Page 25 of In the Dark of the Past

“No. Of course, not. I always double-check it. Especially after the day I arrived and found it unlocked.” She paused, her eyes scanning the wreckage. “It’s almost like someone just wanted to rattle me. Not rob me.”

I filed that tidbit away for later.

Behind her, Autumn crouched to inspect a jagged shard of glass still clinging to the frame.

Libby crossed her arms, glancing toward the street. “This doesn’t feel random.”

“I just got here,” I said. “But I agree.”

River sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “I haven’t been back that long. No one should even care what I’m doing here. Especially not enough to vandalize my clinic.”

I hesitated. “Except maybe someone does care.”

She looked up at me sharply.

“I mean,” I continued, keeping my voice even, “maybe someone saw you asking questions. Doing research. Maybe they saw you at the Jubilee. Perhaps they connected some dots.”

“But no one knew I was digging,” she said, frowning. “Who could? The only people who know what I’m doing outside of my job and trying to rebuild my life here are you and the rest of the gang.”

Libby nodded. “And none of us would say anything. Even casually. That’s how we function in the club. It’s just understood. Sure, there can be the occasional passing mention to a significant other—if there is one—but we’ve all known those people for nearly as long as we’ve known each other.”

“And the records we’ve been looking into aren’t anything that should raise flags,” Autumn added. “It’s not like a neon arrow pointing to Eleanor’s murder. Unless someone’s got eyes in weird places, they couldn’t have even known.”

River folded her arms. “So, then, why me? And don’t take this the wrong way, but…why not one of you? Unless this isn’t connected to that at all and was drug related. Many people don’t know that psychologists aren’t MDs.”

Before anyone could answer, a car pulled up fast. Nivea, Myra, and Andra spilled out before it had even fully stopped.

“You okay?” Myra asked, storming up the walk with her trademark mix of fire and protectiveness.

“We heard the call on the scanner,” Nivea added. “We’re always monitoring. Part of our job descriptions.”

“And we got here as fast as we could,” Andra said.

River blinked, seemingly overwhelmed for a second by the sheer force of support.

Slowly, she nodded. “Yeah. I think so. Just...confused.”

“Understandable. This doesn’t really make much sense,” Nivea said, scanning the storefront. “And, I’m sure you’ve been asked this a million times already, but nothing’s missing?”

River shook her head. “No. At least, I don’t think so. Not that I could find.”

“So, likely not a robbery, then. Unless someone was looking for a prescription pad or something.”

“I thought of that, too, but I’m not a psychiatrist,” River said.

“Some people don’t know the difference,” Myra stated.

“I said the same thing,” River agreed.

The wheels were clearly still turning in Nivea’s head. “If this was about scaring you for some reason, why do it now? Why not the day you got back? Did you leave Maple Ridge with any enemies back then?” she asked.

“You mean besides him?” she said and jerked her head in my direction.

Ouch.

“You were never my enemy, River,” I said. Before she could say anything to that, I continued. “Something’s changed. Something you’ve seen has made you a target. Or something you’ve said has made you a threat.”

“I was just trying to build a damn profile,” she muttered. “For a goddamn fourteen-year-old cold case.”