The emotionally charged air dispersed as we dropped the subject of Salem’s homegrown ghost story. We quickly shifted the conversation into calmer waters, keeping to light topics as the cheesecake baked and eventually came out of the oven. It smelled heavenly and looked divine. There wasn’t a single crack in its lightly browned top.
“Water bath,” Sally said with satisfaction. “Makes all the difference.”
She insisted it couldn’t be eaten for hours, needing to cool completely before it could be sliced and served. Frankly, I thought it was cruel and unusual punishment to sit there salivating while we waited for it to reach room temperature.
The sharp ring of the doorbell distracted me from all thoughts of dessert. Gwen left the kitchen to answer it and returned with Cade in tow. We all took deep breaths as his handsome frame filled the doorway. He nodded hello to everyone, but his eyes found mine. There was a serious look in their depths that made my heart skip a beat.
Something had happened.
“Imogen,” Cade said softly. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Privately?”
I very nearly vaulted off my stool. In a second, I was across the room, standing in front of him. He grabbed my hand and led me through Gwen’s foyer, then into the adjacent living room, steering me around paint cans and drop cloths with ease. We stopped in the corner, eyes locked. For a minute, he didn’t say anything.
I was in no mood to wait.
“You found something?” I guessed, hardly daring to hope.
His nod made my heart skip another beat.
“We found something.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I’m not procrastinating.
I’m on a side quest.
- Imogen Warner, putting off responsibilities
I stared down at the red bicycle. The chain had fallen off its track, but otherwise it looked undamaged. There were several unopened chocolate bars scattered around it, as though a plastic candy bucket had been upturned, but no signs of the bucket itself.
Or its owner.
We were in a dense stretch of woods that abutted the golf course, not far from the local high school. You could actually see the edges of the overgrown soccer field if you squinted through the foliage. Not twenty feet away, a dirt walking path wound its way to a parking lot.
Yet, they’d missed it.
All the search parties, all the volunteers… And they’d still missed it. Probably because the investigation was focused primarily on the other side of town, in the area where Rory and Declan were supposed to be that night.
Christ.
“It’s a fifteen-minute bike ride from here to The Sea Witch,” Cade said from beside me. “Nearly an hour on foot. We had no reason to think they’d come all the way out here. Could’ve been days — even weeks — before someone found this, Imogen.”
I glanced over and found he was looking at me.
“First clue we’ve had since this all started,” he murmured, keeping his voice soft so as not to draw the attention of the uniformed officers who were roping off the entire area with crime scene tape. “And we only have it thanks to you.”
I looked swiftly away. The expression on his face was too much to process, right now. It was more than gratitude or pride. Infinitely more. Infinitelybetter. I tucked it away for later examination.
“Am I going to get in trouble for disturbing a crime scene?” I asked, brows lifting as I stared at Rory’s bike.
“We’ve already dusted it for prints and swabbed for DNA. Pictures were taken of the scene. There’s nothing for you to disturb.” Cade stepped closer. His voice was still hushed. “Coulter is in the loop about your involvement. So is Aguilar. They weren’t over the moon about bringing you on as a consultant at first, but I talked them around. Finding the bike erased whatever lingering hesitations they might have had.”
I eyed the two officers still loitering nearby. “But?—”
“Buckley! Grieves!” Cade called over my shoulder. “Do me a favor. Take five, will you?”
The officers nodded and, without a word, walked out of sight.