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“Not her mom,” Lenna says in a small voice. “That’s impossible.”
But she notices something blurry in the background of the photo. Rhiannon and this woman are standing in a parking lot of a roadhouse of sorts. There’s an old-fashioned placard near the curb bearing a schedule:Live Music Fri and Sat.There were some dates:6/18: Four Finger Willy’s.At least that’s what she thinks it says. There are dates for musical acts on June nineteenth and twentieth as well.
June.That’s when Rhiannon left. And Teddy is almost two and a half now.
She stares at the second person. She really does resemble an older version of Rhiannon. A sister? But Rhiannon said she didn’t have a sister, only a brother. Adeadbrother.Couldit be her mother?Perhaps Rhiannon changed her mind about reconciling with her mom. Maybe she decided to forgive her.
Then Lenna notices the name tag hanging limply off the shirt the pregnant woman is wearing. It’s emblazoned with the logo of a popular pharmacy, and below it is the nameJoanna.
“Joanna?” she repeats to herself.
“What?” Sarah asks.
It takes Lenna a moment to realize what’s wrong. “I looked up the accident involving Rhiannon’s mother once. Rhiannon’s name wasn’t listed, but the mother who’d crashed the car was. Her last name was Cook, just like Rhiannon’s. I don’t remember her first name, but it wasn’t Joanna.”
“So this woman is an aunt, maybe?” Sarah asks.
But Lenna looks at the odd little poem again.Mama and her babies: one inside, one where we can see. You might be fooling some, but you’re not fooling me.
A strange falling sensation fills her. She thinks of what Gillian declared during that walk in the Beverly Hills Flats.That didn’t happen,in response to the story Lenna told her about Rhiannon’s mom. Could Gillian have been right?
“Gillian could be very accurate when it came to understanding people,” Sarah said when Lenna voiced this aloud. “It was such a weird trait—on one hand, she couldn’t relate to people at all, but on the other, it was like she knew people’s weaknesses.”
Lenna sits down on the bed, the picture still in her hands. “Say this is Rhiannon’s mother. At the moment, whether or not she is the Cook woman who drove her kids off a bridge is irrelevant, actually. What’s more important is that in June two years ago, Rhiannon went to see this woman in Oregon, maybe because she was pregnant. And then, somehow, Rhiannon ended up here, at Halcyon, with a baby. A baby whose chronological age matches with when this woman is pregnant in the picture.”
Sarah crosses her arms. “Maybe I’m right in saying that people are running from things, coming here. Look at me. Look at you, even.”
“So Rhiannon…kidnappedTeddy?” Lenna whispers. “From this person who is possibly her mother?”
“That’s what whoever wrote this note seems to think.” Then Sarah’s eyes narrow. “Maybe whoever wrote it knows something about where Rhiannon is now. Maybe your theory is right.”
“But who would that be?” Lenna whispers. “Her mother? The baby’s father?” She isn’t sure that makes sense. If Teddy’s parents dared to come on this property, she’d think they’d takeTeddy,not Rhiannon. Wouldn’t they care more about their missing child?
Then Sarah widens her eyes at the note. “What?” Lenna asks.
“See where it’s torn, here? The image at the edge, here—this note was written on an old spreadsheet.”
“Okay…”
“I think it’s Halcyon’s accounts. As members, we can review where the money goes. I recognize these abbreviations Marjorie made up. OG is for organic grocery. GF is for goat feed.”
Lenna sees what Sarah means. A shiver goes through her. “So if this paper comes from the property, then someone on the property wrote this?”
“Maybe.”
“Giadoes the accounting,” Lenna whispers.
Sarah looked puzzled. “But how could she have found out Rhiannon’s secret? Was it on the news?”
Lenna isn’t sure. There have been times, through the years, when she’s searched Rhiannon’s name. Nothing like this has ever come up. Or maybe she just isn’t looking in the right places?
She reaches for her phone. Her fingers shake as she navigates the search engine. She types inkidnapped baby, Oregon,and Rhiannon’s name just in case. She presses enter. After a moment, awindow comes up saying that the website Lenna is trying to access is blocked.
She hits the back button and tries another search, this time using Rhiannon’s first and last name and justOregon. Again, the same blocked message appears.
Sarah notices. “Maybe there’s something wrong with your phone.” She tries on her own phone, but the same error message appears.
Lenna hits the back button to try again. This time, she types justOregonand accidentally hits enter before she can key in the other search words. But a millisecond later, results appear. Oregon.gov. The Oregon Wikipedia page. Commonly asked questions likeWhat is Oregon best known for?andIs Oregon a friendly state?Her phone is working, then. Lenna hits the back button once more. This time, she types inRhiannon Cook.
