He and Reen had dated for a while in high school, but he was small-town. His family had lived in the same house for generations, a beautiful old colonial near the edge of town. Missy and Brody weren’t going anywhere. Reen couldn’t get out fast enough.
Rose glanced out the passthrough window at Patrick and Shane. ‘Did you know Patrick was retiring?’
‘I heard it around town,’ Brody said, slapping a pre-formed patty on the grill. The sizzling and popping sounds made her stomach growl.
‘I can’t imagine it,’ Rose said.
‘Times are changing.’
‘Yes. Yes they are.’ More than Rose ever wanted to admit.
Chapter 2
Rose left the restaurant at around 5 p.m. A spike in customers kept her busy until the end of her shift.
On the way to her car, she checked her phone for the hundredth time that day. She wondered if she should head back to the Whinding House to see Mom again or save it for tomorrow.
Even though she’d eaten one of the cast-off sandwiches that Brody had burned, she was still hungry. But her mind was too distracted, making her indecisive.
She drove to the library, intending to check out a few books to occupy her evening. As her nightly routine, Rose turned to wine and books before bed. Both numbed her mind and dulled her senses so she could escape to another place, far, far away from The Burrow. She loved her home, but with everyone knowing her business and asking about Pearl, by the end of the day she needed a break.
The rain hadn’t let up much, and she slowly navigated her car through the streets of the town. She leaned forward, peering through the sheets of rain pelting her windshield.
Those caught outside during the storm hurried across the sidewalks to find cover, huddling under jacket hoods and umbrellas. At least Rose wasn’t the only person annoyed with the weather. As she pulled into the parking lot of the library, a figure appeared in front of her car.
Rose slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop inches from the person.
Her heart threatened to beat from her chest as her hands gripped the wheel tight enough to stretch the skin over her knuckles, turning them white. She caught her breath, gulping in as much air as possible.
Shoving the door open, she stumbled outside. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there. Are you okay?’ Rose shivered as the rain soaked her from head to toe within seconds.
The woman wore little more than a black tank top and jogging shorts. She had long, almost black hair, which clung to her like a python, wrapping around her waist and one of her arms.
‘Did I hit you?’ Rose called over the noise of the downpour. ‘If you’re hurt, I can drive you to the hospital.’
The woman turned, and Rose sucked in a breath. The woman was much younger than Rose had initially thought. She was a teenager. Her lithe body shrunk away from Rose.
‘Or I can call someone?’ Rose glanced around, hoping that no one had seen her nearly hitting someone. She feared that everyone might think she was on an early path toward Pearl’s tendencies.
But when she turned to the girl again, she was gone.
On the drive home, the sky cleared enough that Rose turned off the rapid speed of the wipers. The familiar streets no longer offered her comfort. She scanned the area, pausing on each person walking through town. She searched for the girl who had appeared and disappeared quicker than Rose could blink. She took the long way home, winding through the streets of town, desperate to see the girl one more time. At the very least, she wanted to be sure she hadn’t hurt the girl, but from the way she left without a trace, Rose didn’t understand why she was so worried.
It wasn’t until she passed the pier that her entire body broke out in gooseflesh.
Rose almost wished it was raining, so that she could have easily mistaken the long-haired girl for someone – or something else. She swung the wheel to the right and slammed her foot onto the brake. Crackling debris ricocheted off the bottom of her car as it skidded to a stop. After throwing the car into park, she flung the door open.
The breeze coming off the restless sea after the storm filtered through her already damp hair. Ice swirled down her spine.
Her reaction wasn’t just from seeing the girl again, who stood on the top railing of the pier – a dangerous feat even for a daredevil. Since the rocks were barely visible under the surface of the water, there was no way this girl would survive unscathed if she fell.
‘Hello,’ Rose called, cupping her hands over her mouth.
The girl glanced over her shoulder, locking eyes with Rose. Her expression was clear, almost regretful. Rose’s heartbeat thrashed in her ears. What was the girl doing?
Numbness seized Rose’s limbs, and she stood next to the car. ‘Come down from there, I can –’
Before she could finish, the girl lunged forward, falling into the open air.
Rose cried out and bolted toward the pier, unable to take her eyes off the girl as she plummeted into the water.
Rose stopped at the edge of the pier, gripping the wooden railing, even though the rough edges bit into her hands. An ache bloomed in her chest, and she held her breath.
The scene before her changed, throwing her back in time to when the moon was high and she could feel the water pressing against every inch of her body. Black spots exploded in her vision. Nausea overtook her, but she swallowed it down. Opening her eyes again, she scanned the watery depths. There was no sign of the girl.
But there had to be. Rose scoured every single movement of the water. There was no way the ocean could have taken her out that quickly. Was she injured and stuck under the pier, out of Rose’s vision?
Rose stood, transfixed by what had just happened. She waited for the girl to come up again. But she didn’t.
Heat moved behind Rose’s eyes.
She waited for a second more before she sprinted back to her car, grabbing her cell phone. She should have thought of it earlier. There was no way Rose could save the girl, but at least someone could try.
Dispatch picked up the line.
‘I need to report an accident,’ Rose said through choking breaths.
As the dispatcher asked her questions, Rose answered them, only seeing the girl’s eyes staring back at her, somehow thinking all of this was her fault.
‘Rose Barros?’ a gruff male voice cut through her.
Rose glanced up from her lap. Shane Cassidy stood there. A notebook rested in his hand with a pen in the other.
This was really happening. ‘Yes.’ The tips of her fingers were still numb, and the spot where she’d plucked out a wood sliver radiated with pain.
An ambulance and three police cars surrounded Rose’s car, blocking all possibility of escape. Though, as the only witness, she had a duty to help the police find the girl.
‘I’d like to go over what happened here.’
‘Sure,’ she said, sitting up straighter. She hadn’t moved from her seat since the incident. For some reason, her legs refused to follow orders. It was probably a good thing. Going back to the pier would only stick a knife further into her heart. As it was, she’d had trouble taking a full breath since it happened. Her body responded as if she were the one who had fallen.
‘Start at the beginning,’ he said, looking at her through his large sunglasses.
Her reflection stared back at her. In the small image, her eyes were wide, and her lips tugged downward.
She blinked and cleared her throat. ‘I saw her earlier.’
‘The victim?’ he asked.
Her teeth dug into her lip. ‘Yes. I almost ran into her at the library.’
‘You knew her?’
‘No. I literally almost ran into her. With my car. It was raining. She came out of nowhere.’
Shane’s lips pursed as he started to write on the small wire-bound pad in his hands. At least his penetrating gaze wasn’t on her anymore. ‘What happened after that?’
Rose shook her head. ‘I, um, looked away for a second and she was gone.’
Shane sniffed and poised his pen on the pad. ‘Okay. What happened after she disappeared?’
Rose went over every single moment from parking her car at the library, the time she’d spent there, and seeing the girl at the pier. ‘I called out to her. I thought she heard me. She looked at me and then jumped.’
‘She jumped?’
‘Yes.’
‘She didn’t slip?’
Rose shook her head. ‘I supposed she could have.’ Though, what was she doing up there if she didn’t plan on jumping?
Shane squatted in front of her. He was tall enough that he was at eye level. ‘Did she go head first or feet first?’
‘Head,’ Rose said after a moment.
Shane stood up again and wrote furiously on his pad.
‘Do you think they’ll find her?’
Shane sighed. ‘If you want my honest answer, I don’t think she’s coming out of there.’
A choked gasp escaped Rose’s mouth.
‘Hey.’ He reached for her, but stopped, his hand hovering in the air between them. ‘This isn’t your fault.’
‘I’m not so sure about that.’ I could have stopped her if I wasn’t such a damn coward.
‘If she wanted to jump, then that was her choice. If you hadn’t come along, she probably would have done it anyway.’
‘Shane,’ one of the officers called and Shane walked over to him.
Rose took the momentary reprieve to turn her head to the side. Tears threatened to fall, but she stared up at the ceiling of her car, refusing to cry in front of all these people.
When Shane returned, she’d regained her composure, at least as much as she could.
‘Is there anything else you remember about the girl from the library to the pier? Her reactions, emotions? Did she seem distressed?’ Shane asked.
Rose wiped at her nose. ‘No. I can’t think of anything right now.’
Shane tucked the pad into his pocket. ‘If you do, call the precinct. The number isn’t hard to remember.’ He smirked, but she didn’t return it.
She wasn’t sure if she’d ever smile again.
Shane sauntered away with his thumbs hooked in his belt as if he were already the chief.
Patrick appeared in her rearview mirror lifting the crime scene tape over his head before stepping past the line. Somehow, she found her legs again. She stood up and wobbled slightly before waving him down.
‘Rose,’ Patrick said, coming over to her. ‘How are you doing? Do you want to talk?’
An ache formed in her head. ‘Not really. At least not right now. Am I free to go?’
‘Did you give a statement?’
Rose nodded, feeling her mouth dry up like there were cotton balls stuffed inside.
‘Then you’re good to go.’ The skin around his eyes crinkled. ‘I can have someone accompany you if you want?’
‘No, that’s okay. You need help here. I hope they find her.’
‘Me too,’ he said and waved a hand at the officer standing by the tape. ‘You’re clear to drive through.’
‘Thanks.’
As she drove away from the pier, Rose stared at the road ahead. There were plenty of familiar faces in the crowd. It wasn’t a sight that any resident saw on a routine basis. The last time Rose saw a crime scene was on the news.
All the onlookers peered inside of her car as she passed. Her shoulders slumped as if she could make herself smaller. She knew she’d have a lot of questions coming her way. It was why she needed distance. At least if she could think through all of it, then she’d be able to sleep tonight and prepare herself for answering questions from the curious townies.
After arriving at the house, she quietly slipped up the stairs to her apartment before Mrs. Collins spotted her. Mrs. Collins rarely left her home, but she positioned her couch within arm’s length of her landline phone. She knew more gossip than anyone in town and did so without much effort.
The apartment was quiet as the echo of the crashing ocean faded from her mind. The image of the long-haired girl followed Rose around. She appeared in the corner of her bedroom as Rose changed out of her work clothes and even in the bathroom where she scrubbed the day off her body.
The girl accompanied Rose until she couldn’t take it anymore. Instead of digging into the stack of Highland Romances that she’d picked up from the library, she poured a glass of wine and settled at her desk.
As the computer booted up, she took a long drag from the glass. She rolled the sweet Cabernet around in her mouth as her fingers hovered over the keypad.
Without a name, what could she search for?
The girl couldn’t have been more than 18 years old. Was there a place to search for missing teens?
Rose scoured local newspapers, pushing out into Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The few relevant articles that she found didn’t match any descriptions of the girl.
Was it too soon for anyone to report her missing? Kids might still be doing after-school activities, so it was possible that no one would have noticed yet.
She drained the glass of wine and closed her laptop. She had as much information as she did walking through her front door. But in that time, she hadn’t worried about Pearl at all.
Purpose settled deep within her bones. Rose stood up and silently vowed to find out more about this girl and what had caused her to jump to an early and watery grave.
Chapter 3
For years, Rose thought she’d finally beaten the nightmares. After seeing the girl jump into the ocean, they came back with a vengeance. This time, she wasn’t alone. The long-haired girl’s face joined her in the water. Those beautiful and mysterious eyes widened until they looked as if they were going to pop out of her head. Bubbles flurried around her mouth as her lips tried to form words.
Rose reached out to her, but she froze in fear. The scaly object tightened around their legs, dragging both of them downward.
Over the years, the events from that night shifted. Mom never gave her an answer about how she knew Rose was in the ocean. And seaweed didn’t have that kind of force behind it. The questions never left her mind, but each time she asked Pearl about it, the devastation in her mother’s eyes prevented her from pushing.
That night had been traumatic for Pearl too. Rose hated to see Pearl upset about anything, so eventually, she stopped asking. And had refused to step into the ocean since. Reen tried to change her mind about the ocean, but it never worked. The fear was so paralyzing that it cost Rose the closeness with her sister too.
The flickering image of the girl followed Rose around her apartment all morning. Without a phone call from the Whinding House, she had no excuse to be late for work again, even if she was seeing someone who wasn’t there.
Throughout her shift at The Siren, her mind wandered enough that her work suffered. There were only a few customers, but Rose managed to screw up at least one item on most of their orders.
It didn’t help that every single local who came into the restaurant mentioned the girl who’d committed suicide on the pier.
Local gossip never bothered her much unless she was the center of it. The last time she’d felt this way was when the rumors swirled around town about Mom ending up in the middle of the park, dressed in her Sunday best, at two in the morning.
Most asked about her involvement.
Did you know the girl?
That must have been so awful.
Did you see her body?
She muttered quick and dismissive responses, not wanting to dwell more than a few seconds on the topic.
By the end of the day, she had the urge to jump off the pier herself.
The one thing all the conversations had in common was that no one knew the identity of the girl. There weren’t any missing locals, at least as far as anyone knew.
Desperation fueled the relentless thoughts swirling in her mind. Once she got the girl out of her head, then she’d be able to release the ghost following her around and get back to a normal and nightmare-free life.
>
The dinner crowd kept Missy busy enough in the kitchen to almost miss Rose sneaking out the back door.
‘You know I’m going to stop over tonight,’ Missy called to her.
‘Bring wine,’ Rose said as she pulled the door closed.
Rose had only been to the Burrow Police Department twice in her life. With her tendency to stay out of trouble, there was no need, other than the obligatory elementary and middle school field trips. She passed it on the way to the Whinding House but rarely gave the tan brick building a second look.
Her clammy hands curled around the steering wheel as she drove past the police cars parked in a row at the far end of the lot.
Pressure built in her throat and she drew in several breaths before trying to get out of the car. She had a right to get closer. Patrick had asked her if she needed anything.
Yes, Patrick, all I need to know is who she was. Then I can go back to my ordinary life instead of seeing her everywhere.
When she finally got out of the car, she steadied herself and picked up her pace toward the building.
The front doors spilled into a lobby. The gray-tiled floors were slick and impeccably clean. At the far end of the room was a desk with a female uniformed officer typing away at a computer. Her thin lips pursed as she concentrated on her work.
It wasn’t until Rose stood right in front of her that the officer tilted her head to the side and lifted her gaze. ‘Good afternoon.’
‘Hi,’ Rose said, pushing through a shaky smile. She wasn’t sure why she was nervous; it wasn’t as if she had committed a crime. Well, an almost hit and run, but no one had charged her yet. ‘I’d like to speak with Patrick McCreary.’
‘Do you have an appointment?’
‘I don’t. But I was the one who witnessed that girl jumping off the pier.’
The officer’s lips tugged downward. ‘So, you have more information.’ It wasn’t a question, and Rose chose not to answer. The officer picked up the phone and pressed one of the buttons on the keypad. She cradled the phone against her shoulder and focused on her computer screen again. ‘Yes, I have a Miss –’ She glanced at her, her thin eyebrows raised.
The Sisters' Secrets: Rose Page 3