Over the next two weeks, Netta Jade did something she hadn't done in years. She stayed. She talked to old neighbors, dug through a church archive, and even convinced the local constable to reopen a cold case. She found a witness who remembered the blue sedan. She found a receipt with a partial address. And finally, she found a living relative of Netta Ashford—an elderly aunt who had never stopped searching.

It was a sad ending. But it was also a true one.

The jade fox felt warm against her palm.