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I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“I also heard that Ava turned up in the middle of the night and you were the one to bring her home. What’s the story there?”
I grimaced and shrugged. “Trade secrets.”
His tone darkened. “What the hell happened, Harper?”
Other than Louise, he was my only friend in this god-forsaken town. Would he turn his back if I didn’t satisfy his curiosity? “I can’t tell you, Nate. I wish I could, but you’ll have to accept that and not ask me about it again, or this”—I gestured between us—“whatever this is needs to end.”
He was silent for a moment, then said, “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“If that’s the only way we can still be friends, then okay. The important thing is that Ava’s back home, right?”
“Yeah.” But how could someone so full of curiosity just let it go?
He left soon after that and I called Louise to check in with her, using the land line in the apartment.
“I’ve been calling you all morning!” she exclaimed when she answered.
“Sorry, I dropped my phone last night and broke it. I haven’t gotten a new one yet.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard the news about the Sylvester brothers.”
“Yeah.”
She paused. “What do you know about all of that?”
“All I can say is that Ava is safely back home, and while she’s mentally traumatized, I don’t think she was molested.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“It’s less paperwork this way.”
I hadn’t been off the phone long when there was another knock on my door. I opened it, expecting my mother with her eviction notice, and was shocked to see Vanessa. Her hair was messy, and she wasn’t wearing a touch of makeup. Dark circles underscored her eyes, but they were filled with relief.
“Harper,” she said, looking me up and down in surprise. “I hope I’m not intruding.”
“Never. Come in. I was just enjoying the third best cup of coffee in Jackson Creek.” I sat down at my small table and gestured to the chair across from me.
She gave me a sad smile as she sat down. “I’ll make you the best one anytime you want.”
“How’s Ava?”
“Terrified. Traumatized. But alive.” Her eyes flooded with tears. “She told me everything that happened. I know it was Drew Sylvester.”
I nodded.
She started to say something, then stopped. “She told me about Drew’s brother and how he was part of Andi’s kidnapping.” She swallowed, looking close to tears. “I’m grateful it was Drew who took Ava and not Danny. At least he didn’t touch her.”
Maybe she didn’t realize that Drew would likely have killed Ava before he’d let her go free to tell people about her ordeal. I wasn’t about to tell her.
“Has she said anything else about the kidnapping?”
“She said she woke up and Drew was next to her bed. He covered her face with something that smelled sweet, then the next thing she remembers is waking up at the warehouse.”
“So he did drug her,” I said.
