“The manager at that diner you put in an application for.”
I stared at him in surprise. “Wow, really?”
“Yeah, you’re supposed to call her back if you’re still interested in setting up an interview. Here,” he said, handing me a slip of paper, “call Rosie at that number.”
“Awesome,” I said, grinning from ear to ear.
Ten minutes later I had an interview set up for later that afternoon.
“Wow, that was fast,” said Nathan. “I guess I’ll have to give you a ride.”
“Or, you could just loan me your car.”
He snorted. “Right. Nobody drives that car but me. Not even Deanna got the privilege of driving my baby.”
“Hi, kids,” yawned mom as she shuffled into the kitchen.
“You were up late,” said Nathan.
She turned on the Keurig and smiled. “Well, Caleb’s an interesting man. He’s traveled all over the world and we talked for hours about his crazy adventures.”
“Small town sheriff-slash-traveler extraordinaire, huh?” smirked Nathan.
Her eyes lit up. “He’s been to so many places, it’s amazing.”
“Oh, shoot,” I said. “Speaking of Caleb, I forgot to tell him about the note I received from the waitress yesterday.”
Mom waved her hand. “Oh, I mentioned it to him and he didn’t seem too concerned. He said this town has had its share of crimes, but there certainly wasn’t anything to be afraid of, even in the dark. He also mentioned that Amy was having a hard time getting over the loss of her friend, the one we found. It’s made her a little… unstable.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean, unstable?”
She sighed. “I’m not supposed to talk about this, but, she tried to commit suicide a couple weeks ago.”
“Wow,” replied Nathan. “That’s rough.”
Mom nodded. “I guess her parents have been trying frantically to get her help, even going as far as putting her on antidepressants, but obviously, she still has some emotional issues.”
“And Caleb knows all about this?” I asked.
She poured some cream into her coffee. “Yeah, his daughter, Celeste went to school with Amy. They both graduated in June.”
“Oh,” I said.
“How did you sleep last night?” she asked me.
“Fine, although, I had some disturbing dreams. Other than that, I slept pretty well.”
“Holy crap,” interrupted Nathan. He turned up the volume on the television and I stared at it in horror. A picture of the waitress who’d served us yesterday flashed across the screen.
“Seventeen-year-old Amy Kreger was found in the woods near Lake Shore, early this morning,” said the female reporter, standing next to an old Chevy Camaro. “Her car had been found abandoned by the side of the road with drug paraphernalia sitting openly on the front seat. When police officers were called to investigate, they found the deceased in the woods with self-inflicted wounds on both wrists. Tragically, this young girl was close friends with Tina Johnson, who went missing a few weeks ago. Tina’s body was found just two days ago, washed up onshore in an undisclosed location. Police officials do not suspect foul play in either case.”
Nathan turned off the television and we all stared at each other in shock.
I cleared my throat. “No foul play in either case? Seems unlikely now, doesn’t it?
“Maybe it’s just two very disturbed girls,” replied Nathan.
Mom shook her head sadly. “That poor girl. Her parents must be devastated.”
“She was so pretty, too,” said Nathan. “It just goes to show that you can’t judge people by what’s on the outside. Amy must have been pretty messed up.”
I stood up. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe she wasn’t messed up?”
“Nikki…” said my mom.
“They found drugs in her car. Obviously, she had issues,” said Nathan.
“Whatever, I’m going to lie down in my room for a while,” I said. “This is nuts.”
I went upstairs and took out the note Amy had given me. It gave me the chills to know that she was now dead.
“Hey,” said Nathan from my doorway. “I’m taking the boat out in an hour if you want to get some fresh air and clear your head.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Is mom coming?”
He shook his head. “No, she’s going into town to talk with her new boss. I guess she’s starting work on Monday.”
“Okay. I’ll be down in an hour.”
He left and I took a quick shower, still thinking about Amy and the face in the window last night. I wasn’t sure at this point which was more disturbing. I knew one thing, however; I was going to try and talk mom out of staying here. Something was going on in this town. I wasn’t sure if it was just one crazy freak or a group of them. What I did know was that there were two dead girls and now someone was spying on us. At this point, dad seemed less frightening.