“Right,” Josie said. “The landlord said she always paid cash, but she had to get it from somewhere.”
Gretchen took out her phone. “I’m going to call the local PD and see if they’ll interview some neighbors, ask around town, see if anyone spoke with her regularly or if she had some kind of under-the-table job.”
A few minutes later, she hung up. “They’ll get back to us,” she told Josie. Turning in her seat, she reached into the footwell and riffled through some of the documents they’d brought with them until she came up with the lease. She flipped the pages and skimmed over it. “All the utilities were paid for by the landlord and included in the rent,” she said. “Which means Alice Adams never needed to have any utilities in her name. Unless she needed cable, I guess.”
Josie thought about the small apartment and what it hadn’t contained. “There were hardly any electronics,” she said. “No laptop. No tablets.”
“There was a television though and a DVD player as well as all those DVDs.”
“She didn’t want her name on anything, and she couldn’t afford to have the real Alice Adams figure out that she’d stolen her identity. She didn’t want anyone tracking her down, but she’s been surviving all these years somehow. She had to have had help from someone.”
“We’re missing something,” Gretchen said. “Something big.”
As they came into town, Rockview Ridge rose high above them on the right-hand side. Josie put her signal on and turned toward it. “You know what? Let’s see if my grandmother recognizes the man in the photo with Vera. She saw Vera’s ‘friend’ a few times.”
A few minutes later, they pulled in. Poppy snoozed in her cage in the back. They left her there, certain that the cat would be safe in the car for a few minutes, and went inside. Josie’s leg ached after having been in one position in the car for so long but she managed to keep up with Gretchen. The door to Lisette’s room was open. She sat in her recliner staring out of the window, the sunlight making her silver curls gleam. She had a white shawl pulled around her shoulders—always cold even in her room, where Josie knew the thermostat was set to seventy-five. Her walker sat in front of her, between her bed and dresser. The rooms at Rockview were nice but very small. Josie knocked lightly on the doorframe to get Lisette’s attention.
Lisette smiled. “Hello, dear. Gretchen. Come in. Or would you be more comfortable if we went to the cafeteria?”
Josie gave her grandmother a quick kiss and sat on the foot of the bed. Gretchen sat beside her. “Here is fine. We had a photo we wanted you to look at, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Gretchen took out her phone and found the photo. She handed the phone to Lisette.
Josie asked, “Is that the friend you saw picking up and dropping off Vera by any chance?”
Lisette studied the picture. “I do believe that’s him, yes. It was a long time ago, but this looks like him.” She gave the phone back to Gretchen. “I wish I knew his name. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”
“You are being of help, Gram,” Josie told her.
Gretchen said, “Could you think back and see if you remember any other details about him? Any little thing could be of use. Maybe something else that Vera said about him? Did Beverly mention him at all the day Vera was passed out and she came to school instead?”
Lisette shook her head slowly. “No, no. Beverly never mentioned him. Not in front of me. I don’t remember Vera ever saying anything about him except that he was the friend who gave her a ride. But, oh, wait!” She lifted a gnarled finger in the air. “He always wore this… uniform of sorts. I only ever saw him in the car, but he always wore the same shirt. A blue thing, very thick, sometimes dirty. It had a name tag sewn onto it, but I was never close enough to see it.”
Josie sat up straighter. “What kind of uniform?”
Lisette lowered her hand and frowned. “I’m not sure, dear. What kinds of jobs require uniforms? What kind of establishment would have the name sewn onto the uniform?”
Gretchen started listing some. “Delivery drivers sometimes, bus drivers?”
Josie said, “Mechanics.”
“Come to think of it,” Lisette said. “That makes sense. Sometimes it was quite dirty. I’ll bet he was a mechanic. I could be wrong, though. You have to remember this was such a long time ago. I really only remember these things because your ongoing feud with Beverly took up such a significant amount of time back then.”
She winked at Josie and held out a hand, which Josie took and squeezed. “Gram,” she said. “You’ve got one of the best memories of anyone I know! We’ll look into it.”
Before Lisette could reply, a nurse’s aide came sailing into the room with a large vase of flowers. “Hello,” she called from behind the lush, colorful arrangement. “Mrs. Matson! Delivery for you!”
She set the bouquet down on Lisette’s dresser and beamed at them.
“My goodness!” Lisette exclaimed.
The aide tore off the card that was stapled to the plastic and handed it to Lisette before leaving them alone.
Gretchen stood and took a whiff of the flowers. “These are lovely, Lisette.”
Smiling, Lisette struggled to get the card out of its tiny envelope. “They are, aren’t they?”
“Need help?” Josie asked, wondering who would be sending her grandmother flowers. Did she have a suitor that Josie didn’t know about? It wouldn’t have been the first romance at Rockview Ridge.
Lisette handed her the envelope, and Josie easily removed the card. She read it once, her heart giving a double tap. Then she read it again, not understanding.
Lisette said, “Who are they from?”
Feeling something uncomfortable stir inside her, Josie handed the card back to Lisette who squinted at the words. They scrolled across the screen of Josie’s mind on a loop, making her feel cold.
Lisette, thank you for being so kind and receptive to me. It is a great honor and a thrill to finally be in touch with you. Hope we get to spend much more time together. Love, Sawyer
What the hell was going on?
Lisette’s smile faltered as she read. Reading the room, Gretchen said, “Boss, I’m going to check on Poppy. I’ll meet you at the car?”
Josie nodded.
Gretchen pulled the door closed behind her as she left. Turning to Lisette, Josie said, “Gram, why is Sawyer Hayes sending you flowers?”
Lisette leaned forward and tucked the card into one of the pockets of the basket affixed to her walker. “Josie, I want you to stay calm.”
Josie stood up, the agitation welling up inside too great for her to stay seated. Disturbing thoughts pinged around her mind like balls in a pinball machine. What was Sawyer Hayes after? It was one thing to run into her grandmother when he was at Rockview in his capacity as an emergency worker and strike up a conversation, but this was something else entirely. Was he trying to con her somehow? Was this Josie’s fault? Did he think because of Josie’s fame, Lisette might have something that he could trick her into giving over? Money? Some kind of inheritance? If that was the case, he was in for a rude awakening. Or worse—was he pursuing Lisette? He couldn’t be. The age difference was—