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Mitch’s defenses flared. That would be very convenient for Brandon.
Mitch nodded. “What about her faith? Jennifer mentioned she’d become very religious in the months leading up to her disappearance.”
Brandon’s eyebrows lifted. “No idea. I didn’t see anything. She didn’t go to church as far as I knew.”
Brandon seemed to not know much about Lana at all. Mitch questioned whether that was also a little too convenient.
“Before we go, I also have a few questions about a Thomas Laube. I believe he’s a friend of yours?” Mitch asked.
Now Brandon looked surprised. “Friend is a stretch. We used to be—the guy got heavily into the drug scene. What’s he done now?” Brandon asked, then quickly added: “Is he involved in this?” His eyes hardened.
Mitch tried to gauge the tone of Brandon’s voice. He sounded a little surprised and a little angry, but his face was fairly impassive.
“He was seen in Redwater driving a car that is registered to you,” Mitch said, and now there was no mistaking his surprise.
“Excuse me? What car?” Brandon demanded.
“A black Ford Raptor,” Mitch said, pulling up the registration details on his phone. He rattled off the license plate.
Brandon balked and grabbed his own phone.
“Hey. Can you please go into the basement garage and check if my black truck is there? Thanks,” he said, then looked back to Mitch. “I didn’t give him that car.”
Mitch lowered his voice and checked the doorway behind Brandon to make sure they were alone. “He said you gave it to him in exchange for drugs, but that it was still registered to you because you didn’t want your father knowing,” Mitch said. “I’m not interested in the drugs. I’m only here to talk about Lana.”
Brandon shook his head furiously. “That’s a complete lie. I haven’t seen that guy for about a year now, and I cut him off because he’s an addict I didn’t want to be hanging around. I did not give him a car under any circumstances.”
Brandon’s phone rang and Mitch knew the answer before Brandon said another word. His eyes were like storm clouds.
Brandon put the phone down. “The truck isn’t there,” he said. “I never drove it much. I have a few other cars I park in the ground-level garage, so I haven’t been down to the basement for some time. I didn’t notice it was missing.”
Mitch didn’t know if he believed that. “How would he get the truck though? You said yourself you have a tight security system.”
Brandon chewed on his cheek. “I don’t know. He was a friend at one point so maybe he told one of our staff I’d asked him to pick it up for me. I’ll definitely be asking them.”
“If you could do that and let me know what you learn, that would be great,” Mitch said. “We won’t take up too much more of your time, but were you home last Thursday night?”
Brandon squinted as if recalling what he was doing. “No, I was out with friends. I can give you their numbers and you can verify that. Why? What happened last Thursday?”
“A murder in Redwater—we think it was the same person who killed Lana,” he said.
Brandon’s mouth dropped into an O. “And you think I did this?” he asked, straightening. “I thought you said I wasn’t a suspect.”
“We just need to rule out anyone with links to Lana. Everyone is being spoken to, including her sister,” Mitch said, trying to diffuse the tension before a team of lawyers stormed the room.
“Zoe,” Brandon said, her name like rotten milk on his tongue. “She was like an overbearing mother. She never let Lana make any decisions for herself. If someone forced Lana to run off, it was Zoe. She’ll have to live with that, I guess.”
The base of Mitch’s neck tingled.
CHAPTER28
ZOE
The road blurred and she realized she’d had far too much to drink. It had been fun though. Jonathan’s friends were nice people and for a few hours she’d managed to lose her shadow of grief. She’d felt free in a way she hadn’t for years, and she’d had a few too many drinks as a result.
“Oh, I love this song,” Jonathan said, turning up the radio.
Zoe allowed herself to relax and settle into the seat, the road slightly blurring as Jonathan took the corner a little too sharply—or so she thought, but she couldn’t be entirely sure.
