Lily and Cassie sat together on the sofa, letting the alcohol numb their senses. From the frantic hours of the early morning with news of Grace being missing and her house burglarized, to the tense moments in the dark in Appleton, to the roller coaster of emotion in the letters they had recovered, both felt overcome, and collapsed into each other for support.
Unfortunately, in addition to calming them very effectively, the wine and sad feelings also made it painfully obvious to them that Grace was still unaccounted for. They didn't realize that they had cared so deeply for her, and with the added aspect of Carter Denning and a long unfolding mystery of art and literature, not to mention possible romance, the emotions only swelled greater.
"Do you think Grace is all right, Lily?" Cassie asked. Her somber tone tore at Lily's chest, and she had to swallow hard not to burst into tears. She could only hug Cassie tightly in response.
"When do you think we'll hear from her again? Do you think the police have any leads?" Cassie continued.
"I don't know Cassie," Lily said, weariness overwhelming her voice.
"What did you find in the journal?" Cassie asked. Lily looked over at the leather bound journal sitting on the coffee table, and didn't have the energy to even reach out for it.
"We'll check it in the morning. I'm done in." She stood up and went into the kitchen to make sure the stove was off, and came put the glasses in the sink. When she returned, she offered Cassie a hand up.
"To bed, my love?" She asked. Cassie pouted and nodded, letting Lily lead her to the spare room. Once she had made sure that Cassie was settled in for the night, she went back to the living room to gather all of the items and lock them in her office safe. Then, she made the rounds to make sure all the doors and windows were locked and secure. The last thing they needed at the end of this long day would be for the two creepers from Appleton to show up in the night and relieve them of their trophies.
Once she felt secure, she popped her head back in the door to wish Cassie good night and sweet dreams, then shut off the lights and went to bed.
Her night was immediately met by a deep sleep that swallowed her immediately. For much of the night, she rested soundly, but as the hours wore on, she became restless. Her mind began to dream. She felt anxious, and tried to flee an unknown shadow slowly engulfing her. The darkness kept closing it until she felt as though she was going to smother.
Lily woke from the dream and gasped, remembering that Grace had meant to contact them the night before at eleven o'clock. She dove across the bed for her phone. Sweeping it up, she saw that it was 8:30 am. She opened it up and saw a text from Grace in her messages. Silently cursing herself for not paying closer attention to the time, she opened the message to see what it said.
"Change of plans, Lily, I need you to find my iPhone, use the last date in the journal " followed by a link.
That was it. Lily was in shock. She checked the time. The message had come in at 10:08 pm. Frantic after the oppressive dream she had woken from, she tried calling Grace back. The phone rang and went immediately to voice mail. She hung up and tried again with the same result.
She sat up and tried composing a text to send, but it brought up a message saying it could not be delivered at this time. The knot that had formed in her stomach the night before returned, and her heart sank into her shoes. Something dreadful had happened, and she was near panic.
Lily decided to call the police. She found a contact number for Detective Richards and was about to hit send when she stopped. What was she going to say to him? Grace is missing. He already believed that. Grace is in danger. Again, preaching to the choir. As she ran through possibilities, her panic actually began to subside. What new information did she have to give? Only the brief message from Grace.
