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Her shoulders sagged, as if a weight had been lifted. Relief washed over her face. “Thank God.” She gave my hand a squeeze. “I’ve been so worried that you hated me.”
“I definitely don’t hate you.”
She gave me a small smile. “That’s good.”
“Is that all you wanted to talk about?” She had looked so serious and upset when she’d first come into the shop for simply wanting to talk about her brother.
Her smile vanished. She let go of my hand and wrapped both of hers around her coffee cup. “No, actually, it wasn’t.” Emersyn took a deep breath, and the next words out of her mouth felt like a slap across the face. “I’ve heard some whisperings that the police found the body of a woman in Ember Hollow last night.”
I pressed a hand against my stomach as nausea rolled through me. “A body?”
Emersyn nodded solemnly. “Yeah, I have a few contacts in the police department. They aren’t letting the public know yet, but they definitely found a body.”
I shivered. “Is it Lily?”
“That I cannot confirm, but this is a small town, Lark. Odds are it probably is.”
It felt like my whole body was heating from the inside as an overwhelming sense of sadness and failure washed over me. “Oh, my God,” I breathed, unable to find any other words.
“I’m still going to run the podcast episode, even if it is Lily.” Emersyn’s tone shifted from melancholy to anger. “I know the goal was to find her alive, but if that’s not possible anymore, then we have to make the person responsible for this face justice. Getting the word out about her case is still important.”
I nodded absently, still working through my shock.
The ringing of a phone distracted me. I stared around, confused why no one was answering it, when I realized it was my own phone. I reached into the pocket of my jacket and glanced at the number. Hearthstone Investigation came up on my screen. I scrambled to press the green button as fast as I could.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey, is this Lark?” a vaguely familiar male voice asked, and my heart fell.
I’d hoped it was Reid.
“This is her.”
“Hey, it’s August Ramsey.”
I straightened in my seat. “Is Reid okay?” I asked, without even thinking.
August paused, and my pulse went into overdrive. “Have you spoken to him today?”
“I haven’t.” This wasn’t making any sense. Why was his brother calling me? “Did something happen to Reid? Is he hurt?”
Emersyn’s eyes sparked with alarm from across the table.
“He’s not hurt, no. But I thought he might need to see you.”
See me? Why would he need to see me? He hadn’t been answering my texts all day. I was starting to panic that he somehow hadn’t been able to. “He’s not hurt?” I reiterated.
“No.”
That was a good sign.
August let out a breath. “Can you meet me at his house?”
“Of course.” I got up from the table, heading toward the door. “Can you text me the address?”
“I will.” August paused before he said my name. “Lark?”
“Yeah?”
