Page 94 of Secrets in the Deep

She opened the diary to see pages of perfect cursive handwriting. Her gaze skimmed over words about school and friends and a brother, sister, and parents. Each entry was dated.

Emily turned to the last page.

“Thirty years ago,” she breathed, before reading the entry.

I saw something in the sky last night. A thin white streak of light. When I told Mama, she said it was a shooting star. But I don’t believe that. I’ve seen shooting stars. They’re magical and fleeting. If you blink, you miss it. This was different. This was like a straight line drawn across the dark canvas. It was slow, and even though I can’t prove it, it looked planned, like someone had shot something up there. I’m going to stay up tonight and see if I can spot it again.

She jumped when her phone vibrated with a text.

Quickly, she shoved the diary back between the mattress and box spring. As she rejoined the cast and crew in what looked like a master bedroom, she pulled out her cell.

Roscoe was talking about what would be filmed in this room. Emily ignored him and read the text.

Ryan: Hey. Joel said you have a work meeting this morning. Everything okay?

Even though things between them were rocky, he’d been checking in on her every day. Texts. Calls.

Emily: He said it was a meeting. But then we arrived at this creepy old house. He basically admitted to breaking in. Now he’s telling us we’re going to film here.

Ryan: The old Connoway mansion?

Emily: Maybe?

Ryan: Be there in ten.

Ryan stepped into the firehouse,chest heaving, skin glistening with sweat. While the team had showered and gone straight to work after their morning training, it hadn’t been enough for Ryan. He’d wanted more. Tired limbs. A heavy body. A mind too exhausted to think.

The post-training run helped, but it had by no means taken the edge off.

Ethan turned from where he sat at the tech table. “You okay?”

“No. I’m frustrated.”

“At Roscoe?”

“At everything.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “We’ve questioned everyone. Roscoe. Preston. Faye. Every single person working on that movie. Most of them barely told us anything because we’re not law enforcement.”

“Yeah, and Ward hasn’t been able to find shit. Might be time to call the state police. Nothing will get him off his ass faster than them coming in and doing his job.”

“Might throw the threat around, see if that gets him working. I’m taking a shower.” He headed down the hall.

The shower was quick, mostly because he wanted to message Emily to check in. Maybe even see if she wanted to get lunch together.

He’d been trying to go slow, sticking to texts and phone calls. Making sure she was doing okay after what happened on set.

But he was getting restless. He wanted to see her and fix things. Nora was right. His upbringing had probably shaped him more than he’d let himself believe. But he couldn’t lose Emily over it. Because this time, she might not come back to him.

Once he was dressed in shorts and a shirt, he stepped into the hall to see Joel passing.

“Hey.” Ryan stopped in front of his friend. “Did you see Emily this morning?”

“Only briefly. She had some meeting.”

“What meeting?”

Joel bit into his banana. “Work one with Roscoe. Preston was picking her up.”

A meeting with Roscoe. At the inn? “Thanks.” He moved down the hall and pulled out his cell.