Secrets of a Small Town

by Adele M Cooper

  “Oh!” Allison interrupted. “I know exactly who you’re talking about!”

  “You do?” Paige and Jack chorused, surprised; they had started to believe they wouldn’t find the woman.

  “Yes, you’re talking about Rachel Horne,” Allison said, turning to the old computer on the desk. “She’s been staying here for the last few months; a couple weeks ago, she mentioned finding somewhere more permanent to stay in town, but she hasn’t mentioned it since. She originally came to take some scenic photos, but she said she had come to like Otter Rock and the friends she had made here.”

  Jack straightened. “Did you ever meet any of her friends?”

  “Not really,” Allison said, shaking her head. “I did see a woman once, though, just a glimpse of her as she and Rachel went into Rachel’s room. I couldn’t really tell you who she was, though.”

  Paige shared a glance with Jack. Could that have been Cynthia? She noticed that some of the hope had returned to Jack’s eyes. Even this small piece of information made it possible that Paige had been right about Cynthia’s lover.

  “We’ll make a note of that,” Jack said, nodding to her. “Thank you for your time, Allison.”

  “Just let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help,” Allison replied.

  Paige stayed silent as they made their way out of the inn, the sun casting long shadows over the ground as it set. Once they got into the car, however, she could no longer keep quiet.

  “We found her!” she burst out. “That’s her, Jack, I know it! Rachel Horne has to be Cynthia’s lover!”

  “It’s entirely possible,” Jack allowed. “But, Paige, we have one problem; we have no evidence. She told you she didn’t even know Cynthia. Even if we bring her in for questioning, she’ll probably stick to that story and we have no way of disputing it.”

  “Allison said she saw Cynthia, though,” Paige protested.

  “Allison said she saw a woman,” Jack corrected. “She also said she didn’t get a good look at her.” He sighed at Paige’s crestfallen expression. “Even if it was Cynthia, we have no way to know for sure.”

  Paige slumped down in her seat. That meant that they were back to square one. She wondered if Jack regretted not getting the information from Cecilia; at least then he would have had reason to call Rachel in for questioning.

  “Hey,” Jack said, putting a warm hand on her arm. He smiled when she looked up at him, startled. “Personally, I think you’re right. I didn’t meet this woman like you did, but I definitely trust your instincts. It just means we have to work a little harder to get the evidence we need.”

  Paige flushed. Hearing Jack reconfirm that he trusted her so completely soothed away the last of the pain from their argument, leaving only a warm, strangely tender feeling in its place.

  She opened her mouth to say something, though she didn’t know what, when she suddenly caught some movement in her peripheral vision and jerked up in her seat, ignoring the way her head spun slightly. Paige suddenly remembered she hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday, but she shook the thought away. She would just get something later.

  “Look!” Paige said, pointing.

  Together, they watched as the woman they now knew was Rachel Horne left a car and hurried toward one of the lopsided buildings and unlocked a door. Paige grinned.

  “That’s her!” she said. “She’s the one we’re looking for!”

  “At least we know where she’s staying,” Jack muttered, watching carefully.

  She didn’t appear to be staying for very long. Looking a little harried, Rachel exited the room again and walked to the reception building. Paige wondered, as she watched Rachel disappear through the door, what she was doing… but they had more important things to think about right now. She turned to Jack, eyes shining.

  “Let’s go,” she urged.

  “Where?” Jack asked, startled.

  “To get evidence, of course,” Paige said, grinning.

  14

  Time to Breathe

  Paige jumped out of the car, and Jack cursed as he fumbled with his door handle. By the time he got the door open, she had already sprinted halfway to the building. He sighed, exasperated.

  “How do you expect to get in?” he called.

  Paige didn’t appear to hear him, but she reached the door of the room and waved to him as it opened easily under her hand; Rachel had left the door unlocked, probably not anticipating someone trying to break in during the brief time she was away.

  “This isn’t going to end well,” Jack muttered to himself, shaking his head as he made to follow Paige.

  He ducked down behind his car, cursing, as Rachel exited the reception building, clutching a piece of paper. A bill, perhaps? He pulled his phone out as the woman walked back toward her room.

  She’s coming back, he texted Paige.

  He hoped that she saw it before Rachel opened the door. Hopefully she found another exit; he didn’t imagine that there were a lot of places to hide in there. Tensely, he watched and waited as Rachel opened her door and walked inside. He didn’t hear anything else after that, which he took as a good sign; surely, she would have screamed if she had found a stranger in her room.

  Moments later, Paige, thankfully not caught, hurried around the side of the building, clutching something in her hands. Jack sighed, but couldn’t help a smile forming; she looked triumphant with her prize.

  “What is that?” he asked.

  “A camera,” Paige said excitedly, holding up the (no doubt expensive) piece of equipment; Jack wondered, dryly, what he should do when Rachel came down to the station to report it missing. “We might find what we need on here! I didn’t have time to grab anything else; luckily, the back window was open.”

  “You have the luck of the devil,” Jack said, shaking his head. “But we can’t actually use anything we find on that camera as evidence since it was illegally obtained.”

  “But, we can use anything we find on it to help in our questioning of Rachel, to prove that she was involved with Cynthia. Once she admits it, we can get a search warrant for her room, and anything we find then is legal. Since we can prove that we would have questioned her anyway, discovered the relationship, and searched the room, any evidence we obtain from the camera becomes admissible.”

  “A little backwards, but not entirely wrong, although we’ll have to get very lucky for a judge to buy that,” Jack agreed with a sigh. “Let’s get out of here, then. Now that we have it, we might as well look at those photos. If anyone asks, you found it and checked the photos to try and figure out who it belonged to. Just cross your fingers Rachel is scattered enough to buy that she could have lost it.”

  “That’s probably a better story than trying to justify an illegal search,” Paige admitted.

  She rubbed her eyes. Jack frowned, scrutinizing her and noting how pale she was. Was she sick?

  “Are you feeling all right?” he asked.

  She waved him off. “Yeah, sorry, just a bit tired. We’ve been working pretty hard, so maybe we should take a break and have a look at those photos tomorrow.”

  Jack’s eyes narrowed. Paige Moore did not suggest breaks. That told him, more than anything, that she felt worse than she was letting on.

  “I’ll drop you off at home and take the camera to the station,” he said slowly. “It’ll be fine there until tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good,” Paige said, getting in the passenger seat.

  As they drove away from the inn, however, Paige’s condition seemed to rapidly go downhill. Her face turned completely white as they drove over a speed bump, and her eyes lost focus.

  “Paige, what’s going on?” Jack demanded, trying to watch her and the road at the same time.

  She turned to look at him blearily, which scared him more than he wanted to admit, but she said nothing.

  “Paige?” he repeated.

  “Sorry,” she said, her words slurred. “Guess I overdid it a bit.”

  Jack’s hands tightened o
n the wheel. “Overdid it?” he asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “I never did tell you why I came back to Otter Rock, did I?” Paige mumbled, head lolling to the side. Her eyes slipped closed. “I’ll tell you later…”

  Jack cursed as her body went limp and he pulled harshly to the side of the road. He grabbed Paige’s wrist, frightened to feel the clamminess of her skin, and felt for her pulse. He found it, faint and thready.

  “What the hell, Paige?” he muttered. Was she chronically ill? Was that why she had come back to the town she had wanted so badly to escape?

  Suddenly struck by an idea, he fumbled in her jacket pocket for her phone. Thankfully, it didn’t have a password; he scrolled through her numerous contacts (he recognized more than one famous name on that list) until he found her mother’s number.

  “Hello? Paige?” Jennifer Moore said immediately when she picked up.

  “Jennifer, it’s Jack,” Jack answered tersely. “Where are you right now?”

  “Oh. Jack?” Jennifer asked, sounding confused and worried. “Patrick and I went out of town for a few days. Why? Is something wrong with Paige?”

  Jack grimaced. “I have Paige with me.” He swallowed, his heart thumping loudly in barely controlled panic. “She’s collapsed on me. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Collapsed?” Jennifer asked sharply. She exhaled deeply over the phone. “That foolish girl, I told her to take a rest yesterday. And I bet she’s skipped at least one meal.”

  “Jennifer, what is going on?” Jack demanded.

  “She never told you?” The woman sighed again. “Paige tends to overwork herself, as you know. It’s the reason she returned to Otter Rock; she had been slowly killing herself in Portland. Basically, she got so busy she forwent food and sleep in order to stay on top of it all. It finally caught up with her. I’ve kept an eye on her and tried to ensure she’s taking care of herself, but she can be so stubborn.”

  “She collapsed because she overworked herself?” Jack asked, drawing in a deep breath and willing his racing heart to calm down. “That’s it?”

  “That’s it,” Jennifer assured him. “She should be fine as long as she gets back on track with caring for herself, just a little disoriented when she wakes up. Take her home and let her sleep. And please make sure she eats something when she does wake up. We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon and I can take over then.”

  “I’ll do that,” Jack said, shaking his head. “Sorry for panicking on you, but…”

  “Don’t worry, Jack, I understand,” Jennifer said, smile clear in her voice. “Look after her for me, will you?”

  “I will,” Jack promised.

  Hanging up the phone, Jack leaned back and breathed deeply for a few moments. Then, he glanced at Paige; she hadn’t moved at all. Her head tilted at an uncomfortable angle, and he reached out to rearrange her into a better position, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as he did so.

  For a moment, he had been absolutely terrified. He had had no idea what was wrong with her. Knowing that it was nothing serious (now, at least) relieved him, but Jack had honestly thought, for a hysterical second, that he was about to lose her somehow. Utter terror no longer thrummed through him, but he couldn’t forget the feeling.

  It demonstrated to him how important she was to him. Back when they were teenagers, she had meant everything to him; he had been devastated when she left, but he had moved on. Or, at least, he thought he had. Perhaps now he knew why his dating history was neither extensive nor successful; no one had ever been able to compare to Paige Moore.

  Now that she had re-entered his life, he honestly couldn’t imagine letting her go a second time. It had been so easy to fall back into those feelings from so long ago, but their connection felt even stronger now. He couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving again.

  The memory of his momentary terror convinced Jack to pull back onto the road and head toward his own house. He doubted that was what Jennifer had meant by taking Paige home, but he couldn’t leave her alone, especially if she would be confused when she woke up.

  Besides, he could do this one thing for her. She was so strong and independent, he rarely had the chance to help her. She rarely needed his help. But this… this he could do. If all he could do was look after her when she was sick, then he would do it without question.

  She didn’t know where she was.

  Paige did not enjoy the feeling. Starting awake in an unfamiliar, darkened room, lying on a couch with a few blankets tucked around her, she was confused and a little frightened.

  What had happened? She remembered leaving the inn with Jack, Rachel’s camera in hand, but she couldn’t really recall what happened after that. She hadn’t been feeling very well, but she had so far done a fairly good job of keeping that from Jack.

  Leaving the Inn at Otter Crest, however, a wave of dizziness and nausea had come over her. Memory trickled back to her slowly, and she groaned; she had blacked out, her body demanding the rest she obviously needed.

  So, where was she now? Since she had been with Jack, it stood to reason that she might still be with him. Slowly getting up and noticing the camera sitting on the table nearby, Paige moved quietly through the small house. In the hallway, she found an open door, leading into a bathroom, and she wondered if it had been left open for her in case she woke up in the middle of the night. The other door was closed, and she crept toward it, carefully cracking it open.

  She sighed in relief to see Jack in his large bed, sprawled underneath the covers. A shaft of moonlight fell over him, casting the scene in an ethereal light.

  Perhaps because of the fright of waking up alone in a strange place or perhaps because she was feeling vulnerable after having collapsed, Paige suddenly couldn’t bear the thought of being alone.

  Before she could think better of it, she strode across the room. For a second, she hesitated, but the urge to have company was greater than the protests her mind offered, so she lifted the covers and slipped into the bed.

  Jack started awake. He blinked blearily into the darkness, confused as his eyes landed on her. “Paige?”

  “Yeah, sorry,” she said, closing her eyes and curling into him.

  She could almost feel his hesitation, hear him wondering what to do. Then a warm arm settled around her shoulders, and she sighed contentedly. She felt safe.

  “Is everything all right?” he asked.

  “Just feeling a little foolish,” Paige admitted. She looked up at him, his bemused face hovering just over hers. “Sorry for doing that to you.”

  Jack’s expression tightened. “I was a little scared. I called your mother.”

  “She’s going to be a nightmare,” Paige sighed. She would worry about that tomorrow; everything somehow felt muted, as though she and Jack existed in a little bubble outside reality. “I’m sorry for frightening you.”

  As she studied his face, she noticed remnants of the fear he must have felt in the set of his jaw, the way his forehead creased. She had caused that, and she so badly wanted to smooth it all away.

  Later, Paige told herself it was just the intimacy of the situation that caused her to be so bold. Until she had done it, she hadn’t realized how badly she had wanted to.

  She sat up a little and pressed her lips to his. He made a surprised sound in the back of his throat, but he reacted instantly, kissing her back softly.

  When they parted, she sighed quietly. Unable to help herself, she reached toward him, not really sure what she wanted to do, but Jack gently pushed her back and pulled her against his chest.

  “Go to sleep, Paige,” he murmured, voice rumbling comfortingly.

  Smiling, Paige closed her eyes. She knew that tomorrow everything would seem very different, but right now, safe in Jack’s arms, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

  15

  The Lover

  The comfort Paige felt sitting across from Jack honestly surprised her; she had thought she would feel embarrassed or unsure. Yet, when sh
e had woken up this morning, her head resting on Jack’s shoulder, an overwhelming sense of rightness had washed over her, and she couldn’t help but hum to herself as she ate the toast Jack had prepared for her.

  By contrast, Jack remained oddly quiet. Every time he looked at her, he had a thoughtful look on his face, as though trying to figure something out. It worried her slightly, the only dark spot in the contentment she currently felt, but she put it out of her mind for the moment, focusing instead of their task: looking through the photos on Rachel’s camera.

  Thankfully, they had managed to find a cord at the station that fit the camera, so they plugged it into Jack’s office computer and huddled together, clicking through the numerous photos.

  “There’s a lot of scenery here,” Jack commented.

  “At least she wasn’t lying about that,” Paige pointed out. “She probably really did originally come here to take photos.”

  “Looks like all these recent photos are of Otter Rock and Beverly Beach State Park,” Jack said as he clicked through the photos. “Look, she took this photo of Mo’s just yesterday.”

  The place where Jack had told he had once had feelings for her, Paige couldn’t help but remember.

  “Try starting from the older photos,” Paige suggested.

  Jack scrolled to the older photos and clicked the first one to bring it up.

  “She’s really good,” Paige said, leaning closer and eyeing the photo of a sunset. Her arm brushed Jack’s and she blushed slightly, inwardly scolding herself for acting like a schoolgirl.

  “Yeah,” Jack said with another click. “Oh, hello… looks like we’ve hit gold, Paige.”

  The photo was of Cynthia, but Cynthia as Paige had never seen her. She seemed to be mid-laugh as she looked at the camera, a breeze blowing her hair around. She still wore her designer clothes, but they appeared a little rumpled and she had kicked her shoes off.