A Covert Affair (Deadly Ops #5)(53)

Sinclair nodded. “Yeah, already got that. Kid showed up looking for her because she hadn’t returned his texts and freaked when he saw police cars here. Demanded to know what was going on, tried to rush into the house. She had any problems with anyone at work that you know of?”

“No . . . yes.” Oh God. Why hadn’t Amelia thought about that? “About a month ago I fired one of my chefs for harassing some of the girls. Tessa was one of them.”

“Name?”

“Neal Gray. I gave you his info the other night.”

Sinclair nodded, his expression grim. “I had him and the other one, Turner, pulled in for questioning about possibly hitting your Jeep.”

She blinked, surprised by that. “And?”

“And nothing so far. Neither of their vehicles showed signs of damage either. Do you have his info on your phone by chance?”

“I can pull it up.”

“I’ve got it on file, but give it to me now. I want to get someone over to his place asap.”

With a sense of urgency, Amelia pulled her cell out of her pocket and logged in to one of her work accounting programs.

“What kind of harassment?” Sinclair asked as she searched.

“Vile sexual jokes targeted at specific girls, but only when it was just him and the girl. He cornered a few of them in the freezer but never actually touched anyone or did anything physical. Not that I care about that. As soon as the first girl came to me, I fired him. After that more girls came forward.” She’d had a staff meeting after that, making it clear to everyone that they could come to her about anything. She wouldn’t put up with that kind of crap. Ever.

“Here.” She held out her phone, let Sinclair copy down all the information. “Can I talk to Jonas?” she asked when he finished.

“No, not yet at least. We’ve got to take him to the station and take his official statement.”

“Oh, right.” She watched enough TV that she knew significant others were often suspects. Jonas just looked worried and panicked to Amelia, but he could be acting for all she knew.

“Is there anything I can do?” She wanted to help in any way she could. Right now she felt so damn helpless. God, the thought of sweet Tessa being taken . . . It didn’t matter if this was related to the other case or not; she wanted Tessa found alive and unharmed.

“Yeah, give me a list of any of her friends from work, anyone she’s had an issue with, names, phone numbers, her work schedule. Basically anything you know about her that you think will be helpful. You can do it here or down at the station.”

“Here’s fine. Do you have something I can write on?”

“Yeah, just give me a sec.” He turned, waved at the officer talking to Jonas, and called the man over.

It didn’t take long for them to set her up with a pad and paper. She called both restaurants to let them know she likely wouldn’t be by for a while and then let Sylvia know to find people to cover Tessa’s shifts for the near future. She didn’t give any other details, though, knowing the police wouldn’t want her to. They’d probably want to question everyone who’d worked with Tessa.

As she jotted down names and phone numbers, she pushed back the nausea swirling inside her. It was hard not to think of the worst-case scenario in a situation like this. And she desperately wanted to call Nathan. She wasn’t sure if Sinclair had done so already, but if the FBI was on this case, it stood to reason he’d have contacted them about it.

Just in case they hadn’t, she decided to call Nathan too. Okay, she called complete and total bullshit on herself. She contacted him because she was desperate to hear his voice. She wanted to at least establish communication after last night because she wasn’t sure when or if he’d call her.

He picked up on the second ring, his voice clipped. “Yeah.”

Okay, then. Her stomach knotted, but she pushed all that crap back. Right now wasn’t about her. “Tessa Hall, a girl who works for me, has gone missing. The police are involved. I’m at her house with Detective Sinclair right now. I don’t know if it’s related to your case and I have no idea if she’s ever been to Maria’s center, but I wanted to let you know.”

He cursed quietly. “Thanks for letting me know. My boss might already be aware, but I’ll pass the info on, make sure we coordinate with the Miami PD.”

She didn’t know how to respond as an awkward silence stretched between them. Sitting in the passenger seat of Sinclair’s Explorer, she stared blindly out the window. She didn’t want to give up Nathan without a fight. “Will you come see me tonight?”

He paused so long she wasn’t sure he’d respond. “If I can.”

Way too much relief slid through her veins. The cowardly part of her told her she shouldn’t have opened herself up to him, shouldn’t have been honest, because she’d known this would happen. Hell, she was surprised he was even thinking about coming over. “Okay.”

Once they disconnected, she got out of the vehicle, feeling even crappier than this morning. He was probably just coming over so he could officially tell her he never wanted to see her again. He’d had time to think about it now and it was clear from his tone he hadn’t wanted to talk to her.

“Are you done?” Sinclair asked as he approached her.

“Yeah. I left the info on the passenger seat.”