Page 11 of Is Anyone Listening?
A wave crashed closer than I'd expected, and I jumped back as cold water splashed across my feet. "Damn!" The icy shock penetrated my running shoes instantly, soaking my socks, chilling my feet.
"You should never turn your back on the sea, Cassidy." Tyler's voice carried a warning that felt like it extended beyond ocean waves. "At least not around here."
As I met his gaze, I became acutely aware of our isolation. If something were to happen to me right now, who would know? The calm I'd found during my run evaporated like the morning fog, replaced by creeping dread.
"I should go back," I said, but I didn't move because he was standing between me and the beach path.
"You should go back, pack your bag, and leave," he said, his tone grim.
"Are you trying to scare me?"
"I would hate to see anyone else go missing."
Anyone else. There it was again. That plural. "Wait a second. You said women. Did someone besides Natalie disappear?"
Before he could answer, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, and his jaw tightened. "I have to take this. Be careful, Cassidy. More careful than you think you need to be."
He turned away to answer his call, and I seized the opportunity to leave. I hurried past him and started up the steep path toward the inn, my pulse racing from our conversation.
Had he been warning me? Threatening me? Was he involved in Natalie's disappearance, or was he just another person who'd become obsessed with the case?
And what had he meant about other women going missing?
When I reached the inn, I felt breathless and unsettled. Ray Connors was outside the inn, high up on a ladder, nailing boards over a broken window on the third floor. My pulse jumped again. Was that my room?
As Ray climbed down the ladder, I approached, my wet shoes squishing with each step. He noticed me, his expression unchanging. Not friendly or unfriendly. Just... blank.
"What happened to the window?" I asked. "Is that my room?"
"No, not your room." His voice was curt, dismissive. "A guest had an accident. Knocked something into the window."
I wanted to ask, but Ray had already collapsed the ladder, slung it over his shoulder, and walked away. My mind raced with more questions. Was the guest who'd broken the window the same one I'd heard crying through the vent?
I pushed the questions aside and headed into the inn, telling myself I was overreacting. I needed to take a shower and get on with the day.
Back in my room, I stood under the hot water for a long time, trying to shake off not only the physical cold but also the unsettling conversation with Tyler. Who was he, and why did he care so much about what was happening at the inn? His words echoed through my head: Women seem to go missing after staying at the inn. Women. Not just Natalie. But who else? Why hadn't my research turned up other disappearances?
Unless they hadn't been reported. Or they'd been reported in other jurisdictions, no one connecting their disappearances to Stonecross.
Still thinking about that, I dried off and dressed in yoga pants and a tank top under a soft gray sweater. I needed to talk to Tessa. She'd either reassure me I was overthinking everything, or she'd be as alarmed as I was. Either way, I couldn't sit alone in this room, trying to make sense of everything by myself.
Tessa opened her door, a bright smile on her face. She looked pretty, her blonde hair shiny in the light, her blue eyes filled with energy. "There you are! I was just about to come find you. How did you sleep?"
I almost laughed at the question. "Not great."
Her smile faded. "That's too bad. Couldn't stop thinking? Or was the bed uncomfortable?"
"The bed was fine, but the night was not. Can I come in?"
"Of course." She stepped aside, and I entered the garden-view room, which was slightly larger than mine and did indeed have a spectacular bathtub visible through the bathroom door.
"That tub was heaven," Tessa said, following my gaze. "I stayed in there for an hour. Best bath of my life. Sorry I didn't answer your text. I crashed as soon as I got into bed.
"Lucky you."
She frowned. "Did something happen?"
I sat on the edge of her bed, and everything came tumbling out—the startling crash, the sound of crying, the voice telling someone to be quiet, my encounter with the man on the beach, ending with Ray and the broken window.
