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Flora and Ivy selected to stay at Lydia’s. Kat would come back early in the morning to get Flora. Lydia would drive Averie’s phone back up to the hospital. She dreaded the journey, having made it so many times already. Her feet ached. She noticed halfway to the hospital she was still wearing her nasty running shoes and Kat’s borrowed clothes.
Coffee and adrenaline fading, Lydia kept her eyes on the road and used her other hand to dig for her phone. She shoved aside her wallet, her sunglasses, and more. Still watching the way, she unzipped pouches and fingered through makeup, tissues, and breath mints. The familiar rectangle shape was absent. Lydia looked all around, with no drivers in sight and no lights signaling an oncoming car, she felt safe to take a second and look into her purse.
She set her bag on her lap and searched. No phone. Where did I leave it? She increased her speed after setting her purse back down and hurried to the hospital, deciding she must have left the phone there.
Pulling up to the hospital she bypassed the usual entrance and searched the edge of the building, choosing a parking spot under a light post. An ambulance lit up the parking lot, Lydia prayed over the passenger. The paramedics rolled a gurney through the automatic doors.
Her steps came naturally and without focus. The last couple of days taught her many things. For one, anybody could enter any room in a hospital if they walked with confidence. Stopping to ask directions or for permission only hindered a visitor’s progress.
Often her treks stalemated once she signed in with the nurse. If she stormed past the station, with purpose in her steps, no one bothered to stop her. She did just that and was standing outside Averie’s room without speaking with a single soul.
Ethan wasn't in sight. She peeked into Averie's room. A nurse was shuffling around her bed. Lydia bowed out as quickly as she could. She waited outside the room, hoping to see her husband.
✽✽✽
Kat kissed the forehead of each of her sleeping children. She tried spooning her snoring husband. But she was restless and high on information overload. Avoiding coffee, she made herself a cup of cinnamon tea but couldn’t focus enough to drink it.
Instead, she dragged her laptop to her couch and searched Shane Mons. She hadn't thought to at Lydia's. Everyone focused on finding out more about Averie and Maven. Averie’s stalker never hit the list of internet searches.
Surprised, many entries for Shane Andrew Mons illuminated her screen. Mr. Mons was also an online video star. His videos were art and woodworking tutorials. Some were labeled ASMR and featured only the sounds of his labor and not his directions. Many times, Shane listed the Averie ASMR channel under his and encouraged fans to give her videos a try.
Kat followed a link over to Averie’s playlist and found several comments by Shane Mons. At least it was his logo on the avatar icon. His screen name went from Shane Andrew Mons to ShDwMons. Shadow man.
All his comments were kind and uplifting, not over flirtatious or over eager. His last comment, on a video two months old, said:
I’ve finally found you. Be looking for me. I'm on my way. Love SM
How he’d flipped so rapidly from a sweetie to a stalker was a shock to Kat. She returned to his other videos. A younger Mons talked his viewers through a biography video, much like Averie’s.
Averie’s history pivoted with the death of her grandmother and then the horrible crash. Shane’s flipped over his life’s heartbreak.
He recounted meeting the love of his life and how they married in secret. He also detailed his sorrow when his wife suddenly disappeared. His fans donated to his cause. In return, he promised not to give up until he found his wife.
Many of his videos ended with two words displayed across his screen, Still Searching. It didn’t take a genius to add up Mr. Mon’s discovery. Kat called Lydia immediately.
“Hello,” she answered, in hushed tones.
“Lydia, oh thank goodness. I’ve figured it out. Shane Mons is not a stalker, not really.” Kat rambled without inhaling. She blurted her findings too fast for Lydia to cut in.
“Maven crashed the car, and Averie lost her memory. He couldn't find her. She just went missing.
He’s been searching for her ever since. I can’t believe Maven didn’t let him know Averie was hurt. You know what? I don’t even think Averie has a clue? Who would do that? To someone they loved? What kind of sick does a person have to be to set up their best friend and cousin after almost killing them? And then hide them away?
I bet he’s been trying to reach her for years. Since you have Averie’s cell phone, it couldn't do any harm, to look at her emails. See if Mons was trying to get a hold of her?"
Kat’s rant dried out her mouth, and she took a drink of her tea. Lydia said nothing. “Lydia?”
The phone clicked. Hospital reception was spotty. Lydia would return the call, later. Kat decided to doze on the couch until she did.
✽✽✽
Berna found Lydia before Lydia found Ethan. “How did the Lord know who I needed to see?” Berna stumbled up to Lydia. “It has been a day.”
Lydia listened as Berna detailed her day at the festival. She then sat appalled at the story of Henry and his near-death experience. It disgusted her when Berna told her about the cat. “We’re not sure Dandelion will make it. Dr. Barnes is with him and Olive right now. Who knew tea could make a cat so sick?”
Lydia only half heard. She looked for her husband, eager to get Averie’s phone into his hands. In a light bulb flicker of insight, she turned to Berna and quizzed her about her guest.
“When did you book Averie for the festival?” Berna looked confused but settled into the new topic with ease. She’d do anything to distract her mind from the gore of the previous hours.
“I guess it was last month. Averie called and explained who she was and asked if she could shoot a video in my bee yard. I accepted. She's paying me for the use of my yard and then her rooms. I told her it was Lavender Weekend. She was happy to join in. It was her idea to host a sound bath event and a DVD signing. I had no idea who she was, but after watching her videos, I discovered what a great fit for the Lavender Festival she was." Berna shook her head and checked her watch.
"You've got to be careful with those ASMR videos. Not all of them are as wholesome as Averie's. The things I've seen, you wouldn't believe — vampire dentists dressed like streetwalkers more than night stalkers. I've never found the dentist to be relaxing or sexy. Absurd!
Oh! There was even one where the star spent the whole video wrapping a half-naked lady in plastic wrap. In that one, they were pretending to be an alien taking back a human specimen.”
“You watched the whole thing, Berna?”
Unabashed, Berna grunted in regret, “Like a train wreck.” Lydia chuckled, infecting Berna with her fatigued laughter. The women howled without reason, causing many an orderly to pause and set inquisitive eyes in their direction. “Whew, I needed that. Thank you, Lydia. A good giggle sets my mind right.
Anyway, Averie's videos were wholesome, like I said. She seems to care about her viewers. As if she is really trying to help them. You've met her. She’s the same in person.” Lydia grinned her agreement.
“How long was she at the Hive, before the festival? A day or two?”
"Oh no." Berna propped her folded hands atop her purse. "After our first conversation, she booked two rooms for the entire month. She's been in town for about three weeks. A while into her stay, Maven called and booked her room. It was a squeeze, but I had a cancelation."
“What? Maven didn’t arrive with Averie?”
“Well no. It was Averie and Mr. Mons.”
Lydia perked up. “Mr. Mons?”
"Yes, her cameraman. At least I assume he's her cameraman. He borrowed a beekeeper suit and filmed the bee video with her last week." Berna looked around. Lydia's sudden shift in mood put her ill at ease. "Though, I suspect they were more than coworkers. Well, if they weren't, they would have been, soon. They were so cute together. They walked the path at sunset and chatted during the wine and cheese hour.”
Lydia rubbed her knuckles across her chin in concentration. “Berna, that doesn’t make sense.”
Hand to her hip Berna leaned into the conversation. "Well, why not?"
“Because Mr. Mons, Mr. Shane Mons, is the man that attacked Averie, at the spa opening.”
Berna snorted, “I never got a good look at him. He ran before I got off of the floor.”
“It was him, I’m sure.”
"Oh, pooh. I don't think so. Mr. Mons was protective of Averie. Not in a crazy way. In fact, if anyone in the group was crazy, it was Averie.
Her first week at the inn she was pleasant and thoughtful. However, after that, right before the party, she acted strangely. She forgot things like appointments and people's names. She would sit dazed on the porch. Sometimes she cried, unable to stop until Maven calmed her down. Thank the Lord. She showed up just in time. I guess the poor dear has to help Averie with these episodes quite often. Or at least that’s what she said.”
Lydia slouched dumbly in her seat. She listened to Berna explain Maven’s behavior toward Averie and Averie’s behavior toward the mysterious Mr. Mons.
"It was like she didn't know who he was after Maven arrived. At first, I'd catch glimpses of the two talking outside. Then, Averie didn't show for appointments. Mr. Mon's waited in the common room for her almost every morning. Averie and Maven never came down to breakfast. There were many times he handed me notes for Averie, but she didn't come to the front desk for them. Maven had the letters sent upstairs. It was strange but, then again, if he was a stalker, their avoidance made sense."
Scanning again for her husband Lydia rifled guilt-ridden hands through her purse and pulled out Averie's phone. Perhaps there were text messages between Shane and Averie.
Berna continued to talk, but Lydia heard only every other beat. She scrolled down a long list of coded conversation between Shane and Averie. If she'd been with Shane the week before, why had Averie freaked out the night before the Festival? Why had she run away from him? Or had she? Had something else happened in that room before Lydia arrived to help?
On impulse, Lydia searched through messages between Maven and Averie. No correspondence from the last week. That made sense. They were together at the bed-and-breakfast. They didn't need texts. However, two weeks before, the messages ranged from strange to stranger.
Maven: You can’t believe the word of a groupie. You don’t even know the guy.
Averie: It’s not like I’m running away with him. I want a break.
Maven: From me?
Averie: I want to see if I can handle being on my own.
Maven: So yes...
Averie: Don’t take it that way.
Maven: How should I take it? You're walking out on our relationship and our business. This is half mine, you know. You can't just take your cut like before and leave me.
Averie: Not fair.
Maven: But true.
Averie: This is different.
Averie: Think of it as a break. For you. You’ve been looking after me for two years. You’ve got to be tired.
Maven: What are you saying? I’m crazy? You can’t trust me?
Averie: You know I’m not saying that.
Maven: What if your terrors come back?
Averie: Then we see if I can handle them on my own.
Two days later:
Maven: Where are you?
Averie: What do you mean?
Maven: I'm at our apartment, and you're not.
I came back, and you're not here.
WHERE R U?!
Averie: I’ve gone on a little trip. I’ll be back by the end of June.
Maven: What?!
Averie: I tried to tell you. I thought you’d be happy. I’m fine.
Maven: I’m telling you to come home right now!
Averie: See you in a few weeks. Love u.
That was all. Lydia figured Averie sent the last text during her trip to Honey Pot. Maybe she was already at the Hive. No panicked texts asked Maven for help. There were no desperate pleas for forgiveness, acknowledging Maven had been right and that Averie needed her to come to collect her. Lydia noted there weren't even phone calls between the cousins for an entire week. Maven seemed to have popped up at the B & B without informing Averie.
Maybe Maven was the one pushing Averie over the edge. Lydia needed to find out. She needed to find Shane Mons and start a conversation. There were things she’d like to know. Perhaps Berna knew where she could find him.
Berna gazed at the nurse's station. Ethan stood talking with a nurse. Berna focused as if she were trying to read their lips. Lydia relaxed, happy to give Ethan the phone and the information she'd collected. She was also pleased he hadn't witnessed her nosing through Averie's private call log. "Berna?" She interrupted the woman's concentration and in return received only half a response.
“Huh?”
“Shane Mons, do you know where I can find him?”
Berna peeled her eyes from the sheriff and turned them on his wife. She looked nervous and worried into Lydia’s face. “Haven’t you been listening, Lydia? I followed Mr. Mons here, after finding him on the road near my fields. That’s what I’m doing here.” She turned back to Ethan’s conversation. “Someone ran him over. It doesn't look good. I'd say, judging by Ethan's frown, Shane Mons is dead."