“Good.” I looked at her expectantly while she shoved a crab rangoon into her mouth, a crumb falling onto her sweater.
“Time is of the essence,” I pushed.
She looked to the ceiling before wiping her hand on her pants and firing off a quick message on her phone. “There, sent her a text. Don’t hold your breath, though. Even if she isn’t the culprit, the chances of her responding to me are still low.”
“Worth a shot,” I said. “We can think of something else if she doesn’t end up answering.”
And then what?
I was in over my head here. My ideas were limited. I loved combing through details of an old case, obsessing over theories and doing internet sleuthing. But when the stakes were live? When there was hardly anything available to go on? This wasn’t what I was used to at all. I probably should have done a better job of setting Hazel’s expectations. I couldn’t stand the idea of letting her down.
“I’ve got my friends working on it, too,” I said, wanting to offer her something else. “Obviously we don’t have much to go on, but if they think of anything they’ll let me know.”
“This is your crime fighting group?” she clarified. “The one you do the blog with?”
“Those are the ones,” I said, cringing at how lame “crime fighting group” sounded.
“How does one get involved with something like that?” Hazel asked.
“One spends about fifty hours too many on a cold case thread and gets on a first name basis with other commenters.”
“That’s fun,” she said, without even a hint of sarcasm. “Good idea for meeting people.”
I straightened up. “Will you tell my family that? They just think I’m pathetic for spending so much time online.”
“Any time you spend doing something you love with people you like isn’t wasted. Besides, you’re even helping people. It’s honorable.”
My chest warmed at her words. It was exactly how I felt.
Hazel picked up the remote and switched on the TV. “Down for a movie? I could use a break from thinking about all this stuff.”
“Whatever you want.” I scootched over on the couch so she could join me.
She pressed play on an old romcom I’d seen at least a dozen times. It was one of Ruby and Regan’s favorites.
“Is this okay?” she asked. “Paul used to hate this movie.”
I waved off her comment. “I have two sisters. I can probably quote this movie better than you can.”
That got a smile out of her—a real one, genuine and unguarded. Since the day I’d met Hazel, I’d sensed that the truest parts of her were buried beneath a quiet sadness. She still shone through; her spirit wasn’t something that could be easily extinguished. But there was always a part of her that held back, like she was moving through the world slightly numb.
“You seem close with your family. Ruby talks about you all a lot,” she said while the opening credits played.
“We’re kind of obnoxiously close,” I said. “No boundaries, or personal space.”
“That sounds nice.”
I chuckled. “Nice, suffocating, some days it’s hard to tell the difference.”
She laughed. “They sound sweet.”
“I guess. They’ve just been extra in my business lately. They worry about me.” My eyes met hers before drifting away. It would be easier to put this fact out there, get it over with. “I-I got divorced last year and I think they think I’m struggling to move on or something.”
“Oh,” she said casually, but I could see the subtle shift in her expression. Mentally calculating my age. I was only twenty-nine, and some people were surprised I already carried the title of divorcé. “Are you? Struggling to move on, I mean.”
“We were together since college, it’s a long story,” I explained, hoping to wrap this up quickly. “Well, I guess, not really. Long relationship, short marriage. Probably should have realized we had issues before walking down the aisle. Whatever. Despite what my family thinks, I really am over it.”
She nodded, her lips parting but no sound coming out. She probably wanted to ask about the details. What happened? What was she like? I didn’t really like to talk about it. I worried it didn’t paint me in the best light, since, after all, she had dumped me. For whatever reason, I didn’t want Hazel to think I was damaged goods.
