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Melanie
I woke up at about nine a.m. and stretched. Jonah had taken the yearbooks to his office early that morning to have Dolores make the copies we needed. Then we had to return them to Jordan before anyone noticed they were missing. He was going to get back to the house as quickly as he could, because he and I were taking a trip to Denver to see Wendy Madigan.
I wasn’t sure what her story was. She had obviously been a respected newswoman, so on the surface, at least, she was intelligent and hardworking. But who knew what went on in her mind?
She was a sophomore in the yearbook where she was shown as one of the members of the future lawmakers club. Tom Simpson and Theodore Mathias were seniors, and Brad, Rodney Cates, and Larry were juniors that year. Wendy had told Jade that her family had moved from the western slope to Denver when she was sixt
een and Brad was seventeen. She didn’t appear in any yearbooks after that year, so perhaps she had been telling the truth.
What was that club truly about? Larry had called the club the “future lawyers.” Had he made that mistake on purpose, trying to throw us off track? Or had he simply misspoken? After all, he and Tom were the only ones who actually became lawyers. I shook my head to myself. No, he had given us the wrong name on purpose. I was sure of it.
I would find out later. Right now, I had to get Lucy fed, take a shower, and get ready for Jonah to come home so we could drive to Denver this afternoon.
When I stood, a vibrating buzz met my ears. My phone was still hooked up to the charger in the bedroom, but I looked around.
Jonah’s phone sat on the kitchen counter. Very odd. He never went anywhere without his phone, but there was a first time for everything. I grabbed the phone. It was a text.
Now you are mine.
I dropped the phone back on the counter with a clatter. Icy chills crept up the back of my neck. He was still getting those texts. Had Mills and Johnson traced that number yet? Had Jonah even called them? I had no idea. Well, I had the number right in front of me now. I would call and get to the bottom of this. Taking Jonah’s phone with me, I walked swiftly to the bedroom where my own phone was. Quickly I dialed Trevor Mills’s number.
“Mills.”
“Hi there, this is Melanie Carmichael, Jonah Steel’s…girlfriend.”
“Of course. What can I do for you, Doctor?”
“I need you to trace a phone number for me.” I rattled off the number. “Jonah’s been getting some unusual texts from this number, and all we could find is that the area code is in Iowa.”
“I’ll get on it. Anything else?”
“No. Just give me a call when you have any information.”
“Will do. Have a good day.”
I stared at Jonah’s phone for a moment, again questioning why he’d left it here. Probably just an oversight. I walked into the bathroom and started the shower.
* * *
Jonah was late getting back from the pastures. I couldn’t call him because I had his phone. So I decided to call Dolores at his office.
“Steel Acres.”
“Hi, Dolores. This is Melanie Carmichael. Is Jonah still in the office?”
“Jonah hasn’t been in this morning,” the secretary said. “I just assumed he went straight out to the pastures.”
My heart nearly stopped. “You mean he didn’t go in this morning and ask you to make some copies of some old yearbooks?”
“No, Melanie. Sorry.”
My skin prickled, and my pulse raced. What was going on?
“So you haven’t seen him at all today?”
“No, I haven’t. Is anything wrong?”
I didn’t want to worry her. “Everything’s fine. Thank you.” I ended the call.
