The phone cut off.Shit!Had he been about to say he loved me?Because in my heart, I knew I’d fallen for him too.Despite the awful circumstances and the way we’d been torn apart, I was in love with Justin Norquist.I only hoped I’d be able to tell him in person soon.
“No, no, no, no, no.That must be a mistake.”
It couldn’t be true.No way.It must have been misreported.
Violet reached across the kitchen island for the remote.Marion had brought sixteen pounds of peaches, I’d been stress-baking, and there were pies everywhere.
“I’m telling you, that’s what he said.The medical examiner arrived to do the autopsy, but the body was gone.”
She turned to the local news, where a guy with perfect teeth and slicked-back hair was talking about a missing service dog.He didn’t mention Justin or Amie.
“They’ll run the story again.Or I’ll check the internet.Or ask Ari—she’ll know.Hey, Ari?Are you watching the news?”
“No, I’m watching a surveillance video.”
“What, still?”
“There are days and days of this.”
Shiro scratched at the back door, and I opened it for him.Usually, he was so good, but he must have picked up on the stress because he was acting out of sorts—he’d stolen an entire peach cobbler and wolfed it down when I wasn’t looking.
“Just don’t puke in the house,” I told him.“Please?”
Ari ambled in.“Is there any more peach pie?”
“There’s peach everything.”Violet waved an arm at the counter.“Peach pie, peach tart, peach pavlova…”
“Did you see the news?”I asked.“Something about Amie Carlson’s body going missing?”
“The police have misplaced it.Crazy, huh?”
“How can they misplace a body?”
“I don’t know; maybe they put it in the wrong freezer?”
“But they’ll find it, right?Because Justin said the detectives are waiting for the autopsy results before they let him go.”
No body meant no freedom.Another night in a cell.
Ari shrugged.“Depends on how careless they’ve gotten with their morgue procedures.”
How could she act so relaxed about this?“Justin’s stuck in a cell with a freaking drug addict.”
“Not for long.They arrested him on a vibe, not actual evidence.”
“But what if?—”
“Just relax.”
“Have you been spending too long with Jerry?Because you’re starting to sound a lot like her.”
Violet put an arm around my shoulders.“Why don’t you make another peach cobbler?It looked delicious.”
I was stuck in limbo, and Justin was trapped in the ninth circle of hell.
CHAPTER43
JESSALYN
