Page 15 of Silent Watch
"Which friend?"
"Someone I met at a conference.I don't remember her name, honestly."
The lie sat between them.Harper held his gaze, refusing to blink first.His eyes were the pale gray of old concrete, and just as hard.
"Well."Sattler uncrossed his legs and stood, the chair scraping against the floor."I won't keep you from your research.But if you want the business perspective on Blossom Springs, I'd be happy to give you an interview sometime.Fifteen years of development here.I know where all the bodies are buried, as they say."
He smiled when he said it.Just a figure of speech.Just a joke.
The back of Harper's neck prickled.
"I might take you up on that," she said.
"Please do.Geri has my contact information."He moved toward the door, then paused, one hand on the frame."One piece of advice, Ms.Warren.Free of charge."
"What's that?"
"Blossom Springs is a small town.People talk.Word gets around."His eyes held hers."If you're digging through old records, asking questions about who owns what and why—people will notice.They'll wonder about your motives."
"Is that a problem?"
"Not for me.I'm an open book."The smile again, pleasant and empty."But some people in this town are very private.They don't appreciate outsiders poking around in their business.They might take it personally."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"I'm sure you will."
He left.His footsteps echoed down the hallway, unhurried, confident.A man who owned things and knew it.
Harper sat down and pressed her palms flat against the table.Her hands were shaking.She counted to ten, forcing her heartbeat to slow, then gathered the papers and returned them to the filing cabinet exactly as she'd found them.
Time to go.
Mae's Bakerywas crowded with the late-morning rush.
Harper pushed through the door and scanned the room until she found Caleb at a corner table, his back to the wall.She crossed the bakery on legs that felt unsteady and dropped into the seat across from him.
He'd ordered her a coffee.She wrapped her hands around it even though it was too hot, needing something solid to hold onto.
"You're pale," he said.
"Sattler came to the library."She kept her voice low.A mother with a stroller sat two tables away, cooing at her baby.A group of retirees argued cheerfully about something near the window.Normal people having a normal morning."Sat down across from me and started asking questions about my book.About which friend recommended Blossom Springs."
Caleb's hand flattened on the table.The only visible reaction, but she was learning to read him.That flat hand meant the same thing a raised voice would mean from anyone else.
"He came himself."
"In person.Charming.Friendly."She took a breath that didn't quite steady her."Then he told me people here don't appreciate outsiders poking around.That they might take it personally."
"Direct quote?"
"Close enough."
A woman at the next table laughed suddenly, loud and sharp.Harper flinched before she could stop herself.Caleb noticed.He didn't comment.
"What else?"
"He said he knows where all the bodies are buried.Smiled like it was a joke."She finally risked a sip of coffee.It burned her tongue, but she welcomed the distraction."The librarian warned me, too.Geri Crane.Said she's seen what happens to people who ask the wrong questions.Nothing she can prove—her words."
