Page 48 of Is Anyone Listening?
Finn's words rang through my head as I walked out of the pub and got in my car.
Maybe he was right about that. I had a personal truth that was very complicated and one I still didn't know what to do about. But that wasn't a problem I was going to solve today.
If Finn and the sheriff weren't going to follow up on the ring, I needed to do that. I picked up my phone and called Tyler. "I need to talk to you. Are you still with Becca?"
"No. I'm in line to get a coffee at the Daily Drip in Hanover."
"Hanover?"
"It's the town next to Stonecross, five miles south. Becca was teaching a class at the community center here. Want to come and meet me? Or I'll be back in about a half hour."
"I'll meet you. It's on the way to Seabrook, and I can visit Tessa after we talk. I'll see you soon."
Fifteen minutes later, I walked into The Daily Drip, a no-frills coffee house with a half- dozen tables, most of which were occupied by people sitting at computers. Tyler was at a table by the window, and I joined him with a smile.
He pushed one of two coffee cups in my direction. "It's Italian roast, with space for cream if you want it."
"Thanks. I'm good with this. How was your conversation with Becca?" I took a sip of the coffee, feeling immediately warmed and energized. "This is good."
"Better than anything I've had in Stonecross," he agreed. "Becca told me that Anna's last name is Franklin. She spent four days at the inn before she left. Two of those days, she took Becca's yoga class. I guess you were at one of those classes."
I nodded. "I was. Anna Franklin isn't an uncommon name. It might take some work to find her."
"I did a cursory search on my phone and found at least fifty," he said. "Becca also said that Anna mentioned she was from Chicago, that she'd heard about the inn from a friend. And that she'd really needed to get away from her life."
"Another woman who wanted to get away from her life," I murmured. "Seems to be a common theme."
"According to Becca, Anna arrived with bruises. Someone hurt her before she got to the inn. She said she felt like Anna was constantly looking over her shoulder."
"That's what I thought, too. Maybe she was hiding out at the inn until she felt safe to go somewhere else."
"I'm sure that's what Ellen and Ray would say."
I studied his face, his rather handsome face, I thought idly, shaking that out of my head as soon as I could. "Exactly what they would say," I agreed. "I should have knocked on Anna's door that first night when I heard her crying. I was just so rattled that first night. I was spooking myself out."
"Why were you rattled?"
"It was a long day of driving," I said vaguely.
"Or was it because you were going to the inn where a woman your age had stayed before never being seen again?"
I was grateful for the out he'd just given me, because I didn't need to tell him it had also felt strange to be in my grandmother's house, a woman I had never known and still didn't really know. "That's true," I said belatedly. "This is the first time I've ever tried to walk in the footsteps of a victim."
"It should probably be the last time. You're not an investigator, Cassidy. You don't have a personal stake in the victim. Why make yourself a target to increase your podcast ratings?"
"It's about finding answers for Natalie's family and for Jessica's, too."
"She doesn't have any family that I know of."
"But she has you, her friend."
He stared back at me.”Right."
"Which is why I need to ask you something. You told me Jessica was divorced, that she had gotten out of an abusive relationship."
"That's correct."
"Would she have still been wearing her wedding ring?"
