Page 25 of Is Anyone Listening?
"Maybe, but let's not waste time on him now. So far, he's just tried to warn you that the inn could be dangerous. Why would he do that if he was the danger?"
She made a good point. "I don't know. Maybe to make me trust him?"
"Well, don't trust him."
Tessa had a way of getting right to the point. I smiled. "Okay, I won't trust him. One other thing, after we parted ways, and I got the car, I saw him sitting in a café with Becca, the yoga teacher from the inn, and they looked very friendly."
"That's kind of interesting. I wonder if he's trying to get information out of her."
"No idea. It could have just been social, two attractive people. Did you get anything else out of Finn?"
"I got the date. That's all I was looking for. I didn't want to scare him off, so I just smiled and flirted and said you were going to be busy all day typing up our notes, and I would be bored."
I gave her a dry smile. "In other words, you told him the truth."
She grinned. "Sometimes, the truth works."
"And sometimes the truth is just a lie in disguise," I said.
A gleam entered her eyes. "That's good, Cassidy. We should use that on the podcast, a little tease for what's coming—the truth, or a lie in disguise."
"We don't know what's coming," I said darkly.
And I wasn't sure I was ready to find out.
Chapter Seven
We got back to the inn a little before eight. There were a few people sitting in the living room by the fire, and a young woman behind the reception desk, who greeted us with a smile and said her name was Moira if we needed anything. We made our way quickly up the stairs and headed into our rooms to freshen up before the podcast.
After turning on the light, I dropped my bag on the bed and turned toward the bathroom. But as my gaze swept across the desk, everything felt…wrong. My computer had been moved at least six inches, and my notebook was now on top of my Stonecross file.
Panic tightened my chest as I looked around and noticed other small details. The closet door was slightly open, and the pillows on the bed had been shoved to the side, as if someone had checked under them. Someone had searched my room. Why? And had they found what they were looking for?
I ran across the hall and pounded on Tessa's door.
The door flew open almost immediately. Tessa's face shifted from annoyed to alarmed in an instant. "What's wrong?"
"Someone was in my room." I pushed past her, my breath still coming fast. "While we were at the pub, someone went through my things."
"What?" Tessa closed the door behind me. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
As my words sank in, Tessa's gaze swept across her own room. She moved quickly to her desk, then her half-open suitcase on a luggage rack, and finally her closet. Tessa was messier than I was, so I had no idea if someone had gone through her things.
"I don't see anything missing," she said. "But it feels like things have been moved around." She met my gaze with a worried frown. "The door was locked. There was no break-in."
"Someone used a key," I agreed. "Which means they probably work here. They saw my Stonecross file, the information on Natalie, my personal notes… If someone wanted to know what we're doing here, then they do now." I sank down on the edge of her bed and Tessa did the same, as we both processed what we'd just learned.
"Was there anything in your room that had your real last name on it, Cassidy?"
"I don't think so. I had my wallet in my bag. Nothing else has my last name on it. You think Ellen suspects I'm her granddaughter?"
"Possibly. She could have recognized you."
"Wouldn't she just say something if she did?"
"You haven't said anything, either."
