“Aha,” said Alan. “I was right about you being FBI, Special Agent Cate Wilde. You’re mentioned several times in this old article.” He gave Cate a side-eye.
“I’m no longer with the FBI,” Cate told him. “I really do own a bakery and bookstore. I’m a ‘consultant’ at the moment.” She made air quotes with her fingers.
“Whatever you say,” said Alan. “But I suspect if you can locate your missing person, Rich Causey, I’ll locate Ashlee.”
Excitement bubbled up in Cate. After all these years, do we finally have a solid lead on Rich Causey?
Alan leaned forward. “And what’s this about a message on a newspaper article you think Ashlee could have written?”
Cate mulled over how much to tell the PI. “An article about the kidnapping of Jade Causey was left in Shiny Objects. Someone had written on it that Jade had died, and the writer was scared the same thing would happen to her baby.”
Alan’s mouth opened slightly as he stared at the two women. “She’s pregnant? If it’s Ashlee, she hasn’t been gone long enough to have a baby . . . although I guess she could have been a few months along when she left. Maybe she has had a baby.”
“The article was in a box that was addressed to me,” said Cate.
Alan wrinkled up his forehead and blinked several times as he tried to put the pieces together.
“The article mentioned me.”
“And after seven years, you took this note seriously?”
“Yes.” She decided to not mention the mandible.
He gave her a measured look.
He knows I haven’t told him everything.
“Now the hard part is to locate them,” said Tessa. “The possibility that Rich and Ashlee are together is definitely worth pursuing. I’ll talk to Marsha again and ask what she knows about the jewelry.”
“How long since you’ve talked to Rich’s family or known associates?” Alan asked.
“He doesn’t have any family, but his friends are contacted yearly during the reviews of the case,” said Cate.
“So they get a random phone call from a faceless agent where they can easily lie about their buddy.” Alan shook his head. “I prefer to look people in the eye when I talk to them. I learn a lot more.” He gave Cate a knowing look.
“I do too,” she agreed.
“Who was Rich’s closest buddy?” asked Tessa. “Maybe it’s time for an in-person visit.”
“Greg Ledford,” Cate answered promptly.
“I’ll get an address for him.” Tessa slid off her stool and stepped away from the table to speak into the mic at her shoulder.
Alan lifted his beer to Cate. “To killing two birds with one stone.”
Cate clinked his glass with her iced tea, a new hope filling her.
Am I finally getting somewhere with this case?
Fingers crossed.
8
Cate had never met Special Agent Isla Ross. The agent was young and had only two years on the job, but after an hour in the car with her, Cate knew she was sharp and intelligent.
Cate had taken the first early ferry to the mainland that morning, and the two of them were now driving to Birch Bay on the coast of Washington to interview Rich’s old buddy, Greg Ledford. Isla had been assigned after Kori Causey had rejected the male FBI agent’s phone call, so she’d quickly familiarized herself with the case. When Cate had called Phillip about conducting an in-person interview with Greg Ledford, he had connected her with Isla.