Page 121 of Weight of Guilt

Bo met her before she’d gotten both feet inside, and the dog pressed against her legs hard enough to nearly throw her off balance.

She bent automatically and buried one hand in the fur at his neck. “Hey, buddy.”

He whined and pushed closer as if he knew something was wrong.

Nash stepped in behind her and shut the door.

The kitchen light was on. Nora sat at the table in a sweatshirt and pajama pants, one hand wrapped around a glass of water. Jacob stood beside her with his jacket draped over the back of a chair.

Marlowe was curled up in an oversized chair in the adjoining room, asleep beneath one of Mom’s crocheted blankets.

She’d called her sisters earlier to give them an update on where she was and what she was doing. They knew about Junction Market.

Nora saw Wren and jumped to her feet. “Anything?”

Wren straightened and shook her head.

Nora closed her eyes and almost looked as if she were deflating in front of her.

Jacob touched her shoulder then looked toward Wren. “Nora called me earlier. I hope you don’t mind that I’m here.”

“Of course not.” Wren rubbed Bo’s ears once more before letting him go.

Nash stepped forward first and held out his hand to Jacob. “Nash Hendricks.”

“Jacob Morgan.” Jacob shook it. “Nora’s boyfriend.”

Nora sank back into her chair. “Christian’s upstairs. He’s been up and down most of the night.”

“Still not sleeping?” Wren asked.

“Not really.” Nora rubbed both hands over her face. “Mom finally went to bed a couple hours ago.”

Wren pulled out the chair beside her and sat.

Jacob looked between her and Nash. “Did you find anything at the store?”

“Not much.” Wren rested her forearms on the table. “Better footage. Still no face.”

Nora’s mouth tightened. “Anything else new?”

Wren hesitated. Then she looked at her sister. “Nash and I went to see Paige again. We found more receipts.”

Jacob’s gaze shifted toward her. “More gas receipts?”

Wren looked at him.

He seemed to notice the question in her expression. “Nora told me about the ones from the truck.”

Nora gave a tired nod. “I did. I hope that was okay.”

“Of course.” Wren looked back at Nora. “Paige had boxes of them. Roy kept everything. They went back farther than we expected. Luke’s looking at them in the morning.”

Jacob nodded slowly. “So you think they matter?”

Wren shrugged. “We don’t know yet.”

Nora reached across the table and took Wren’s hand. “You should sleep.”