"I'm sorry you had to deal with that, but I have to ask. How did you manage to keep your sister’s rehab stays under lock and key?"
"You looked into me, huh?" Her eyes twinkled.
I could feel my face getting red from the accusation even though based on her tone, she didn't mean it with malice.
"Valerie asked me to after you left the shop in tears."
"You'd be surprised what money can buy. One of the things I insisted on when I put her into a facility was complete discretion."
Now it made sense why I couldn't find anything.
"That must have cost you a fortune."
I knew she came from money, but it was dwindling fast if her bank statements were any indication.
"I was fortunate my parents left us a generous trust fund but I've blown through most of it trying to keep our family’s reputation intact."
My lips turned down in a frown. "Your father doesn't help?"
"Oh no, he does. At first, I tried to keep it from him, but it was hard to do that when Hannah would show up to family dinner high as a kite, if she showed up at all. I would try to make excuses for her, but my father saw right through them. That's when I said fuck it and just told him everything."
"How did he handle the news?"
I couldn't imagine finding out my child was a drug addict, and I didn't even have kids nor did I want them.
"It was hard for him. I think he was more upset that I kept it from him than he was finding out what Hannah was doing."
When I looked at her like I didn't understand what she meant, she continued.
"Hannah was always the wild card. I made excuses for her growing up because our mother died, but I think I always knew she would go down a dangerous path one way or another. It was just the crowd she always seemed to be drawn to."
"I'm sorry you had to deal with that." I felt like I was saying that on repeat during this conversation.
Vanessa merely shrugged. "It is what it is. I need to get better at accepting that Hannah is who she is, and there's nothing I can do to change it. I blame myself, but deep down, I know there's nothing more I could've done differently."
I was proud of her for recognizing that. It was the first step in healing.
"Okay, enough about my sad story. Let's pick a movie and enjoy the evening."
I liked that idea, and it was exactly the perfect night. Too bad it didn't last into the morning.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Vanessa
I sat on my bed with my files spread out in front of me. This was everything I had gathered on the people of Willow Creek.
It wasn't much. Mostly clippings of the different newspaper articles that have been written since I moved to Willow Creek almost seven months ago. A few tidbits about people I had met since coming to town. The nice thing about working at Sophisticated Sheen––the only clothing store in town––was the fact that I was able to meet most of the women in town one way or another. Sure not everyone shopped there, but a good majority did, and I had come to know them well.
Like a good profiler, I had nailed it down to women between the ages of twenty-five and sixty. Originally a few of the gossip queens in town had been on the list but I quickly realized most of them couldn't navigate technology if their life depended on it.
Take Ms. Daisy for example, the biggest gossip lady I have ever met, and she could barely operate her flip phone let alone publish a blog on the internet.
The same could be said for Bee––the owner of the Crazy Fox––that woman knew everyone's business, and sure she could send out letters every now and then, but no matter how much I wanted it to be her, it just didn't feel right.
I was going over my notes for the millionth time when a knock on my bedroom door had me scrambling to gather all the pieces.
"Who is it?" I hollered as I shoved every wrinkled piece into the folder.
