AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chloe slid into the far side of the red vinyl booth.
"My body doesn't believe you," Phoebe said as she unzipped her jacket. She hung it on the hook sticking up between two of the booths, giving the two men occupying the other one a small smile. She eventually settled into her seat, catching sight of Chloe stuffing her coat into the corner of her seat. "Was Mom in a good mood this morning?"
"Was being the operative word," Chloe said as she flipped over one of the coffee mugs that had been on the table. Phoebe preferred tea, so she left her cup upside down. "I just told her that I was having breakfast with you to discuss our next case. You know how your mother feels about the podcast."
Phoebe glanced around the diner, taking in the clinking of silverware and murmurs of conversations. An older couple in the back raised their hands in greeting when she met their gazes. The elderly woman was an avid knitter and a loyal customer of my mother's yarn shop. Phoebe waved back before the waitress’ presence blocked her view.
"Phoebe, you look more like your mother every time I see you," Betty said as she filled Chloe's mug with fresh-brewed coffee. The woman had been a waitress at the diner for as long as Phoebe could remember. The only change had been to the color of the woman’s hair and maybe a few additional laugh lines. "Blonde, blue-eyes, and beautiful. Speaking of which, will Lilith be joining the two of you?"
"I'll take that as a compliment," Phoebe replied before shoving her guilt aside to provide Betty with a small white lie. “Mom ate breakfast before leaving the house this morning, so she’ll be set until lunch.”
Phoebe didn't waste time ordering her favorite chocolate chip pancakes with extra syrup. She also requested a double order of bacon. It was her go-to comfort food, which she was in desperate need of today. Chloe had chosen an omelet with spinach, tomatoes, and feta cheese with a side of fruit.
"Word has it that you're meeting Chief Bennett over at the café later this morning." Betty didn't seem inclined to go and put their order in with the cook, who just so happened to be Betty's brother. "Are the two of you thinking about investigating an urban legend or some folklore in the area? I know a couple of tales about sirens and mermaids if you're interested."
Phoebe had explained to Chloe how the town's gossip mill operated at amazing speeds, though the haste with which her call had made the rounds had to be a record breaker. Phoebe didn't reply right away. Instead, she concentrated on unrolling the white napkin wrapped around a fork and butter knife. She then smoothed the thin white material across her lap while attempting to come up with a valid reason other than the truth.
"We really can’t reveal what we’re working on yet," Chloe replied with a teasing smile as she lifted her coffee mug with both hands. She blew on the surface of the black beverage before taking a sip. "This is great coffee, Betty. Where does the diner buy their coffee beans?"
Phoebe hid her smile as she gazed out the display window. Chloe had a way of getting people off-topic without them even realizing it. After two minutes of discussing how the secret ingredient to the perfect cup of coffee was how the coffee beans were ground, Betty finally left their table to put in their orders.
"So," Chloe said with a lopsided grin of support. "Are you ready to do this?"
Phoebe leaned her head back against the red vinyl of the seat and closed her eyes. She was still doubting herself, and that wouldn’t help them if they wanted answers.
"Seeing as you already set up the meeting with Chief Bennett, I’ll take that as a yes." Chloe tapped her manicured fingers on the hard surface of the table. "Besides, you deserve answers.”
"What if I'm wrong about Jenna's death? What if she really did fall through the ice, and her dying was a result of nothing more than a tragic accident?" Phoebe reached up and gathered her hair at the base of her neck, using the hair tie around her wrist to secure the strands. "I would be digging up my parents' grief for no reason other than to satisfy my own curiosity."
Chloe parted her lips to answer Phoebe's questions, but something seemed to hold her back. She took another sip of her coffee before setting her mug on the table, leaning forward so that no one could overhear their conversation. Phoebe followed suit.
"I was under the impression that we were looking into Jenna's case for your sanity. I mean, it's not every day that someone is haunted by their dead sister, Pheebs," Chloe pointed out before somehow managing to lower her voice even more. "Have you seen her recently?"
"No.” Phoebe leaned back in her seat. “I haven't seen Jenna recently.”
Some might say that she was lucky to be able to have visions of her dead sister. Phoebe was still on the fence about that, because Jenna's spirit always appeared the same—exactly as she had been found on the day she died.
Jenna’s long blonde hair was damp and tangled, plastered against her pale skin. Her lips held a bluish tinge, and her once vibrant blue eyes were now a haunting grayish color. The knitted burnt orange sweater was soaked through, accompanied by the red and orange striped scarf wrapped around her neck. The ends of the small threads dripped with water that never truly reached the ground.
The haunting sight chilled Phoebe to the bone every single time.
Such visions were the reason Lilith Burrow had forced her younger daughter into therapy all those years ago. Lilith hadn't been able to accept that Phoebe was seeing the ghost of her dead sister. The therapy sessions had eventually led to sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication, and an entire gauntlet of other pharmaceuticals until Phoebe was afraid of losing herself. She was the only one who had understood that no amount of therapy could solve her problem.
Phoebe had no choice but to take matters into her own hands on her eighteenth birthday. She had called a family meeting and declared that the therapy had done its job, and she no longer imagined Jenna's spirit.
Phoebe had lied, of course.
The time had finally come to make such an admission to her parents. The thought of revealing the truth after all these years made her stomach churn, but doing so also meant being able to prove what really happened that fateful day.
Phoebe and Chloe both made sure to have smiles on their faces when Betty returned with Phoebe's tea, along with a mini pitcher of milk and some sugar packets. By the time she had steeped her tea bag and added all the fixtures, their waitress was being called back for their plates.
"Maybe looking into Jenna's case will make her visit me again," Phoebe said quietly while waiting for their food. "I've been thinking about her group of friends from high school. There was Olivia Walton, Kristen Greene, Jeremy Foster, and Mark Hanson."
Chloe's eyebrows furrowed as she mentally filed through the names. Phoebe had mentioned each of them over the years, but more ground would need to be covered in the days to come.
"There was a woman by the name of Kristen who came into your mom's shop last week. She was around our age, maybe a few years older."
"That was probably her," Phoebe said as she noticed Chloe's gaze drawn to her left. Betty was no doubt returning to the table with their food. Phoebe waited patiently to continue their discussion until they were once again left in peace. "If something was going on in Jenna's life back then, Olivia and Kristen would have known about it. I'm thinking we should also drive over to the high school first thing tomorrow morning. The principal would know if there was anyone on staff back then who might have been close with Jenna. Doubtful, but then again, something must have happened back then for her to be…"
