AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hi Sloan, thanks for reaching out. I’d love to talk. Yes, I’m also in Raleigh and can meet anytime.
Sloan typed her response.
SLOAN: Anytime? Is tonight too soon?
JAMES: Not at all. Meet you at The Daily Drip at 9PM?
SLOAN: See you there!
Procrastination is the devil’s way of stealing your time. She didn’t plan to waste a minute. Just two days into her fellowship and Sloan was already out of the gate and running. Where she was headed would be the greatest shock of her life.
CHAPTER 4
Raleigh, North Carolina Tuesday, July 2, 2024
THE DAILY DRIP WAS ITS USUAL BUSTLING SELF, EVEN AT NINE AT night. The city, it seemed, lived on caffeine, and its residents took in large quantities at all times of day and night. Sloan sat at a tall table in the middle of the café, within easy sight of the entrance. There had been no image of James the genealogist on the website where she found him. She expected a middle-aged man with glasses and a pen protector, but instead, at just past 9:00 p.m., a man in his early twenties walked into the café and looked around, lifting his hand in a subtle wave and mouthing her name. Sloan?
Sloan smiled and nodded.
James she mouthed back.
The man nodded and walked over.
“James Clayton.”
He reached out and Sloan shook his hand.
“Sloan Hastings,” she said with a crinkle to her left eye. “You don’t look like a genealogist.”
“Really? What’s a genealogist supposed to look like?”
“I don’t know. Older, I guess. More studious?”
“You mean nerdy?”
James sported an I-work-from-home scruff and a frat-boy hairdo. He looked much more like a college student than someone who studied family trees for a living.
“It’s okay,” James said. “I get that a lot. Everyone expects a seventy-year-old dude with white hair and glasses. But don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”
“I trust you. Thanks again for meeting so quickly.”
“Sure thing. Most of my work is done online or over the phone. It’s rare that I actually meet a client in person. When you said you were in Raleigh, I jumped at the chance to get out of my apartment and talk face-to-face with a client.”
A few minutes later they each had a cup of coffee in front of them.
“So how can I help?” James asked.
Sloan opened her computer.
“I just started my fellowship in forensic pathology.”
“What’s that mean? You’re a medical examiner?”
“Not yet. But I will be in a couple of years. My first year of training is a research year. My topic of interest is forensic and investigative genealogy, and I need someone in the know to guide me through the ins and outs of the topic.”
James smiled. “I can do that.”
“I need to learn how online genealogy databases and the genetic information they contain are being used to solve years-old cold cases. The Golden State Killer was offered as an example.”
