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I’m leaving Destiny Falls. After a lot of thinking, I’ve decided I’m better off elsewhere, and I’ve taken steps to ensure you can’t find me, the same way I used to with paparazzi. I hope you can respect my decision like I respect your preference for Americanos to lattes, even though I disagree.
All the best,
Kennedy
I stared at the words, struggling to comprehend them. The whole thing was wrong. For starters, it felt garbled, as though she’d been under a lot of stress when she wrote it. But that only brushed the surface.
My mind whirred, trying to make sense of it. What did she mean that she’d taken steps to ensure I wouldn’t find her, the same way she did with the paparazzi?
A memory struck me. The two of us packed into a fire engine cab with a bunch of other sweaty firefighters. Me asking her about the guy at the accident scene who’d photographed her. Kennedy telling me she should have switched off her Bluetooth and location tracker. Something clicked into place. She’d been forced to write this, but she’d tried to leave us a trail of breadcrumbs.
I grabbed Nate’s arm. “I think she left her Bluetooth and the location tracker function on her phone switched on. Is there a way we can search for her using that?”
He frowned. “Maybe. I’ll look into it. Anything else you get from this?”
I read it again. “That last sentence is strange. She knows I prefer cappuccinos to both lattes and Americanos. It’s a weird way to say it. Unless….”
“Unless it’s another message,” Nate finished.
I looked up. “I think whoever took her is American.”
He nodded. “It’s a possibility. I’ll see if we’ve got eyes on any of our favorite Americans.” He cleared his throat. “One thing I don’t understand. Why force her to write a note? He must have known Blair would be found and the security footage discovered, so it would be obvious she hadn’t left of her own accord.”
“Perhaps he planned to come back for Blair. Without the kitchen knife, Blair would have had more difficulty getting free. Perhaps the guy forgot about the knife and expected to have more time to return and tidy up after himself.”
“Maybe.”
My lips pinched together. “Or perhaps it wasn’t a logical decision. They might have been angry and wanted to hurt me.” I felt a ring of truth in the words, so I continued. “From what we know, it seems like the stalker wants Kennedy to himself. I’m getting in the way of that. Perhaps the note was a type of petty revenge. He knew we wouldn’t believe it long term, but maybe he had hoped to fuck with my head in the meantime?”
“It’s possible,” Nate agreed.
But even if Blair hadn’t managed to summon help, brilliant Kennedy had made sure I’d know something was up. My heart expanded. God, I loved her so much.
Footsteps marched into the room behind me, and I spun. It was Constable Mehrtens, her eyes alive with the thrill of finally seeing some proper police action.
“Sir, we made contact with the resort. They reported that Aiden Waldron isn’t answering his door, and his rental vehicle isn’t in the parking lot. His business colleagues are also absent, and none of them are picking up their phones.”
“Thanks, Constable. Good work. Any other leads?”
“We haven’t been able to get a hold of Tyler Johnson. He told Blair Carter he was going on an ATV tour, but he didn’t mention with whom. We’re calling around the local adventure tour companies at the moment to find out where he’s supposed to be.”
“Keep it up.” Nate dismissed her with a nod, then called out, “Anderson, any leads on the names Kennedy’s security guy sent us?”
“Not yet, sir, but I just received confirmation that the photographer who’d been bothering her departed Queenstown airport yesterday. He flew to Auckland, where he stayed overnight, and his boarding pass was scanned at the gates of a direct flight to LAX.”
“I guess that’s something.” Nate gritted his teeth. “Patton, have you managed to track down any witnesses who saw vehicles in and around the site of the abduction at approximately 11:00 a.m.?”
A young constable with a wisp of a mustache snapped to attention. “The neighbor across the road reports seeing no unusual vehicles or activity and says that she’s usually very alert to comings and goings. Nobody else seems to have seen anything, including the homeowner, but Cross and Moore are still knocking on doors.”
“We need to get out and look for her,” I muttered to Nate. “This isn’t getting anywhere. Do you have boots on the ground, doing a search?”
Nate gave me a look that said I was pushing all of his buttons but that he’d let me get away with it in the circumstances. “Yes, Liam, we do. But we can’t send everyone out willy-nilly with no trail to follow. We need to be smart about this.”
I fought the urge to hit something. “What can I do to help?”
ChapterForty-Seven
KENNEDY
