Nora scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You know what? I actually will,” she replied. She clicked her fingers. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“Wait… what?” Erin said, looking uneasy.
“I said let’s go,” Nora said sharply. “Let’s search every other room in this place so I can prove that I know nothing about this Kinsey situation. I’ll even let you check all the outbuildings on the property.”
She turned and swept back up the gloomy hall, heading toward the spiral staircase. Erin and I exchanged glances. Then we followed.
Over the next half-hour, Nora marched us through every single room in the three-story mansion, including all the walk-in closets and half-baths. When we came up empty, she took us outside and let us check the garden shed, garage, greenhouse, and guest cottage.
“There you go.” Nora crossed her arms, watching me with beady eyes as I emerged from the guest cottage bathroom. “That’s the very last room. Are you satisfied now? Or do you want me to dig up all the floorboards and tiles so you can check underneath them as well?”
I swallowed hard and gritted my teeth. Bobbi was obviously right earlier—Mr. Blythedidcome here last Thursday night, presumably with Kinsey in tow, but he’d since taken her elsewhere.
“I don’t…” Furious words rose up my throat, but I let them die on my tongue. I knew it would only worsen the situation, and I’d already fucked things up badly enough.
Nora’s face softened as she looked at me, and her arms fell back to her sides. “Look, Jax, I understand how awful you’re feeling right now. You really care about Kinsey and want to find her. But you won’t find her here,” she said. “I have no idea why her phone said she was at this address, but I’m sure there’s a valid explanation. Maybe she happened to be in the area when she turned it off. Or maybe someone stole it and decided to hang around here that night. I really don’t know.”
“Yeah. Maybe,” I muttered. My jaw was clenched so hard my teeth hurt.
“I really do understand what you’re going through,” Nora went on in a simpering tone, reaching out to touch my arm. “I just lost my daughter so I know those feelings of despair and turmoil better than anyone. But you can’t just lose your mind and run around accusing everyone of ridiculous things.”
“I know,” I said gruffly. “I’m sorry, Nora. You’re right; I feel like I’m losing my mind. So much stuff has happened lately. There was that thing with my father. Then Cerina died. Then Kinsey was accused of having something to do with it. It’s just… it’s a lot.”
I wasn’t actually sorry at all, but I knew it was best to play along for now and pretend to be contrite.
Nora gave me a tight smile. “I understand. It’s hard, isn’t it?” she said. “So much has happened recently, and it’s shocked everyone to the core. We all have so many questions about it.”
“Yeah. I just want to know what really happened,” I replied, rubbing the back of my neck. “And I want to know where Kinsey went. That’s why I came here today. But I shouldn’t have acted the way I did and accused you of anything. I really am sorry.”
“It’s all right. I completely understand,” Nora said soothingly, rubbing my forearm. Her eyes flickered over to Erin. “It’s Erin, isn’t it? Your parents are Jessica and Todd Middleton?”
Erin nodded. “Yes.”
“I know you’re good friends with Kinsey, and I know you want to find her just as much as Jax does. But that doesn’t make today’s behavior acceptable. You see that, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Erin’s face crumpled, and she burst into tears. “I’m sorry. So sorry. Please don’t call my parents,” she choked out between sobs. “They’ll be so mad at me.”
Nora moved her hand to Erin’s shoulder. “Oh, honey, don’t worry,” she said softly. “I won’t tell them. It’ll be our little secret, okay? As long as we can all agree to keep quiet about it. No one needs to hear any more of these silly little rumors about Kinsey or Matthew.”
“Okay. I won’t say anything.” Erin sniffed and wiped her face with the back of her hand, shoulders still trembling with sobs. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Like I said, I understand what you’re both going through right now,” Nora replied. Her lips turned up in a small smile. “If you ever need to talk to someone about it, you’re welcome to come back here. Lord knows I could use more people to talk to right now.”
“Thank you,” Erin repeated in a tremulous tone.
“Unfortunately, I really am feeling quite tired right now,” Nora went on. She paused to yawn and cupped a hand over her mouth. “I’ll have to let you two go so I can take another nap.”
“All right.” I cleared my throat and straightened my shoulders. “Again… sorry for bothering you. I promise it won’t happen again.”
An awkward silence settled over us as we stepped out of the guest house. Nora finally said her goodbyes and headed back toward the main house with a wave and a smile.
“Those tears are totally fake, right?” I murmured to Erin we strode over to my car.
She nodded and wiped her cheek. “Of course,” she whispered. “What about your apology?”
“Fake as well.” I glanced back at the house and pressed my lips into a thin line. “Nora obviously knows something, but I figured it’s better if we play along with her bullshit for now.”
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Erin replied, drumming her nails on the passenger window as she waited for me to unlock the car. “I figured if we kept antagonizing her, she’d probably call Mr. Blythe or whoever else is involved and tell them we’re onto them.”