Page 32 of Shadow of Deceit
Mia climbed into the utility vehicle and stared at the office. She hadn’t learned anything to help with the investigation. Not really. But Verna’s attitude? She was hiding something.
What an interesting development. Verna wouldn’t inherit Evergreen under any circumstance, but she just earned a place on Mia’s suspect list, and Mia was eagerly looking forward to what Colin’s deep dive into the resort manager might unearth.
* * *
In the rec center, Ryan checked the cage-covered clock from his seat at the head of a long table surrounded by his staff. Through two hours of status updates, he’d had to force himself to keep his mind off Mia and on his hard-working staff members. Mia had always done that to him. Consumed his thoughts and left zero room for anything else.
“Did you hear me, Ryan?” Ian asked, a hint of irritation in his tone.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked if you think the fire and that weird hand incident at the lodge will have any impact on our program.”
Ryan wasn’t surprised at the question. Gossip spread fast in a small town, and his staff members weren’t immune. “These incidents are targeted attacks not directed toward us, and we always keep the students in sight. Though I’m not concerned, I would say to stay vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary to me.”
His phone chimed. He looked at the screen—Russ.
“Sorry,” he said to his staff. “I’ve got to get this. Let’s call this meeting for now. If something else comes up we can get together again.”
Ryan stepped outside and out of everyone’s earshot.
“Hey, bro.” He kept his tone purposefully light to try to keep the conversation less argumentative than they’d been since Mia arrived.
“Do you remember Mia ever owning a charm bracelet?” Russ asked.
A charm bracelet?
Ryan ran through the hours they’d spent together. She’d dressed like a tomboy and didn’t wear much jewelry. Just unique earrings. The only time he remembered her not wearing torn jeans or cut-offs and T-shirts was when they went to prom. And the only thing on her wrist that night had been the orchid corsage he’d given her. “I remember crazy earrings but no bracelets.”
“I’m talking about the kind of bracelet she might not wear but keep in her jewelry box. Girls collect charms from special events and put them on a chain.” He sounded baffled as to why girls might do this.
“Sorry, bro, don’t remember anything like that.”
“When’s her birthday?”
“October fifteenth. Why?”
“My evidence tech found a bracelet stuck in the tissue paper in the severed hand box. Looks like whoever sent the package tried to strap the bracelet on the wrist, but it dropped into the tissue. It has a birthday cake charm with October 15 engraved on it. It also has several charms from the Atlanta area that Mia might’ve collected. All were dated before her mom died.”
An uneasy feeling settled into Ryan’s gut. If she owned such a special memory of her mom, she would’ve shared it with him. “This can’t be hers. I would’ve known if she had one.”
“Maybe you don’t know as much about her as you think.”
Ryan might be on her short list of people to avoid right now, but he knew her as well as anyone could. Maybe better than anyone else. At least he used to, but now he couldn’t be sure. “I don’t think it’s hers.”
“Well, we’ll soon find out. I’m heading to the lodge to ask her about it.”
If it did belong to her and somehow the creep threatening her got ahold of it, she would need Ryan by her side whether she thought she did or not. “I’ll meet you there.”
“This is official business.” Russ’s stern older brother tone had been used to try and keep Ryan in line more times than Ryan would care to admit. “You need to keep out of it.”
Just like their days living at home together, Ryan ignored his brother and disconnected before Russ made him promise to stay away.
Russ was right. This was official business but no way Ryan would miss seeing the bracelet and learning why the creep threatening Mia thought it would cause her pain.
9
The steep incline on the drive from the rec center had forced Ryan to keep his speed down. He was making the last curve when he spotted Russ’s squad car parked near Mia’s garage. Ryan had hoped to arrive at the lodge before Russ, but at least the trip had given him time to pray for a positive outcome.
