“To the police?”Jessie asked.
“Amie might have shitty taste in men, but running off without a word is out of character for her.”
“Does she have any close girlfriends?When I left Ridge, that’s who I turned to, even though my friend lives in another country.”
“I don’t know.She only ever mentioned Sophy, and she used to hang out with Debra from the office.But I already spoke with Debra, and she doesn’t know where Amie is.She said they used to be closer, but then Debra got married and had a kid, and I guess her priorities changed.”
“Out with the barhopping, in with Chuck E.Cheese?”
“Something like that.They still went to a yoga class on Thursday evenings, but Amie missed that too.Debra put a message on the WhatsApp group.”
“If she left of her own accord, trying to get away from Brett, then filing a police report could make her life real difficult.I worry about Ridge acting all worried and sending the cops after me—you know, getting them to do his dirty work—and that’s another reason I want to restart my cooking blog.To show the world I’m okay, even though…even though I’m really not.”
Justin itched to give her a hug, but he also knew he couldn’t.She needed space and respect, not another man’s hands all over her.
“The most important thing is that you’re safe.The rest, we can work on.I just need to find Amie, and then we can set up whatever you need for your cooking show.”
He had a whole construction team at his disposal.If she wanted a new kitchen, he’d build her one.They could convert the fucking yoga studio.
“I’m so sorry—listen to me having a pity party when Amie is the priority right now.I guess we should file a police report.When I left, I tried to cover my tracks, but somebody smart could probably follow my trail for at least part of the way.I went to the animal shelter to pick up Shiro, and then I pawned my rings, and I had to buy a new car because Ridge’s has a tracker and— Wait, does Amie’s car have a tracker?Is it leased?”
“No, she owns it outright.The company has a profit share scheme, and we had a great year the year before last.”Amie had added her bonus to her savings, and she’d been so damn proud of herself when she bought that Toyota.No more car payments, no more reliability issues.“But it’s worth checking out the possibility of a tracker.Hopefully, the police can help with that.”
Jessie clipped her seat belt into place.“Okay, let’s go.”
The cops couldn’t help.Well, maybe they could, but they didn’t seem to want to.The moment Justin mentioned Brett, the officer nodded knowingly and put the cap back on his pen.
“I’ve seen it a hundred times before, kids running off together like that.”
“Amie isn’t a kid.She’s a grown woman.What if there’s foul play involved?What if Brett harmed her and then took off?”
“From what you’ve told me, he left before she did.Monday, right?And she came to work on Tuesday and Wednesday?”
Justin had to admit that part didn’t make much sense.“Right.”
“So she probably decided to join the boyfriend, wherever he went.She’ll come to her senses in a few weeks and beg for her job back.”
“I can’t stress enough how unusual this is for Amie.”
“And I’ll pass the report to a detective to take a look.Did you try contacting her family?”
“No, but they live in Colorado.”
And she didn’t really speak to them.Not after her older sister—her parents’ favourite—ruined her credit and her parents told Amie to cut Saige some slack because she was going through a difficult time.Never mind that the “difficult time” had been mostly self-inflicted.
“Maybe she went to visit with them?”
“That’s possible,” Justin admitted.“But my gut says there’s something more to this.”
“I hear you, but this isn’t my first rodeo.And we can’t launch a full-scale manhunt for every girl who gets a wild hair and goes off on an adventure, not when we have actual crimes to solve.”
Justin’s hands balled into fists at his sides, and he forced himself to take a calming breath.It didn’t work.
“Actual crimes?You mean like the fraud my friend here reported yesterday, the one where your colleague shrugged and basically told her to suck it up?”
Perhaps he shouldn’t have said that, but it was the truth.And it was clear the cops in this part of the world hadn’t gotten any smarter since Ruby died.Back then, they’d harangued him for hours, even though there was nothing but tenuous circumstantial evidence against him.The officer narrowed his eyes and took a sip of coffee.
“Is there anything else?”
