Page 35 of Is Anyone Listening?
"Yes, but I didn't tell him why I was asking. He thinks I'm just concerned about buying property near an inn getting bad press. He reassured me there was no evidence of anyone being hurt at the inn. It was all just speculation."
"Maybe that's because they get rid of the evidence, like the bloody carpet that disappeared from the storage room." I paused. "Becca met Anna. She took Becca's yoga class. I wonder if she'd tell you more about Anna."
"I can bring it up next time we meet." He took out his phone and said, "What did Anna look like?"
"She had brown hair and eyes, average height, looked like she hadn't eaten a solid meal in days. Why?"
"I want to show you something." He scrolled through his photos and then held the phone out to me. "This is Natalie Warren."
I looked at the screen. "I've seen this picture." It was Natalie's professional headshot, from a social media site. She had been a pretty woman with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Okay. What about this one?" Tyler scrolled to another photo, "This is Jessica Trent."
My breath caught. Jessica also had dark-brown hair, slightly different features, but the resemblance between her and Natalie was striking. Same age range, late twenties to early thirties, same coloring, same general build.
"They look alike," I said, surprise in my voice.
"Do they look like Anna?"
"A little."
Tyler's eyes met mine, and there was something intense and almost frightening in his gaze. "They also look a lot like you, Cassidy."
"I don't think so."
"Don't you? Isn't that why the blood just drained from your face? When I saw you on the beach yesterday morning, I thought you were Jessica, but then I realized you just looked like her."
I shivered at his words. I did have dark-brown hair and brown eyes. I was about the same age, the same height. "It's just a coincidence?—"
"Or a pattern."
"A lot of women have dark-brown hair, and I'm sure many have stayed at the inn over the years and haven't vanished. I don't think two women, or even three, is that strong of a pattern when you think about how many women have stayed at inn in the last year." I didn't know if I was trying to convince him or myself. "And aside from looks, I'm not like the women who've disappeared. I'm not running away or searching for something more. From what I've read about Natalie, she was at a crossroads. A long relationship had ended. Her family relationship was strained. She'd moved, changed jobs…" I licked my lips. "And didn't you say Jessica had gotten out of a bitter divorce?"
"She'd had a rough year," he admitted.
"And Anna showed signs of physical abuse. I'm not like them."
Silence followed my words as we stood there on the isolated beach, two people who'd come to Stonecross for different women but had found the same dark mystery at its center.
"You should still leave town, Cassidy."
His words reminded me of the note I'd received. "You didn't write that on a note and slip it under my door, did you?"
"No. Did someone leave you a note?"
"Yes, and it said I should leave. It also appeared that someone had searched my room earlier. Tessa's, too."
"Then why the hell are you still in town?"
"Mrs. Clarke said that there were teenagers pulling pranks last night, and she was sure it was one of them. She said they left this morning. And as for my room being searched, a housekeeper goes in every afternoon to refresh the towels and tidy up. She dismissed my concerns entirely."
"Well, you shouldn't dismiss your own concern. Trust your gut."
"That's what I'm doing. I'm not going to get scared away by a note."
He crossed his arms, giving me a speculative look. "All this for a podcast?" he mused. "Seems like you're not telling me everything."
"I could say the same thing about you. You're spending an awful lot of time looking for someone who is just a friend."
