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Letting out a defeated sigh, I open the gate this time and walk back down the driveway only to stop and turn back around.
His Harley is gone.
My shoulders sag. My head knew it, but a part of my heart held onto a shred of hope he was listening. I nod to Lars, who dutifully exits the limo, waiting by the rear to open my door when my phone rings. I don’t recognize the number, so my thumb goes straight to the decline button when something stops me.
Static. Scratching.
“Six is coming,” I whisper.
“Miss Romanov?” I look up to see Lars moving toward me with a concerned look on his face. “We need to go. Now.”
Six is coming.
“Hello?” I don’t remember answering. But suddenly, the phone is at my ear.
“Miss Romanov?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“My name Vanessa Hunder. I’m a nurse at Moss Valley Wellness Hospital. I’m sorry to bother you, but we’ve been trying to get in touch with Mr. McCallum and have been unable to reach him. Since the billing department has listed you as a personal contact, we thought you could have him call us immediately.”
I glance back at the empty space where his Harley usually sits. God knows where he is, how long he’s been gone, or when he’ll come back. “Of course. Is there a problem? If there’s a final payment that needs to be made, I—”
“No, nothing like that. We were clearing out Brenda McCallum’s room and found a sealed envelope with her son’s name on it. Someone needs to pick it up in the next forty-eight hours or it’ll be labeled as unclaimed property.”
“What happens to unclaimed property?”
“It goes into storage.” There’s no inflection in her voice. As if tossing away someone’s last possession is as easy as taking out the trash. “I’m not sure where, Miss Romanov. We don’t track it from there.”
I don’t hesitate. “I’ll be right there.” Lars is already forming a rebuttal when I skirt around him. “Take me to Moss Valley. Now.”
The package is a large manila envelope, distressed and worn by time. It’s fairly thin, and just like Vanessa said, sealed tight with Dominic’s name written across the front. When I ask where they found it, she just shrugs and says “somewhere” while waving a hand around the room.
Thanks. That’s helpful.
As she escorts me out, I stop her just before we reach the reception desk. “I was told Miss McCallum died of an allergic reaction to her medication.”
“That’s right.”
“As far as we’re aware, she hadn’t been prescribed any new medication.”
She shrugs, tucking a piece of her straight brown hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t question Dr. Everly. He’s very thorough.” Giving me a curt nod, she disappears down the hallway before I can say another word.
But I keep standing there because there’s something bothering me. Like pieces of a puzzle I can’t quite turn the right way.
Vanessa’s words linger like a whisper in a silent room.
“I wouldn’t question Dr. Everly. He’s very thorough.”
Everly.
Everly.
Everly.
Then the puzzle piece snaps into place.
“Isn’t it ironic that I never knew his name until six months ago? Dr. Everly, Moss Valley’s director, likes his experimental drugs, one of which, it seems, works as quite the truth serum.”
