’s something else I should tell you, but I’m not sure it means anything.”
“In a case like this, everything can mean something.”
“Felicia Briggs used to be a TV star many years ago. Her name was Felicia Hastings back then.”
“Really? What show was she on?” He didn’t know why he was asking, since he rarely watched TV.
“It was called Lost ‘n’ You. I used to watch it religiously when I was in college.”
“Never heard of it. But why would that matter to the case?”
“The show was canceled after one of the lead actors died from a drug overdose. He’d been romantically involved with Felicia but went off the deep end after she broke up with him.”
“Interesting, but I’m failing to see the connection.”
“Gil Briggs produced and directed the show. It appears that she dumped this young actor to take up with Gil.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe it’s