Dear Miss Reynolds,
You don’t know me, and if you stop reading this letter now and throw it away, I won’t be surprised. But I hope you don’t.
I need your help.
I’m sure it seems weird to have a stranger reach out to you and ask for help, but I’m not sure where else to go. You might be the only person who truly understands my situation. You wanted the truth. You wanted justice for those women, and that’s what I’m looking for, too.
My sister was found in the woods that day, but the cops aren’t sure if she was one of your father’s victims or if she belonged to someone else. They’re not sure they’ll ever know, and I’m pretty sure they don’t care. A nearly twenty-year-old body in the woods isn’t a high priority when people are dying or going missing on a daily basis.
That’s where you come in.
I know you need to know the truth as much as I do. And I know you won’t want me and my family to continue to live in the dark. It helps to know she’s truly gone and to have a body to finally bury, but I want to know what her final moments were like. I want to know who took her from us and why.
I really hope you’ll decide to help me. Help us. Catalina deserves to be remembered and her truth uncovered. She deserves justice.
I believe you can give that to her.
Thank you,
Mariana Herrera-Jones
PS. I know this is a lot to ask, but I couldn’t pass up the chance. Please forgive me for laying this at your feet.
Chapter One
Paige watched Nick as he read the letter she’d received. His face gave nothing away as he took in the words, the stranger’s request for help. On the other hand, the face of his sister Taylor, who was reading the letter over his shoulder, gave away everything she felt. Paige’s best friend wanted nothing to do with Mariana or her sad story.
Not that anyone would blame her. Taylor had taken the brunt of the punishment doled out by Paige’s family when she dug into the mystery behind the camera she’d found in her grandpa’s attic. Kidnapped and held hostage in order for Paige’s Uncle Cal to get what he wanted. Threatened with death more than once until Cal shocked them all and ended years of being the Reynolds family puppet.
Despite everything he’d done, Paige’s heart still ached for Calvin Stewart. His biggest mistake was becoming friends with Patrick Reynolds, Paige’s dad, and then falling in love with Lisa Reynolds, Paige’s mom. The two of them ruined Cal and any chance he ever had at living a happy, normal life where he could make his own decisions.
She had to remember that chapter of the story was over. Cal was gone, her dad was gone, her grandpa was becoming more lost every day, and her dear mother was **Figure out what she’s doing, what is she charged with**. The only person she had left in her life who was related to her was her little brother, who barely spoke to her. He didn’t understand what had happened or why she’d fought so hard for the truth when she knew it would ruin their family. Her mother had obviously filled his head with her version of the story, painting Paige as the bad guy. Someday, he’d learn the truth, and when that happened, she’d be there with open arms.
Until then, she had Taylor and Nick. Her best friend had been her rock after the news broke, and the world learned who her dad really was. And Nick, he’d been there for her too. At first, Paige assumed it was because he wanted the story, the exclusive inside look at her life falling apart, but that wasn’t what he wanted at all. At least not entirely.
“You can’t possibly be entertaining this. Please tell me you plan on throwing this one in the trash with the others.”
Taylor’s tone was a mix of pleading and incredulity with an undertone of fear. Paige knew she should do what her friend said, but she also knew she wouldn’t. Mariana might have been a stranger, but that didn’t mean Paige couldn’t or shouldn’t help her. It didn’t matter if Catalina Herrera was a victim of Patrick Reynolds or some other disgusting human being; Mariana wanted answers, and Paige wanted to give them to her.
Even though she’d basically talked herself into looking into Catalina’s death, Paige still wanted Nick to give her his stamp of approval. She wasn’t quite sure why it mattered. Maybe because he’d been an investigative reporter for years and had put himself in plenty of dangerous situations during that time. He knew what was at stake. He knew what could happen, good, bad, and ugly.
Yet, he hadn’t said a thing since he’d finished reading the letter. He turned to look at his sister, then back at Paige, but didn’t say a word. His silence was frustrating, to say the least.
“Don’t encourage her, Nick. She doesn’t need to do this.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Nick tried to argue, but Taylor cut him off.
“That’s part of the problem. Your silence speaks volumes, big brother.”
It must’ve been a sibling thing because, to Paige, his silence was maddening. She had no idea what it meant or what he was trying to tell her without actually saying anything. She wanted to tell herself again that it didn’t matter. Mariana would get what she asked for whether Nick thought it was a good idea or not.
“Why can’t you pass this on to Amelia or Jo? You aren’t trained for this. It’s not your job to dig into a murder; it’s theirs. You’re an assistant, not an investigator.”
Taylor wasn’t wrong. Paige wasn’t trained to investigate anything, especially not a murder, but she wanted to be. That was part of the plan when she went to work at Blackwell Investigations. Being a private investigator had never been on her radar, but after what happened with her family and the camera that started it all, Paige wondered why it never crossed her mind.
She loved a good mystery and was great at digging in and finding answers. She was the one her friends came to when they wanted to make sure they weren’t being catfished when online dating. In college, if someone needed help with research, Paige was the one they asked. She never considered that those skills could be used to solve a murder.
“Not yet, but I want to be, Taylor. I think I’d be damn good at it, and so do Jo and Amelia. I have to start somewhere…”
“But does it have to be with another murder? Couldn’t you just follow some cheating husband around or stick to looking stuff up on the computer? Why do you have to potentially put yourself in danger again? Wasn’t last time enough for you?”
Paige could hear the fear in her friend’s voice and knew the conversation was bringing back memories she’d been working with her therapist to bury. She couldn’t blame Taylor for being scared or even just worried. Who knew what might be unearthed when Paige started digging. Then again, not everything she worked on would end in someone getting kidnapped. According to Amelia, that scenario was the exception, not the rule.
But there was no way Paige was ever going to get Taylor to see that, not after what she’d been through.
“Last time, the bad guys knew exactly how to hurt me. That isn’t normal. Look at how often your brother has put himself in dangerous situations, and never once were you at risk.”
“Hey now, let’s not bring my job into it.”
Paige grimaced, looked at Nick, and gave him an apologetic smile before moving her gaze back to his sister. “My point is, not every situation will turn into the shit show uncovering the Reynolds family secret did. Taylor, I want to do this, and because you’re my friend, I want your support, but honestly, I don’t need it. I’m going to do this either way. I promise I will do everything I can to keep you out of it.”
Taylor sighed. “You’re more stubborn than this guy, so I knew you would do what you wanted no matter how much I pleaded. Just promise me you’ll be careful, please. I can’t lose you, Paige. You and Nick are all I have.”
“You’re all I have, too. I promise I’ll be careful. I don’t plan on pissing anyone off. I just want to know if Catalina Herrera was one of my dad’s victims, and if the cops aren’t going to dig into it, then I have to.”
Now that the decision she’d made the minute she read the letter was out there and her best friend was on board if only reluctantly, Paige wanted to get to work. Instead, she decided to give Taylor and Nick her attention, knowing it would help ease her friend’s nerves. They’d watch a movie like they’d initially planned and pretend that everything was normal. In the morning, Paige would start looking for the answers Mariana Herrera-Jones desperately wanted.
And cross her fingers she’d be able to keep her promise to her best friend.
Author Paris Hansen 