It isn’t a lot to hang her hopes on, but it is all she has. She sifts through the items that were in the box, looking for a card that has a fox on it. She finds a sterling silver teaspoon, a magnet in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, and a piece of lilac silk ribbon. Noa’s been quite the little collector.
And then Aimee sees it, a card with a fox on it. She plucks it from under a dried rosebud whose leaves are disintegrating. She can see why it was appealing to Noa. The fox is hand drawn and wearing a jaunty ice-blue scarf. The Little Fox Coffee Shop. It’s a loyalty card with seven of the ten holes punched out.
According to the address printed on the card, the coffee shop is located in Frederick, which is about forty-five minutes northwestof where they live, near the mountains. She and Scott have taken the kids up to Sugarloaf Mountain and then gone into Frederick to eat. It’s a quaint town with Civil War–era buildings, filled with shops and cafés.
Aimee turns the card over in her hand. It’s a long shot, but just maybe someone at this coffee shop knows something about Cathy Stocker.
41
NOW
Gwen puts Anton’s journal in her bag and goes outside. She’s halfway up Aimee’s walkway when the door opens.
“Hey,” Gwen says. “I was just coming to see you.”
“Now’s not a good time.”
“Where you heading?”
“Frederick. It’s a long story, but I hope I can find out something about Cathy.”
“I’ll come with you. Keep you company.”
Aimee hesitates. “I don’t know.”
“That’s what you said yesterday when you went to Cathy’s house, and it was because of me—well, because of Sababa, actually—that we found Scott’s car.”
Aimee pauses and Gwen takes the opportunity to open the passenger door of her truck. “Anyway, there’s something you’re going to want to hear. I think I figured out what Anton was blackmailing Scott about.”
“Fine.” Aimee climbs in.
Aimee pulls the truck out of the driveway.
“Thank you for being there yesterday,” Aimee says in a somewhat begrudging tone. “You were helpful.”
“Of course. I want to help, Aimee. I want you to know that I will never forgive myself for not coming to you as soon as Anton said something to me. And I will do everything I can to make that up to you.” Gwen adds, “Besides, I need to get out of my house. I’m slowly going insane in there. Can you tell me where we are going?”
“I found this.” Aimee pulls something out of her jacket and puts it on the console between them.
Gwen picks it up. “A loyalty card?”
“Noa had it. Apparently, she’s got quite the sticky fingers.” Aimee lets out a short laugh, but it sounds fake. “I found her box of goodies the other day. She said it was all taken fromCathy’shouse. But then this morning she told me there was one thing not from the house, but from Cathy’s car.”
“This card.”
“Yup.”
“So you think where Cathy really lives must be close to where this coffee shop is?”
“That’s the idea.” She glances over at Gwen. “Too far-fetched?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Sounds reasonable to me,” Gwen says. “What are you planning to do if you do get an address? Barge in with your hedge clippers and demand answers?”
This gets a faint smile from Aimee. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“What about calling that detective? Detective Salazar.”
Aimee scowls. “And say what?”