Her Last Day (Jessie Cole #1)(73)

A tall gray-haired man leaned his head into Lucas’s office. “Everything all right?”

Lucas’s face reddened.

“Everything’s fine,” Ben answered. “You’ve got an exceptional young man working for you. I think he’s convinced me that I need whole life to go with my car insurance.”

The man tapped his hand against the wall and smiled. “Okay, I’ll leave you two alone.”

“I took the car,” Lucas said with a sigh. “Dad and Mom never knew.”

“Did you leave the key in the car?”

He swallowed. “I don’t remember. Probably. How can I be sure you won’t use my name in your story?”

“I’m a man of my word.” Ben stood and gathered his file, then grabbed a couple of Lucas’s business cards and held them up. “I’ll make sure to send some business your way.”

As Ben exited the building, his heart raced. Now that he knew Lucas had borrowed his dad’s car and brought it to Sacramento on the same night Sophie had disappeared, it made sense that Sophie had stormed out of the house after arguing with Jessie, happened upon a Ford Pinto with the key possibly still in the ignition, hopped in, and driven to Auburn.

He was still missing pieces to the puzzle, though. How did Vernon end up with the key to the car? Or was it all one big coincidence, and he happened to steal an already stolen car? But Leanne Baxter had stated that Ben had left the Wild West with Sophie and Vernon, that the three of them had left at the same time. Only two of them were in the car when Vernon slammed into a tree. He was right back to square one: What happened to Sophie?

Walking across the parking lot, Ben thought about his last conversation with Jessie. She didn’t trust him, and she had good reason. He had yet to tell her about his talk with Sophie’s old friend, Juliette. But he kept telling himself it was because he wanted to spare Jessie the pain of knowing the truth about Sophie. Sophie was bisexual. So what? The part that didn’t sit well was all the rest. If Juliette was to be believed, Sophie was trouble with a capital T. She stole cars, then lured men into her trap and robbed them.

He needed to come clean with Jessie, tell her everything he knew. He slid his phone from his pocket and dialed her number.





FORTY

After calling Marcus Hubbard in Woodland and leaving a message asking him to call her, Jessie drove to the police station where they were holding Arlo Gatley. He’d waived his right to be booked into the station in Yolo County.

She signed in at the front desk, asked to speak with Colin Grayson, and then took a seat and waited. A few minutes later Colin appeared. “What are you doing here?”

“I want to speak to my client Arlo Gatley about his missing daughter.”

“Jessie, that’s not a good idea.”

“I need to see him, Colin. I need to figure out what I’m going to do next. She suffers from schizophrenia. Without her father to look for her, she has no one.” She sighed. “This is important to me.”

He shifted his weight.

“Did you find something in Arlo’s house? Is that why he was arrested?”

“We found the necklace. The father of the twins came to the station last night and confirmed that it belonged to their daughter.”

Jessie anchored her hair behind her ear. She felt strangely betrayed by Arlo Gatley, an awkward man whom she’d been quick to defend against a world filled with bullies.

“Wait here,” Colin said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

It wasn’t long before he returned. She could talk to Arlo, but the meeting would be recorded. After she agreed, she was stripped of her belongings. She knew the drill. Instead of being led to the window area, she was taken to a small room with a table and two chairs. She sat quietly and waited. Colin had disappeared.

A good thirty minutes passed before Arlo was escorted into the room, his hands cuffed in front of him. He took the chair at the table across from her. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot.

He frowned. “They told me that the necklace they found in my house belonged to one of the twin girls found dead recently. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t do it,” Arlo told her.

“Didn’t do what?”

“Didn’t do any of the things they’re suggesting I might have done. I never saw those girls in my life. And I have no idea where my daughter is. I would never hurt anyone.”

“I trusted you,” Jessie said. “I fell for your stories about being bullied throughout your life. How does one person manage to be disliked by an entire neighborhood? You sit in your driveway for hours at a time staring at nothing. What is that about?”

“I miss my wife. There are days I can’t be myself around Zee, so I wait for the emotions to pass.”

Jessie stiffened. She was falling for it again. The sad face, along with the melancholy tone of his voice, made her the ultimate sucker. “You wouldn’t allow me to see the rest of your house.”

“I’m uncomfortable with other people in my space. I have nothing to hide. I just like my privacy—that’s all there is to it.”

“What about the screaming in the middle of the night? Mrs. Dixon said she used to be awakened by loud shrieks.”

“Zee has suffered from hallucinations all of her life. It’s taken years to get her on the right medication.”