“One of his friends tipped me off,” I said.
She cocked her head to the side. “Which one?”
“What matters is, I convinced him to return with me to Cambria. He’s staying at my place for now, while I investigate Audrey’s murder.”
A look of shock swept across her face, and then she swung the door open, motioning to the kitchen. “Come in.”
We walked together down the hallway where I spotted Vaughn, who appeared to have been listening to our conversation.
The three of us sat down.
“Why is our son with you and not here, at home, where he belongs?” Tilly asked.
“Someone threatened him.”
She pressed a hand to her chest, eyes wide.
“Threatened him, how?” she asked. “What kind of threat?”
“A direct one.”
“From whom?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“I’m aware.”
She stood, pacing the room and then flattened her hands on the counter. “Does Logan being threatened have anything to do with Audrey’s murder?”
I nodded. “I believe she found some things someone didn’t want her to find.”
“What things?”
“It’s connected to an old case,” I said. “A young woman was visiting Cambria about twenty-five years ago, and she went missing. The case has never been solved.”
Tilly and Vaughn exchanged worried glances, and Tilly shook her head. “You’re being vague, talking in circles. I don’t like it.”
I needed to give her something but deciding what to offer proved harder than I thought.
“I spoke to your son yesterday, and I learned a great deal, things that have helped move this case forward,” I said. “But right now, the fewer people who know where he is, or what he told me, the better.”
“We’re not people. We’re his parents.”
Vaughn wrapped his hand around a soda, looking at me with a displeased expression. “You’re sitting here telling us our son has been threatened, and that he needs to stay with you right now, and you won’t even give us any details or anything to go on? Why should we trust you?”
I faced him, getting the distinct feeling that something was off. While he wasn’t being hostile or defensive, his tone was far different than it had been the first time we met.
I considered offering a breadcrumb, giving just enough information but not too much.
“Someone left Logan a note on his windshield several days ago,” I said. “It referenced Audrey. It told him to leave the past alone if he didn’t want to end up like her.”
Vaughn’s grip tightened around the can. “And you believe the same person who killed Audrey is behind it?”
“I do.”
“And this old case,” he began, “this disappearance of a young woman ... I suppose you think it’s connected to Audrey and Logan and everything that’s happening right now.”
