“She was the girl who went missing when Breanna and I were juniors in high school.”
That rang an unpleasant bell. “Remind me?” Nessa said, sitting up a bit straighter.
“They say she left her house one evening and never came back. The last place she was seen was Danskammer Beach. The cops claimed she ran away. But no one at school believed them. Mandy wasn’t the type.”
Nessa shivered. “You said someone saw her? Who was it?”
“Someone out fishing on the beach. They said they saw Mandy walking past all alone, wearing a fancy outfit. She didn’t even have a suitcase. And no one gets dressed up to run away.”
“Why do you think she was out by Danskammer Beach?” Nessa asked.
“No clue,” Jordan said. “But it was sometime in April, so she definitely wasn’t out for a swim.”
“What did Mandy Welsh look like?” Nessa felt dread rising inside her.
“White girl with red hair and freckles. When we were little, she looked just like that girl from the books.”
“Anne of Green Gables!” Breanna called out in the background.
“Hold on a minute, baby—” Nessa got up and cracked open the laptop she’d left sitting on the kitchen counter. She typed in the girl’s name. The first image that popped up was a missing person poster. Nessa’s heart sank. “I saw her ghost today, too,” she said. “She was standing on the beach not far from where we found the other girl.”
For a moment, all Nessa could hear was Jordan’s breathing. “Oh my God. Does that mean Mandy’s dead?” Jordan finally asked.
“I think so,” Nessa said. “I didn’t find her body. It must be somewhere out in the ocean.”
“Mom.” Jordan was using her no-nonsense voice. “This isn’t what Great-grandma used to do—finding women whose husbands beat them to death. There’s more than one dead girl this time. This sounds like a serial killer. You’re out of your league. Did you tell the police you saw a redhead, too?”
“What was I supposed to say without a body to back me up? What do you think they’d do if I told them I see dead people?”
“Mom. Someone killed two girls.”
Nessa didn’t have the heart to tell her there had been a third girl on the beach.
“Franklin Rees is the detective on the case,” she said. “I’ll give him a call.”
“Franklin Rees?” Jordan repeated cautiously. “The guy who found Daddy? He’s the detective on the case?”
“Yeah,” Nessa said with a sigh. “He works out here now.”
“You’re joking.” Jordan sounded frightened. “Mama, this is getting way too weird.” She put the phone down. “Remember Franklin Rees?” she asked her sister. “Mama says he works for Mattauk PD.”
Breanna grabbed the phone away. “Is he still handsome?” she wanted to know.
“Oh, Lord, Breanna, you too?” Her mother sighed.
“Sounds like he’s still handsome,” Breanna informed her sister as she handed the phone back.
Jordan wasn’t amused. “I don’t care if he’s Idris damned Elba. Just promise me you’ll tell him about Mandy Welsh.”
“I promise,” Nessa said with a groan.
She downed a second glass of wine before she looked up Franklin’s number. She’d hoped the alcohol would relax her. Instead, her heart pounded faster.
“Nessa,” Franklin said when he answered. “We go years without talking, now I get to hear your voice twice in one day. Everything okay?”