Two Can Keep a Secret(55)

This conversation is going off the rails. “You guys have any luck?” I ask, trying to get it back on track.

Daisy sighs. “No. I thought maybe the jeweler would look through her sale records when I told her why I was there, but she wasn’t at all helpful. I handed the bracelet off to the police, hoping she’d take it more seriously if they followed up with her, but I haven’t heard anything since.” She lets go of Mia’s hand and rolls her shoulders like she just finished an exhausting workout. “And that’s the whole sordid tale. Except for the part where Declan and I got back together. I still love him.” She shrugs helplessly. “I always have.”

Mia leans back on her haunches. “That’s quite a story.”

“You cannot tell Mom and Dad,” Daisy says, and Mia mimes zipping her lips.

“I have a question,” Ellery pipes up. She starts doing that twisty thing with her hair again as Daisy turns to face her. “I was just wondering who you gave the bracelet to? What police officer, I mean. Was it someone in Echo Ridge?”

Daisy nods. “Ryan Rodriguez. He graduated from Echo Ridge High the same year I did. Do you know him?”

Ellery nods. “Yeah. Were you guys friends at school?” She looks like she’s back in investigative mode, which I’m starting to realize is her default setting.

“No.” Daisy looks amused at the idea. “He was really quiet back then. I barely knew him. But he was on duty when I got to the station, so …” She shrugs. “I gave it to him.”

“Do you, um, think he was the best person to handle something like this?” Ellery asks.

Daisy crinkles her brow. “I don’t know. I guess. Why not?”

“Well. I’m just wondering.” Ellery leans forward, elbows on her knees. “Did it ever occur to you that he might’ve given the bracelet to Lacey?”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE





Ellery

Friday, October 4

When I knock on the cellar door, I’m not sure anyone will answer. It’s four o’clock on Friday afternoon, three hours before the House of Horrors is supposed to open. I’m not working tonight, and no one’s expecting me. Unless you count my grandmother, who’s expecting me to be in my room and is going to be furious if she realizes I’ve left and walked through the woods on my own. Even in the middle of the afternoon.

Brooke’s been missing almost a week now, and nobody in Echo Ridge is supposed to walk anywhere alone.

I knock louder. The park is noisy and crowded, a blend of music, laughter, and shrieks as a roller coaster rattles nearby. The door cracks just enough for an eye to peer out. It’s deep brown and winged with expertly applied liner. I flutter my fingers. “Hi, Shauna.”

“Ellery?” The Fright Farm makeup artist swings the door open with one tattooed arm. “What are you doing here?”

I step inside and look around for any sign of Murph, my boss. He’s a stickler for rules. Shauna is a lot more laid-back. I can’t believe my luck that she’s here and he isn’t, although I half expect him to come barreling through the velvet curtain with a clipboard any second. “Are you here alone?” I ask.

Shauna raises a brow at me. “That’s an ominous question.” She doesn’t look worried, though. Shauna has at least six inches on me, and is all slender muscle and perfectly toned arms. Plus her spiky heels would make lethal weapons in a pinch.

“Heh. Sorry. But I have a favor to ask, and I didn’t want to ask Murph.”

Shauna leans against the doorframe. “Well, now you’ve got my attention. What’s up?”

I channel Sadie again, twisting my hands with fake nerves. “My grandmother gave me an envelope to deposit at the bank the other day, and I can’t find it. I was trying to figure out where it went, and I remembered that I tossed a bunch of stuff into the recycling bin the last time I was here.” I bite my lip and look at the ground. “I’m pretty sure the envelope went with it.”

“Ooh, sorry.” Shauna grimaces. “Can she write another check?”

I’m ready for that objection. “It wasn’t a check. It was cash.” I tug at my dagger necklace, running my thumb over the sharp point at the bottom. “Almost five hundred dollars.”

Shauna’s eyes widen. “Who the hell carries around that much cash?”

Gah. Maybe she noticed I lifted my entire excuse from It’s a Wonderful Life. “My grandmother,” I say as innocently as I can. “She doesn’t trust checks. Or credit cards. Or ATMs.”

“But she trusts you?” Shauna looks as though she’d like to give Nana a detailed explanation of why that’s a terrible idea.

“She won’t when she finds out. Shauna, is there any chance … do you think I could get the keys to the recycling bin? Do you know where they are?” She hesitates, and I put my hands together in a praying gesture. “Please? Just this once, to save me from having to hand every cent I’ve earned over to my grandmother? I’ll owe you big-time.”

Shauna chuckles. “Look, you don’t have to beg. I’d open the damn thing if I had a key, but I don’t. No idea where it is. You’ll have to ask Murph.” She gives my arm a sympathetic pat. “He’ll understand. Five hundred dollars is a lot of money.”