Page 83 of Is Anyone Listening?
"He's better, but he's not the same. And he's not sure he wants to run the bar full-time anymore. Sophie's leaving. My mom needs help with the house. And beyond all that..." He paused. "This is my home. Maybe it's time to accept that."
"As long as you're not living your life for someone else."
"Didn't you just say you wished you'd done that?" he asked dryly.
I smiled. "I didn't mean it. I can't live for my dad. Mostly, because it still wouldn't make him happy. And it certainly wouldn't make me happy. Maybe you should talk to your dad about what he wants. It's possible he doesn't want to take the bar away from you, that he sees it as yours now."
"He has made comments like that, but I don't know. Anyway, that's not something I'm going to figure out today. I'm here in my hometown, and the people who live here are my people, and if there is someone amongst us who is hurting innocent women, I want to stop them. You and Tessa have raised enough doubts in my mind to question the narrative I've been hearing the past year, and I don't completely trust the sheriff. Tom acts like he's a king and thinks he runs the town. Ellen also seems to feel that her inn is driving half the tourism in Stonecross, so it has to be protected no matter the cost."
"Does the inn bring in half the tourism?"
"Probably. But that doesn't matter if innocent women are getting hurt. We need to find out what's going on."
"We?" I echoed.
"If you're open to me helping you."
"Absolutely. But if we're going to be partners, I need to know if you're really willing to put yourself or someone you care about in the line of fire."
He stared back at me. "You're talking about Nathan."
"Yes. I know you went to the sheriff, who dismissed everything you said. Maybe you need to go back to Nathan and get him to admit what he did to Tessa."
Finn turned his gaze out to the sea, then after a moment, he returned it to me. "Nathan and I grew up together. He was a scrawny kid who had to wear a back brace for a long time. He was picked on, bullied, and I looked out for him. I guess I haven't let go of that habit. But he's not a kid anymore. He's a grown man, and I don't know him the way I used to. You're right. I need to talk to him again, and I'll do that today."
"You could do it now. You could call him."
He pulled out his phone. "Good idea. I'll put it on speaker."
"Thank you."
He punched a button and turned on the speaker. But the call went to voicemail. "I'll try his office," he said. "They might know where he is and when he'll be back." He put in another number. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times.
Then a woman's voice answered, high-pitched and panicked. "Hello? Who is this?"
Finn frowned. "This is Finn Kelly. I'm looking for Nathan. Who's this?"
"Melissa. I work with Nathan at the charter office. He isn't here. Something terrible happened." She was crying now, deep, racking sobs of shock and pain.
"What? What happened?" Finn asked.
"He overdosed. He might be dead."
My blood turned to ice. I grabbed Finn's arm, staring at the phone.
"Might be dead?" Finn repeated. "Tell me what happened.”
"He went home for lunch around noon and when he didn't come back by three, Mike went over to check on him." Her voice broke. "He said Nathan was lying on the floor and there were pills everywhere. They think he might have tried to kill himself, but the paramedics got a pulse, so they took him to the hospital."
"When did this happen?" Finn asked, his voice tight.
"Sometime between noon and three, they think. The police are here now. They're questioning everyone. I have to go."
The line went dead.
Finn and I stared at each other in the sudden silence.
"Oh my God," I whispered. "He tried to kill himself?"
