“You got it,” said Noah and walked out the front door. From behind Celeste, Josie watched him recede through the front window.
Bitter laughter drifted over Josie’s shoulder. “That’s your future husband?”
“Yes,” Josie said. “You know that.”
“You’ve got him well-trained. He follows instructions precisely, doesn’t he?”
Josie’s head reared back slightly. “He’s not well-trained, nor is he following my instructions. We’re colleagues. We’re just on the same page.”
“On the same page,” Celeste muttered. “If only my parents had been on the same page. We wouldn’t be standing here, would we?”
Josie didn’t answer. She was too busy watching two figures shuffle up the walk from the resort area to Celeste and Adam’s house. One of them had a familiar gait and pushed a walker in front of her. What was her grandmother doing here?
Josie left Celeste at the window and went outside. Sure enough, Lisette was steadily making her way toward the house. Behind her was Sawyer. Josie walked to meet them, but Lisette didn’t stop. Instead, she kept motoring toward Celeste’s door, even as Josie asked questions. “Gram, what are you doing here?”
Lisette smiled as Josie fell into pace beside her. “Some of us were booked to stay at this beautiful place for your entire wedding weekend, dear. Myself included.”
Behind them, Sawyer muttered, “She wouldn’t go back to Rockview.”
“Why should I?” Lisette said. “I was meant to stay the weekend here. Even if my granddaughter didn’t get married, I still fully intend to make the most of this rare treat.”
In the dim light coming from Celeste’s house, Josie saw her grandmother wink. Celeste met them at the door. A cell phone dangled from one of her hands. “Just come in then. Do what you must. I’ve got guest issues to attend to. It’s a disaster with Tom off looking for that child and not carrying out his usual duties. Let me know when you’re done here, would you?”
“I’ll need to sit a spell,” Lisette said as she pushed into the living room. She took a moment to stare at the couches before sitting down. “Interesting what she’s done here, isn’t it?”
Josie waited until Lisette was firmly seated on one of the couches with Sawyer beside her before repeating, “Gram, what are you doing here?”
“Word spreads like wildfire on this resort,” Lisette said. “We all know you’re looking for a little girl. I saw her.”
Josie perched on the coffee table and leaned in toward her grandmother. “When? Where?”
“A couple of hours ago,” Lisette explained. “I was down at Griffin Hall with everyone else. I’d managed to get away from the crowd for a little while.” She gave Sawyer the side-eye. He just shook his head. “I was walking around outside in the garden in front of Griffin Hall, and I saw this little girl. She was up this way, actually. She had on a blue shirt and gray sweatpants. Her pockets were bulging. In her arms was a little stuffed dog. I might not have paid it any mind at all except she reminded me of you, dear.”
Josie splayed a hand across her chest. “Me?”
Lisette smiled. “Yes, you and your little stuffed dog, Wolfie. You probably don’t remember. He disappeared when you were six.” At this, Lisette leaned forward and traced her warm fingertips over the scar on Josie’s face.
Josie swallowed. “He didn’t disappear. Where was the girl going? Was she with anyone?”
Lisette said, “As far as I could see, she was alone. She walked right off into the woods.”
Josie stood up. “Do you think you could show me where?”
“Let me rest a minute, dear, and we’ll walk back toward Griffin Hall. If I recall correctly it was about halfway between here and there.”
“You said this was a couple of hours ago?” Josie asked.
“Yes. I mentioned it to the staff at Griffin Hall, and they said they would call the private residence. If your team is here then she obviously hasn’t been found yet.”
Josie said, “You’re absolutely sure it was a couple of hours ago. Not just one hour?”
“Yes. I’m old but I can still tell the time, dear.”
Why would Celeste lie? Josie wondered. Or had she been on her call far longer than she originally told them, and simply lost track of time? It would be easy enough to determine if she lied by speaking with the staff member that Lisette had talked to and finding out what time they’d called the residence.
Josie fired off a text to the rest of the team, letting them know there was a discrepancy in the timing of Emily’s disappearance. Noah texted back that he would track down both the staff member and Celeste and ask them about it.
Sawyer disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a bottle of water, which he handed to Lisette. “I figure when Celeste said ‘do what you must,’ she meant it was okay to raid her fridge.”
Lisette shrugged and took a sip. A few minutes later, she was on her feet, shuffling toward the door.
The path from the residence to the resort buildings was only partially lit by solar-powered lights sunk into the ground on either side of the strip of asphalt. Every few feet, Lisette stopped and peered into the night. Then she said, “A little further.”
Sawyer said, “Lisette, I know you’re trying to be helpful but from what I’m hearing, there are already searchers in the woods. Maybe it would be best if you just came back to the hall for now and tomorrow morning, in the daylight, we can try to pinpoint where you saw this girl go into the woods.”
“I’ve got to get back to Griffin Hall no matter what, haven’t I?” she replied. “Why not show Josie where I saw this child?”
Josie said, “The dogs do like to work from the last place the person was located.”
“The dogs can work from the house then,” he said. “That’s the last place she was located before she walked into
