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“Are you going to do this silent trance thing the entire drive?” Trinity complained.
Glancing over, Josie managed a smile. “Sorry. I’m thinking about a case. A couple of cases.”
“Oh, you’re up to a couple now?”
Josie didn’t need to look at her sister to know that one of her eyebrows was severely arched. “Yes.”
“They’re connected to my case? Both of them?” Excitement brought a breathless quality to her words.
“Yes,” Josie admitted. “But you know I can’t talk about them.”
“We’re going to interview Hallie Kent together.”
“As a professional courtesy to me and as a favor from one sister to another, I’m asking you to leave this alone right now.”
“But it sounds like this might be so much bigger—” She broke off. Then, “Promise me an exclusive.”
“Exclusive what?”
“If this turns out to be a huge case, you only talk to me.”
“Trin, I hate talking to any press. Besides, whatever this is, I think all the parties concerned deserve their privacy.”
There were a few seconds of silence, filled only by the whir of the heater. “If I do an episode on Jana Melburn—”
“We both know you’ve already decided to do one,” Josie said.
“Yes, I have, but it has to be approved by the producers and my network first. So if I do one and it’s so deeply connected to whatever you’re working on that the three cases can’t be separated from one another, then you—as the police contact in Denton working your cases—give me an exclusive.”
“I’m not promising anything,” Josie insisted. “Let’s be honest here. You don’t need me for an exclusive. You’ll get whatever you want whether I’m involved or not.”
Trinity gave a little huff. “I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.” She reached over and turned the radio up. “We’ll just listen to music until we get there.”
Hallie Kent lived in a small white house along one of Bly’s main thoroughfares. Before Trinity could ring her doorbell, the door swung open, and Hallie welcomed them inside. A white couch and tub chair faced a dormant fireplace. Above the mantel was a television. The local news from WYEP played, its volume lowered to a barely audible buzz. So far, Denton PD had managed to keep both Sharon Eddy and Keri Cryer off the news. Hallie gestured toward the couch. Trinity and Josie sat side by side. On the end table was a framed photo similar to the graduation photo that Josie had seen in Trinity’s file. In full cap and gown, Jana Melburn stood between a beaming Hallie and Mathias. In this picture, Hallie and Mathias each had an arm around Jana’s shoulders. The three of them smiled at the camera, a tight and happy family unit. Next to it was another photo of them. Jana was younger, perhaps eleven or twelve. Again, she stood between Hallie and Mathias, who hugged her protectively. Hair and clothes soaked through, the three of them grinned proudly at the camera. Behind them was a sign for the log flume at Knoebel’s Amusement Park in Elysburg. Josie recognized it from when she and Noah took Harris there last summer.
Hallie dragged the chair across the hardwood floor, turning its back to the fireplace and TV so that she could face them. As she did so, a gray cat darted across the foot of the fireplace. A small bell on its collar jingled. It stopped at the threshold to what appeared to be the kitchen and peered at Josie with striking green eyes.
Following Josie’s gaze, Hallie said, “Oh, that’s Flynn. She doesn’t really like people.”
“She’s beautiful,” said Josie.
The cat lifted a paw and licked it several times, all the while keeping her eye on Josie.
“Thanks,” Hallie said. “She’s a Russian Blue. I like her because she doesn’t shed much. She really doesn’t like company, though. I can’t believe she’s still in the room. She must like you.”
As if to dispel her owner of that notion, Flynn scuttled off, disappearing into the kitchen. The bell jangled again.
“I guess I was wrong.” Hallie laughed nervously. She ran her fingers through her short dark hair twice before clasping her hands in her lap. Her knuckles whitened. Breathlessly, she said, “Thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it. You have no idea what this means to me.”
Trinity smiled, turning on the charm that had won her millions of fans during her career on television. “It’s my pleasure, Hallie. I’m just sorry it took so long for this meeting to happen. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought—”
Interrupting, Hallie said, “I know who she is—your sister. Josie Quinn. I recognize her from TV. I watched yourDatelineepisodes. I’m excited to meet you, too.”
Josie forced a smile. “Hallie, I’m here about two current cases that I’m working in my own jurisdiction which I believe might have a connection to what happened to Jana.”
“Someone from your department called me yesterday,” she said.
“Yes,” Josie said. “That would have been Detective Gretchen Palmer. I’ve got a few more questions. I can’t tell you many details, but I’d like your permission to listen to your conversation with Trinity and perhaps ask some of my own questions.”
