Page 23 of What They'll Say About Us

"Tessa?"

"Sorry. The apartment sounds great."

"It's a two-bedroom, so you and your friend can share it."

"That's perfect. I'll see you tomorrow at four."

"One other thing," Vivienne said.

"What's that?" I asked warily.

"Your dad's band is playing at The Independent this coming weekend. He's flying in from Seattle on Saturday morning. He's going to stay at my house. I'm sure he'd love to see you."

"I'll see if I'm still in town then. I have to go now. My friends are waiting for me."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

As our call ended, I walked back into the living room where Cassidy and Morgan were waiting for me at the dining room table. "Good news," I said. "My aunt has a furnished apartment next to the theater she runs. It's currently open, so we can stay there for as long as we need."

"That is good news," Morgan said. "I was looking around at hotels, and there's not a lot out there, especially at a reasonable price."

"It's a two-bedroom, so it should be comfortable for both of us. But what's even better about it is that it's located in Evanston, about a mile from the college and the lakefront where Paige died. My aunt's theater company is about to launch a new production in two weeks, and it turns out that several people from my college years are involved in her company, including Professor Hale, Paige's roommate, her boyfriend, and some other random people that I knew back then."

Morgan's eyes lit up. "She's connected to all the people we need to talk to."

"Not all, but a lot," I said.

"What's the bad news?" Cassidy asked, giving me a sharp look.

"I didn't say there was bad news."

"Your face said it even if your mouth didn't."

I let out a sigh as I sank down on the couch. "It's going to be strange to be back in Evanston, living next to a theater, and seeing all those people. When I graduated, I told everyone I was going to New York to star on Broadway, and that was a bust. It's going to sting to face them without any success behind me. Oh, and my dad is apparently coming back to town this weekend, so there's that. I'm hoping we'll be done by then, and I can miss that reunion."

Cassidy gave me an understanding smile. "It's hard when your personal past gets mixed up in one of our cases, isn't it?"

"I wasn't nearly as empathetic about that with you as I should have been."

"You were being objective and determined, and I wish I could stick around and repay the favor. But Morgan will do that for me."

"I will," Morgan said. "I hated not being in Stonecross with you both. Although I'm very much hoping that this case won't take such a dark turn." A frown passed through her eyes. "But the fact that you almost got run over tonight doesn't make me feel very optimistic."

"That could have been random."

"The flowers weren't random. They were a threat. Maybe this near miss was meant to be a more painful warning."

"Well, I do have some pain," I admitted. "I don't think I can face going out to dinner. I know we're supposed to meet up with some other podcasters."

"We can go without you," Cassidy said. "We'll tell everyone you're working on the case."

"Thanks."

"Let's do the video now," Cassidy said. "We can say we've met with the police department and that we're talking with people from Paige's past, which includes the twins, who we'll be talking to in the morning. We can also offer up another plea for anyone with information to get in touch."

I was happy that Cassidy's plan didn't include my discussion with Liam. I didn't want to bring him into the podcast at all. I just hoped the texts Paige had sent him didn't become more important than he'd said they were. But for now, I would keep him out of it.

Chapter Seven