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“Maybe she doesn’t like men who break the law. Or maybeshe likes being in control. Or, like me, she hates when people don’t listen to her.” Ginny understood all of those. She also thought they fit Lila, either due to her father or in spite of him.
“Like I said, doesn’t flinch.” He pointed to the street. “And here she is.”
Lila turned into the driveway in the big SUV rental. She didn’t look surprised or scared. She didn’t look like a woman who was worried about her husband either. No, her blank expression didn’t give away much at all.
“Where have you been?” Ginny asked before Lila got to the porch.
“Are you my babysitter now?”
“Lila,” Tobias said, the warning obvious.
“Fine.” Lila rolled her eyes. “I needed a drive to clear my head.”
“From what?”
“Her husband is missing,” Tobias said in a dry tone.
“Right. That reminds me.” Ginny reached into her inside jacket pocket and pulled out the official document. “This is a search warrant. In about a minute, a whole lot of forensic types will descend on your house and start looking around. Anything you want to tell me first?”
Tobias swore under his breath. “Interesting how you saved that bit of information to spring now and didn’t tell me while we were waiting for her to come home.”
Ginny couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t flinch either.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
THE NEXT MORNING ABOUT A HUNDRED PEOPLE GATHERED ATthe southern end of Cayuga Lake. Members of the sheriff’s office and a few police from some of the smaller communities in the area circled before handing out instructions. Two local television stations sent camera crews out.
Ginny shut her car door and walked through the packed parking lot, searching for Pete. He came bounding away from the crowd and headed for her. “Looks like we got some extra law enforcement help. I heard the Ithaca Police Department is sending a few officers as well.”
“They volunteered, and Charles said we couldn’t say no.” Ginny didn’t agree, but whatever.
Pete watched Charles pick up a megaphone. “But when did he give the okay for a public search?”
“He decided it was a win-win. Get the public looking and talking and make it clear the case is a priority.”
Pete rolled his eyes. “You’d never know he’s about a year out from the next election.”
“He’s always running. Pleasing people is nonstop.” It was arequirement of the job, which was part of the reason Ginny did not want that desk. “He’s also getting some pressure. Brent’s been calling in and getting the press to ask questions.”
“Yeah, he stopped by the office twice yesterday.”
“He’s panicked that Aaron is hurt somewhere and we’re not looking for him.” Little did Brent know they’d been poking into his background. The man had significant debt, but unless Aaron promised to give him money, that debt likely wasn’t relevant to the disappearance.
Pete looked out over the trees and toward the lake. “We’ve driven all over this area looking for Aaron’s car.”
“The hope is to find a body, not a car.” Ginny scanned the crowd. She recognized some faces of teachers who had been interviewed. A few other from business owners of places that either Aaron or Lila frequented. A bunch of kids, likely his students or from his team, showed up as well. She counted only one obvious absence. “I don’t see Lila.”
“Unless I missed her, she’s not here.” He snorted. “Big surprise.”
For Ginny, it was. Lila didn’t make mistakes, and missing this event and the chance to cry on camera counted as a misstep. “That’s going to cause problems for her.”
“People are already talking. I’ve heard about her not supporting Aaron’s coaching a million times.” Pete ticked off her list of supposed sins. “Not having people over to the house to celebrate wins or the end of the season.”
As a parent who had to drag her tired butt to sporting events to cheer on her son, she could understand why someone who didn’t have to attend would skip. “Which, of course, means she killed her husband.”
“You know how people gossip. If they thought she was quirky before, now they’ll think she’s a dangerous psychopath.”
Ginny remembered Brent’s pleading yesterday. His not-so-subtle jabs at Lila and her lack of urgency in getting answers about Aaron. “And Aaron has been elevated to near saint status by some.”
