CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jace resisted the urge to rest a hand on Shae’s knee to show his support. She’d been very clear that she didn’t want their budding relationship broadcasted to anyone outside of themselves, and he understood the reason why. That didn’t make it any less easy on him to watch the color drain from her face.
“I take it you’ve spoken with Brynn or Julie?” Jace didn’t wait for Kendrick to answer that question. Instead, he focused on his brother. “Mitch, what about Stanton? He was with Emma that night.”
“Detective Kendrick spent the morning speaking with all of Emma’s friends, even the ones who moved out of town.” Mitch began twirling the pen in his hand, something he used to do when studying for a test. “They couldn’t remember a time when Emma said she was unhappy with her home life. We fully believe that Emma was taken by the same man who killed Sophia and Whitney, as well as abducted the other victims, but it would benefit us to know we’re on the right track.”
“She—” Shae cleared her throat when it was obvious she was still adjusting to this new development. “Emma was very close to our grandmother. She had suffered from multiple mini-strokes and was having a hard time caring for herself. My father wanted her to move into assisted living, but she refused and wanted to stay in her own home. I remember Emma giving my father the silent treatment for a few weeks, but the decision was never made because my grandmother passed away in her sleep shortly after Emma disappeared.”
“Ms. Mercer mentioned that as well,” Kendrick pondered, but Jace wasn’t sure that was the confirmation the detective wanted from this meeting. “Do you recall your sister ever saying she would run away from home if your father followed through with moving his mother into an assisted living home?”
“Emma spent most of that month at my grandmother’s house.” Shae sat forward on the edge of her chair, curling both hands around the tea Jace had made her that morning. He doubted it was giving her the warmth she was seeking from its contents. “It was the same summer she attended camp, though.”
“Which brings us right back to square one,” Mitch said with frustration and right as Kendrick received a phone call. “Go ahead and take that. I’ll finish up here and then meet you out front. We should take a drive back up to the lake and speak with Rose Phifer.”
“I want to speak with Raymond Dixon, too. You got time?” Detective Kendrick didn’t wait for Mitch to answer. He already had his phone against his ear, with his coffee in another. “What have you got for me, Kenny?”
Kendrick left the office, leaving Shae to pounce on Mitch regarding the detective’s request.
“Raymond?” Shae inquired, her interest snagged by the name of Birdie and Stanley’s son. The couple used to own the property around the lake and were the ones who hosted all the summer camps. “I’m supposed to meet with him later today.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Jace didn’t recall Shae saying she was meeting with anyone today. Hadn’t they gone over her safety and that she couldn’t just run around town as if she wasn’t a target herself? “You didn’t mention that on the way into town.”
“I didn’t want you to rearrange your schedule.” Shae shot him a warning look, but she didn’t seem to realize that her safety took precedence. “You said that you were meeting with your dad and Lance to go over the pieces of furniture you’d like them to make for the house. Raymond is meeting me at the diner for lunch. You can pick me up on your way back through town.”
There wasn’t a chance in hell Jace was leaving Shae in town with no transportation. Hell, he wouldn’t allow her to be by herself regardless. They’d had this conversation, but she’d apparently forgotten.
“And what if Raymond Dixon is the one who abducted Emma? What if he is the one who killed Sophia and Whitney? Do you think Kendrick’s man, who is currently sitting outside in his car and will be doing the same when you’re having lunch, is going to have enough split-second reaction time needed should Dixon decide to—”
“What?” Shae asked somewhat abruptly, her attention completely on him. Good. He needed her to see reason. “Abduct me? Kill me in front of everyone while they eat lunch? Splatter blood all over the walls? I’m not irresponsible, Jace. I know how to take precautions.”
“Jace, go ahead and drive out to Dad’s place.” Mitch pointed to the door with his pen. “Kendrick and I will join Shae for her meeting with Dixon. I’ll make sure to call you when we’re done.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Shae argued with a shake of her head. “We all know how skittish Raymond can be, and he might not talk if he thinks the police believe he might have something to do with all this.”
What the hell did Shae think she was doing?
“Mitch, could I have a moment alone with Shae?” Jace didn’t even bother to look his brother’s way. There was no hiding the fact that things had turned personal between him and Shae, and there were far more pressing issues at hand. “Please?”
Mitch silently rolled back his desk chair, tossing the pen on a mountain of files. He didn’t say a word as he quietly walked out of his office.
“We had sex, Jace.” Shae stood and set her tea on the corner of the desk, the only clear space on the surface. He didn’t miss the trembling in her fingers, but that was most likely due to her rising anger. Well, she could join the club. “We didn’t get married, as far as I recall.”
“That’s not fair,” Jace shot back. He had purposefully not brought up last night for this very reason. “What happened between us has nothing to do with me looking out for your safety. I don’t give a damn if you need to label my willingness to help you as just an old friendship and pretend we never made love, but you simply can’t go around taunting a serial killer into coming after you.”
“You know I came back home to find out what happened to Emma. Becoming briefly involved with you doesn’t change that fact. I’m going to do everything I can to remember details that could help Detective Kendrick, as well as speak with our old friends and neighbors in hopes to jog their memory.” Shae took a deep breath, but she wasn’t nearly done with her long-winded reply. “Someone knows something, Jace. Maybe your uncle, who saw Emma that night. Maybe Billy Stanton, who danced with my sister at the bonfire. I honestly don’t know, but I didn’t take a month’s leave from the hospital to play tourist in a town I know like the back of my hand.”
There were many things Shae mentioned that Jace wanted to address, but her timetable was like a punch to the gut. A month? She’d already used up close to a week. He recalled Brynn saying that Shae was taking an indefinite amount of time from her job, so he never took into consideration that his days with her were quite so restricted.
“I get that you’re on a timetable, but I’d like to send you home to your parents in one piece,” Jace said softly, not needing to add to his statement. Shae received his message loud and clear from the way she wrapped her arms around her waist. “Doc, is it so hard to believe that I’m looking out for your wellbeing?”
Shae sighed in exhaustion, reminding him that her fatigue wasn’t only due to stress. He should have let her get some sleep last night.
“Come here,” Jace urged, knowing full well Mitch had closed the door behind him when he vacated the office. Shae stepped into his arms without hesitation. He pressed his lips to her head, wishing he could make her stress disappear. “You’ll have answers before you leave town. Kendrick is doing his best, but Mitch knows this town inside and out.”
“You act like he hasn’t been gone for the last sixteen years,” Shae whispered in doubt, her cheek nestled against the fabric of his shirt. “Mitch wasn’t even here when Emma went missing, so he’s somewhat at a disadvantage.”
“And so are you.” Jace hated to remind Shae of that small detail, but the past didn’t erase the truth. “You entered college that year, Shae. You only visited home on the weekends. Emma was living her own life.”
“Someone knows something, Jace.”
“Yes, they do.” Jace shifted her so that he could gauge her reaction to the follow up of his argument. “And the son of a bitch knows you’re here to find answers. He’s playing with you, because for some reason he feels safe in doing so. That alone should be all the warning you need to play it safe as well. I’m here for you, Doc. Use me. Let me help.”
“You wait until we’re in the middle of a police station to say that to me?” Shae said somewhat lightheartedly. He recognized her need to diffuse the tension that had filled the room, but he wasn’t going to let her off that easy. “Go visit your dad and Lance. I’ll wait for Mitch and Detective Kendrick to join me before walking over to the diner. I have to call my parents anyway, before they hear from someone else that…”
Jace understood that it was hard for Shae to express that her sister’s killer had reached out in a sick and twisted way. Explaining the situation to her parents would only have them begging her to return to Michigan. He didn’t even question her resolve to see this through, though. She was too stubborn to let anyone run her out of town.
“Excuse me,” Mitch interrupted, giving a courtesy knock on his own office door. To his credit, he didn’t say a word about Shae being nestled in Jace’s arms. “Charlene Winston is doing a live segment outside the station. Now might be a good time to talk to your parents, Shae.”
“Shit,” Shae muttered, spinning around and reaching inside her purse.
She pulled out her cell phone and initiated the call. Her mother or father must have answered on the first ring, because she pasted a smile to her face and began asking how everything was back in Lansing.
Jace stepped away to give her some privacy, though he second guessed that decision when Mitch quietly followed him out of the office. His older brother always did manage to get the last word in when trying to make his point.
“Super Ace, when are you ever going to learn?”