“I completely forgot you live next to Stowe Hannigan,” Helena said, her tone unreadable as she apparently noticed Stowe, too.
“He seems okay,” I replied, shrugging. He had helped me out recently, after all.
“I guess,” Helena muttered, the doubt in her tone pretty obvious.
“Did you know Stowe? I mean, like, before he moved to Florida.”
She sighed. “I met him once, but it was after he had moved. He was back in Harbour Falls for the holidays. We were all out at a bar and he spotted us. He came over to ask Chelsea something, and she introduced him to Nate and me.”
“Was Adam there?” I asked, curious.
Helena twisted in the passenger seat, facing me, but with her eyes still on Stowe. “Yeah, he was there.” She paused. “You do know those two don’t like each other very much, right?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” I snorted, thinking of Adam’s reaction when he’d caught Stowe leaving my home. Sure, Stowe had been there just for dinner, but Adam had been insanely jealous. Maybe Helena knew why.
I asked her, “Why do they hate each other? Is it all because of Chelsea?”
“Probably,” she mused. “I think Stowe always thought of Chelsea as some kind of an angel—” I laughed, interrupting her, and she rolled her eyes. “I know, right? More like a devil in disguise.”
“Guess he was blinded by brotherly love,” I murmured, thinking that Chelsea sure had had her brother duped.
Helena chimed in, “Or it could have been some kind of misplaced family loyalty.”
Before I could ask what she meant by that, Helena started to elaborate on her theories as to why Adam and Stowe hated each other so very much. “I think Stowe never understood why Adam and his sister stopped getting along. He blamed Adam, of course. Though I’m sure that was because Chelsea played it that way—to her advantage.”
“No doubt,” I agreed.
It was strange to imagine anyone being sympathetic to Chelsea Hannigan. She’d done so many terrible things, hurt and alienated so many people. I watched as Stowe walked down to his rental car. Poor guy, he had truly loved his sister even if she had been a monster. I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him.
Stowe must have sensed he was being watched, he glanced our way. I waved, and he gave a little wave back. Helena raised her hand and waved as well. But Stowe faltered a bit, gave her a second look.
“I guess I made an impression,” she joked. “I think he remembers me.”
Helena was memorable; this was true. She was stunningly beautiful, and men always noticed her. But I sensed there was something more than her beauty that was giving Stowe pause. I didn’t have time to ponder it though. Stowe got in his car and drove away. Another mystery for another day.
It was after five now, and the clock was ticking. To reach Willow Point by eight, we’d have to leave Harbour Falls no later than six thirty.
“Come on,” I said to Helena as I shouldered the car door open. “Are you hungry? We should eat before we go. And who knows, maybe Nate or Adam will call before we have to leave.”
Helena looked down at her cell phone. “I don’t know… No missed calls, no voicemails. They must still be in meetings.” Her eyes met mine. “Maddy, I think we’re on our own.”
I had a feeling she was right. We’d left voicemails detailing our plan; what more could we do? We couldn’t skip going to Willow Point, this was a onetime shot. We had to act.
The guys would just have to understand that Helena and I had no choice but to meet Bradley by ourselves. Speaking of which, I hoped Bradley wouldn’t be too angry when he saw I’d brought someone along. It wasn’t as if I could ask Helena to hide all alone somewhere on the grounds. She wasn’t Adam. Bradley would just have to deal with the change in plans and get us both in to see Ami. Maybe Helena’s beauty would keep him from getting too angry.
Throughout dinner, I kept hoping one of our phones would ring. But neither did. Our only hope now was that the guys would get the voicemails we’d left and meet us out at Willow Point.
Helena and I were quiet as we left the Harbour Falls area behind. The sky grew dark; nighttime fell. As we drove closer and closer to our destination, I slid a sideways glance to Helena. “Last chance to change your mind.”
“No way,” she replied, sounding more determined than ever.
We reached the turn to Willow Point. “I hope we’re doing the right thing,” I said, turning in and slowing at the guard’s station.
“I do, too,” Helena replied, her voice shaky now that we were actually here. “I do, too, Maddy.”
Chapter Nineteen
As Bradley had promised, the guard at the gate waved my car through with barely a glance. There was no need for visitor badges; we were here covertly.
Helena clung tightly to the door handle on her side of the car. “Are you okay?” I asked as we started up the steep hill leading to Willow Point.
“I just can’t believe we’re really doing this.”
I actually couldn’t believe we were really doing this either, but there was no turning back now.
Helena glanced down at her cell, and even I could see from the driver’s side that it was dark. “Still no calls?” I queried, just to be sure.
“No, nothing,” she quietly replied.
We traversed the steep hill, and continued toward the employee lot, passing the dimly lit façade of the facility and the space where I usually parked. I tried not to even look at the dark, looming closed-down half of Willow Point; I just pulled into the employee lot on that side. There were a handful of vehicles, empty and parked, but I saw no sign of Bradley.
“What
