Unexpectedly, Milo - Matthew Dicks [104]
He had no time for this debate. All he wanted to do was find Tess Bryson, fill her in on Freckles’s story, and go home.
It began with three firm knocks on Kelly Plante’s yellow door.
chapter 25
Kelly Plante was not a porn fiend.
Nervous was the best way to describe the woman, who couldn’t have been more than thirty years old, if that. When she opened the door and saw a strange man standing before her, Milo saw a flash of uneasiness in the woman’s brown eyes, indicating, at least to him, that she was probably home alone. He quickly tried to put her mind at ease, and in doing so, put his own at ease.
“Hi, my name is Milo. I’m sorry to bother you. You don’t know me, but I’m trying to find an old friend. Someone who I think might be related to you. I’d like to ask you a few questions, but if this isn’t a good time, or you’d prefer to chat in a more public place, or over the phone, that’s fine.” As he spoke, he began backing up across the porch toward the steps in an effort to punctuate his purposeful timidity.
“You’re looking for a friend?” she asked.
Milo paused before descending the first of three steps to the brick walkway. “Yes, an old friend from grade school.”
“You’re not from around here,” she said.
“No, I’m from Connecticut. Would you like me to come back at another time? Or maybe talk over the phone instead?”
“No,” she said, seeming to relax a bit. “That’s okay. But how ’bout we sit out here, on the porch.” She was tall, at least as tall as Milo, with a short, dark, somewhat messy hairstyle and the muscular build of a woman who worked out seven days a week. Milo wondered why she might be nervous around someone like him, since he was relatively certain that she could kick his ass if need be.
“Sure,” Milo said. “It’s a nice night. My first night in North Carolina. Sitting out here would be great.”
“I’m Kelly, by the way,” she said, motioning to a pair of wicker chairs a few feet down the screened porch.
“I know,” Milo said, taking a seat. “Kelly Plante. I looked you up online. That’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, looking nervous again.
“I’m looking for a girl named Tess Bryson. She may have come to Chisholm about twenty years ago. She’d be about thirty-two years old today.”
“Why do you think I would know her.”
“Your last name is Plante,” Milo answered. “Tess Bryson’s mother’s maiden name was Plante.”
“And since we have the same last name, you thought we might be related?”
“I was hoping. I mean, Chisholm is a small town. I thought there was a chance that you might be her cousin, or a distant relative.”
“I’m afraid not. At least not that I know of. I’m the only Plante in town, I think. There was a Bryson family living in town for a while. A husband and wife. And they had kids. Two, I think. But the kids grew up and moved away a while ago. And they weren’t related to me. But you’re right. Chisholm is a small town, so I knew them. Well, I didn’t know them. I knew of them. But she’s moved away too. The kids’ mother, I mean, about two years ago. I think the husband might’ve died. At least that’s what I heard.”
“Do you know where she might have gone? Or where the kids went?”
“No idea.”
“Do you know where they lived?”
“Somewhere on the south side of town, I think. Near Milk Pond. But like I said, I didn’t really know them.”
“Do you have any other relatives in the area?” Milo asked, hoping to find another lead.
“Afraid not. I went to school at Chapel Hill and stayed down here after I graduated. I’m originally from upstate New York.”
“What about Emily and Michael Bryson?” Milo asked. “They live over on Federal Street. Do you know them?”
“No, I don’t,” she said. “But maybe they can help you out better than I can. Sorry I couldn’t help out.” Kelly Plante was rising, attempting to end the conversation.
Milo held his hand out, motioning her to stop. “Just one more minute, if you don’t mind?”
“Sure,” Kelly Plante said, resuming her position in the chair. Though her voice remained friendly, her eyes indicated otherwise.