AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Which one?”
“I believe the gwiber is the reason for the girl’s disappearance.”
“If she’s hiding, why can’t we find her?” It seemed unlikely that Ashley was clever enough to outwit me, the monster, and an entire wolf pack.
“Perhaps she inadvertently passed through a gateway in her attempt to elude the creature.”
I remembered Gwen’s reference to the crossroads. Fear coiled in the pit of my stomach. “Is that possible?”
“If the gwiber can come here, why not the other way around?”
My pulse raced. “Are you aware of previous occurrences?” No one had mentioned that Fairhaven had a history of missing persons; it seemed to me that would’ve been relevant to Ashley’s case.
“I can’t claim to keep up with human investigations. You’d have to ask your new friend, the police chief.”
I wasn’t in a hurry to speak to Chief Garcia again. Then again, I owed her an update on Ashley. It might be a good time to show her that I’m a helpful, law-abiding citizen.
Before she learned otherwise.
CHAPTER16
The next morning Chief Garcia invited me to meet her at Five Beans, the coffee shop on Main Street, to deliver my update in person. My update was to say I had no new information; I couldn’t exactly tell her about the gwiber. I did, however, want to dig into any local history of missing persons. If there was one,The Complete History of Fairhavenneglected to mention it.
“I hear you’re becoming a regular at Hewitt’s,” the chief said. We stood at the end of the line inside the coffee shop. “I bet Clark appreciates the business.”
“The downside of buying a fixer upper is definitely an upside for Clark.”
She gestured to the counter. “Their pastries are homemade. I recommend the cinnamon bun. It’s a thousand calories, but you’ll work it off in one afternoon with all that manual labor you’ve been doing.”
The sight and smell of the sticky cinnamon bun was too tempting to resist. “Worth it.”
“Do you invite all residents for coffee?” I asked, once we were seated with our purchases.
“Only the mysterious ones from another country.”
“I only lived abroad temporarily.”
“London, right? How was it?”
“Damp.”
She smiled. “I’ve never been to London. I’ve never been anywhere outside the US.”
“No interest?”
“No time. A day of travel on either end doesn’t leave much time to enjoy the days in-between, plus the time change.” Shrugging, she took a generous bite of her cinnamon bun.
“Fairhaven seems like a nice place to pass the time at least.”
She laughed. “Is that how you describe your life—passing the time?”
“Only when I’m making awkward small talk.”
“Fair enough.”
As I bit into the sweet pastry, cinnamon and sugar flooded my taste buds. I felt like I could taste each and every delicious calorie. I almost didn’t want to swallow. “You weren’t kidding. This is phenomenal.”
“And Rita won’t share the recipe,” Chief Garcia said, loudly enough for the owner to hear. “Even with the police chief.”
