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A knock at the front door cut her off. Scamper barked from his bed in the corner of the room. Chase immediately rose from the couch. “Are you expecting someone?”
“No, but I doubt cold-blooded killers knock on the door.”
He waved off her comment, heading for the front door on long strides. His hand went to his weapon at his hip as he peeked out the dining room window. He frowned. “It’s your neighbors. What are their names again?”
“Marsha and Tom Bradley. They own that car dealership off the freeway.” Faith hurried across the room and was at Chase’s side when he opened the door. She offered her neighbors a friendly smile. “Hi, guys.”
Mid-thirties, Marsha was slender with naturally curly hair. Her husband, Tom, was over six-one and burly. A thick beard covered the bottom-half of his face. A brand-new SUV sparkled in the sunshine. The Bradleys always had the newest vehicles. Faith didn’t know them well, but Tom’s older kids—teenagers from his first marriage—tended her yard last summer to earn extra money for a school trip.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Faith.” Marsha shoved her hands into the pockets of her peacoat. “But we heard a rumor in town that you’d found a baby in your barn and that the child might belong to Hillary Evans.” Her gaze drifted to Chase. “If that’s true, we may have some information about the case.”
Faith wasn’t surprised that the rumor mill was in full swing, but she was shocked to learn the Bradleys might have information about Hillary’s disappearance. She gestured them inside. “Please, come out of the cold. Have a seat.”
Marsha and Tom settled on the coach. Faith went through the motions of offering them something to eat or drink, but they both refused. Marsha zeroed in on Anna right away, cooing over the sleeping baby. Tom ignored her.
“I didn’t know y’all were friendly with Hillary.” Faith let Chase sit in the recliner and then she perched on the arm. “How did you know her?”
“She babysat for us three days a week and sometimes on the weekends.” Marsha opened her coat and shrugged it off. “Our youngest, Jennie, is only four. We needed someone to watch her during the hours I was at the car dealership. Hillary came highly recommended. I was sad when she turned in her notice. Jennie adored her.”
“Were you aware that Hillary was pregnant when she quit?” Chase asked.
“I was.” Marsha sighed. “Hillary was excited to be a mom, but she refused to say who the dad was. I thought that was strange, especially since I’d seen her and Dr. Whitcomb having dinner together a few months before.”
Faith stiffened. “Dr. Whitcomb? Hillary and Robert were dating?”
The memory of the way Robert looked at Anna in the hospital flashed in Faith’s mind. She’d dismissed it as nothing, but maybe she shouldn’t have.
Tom straightened, laying a hand on his wife’s arm. “Hold on. We need to be clear here, because I’m not comfortable accusing a man of something. Marsha isn’t sure Dr. Whitcomb is the baby’s father. Hillary never told us they were dating or involved.”
Chase leaned forward. “Sir, this is an active investigation with a missing woman. Any information you have is helpful. No one is seeking to falsely accuse anyone. We simply want to locate Hillary and make sure she’s okay.”
Marsha blew out a breath. “Tell them, Tom. Tell them what you saw.”
He scraped a hand over his beard. “A few days after my wife saw Dr. Whitcomb and Hillary together, I also spotted them. It was in a restaurant in the next town. I was there for a business meeting with a client who leases a lot of vehicles from us.” Tom hesitated. “They were arguing in the parking lot. It got heated; so much so, I thought I was going to have to intervene. But then Hillary got into her car and drove away. Dr. Whitcomb left too. Neither of them saw me or knew I was there.”
“Do you know what they were arguing about?” Chase asked.
“No. I was inside the restaurant and couldn’t hear them.”
Faith chewed on the inside of her cheek. “When you say it got heated, what does that mean?”
Tom swallowed hard. It was clear he was extremely uncomfortable sharing the information, which Faith could understand, but now was not the time to worry about gossip. She clutched her hands together. “Please, Tom. This man has attacked me twice and attempted to kidnap Anna. Whoever he is, we need to find him before he can strike again.”
Tom blew out a breath. “It looked like Dr. Whitcomb was going to hit her. He grabbed Hillary’s arm, which is when I got up from my table and started to go outside. But by the time I got there, Hillary was already inside her car.”
“Did you ever ask her about it?”
He met her gaze, and the look in his eyes was haunted. “No, but I should have. It was a mistake not to. And now I’ll have to live with that decision for the rest of my life.”
