Page 145 of It Runs in the Family

Who was he talking to?

He was concentrating on his call, which would have been the perfect time for me to force a vison—he was distracted—but I was too curious about who he was talking to.

“We’ll head that way,” he said. “Thanks.” Then he hung up.

“Who was that?” I asked, anxious. “What did they say?”

He held my gaze. “It was the electronic repair shop. He fixed Selena’s iPad.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

I couldn’t believe what he was saying. “Already?”

He closed his laptop. “He said it had a dirty charging port. He cleaned it out, plugged it in, and it started charging. We can go pick it up now.”

“Wow,” I said, surprised. “That’s great.”

He packed his laptop into his backpack, and we headed out to his truck. Once we were on the road, I said, “I’m not sure how useful her iPad will turn out to be. She mostly used it to watch videos and play games.”

He gave me a tight smile. “I guess we’ll find out.”

We were silent the rest of the drive, and after he parked, we got out and headed to the repair store. It was nearly five o’clock, and most of the businesses were in the process of closing for the day.

The kid we’d spoken to earlier was at the counter when we walked in, Selena’s iPad in front of him.

“It’s holding a charge,” he said. “It should work for you now.”

Boone pulled out his wallet and settled the bill, while I picked up the iPad and entered the passcode Selena had chosen when she’d first gotten the device—her birthdate. The screen opened to her apps.

Boone thanked the kid, then we headed back out to his truck.

“I got it to open,” I said. “But I think I need to connect it to the internet to access anything important.”

“We’ll connect it to a hotspot on my phone,” he said.

Once we were inside, he gave me the password, and then we waited for things to update.

The number over the text message icon began to climb, first five, then ten, and it kept going until it stopped at three hundred and twenty-six.

“She must still have her iPad connected to her account,” I said under my breath.

“Do you think those are current?” Boone asked, sounding reluctantly hopeful.

“One way to find out.” I opened the app and took in the string of contacts. The most recent message at the top was from DV. Below that was Eddie, and below that was Rebecca. Previous texts were from me, Rita, and a few people I didn’t know.

I gasped. These were current. We had a real shot at finding out something important.

I glanced up at Boone. “Ready?”

He gave a short nod.

I held the tablet between us and opened Rebecca’s text thread. I knew I probably should’ve opened the most recent message first, but I wanted to see what my cousin had said to Rebecca before she died.

The text at the top was from Selena on Friday, telling Rebecca that she’d gotten them joint nail appointments at four so they’d be ready for their big night. The next set was from yesterday, starting around five p.m.

I stopped by your house, but you’re not home. We’re doing a group dinner tonight. Plan to meet us @ the restaurant. I’ll let you know when and where

Then an hour later: