“All this time.”
“That must have been so weird.” Daisy’s voice was heavy with sadness. “Just… weird and sad seeing all that stuff left by your parents, like a time capsule. Are you okay?”
I took a deep breath around the heaviness in my chest. “Yeah. Itisweird and sad, but mostly I just want to pick up where they left off, put an end to it all for good.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Sarai asked.
“Yeah,” Daisy said, “I’m a total online stalker if you need help with anything on that front.”
I laughed. “Don’t I know it.”
Daisy grinned. “You weren’t complaining when I helped you run down Ian Golden’s ex.”
“Touché.” Ian Golden had been my tenth grade boyfriend and Daisy’s deep dive into his ex-girlfriend’s social media had been worthy of a professional private investigator.
“So?” Sarai asked. “What can we do? I could use a little excitement.”
Sarai could always use “a little excitement,” something that had gotten her into trouble more than once.
“Trust me, you don’t want this kind of excitement.” I reached into my bag behind the counter and pulled out the phone from the paper mill. “But since you asked, can you take a look at this? Tell me if anything jumps out at you?”
Daisy took it and leaned over the counter so Sarai could read along. While they read, I refilled the canisters with coffee beans and restocked the milk in the refrigerators behind the counter.
Luckily we were in the mid-afternoon slow period when everyone was at work or school.
“Who’s ‘PrincessA?” Sarai asked.
“I have no idea. That’s part of the problem.”
Daisy met my eyes. “Where did you get this?”
I bit my lip. “You have to promise not to tell a soul.”
“Duh,” Sarai said. “Obviously.”
We’d been best friends since elementary school. It didn’t really need to be said but I’d wanted to say it anyway.
“It was on the guy who died at the paper mill. One of the ones who tried to kill the Hawks and me.”
“How did you get it?” Daisy asked.
I held her gaze but didn’t answer.
“Bram,” she said. “Right.”
“‘PrincessA’ is the only person mentioned by name — or nickname I guess — on those texts. It kind of seems like… they’re working for her? But that doesn’t feel right either. So far I haven’t found any royal connections to the missing girls in Blackwell Falls, although I guess it’s always possible they exist.”
Daisy looked surprised.
“What?” I asked her.
“Nothing, I just… that’s not where my mind goes when I look at these texts.”
“Me either,” Sarai said.
“Then where does it go?”
“Not to actual royalty,” Daisy said, “but to?— ”