Chapter 17

TWO DAYS later, Jenna agreed to meet with us. I manipulated our phone conversation to make it seem like meeting at her job would be more convenient for her. In reality I just wanted to speak to her away from her overbearing mother.

As Danny and I walked down the quiet, half-dark hall, everything seemed to be a strange dichotomy of familiar and new. It was strange to be back in grade school. Especially my old grade school. It seemed impossible that I’d once walked down those halls as a student. Everything was so small. Even the water fountain was about two feet lower than it should be.

“Could you stop sighing please?” Danny bumped my shoulder as we walked. “It’s chilly enough in here.”

“Sorry. It’s just that I remember this place, you know? Such a simpler time.”

“You sound like you want to go back.”

“Maybe I do. Better than getting old.”

“The opposite of getting old isn’t getting younger, Rain. It’s death.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that we’re marching slowly toward nothingness?” I demanded. “That every day we go on brings us that much closer to the end of our existence?”

“Not really.”

I scowled. Danny never took me up on my philosophical bullshit. It was probably for the best. “There’s just so much I haven’t done. So much I haven’t experienced.”

His mouth twitched. “Like what?”

“Don’t laugh at me.” I gave him a poke. “Like seeing the Great Pyramids. Having pizza in Italy. Driving a Maserati. Saying ‘Book ’em, Danno.’”

He finally had to grin. “Your bucket list needs some work.”

When we reached Jenna’s classroom door, I peered through the little glass cutout. She was grading papers, head bowed, pen working busily. I rapped on the door, and she jumped. We locked eyes for a moment, and she beckoned us in.

“Detectives. Glad you could make it.” She sent us a smile that was a touch nervous. “Please. Have a seat.”

Easier said than done. It was the land the munchkins built. I wormed my way into a school desk two sizes too small and scooted my butt across the tiny seat. By the time I finished, my body was twisted like a soft pretzel. I hoped I didn’t need to reach my gun. Or get up in a hurry. Or use my balls ever again.

I glanced over to see how Danny was faring, only to find him sitting on top of the desk next to mine. Yeah. That probably would’ve been the way to go. He sent me an arched eyebrow—the one with the barbell in it. I’m convinced the only reason he got that piercing was to increase the power of his “are you an idiot” eyebrow arch.

I hoped the tiny desk legs splintered under his considerable bulk like used toothpicks.

Danny cleared his throat. “Jenna, we’re here to talk about some things that have come to light during our investigation.”

“Such as?”

“Were you aware that Amy had started seeing someone other than Brock?”

“No,” she answered coolly. “I wasn’t aware.”

“You were best friends, yes?” Danny folded his arms. “Strange she wouldn’t have shared something like that with you.”

“Well, she didn’t.” She shook her head. “My God, we’ve already been through all this. Several hundred times.”

“Then it shouldn’t be difficult to remember.”

“There’s nothing to remember. You guys are just asking the same questions a million different ways.”

“I think I have a new question.” I pulled out the picture I cut from the painting and slid it across the desk. Her eyes dropped to the photo, and I heard a slight intake of breath. Other than that she didn’t make a sound. We watched silently and waited.

I didn’t want to prod. Only… time was a-tickin’. And my God, it wasn’t like we’d caught her taking a dump in a memorial fountain. “Are you sure there’s nothing you need to tell us?”

She stared at the picture a little more and then finally sighed. “I don’t want to, but I suppose I should.”

“The two of you. Were you—”

“Yes,” she said, not looking up. “We were… together.”

“Together how?”

She glared at me and swept her hair behind her ear. “Seriously?”

“I need to know.”

“Together together. I loved her. Okay? And she loved me.”

Her crushed expression made me almost reach out in sympathy. I hovered for a minute as I debated patting her hand. I wasn’t a particularly large man, but my hand above hers looked like a clumsy bear paw. Hell, I didn’t know at that point if she would welcome touch, period. I finally dropped my hand. It wasn’t my thing anyway.

In general I didn’t reach out to other people physically. It was strange. Danny was the one who grew up without parents for the majority of his life, yet between us, he was the touchy-feely one. And annoyingly secure about it. When we watched TV together, he was always the one to absently pull me across the empty cushions and close the gap between us. After sex, when I would instinctively pull away and roll on my side, I’d almost come to expect Danny’s heat to enfold me from behind. Always closing the gap between us.

I hadn’t realized until then how much I missed that. Some part of me recognized that when I’d applied for a transfer to DC, I created space between us yet again. And expected Danny to close the gap. Only he hadn’t done it that time. He’d let me go without so much as a flicker of protest.

Danny’s phone brought me back to the present, and I willed myself to stay focused. He excused himself and strode out of the classroom to answer the phone with a crisp “McKenna.”

I waited until the door swung shut behind him to continue. “Why didn’t you tell anyone that the two of you were in a relationship?” I asked gently. “Any little detail can help when someone is missing.”

“Because I didn’t do anything to her. What’s the point of putting it all out there like that if it’s not going to help find her?” She swallowed. “It was private. Just for us.”

“That’s fine until the police are involved. You should have told us.”

“What’s the point in getting my mother all upset if…?” She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I just can’t tell her. Since Aaron died, I’m all she has. I can’t break her heart like that.”

Break her heart? By being yourself? But I couldn’t judge her too harshly. I personally hadn’t had much of a choice. My mother took one look at my prom date and said, “My God, Rain, I hope you’re not leading this poor girl on.” Luckily my date, Angela Jamison, had just been doing me a favor. My father certainly didn’t help things by peering out of the kitchen and sighing, “Honey, how long are we supposed to pretend we don’t know he’s gay?”

“I’m guessing you do remember what you were talking about the night she went missing?”

She looked down, and a sweep of shiny hair fell into her eyes. “We got into an argument before she went to work. She was all upset because she had an argument with her mother that morning, and she told me she couldn’t wait until she didn’t have to deal with that anymore. Couldn’t wait until we were on our own in Arizona. At Pemberton. I… I told her that I couldn’t go. Couldn’t go with her.” She swallowed hard and looked away. “I think part of me always knew that I couldn’t. It was just better to dream. To imagine how things could be.”

“What did she say?”

“She was disappointed. Angry. More angry with my mother than me, I think. I didn’t have the courage to leave. To stand up for us.”

“And you fought?” My brow furrowed. “Did things just get out of hand?”

“No. No.” She shook her head angrily. “I would never hurt Amy like that.”

“I don’t know,” I said mildly. “I’m sure you telling her she wasn’t worth the risk was somewhat hurtful.”

“You don’t understand,” she burst out. “My mother holds me responsible for my brother’s death. She never says it, but I know it’s there. I was supposed to pick up Austin that night, and I didn’t. I was too tired. I told him to catch a ride home with his friend’s older brother.” She slammed her hands angrily on her thighs. “It was my responsibility, and if I’d done what I was supposed to do, he’d still be alive. She’s never forgiven me, or let me forget. So I couldn’t leave.”

“And Amy didn’t understand that?”

“Would you?” Her fingers stole to her neck, and I wondered if she even realized she was tracing the invisible line where the locket used to be. “She wasn’t pleased.”

“And the locket?”

“I gave it back to her.” Her face was a study of full-on devastation. “She told me I didn’t need it anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” I said softly.

“It’s what I deserve. You know why we wore those necklaces? I know it was old-fashioned and naïve, but it was almost like a promise. A promise to each other.” Her hands dropped to her lap. “A promise I knew I couldn’t keep.”

She shook her head. “That’s it. Now you know it all.”

“Do I?” I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve been really good at lying to us. How do I know this is the truth?”

“Because it is.” Her eyes looked a little shiny, and I prayed she wouldn’t start crying. “It was stupid to lie to the police. I just… I wasn’t ready to answer those questions. I was afraid of what my mother would think.”

“Was?”

“Am,” she said quietly.

“I sympathize with that. Believe me I do. But when I work a case, I don’t stop until I get answers. Until the person responsible for Amy’s disappearance is caught and put away. I just hope that person isn’t you.”

She nodded jerkily. “It’s not. I didn’t have anything to do with this. I give you my word.” She lifted a shoulder. “For whatever that’s worth.”

WHEN I went outside, I found Danny still on the phone, jean-clad butt resting against the car. He hung up quickly and straightened. A frown creased his brow. “How’d it go?”

“About what we expected.” I shrugged. “She seems really broken up about it. I don’t think she could fake this kind of emotion.”

He shrugged. “She stays on the list. When you lie once….”

“Yeah, yeah. But I’d say this moves Brock up a few notches. He doesn’t seem the type to take his girlfriend leaving him for another woman lightly.” I gestured at his phone. “Who was that?”

“We dumped Brock’s phone records. He’s been calling his uncle a lot lately. He lives down in the Keys.”

I tilted my head thoughtfully. That was about a good two-hour drive. “You think he could be holed up somewhere down there?”

“Could be. Local PD seems to think the property is some sort of growhouse. And Brock’s uncle is a bit of a gun nut, so we’re going to approach this one a little differently.”

“You mean we’re not going to chase Brock across every obstacle known to man?”

“I didn’t say all that.” He grinned. “I’d definitely bring your Converse. Just in case.”