Truly, Madly by Heather Webber Page A

was winding my way down Route 228 toward the main gate of Wompatuck State Park in Hingham. The moon hung in the sky like something out of a children's picture book, lending little light. Scattered lampposts weren't enough to cut through the darkness. My high beams cut through the shadows. Old colonials, Cape Cods, and gambrels lined the Hingham road, most with long drives, landscaped lawns, and high price tags.
    Carefully, I answered the phone one-handed.
    ''Do I want to know what that was all about?'' Sean asked.
    His voice sent confusing spirals of desire through me. I wasn't a thirteen-year-old girl who had her first crush, though I was suddenly feeling like it. I seriously needed to get a grip. I'd only met the man today, for what? Ten minutes, tops?
    But the vision . . .
    I shook my head. The vision was one I couldn't trust. And I really couldn't trust my attraction to him, either. I had to remember Cupid's Curse.
    But a fling would be nice—
    I snapped out of it. A fling would be out of the question. He had a girlfriend. Period. End of sentence. Stop acting like a love-struck fool, Lucy.
    ''Lucy? Are you there?'' he asked.
    ''I'm here,'' I said. ''Sorry. The road is dark and twisty.''
    ''Where are you?''
    ''On my way to Wompatuck.''
    ''The Little Boy Lost?'' he asked.
    ''I'm going to do my best to help find him.''
    ''Very charitable of you.''
    ''Hardly. I'd wanted to escape my grandmother's romantic scheming.''
    ''Sounds like there's a story there.''
    ''Many stories,'' I said, thinking back to all the times Dovie had tried to set me up. But talking to Sean about anything romantic didn't bode well for my psychological health. I needed to change the subject. Fast. ''Did you have news for me?''
    I heard papers shuffling. Ahead, I spotted oncoming headlights, and I switched off my high beams. I wasn't fond of driving at night, and as a result I tended to drive much too slow, creeping along.
    ''I tracked her parents, Martin and Regina, to a new address in Lynn. Jennifer has an older sister named Melissa Antonelli, who also lives in Lynn. Oddly, I couldn't find anything on Jennifer specifically since she graduated college,'' he said. ''Unfortunately, there are a lot of Jennifers out there.''
    ''Then she's not . . . missing?''
    ''Not that I've found, and that would have turned up. Is there something you're not telling me?''
    Too much to go into. ''Not really.''
    There was a brief silence before he said, ''Do you want me to call Jennifer's parents? See if they'll give me an address?''
    ''You can try. Tell them it's in regard to Michael Lafferty.''
    ''I'll call you back.''
    If it were Jennifer in that grave, someone would have reported her missing. Her family, friends . . . Which left only one conclusion.
    It wasn't Jennifer in the grave.
    Then who was it? And why was she wearing Michael's ring?
    My phone rang. It was Sean.
    ''Strange,'' he said.
    ''What?''
    ''I spoke with her mother. She wouldn't give me any information at all. And wouldn't take my information, either, to pass along. All she said was that Jennifer was happy and to leave her alone.''
    ''Protective,'' I said, wondering why. Was she trying to protect Jennifer from being hurt by Michael again, still believing he had betrayed her? Or from something . . . or someone else? Like the evil Elena and her trusty sidekick, Rachel?
    ''I tried the sister, too. No one answered. I'll call again tomorrow.''
    The moon slipped behind the clouds. I focused hard on the dotted white line separating lanes.
    ''What's going on, Lucy? This is for a matchmaking client? This isn't the usual check your father runs.''
    ''Yes, it's for a client,'' I said truthfully. ''I'm doing things a little differently.''
    ''You want me to keep digging?''
    ''That would be great.''
    Maybe Jennifer had pawned Michael's ring? Right. And the person who bought it coincidentally ended up murdered and buried in Michael's home town, practically in his backyard?
    I approached the entrance to the park and