Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
My phone rang as I unlocked the front door of the taproom, propping it open to let in the crisp breeze. I pulled it from my pocket. Sterling.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked.
“I got a call from Emmett,” she said, her voice vibrating with excitement. “You know Emmett?”
“Emmett, who works with Sinclair Security? Mysterious friend of Hawk’s? That Emmett?” I asked to egg her on. Of course, I knew who Emmett was.
“That Emmett,” she confirmed. “He’s been looking into Dad’s murder. Investigating the way...” She paused, as if searching for the right words. “The way he specifically can investigate,” she said, which didn’t tell me anything, considering the only thing I really knew about Emmett, other than that he was friends with Hawk and worked at Sinclair Security, was that I didn’t know anything about Emmett. And I had the feeling there was a lot to not know.
“So?” I prompted.
“He found something weird.”
“How weird?” I asked, interested on a whole new level. I wasn’t sure if weird was good, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing, which is what we’d had in our investigation since Anna Novak had been murdered and we’d agreed to stop poking around. It was frustrating, but—
“Well,” Sterling said, her words coming slowly, as if she didn’t quite understand them yet, “he said that Dad created a trust over two years before he was killed, for someone named Caroline Sawyer.”
“Caroline Sawyer?” I repeated, moving behind the bar to check that the fridge was fully stocked with a few beers we didn’t have on tap and a selection of soft drinks. “Are we related to someone named Caroline Sawyer? Do we know anyone named Caroline Sawyer?” I racked my brain, but the name wasn’t familiar.
“No,” Sterling said. “And Emmett searched—did a genealogy kind of thing—and he said there isn’t anyone in the family by that name.”
“That is weird. What does it mean?” I asked, not sure in this case whether weird was useful.
I practically heard Sterling shrug through the phone. “I don’t know. I was kind of hoping you would.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head as if she could see me. “Maybe—I don’t know. It seems like the woman he was seeing could have been pregnant, based on the stuff that Savannah found in the attic. So maybe the baby was going to be Caroline?”
“That’s what Emmett guessed,” Sterling said.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “That could be it. Though if he were setting up trusts for his children, which we know he did, because ours exist—and this was for a potential daughter, why wouldn’t Harvey have known about it?”
“Maybe Dad didn’t tell him,” I said. “Or maybe he did. But from what we can tell, there was never a newborn at Heartstone—none of the baby things were used—so maybe that’s why Harvey didn’t mention it.”
“Good point,” Sterling said. “This feels like big news and also nothing, because we have no idea what it means, or who the mother was.”
“I know,” I agreed. “Exciting and disappointing.”
“I’m going to ask Miss Martha,” Sterling said. “She and Aunt Ophelia know the most about our family. Aunt Ophelia is in New York with Nash’s mom, but if Miss Martha doesn’t know anything, I’ll call her.”
“Keep me posted.” I looked up as a shadow fell across the open door. Finn stepped in, raising one hand in a wave. I wasn’t expecting to see Ford right behind him, a foil to Finn. Ford was taller, his hair darker, face somber, whereas Finn’s had an easy, open grin. But then, everything was right in Finn’s world these days—he had an amazing wife, a cool kid, and a job he loved. I’d never seen Finn smile this much. Not since before his mother died when we were kids. And Ford—well, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him really smile. Ford wasn’t living these days. He was just existing. Not the same at all.
“Finn just got here,” I said to Sterling. “If Miss Martha thinks of anything, call me back.”
“Definitely,” Sterling said, and hung up.
“What’s up?” Finn asked.
“Sterling,” I said in answer, but didn’t tell him why she’d called. My brothers were not fans of Sterling’s and my interest in our father’s death. And since I didn’t have any useful information, Finn didn’t need to know. He knew even less Sawyer family lore than I did, having been away so many years. If Miss Martha and Aunt Ophelia couldn’t think of anything, we’d open it up to the rest of the family—but not yet.
“I’m going to poke around.” Finn lifted his chin in the direction of the tiny kitchen off the bar.
“Go for it,” I said, and turned to Ford. “Hey, did you come to hang out?”
He shook his head. “Had to see Haywood about some old business. He was going to be in Sawyers Bend, so I grabbed a ride with Finn. Figured I’d take care of that and then hang out if Finn wasn’t done. Do you need any help behind the bar?”