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Just as Jenna leaped from the pier to land on the ice, a vice-like grip on her arm wrenched her around. She lost her balance. It was as if she were suspended in time, but her body eventually landed on the thick ice.
Pain exploded in the back of her head.
Jenna tried to scream, but a hand clamped over her mouth. She thrashed violently, fighting with everything she had, but it was no use. A black leather glove clamped over her mouth and muffled her screams while the heavy weight of her attacker's body pinned her to the unforgiving ice.
She couldn't move.
She couldn't breathe.
This was it—the last moments of her life.
Jenna's mind raced, thoughts of her little sister flooding her consciousness. They wouldn't get their last skate of the season today after all. No final memories to share. No more laughs over steaming mugs of hot chocolate. No more carefree days gliding and twirling across the frozen pond.
Those days were gone forever.
Chapter Two
Phoebe Burrow
Present day…
The quaint town of Bar Harbor, Maine resembled a faded photograph that had been tucked away in an old book. The salty ocean breeze had gently aged the village throughout decades, leaving behind weathered shingles on some of the tourists’ favorite storefronts. There was no denying the timeless quality that stemmed from the area.
Eleven years after Jenna Marie Burrow’s passing, little appeared to have genuinely changed amongst the locals. The shop owners went about their morning routine, turning over their open signs as they prepared for the day's sales. Most of the vehicles parked alongside the curb in front of the diner, the coffee shop, and the post office were residents from the surrounding communities. Those were the usual places where the townsfolk liked to begin their days. The heavy foot traffic from the tourists coming and going from the nearby marina wouldn't begin until next month.
As Phoebe Burrow drew her SUV to a halt next to the curb, she made sure she was far enough away not to be seen from the yarn shop. She didn't want her mother to know that she was in town yet. Granted, Phoebe lived less than twenty-five miles away, but her residence was far enough away that she didn't need to come into town often.
Jenna's absence still left Phoebe's emotions raw, like a piece of her soul had been ripped away. It didn't take a psychiatrist to spell out the reason she avoided town. The nostalgic beauty of Bay Harbor would forever be entwined with her grief.
The strain of her relationship with her parents didn't help, either.
It was difficult to forgive them when they had all but forced her to visit numerous therapists after she discovered Jenna's body floating underneath the ice of their family pond.
Phoebe recalled sitting silently in those stifling offices decorated with diplomas and motivational posters during her appointments. The therapists would gently encourage her to express herself, share stories about Jenna, and basically bare her soul to them.
The words always stuck in Phoebe's throat.
The same thing had happened when she tried to tell her parents last month that she wanted to look into Jenna's death. Phoebe didn't believe for one second that her sister had died due to some freak accident at their family pond.
Chloe Anderson, Phoebe's best friend and business partner, pushed open the glass entrance to the yarn shop. She stepped out onto the sidewalk as Phoebe peered through the windshield of her vehicle. Chloe’s chestnut hair was piled high on her head, and she took time to adjust the strap of her corduroy purse over the shoulder of her green puffer jacket. Even from a distance, Phoebe could distinguish Chloe's green eyes scanning the vehicles parked on the street.
Chloe had been renting the apartment above the shop from Phoebe's mom for the past few months. Considering that Phoebe and Chloe had decided to both quit their teaching jobs and focus full-time on their podcast, the cheap rent afforded Chloe the ability to pay off her student loans in record time.
Graveside Mysteries had become a huge success, earning both of them more money than their previous positions in academics. What had started out as Phoebe's graduate thesis project had taken on a life of its own. The two of them traveled the world investigating unusual deaths involving the supernatural. Most of their cases had resulted in arrests of actual human beings, but their first one had never been solved. That initial season was still their highest earner.
Phoebe sighed in resignation as she turned off the engine. Part of her wished she could hide out in the SUV to delay the inevitable conversation with Chloe about how Phoebe was going to break the news to her parents. She had even brought along the recording equipment for when she met with Chief Bennett later that morning. She wasn’t sure she would take the camcorder with her, but she had made sure to bring it just the same. The call that she had placed to the police station before leaving her house had made it so that she couldn't back out of their plan.
Phoebe steeled herself against the cold as she stepped out of the SUV. She walked in front of the vehicle and pressed the lock button on her key fob just as Chloe crossed the street.
"The diner doesn't sell mimosas," Chloe called out before quickening her pace to catch up with Phoebe on the sidewalk. Though her tone was light, her eyes were filled with concern. "Maybe we should go back to my place and get out the vodka."
"Alcohol isn't going to make this day go by any easier." Phoebe forced a smile as she led the way to the diner’s entrance. "A big stack of chocolate chip pancakes with extra syrup might do the trick, though."
The scent of coffee, bacon, and grease greeted them as they crossed the threshold. Phoebe breathed in deeply, the familiar smells reminding her of lazy weekend breakfasts with her family when she was young. She had eaten here a few times over the years since those early days, but she didn't make a habit of it.
Chloe crinkled her nose in disgust as she followed Phoebe inside.
"I don't know how you can handle all that sugar first thing in the morning," Chloe muttered as they both scanned the booths and tables. There was one booth open near the display window. She led the way, holding her purse close to her side so as not to hit any of the patrons sitting at the tables along the way. "A bowl of fruit can give you the same amount of energy, you know."
