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“Why haven’t you found her yet?” Jasper asked gruffly.
Ellie, Derrick and Shondra exchanged looks, then Ellie cleared her throat. “We’re pursuing every possible lead. That’s the reason we’re here.”
Ellie angled her head toward Jasper. “We’ve spoken with Autumn, Mr.Truman,” she said.
He folded his hands together, his leg bouncing nervously. “She’s not my girlfriend anymore. I told you that. Why?” His eyes narrowed. “Did she tell you we were still together?”
“No, as a matter of fact she’s not saying much,” Ellie said. “She requested an attorney.”
Lara gaped at him, wringing her hands together.
A war raged in Jasper’s eyes and he looked away from his wife.
Ellie retrieved Autumn’s phone from her pocket, then read the text. “‘If you let me take Ava off your hands, you can solve your money problems and be single again.’”
Lara groaned, and Jasper’s skin turned a sallow color.
“What did you two have planned?” Ellie asked.
“N-nothing,” he ground out. “I broke it off.”
Ellie gripped the phone with sweaty hands. “That’s not what it says in the texts between you two.”
His steely gaze met Ellie’s, a vein bulging in his neck.
Lara made a strangled sound. “What is she talking about, Jasper? What did that text mean?” When he rubbed his hand over his eyes, Lara threw up her hands. “For God’s sake, Jasper, if you know where Ava is, tell us.”
“I don’t know where she is,” Jasper said in a gruff voice. “Autumn probably deleted those texts because I was done with her.”
Ellie’s patience snapped. “Really? Because according to these texts, you two planned to meet to talk about getting rid of Ava, so you could get Lara out of your life permanently and you’d finally be free.”
His wife staggered sideways then stormed toward him, gripped his arms and shook him. “Oh, my god, Jasper. What have you done?”
“Nothing,” he stuttered as he tried to pry her hands off him.
Ellie and Shondra exchanged another look and Derrick stood, but Ellie motioned for him to wait. She felt for Lara. The fact that Jasper had had that conversation with Autumn gave his wife a right to slap the shit out of him.
But she had to uncover the truth, find out if he followed through.
“Tell me where she is!” Lara screamed. “What did you do with my baby?”
Jasper was sputtering and trying to talk, and Shondra stepped in to pull Lara away as she tried to pummel her husband with her fists.
Ellie gently touched Lara’s back. “I understand you’re upset, Lara, but please, let me handle this.”
While Shondra led Lara back to the chair, Ellie confronted Jasper.
“Tell me what she meant,” Ellie said between clenched teeth.
Jasper scrubbed a hand down his face, his skin mottled now, fear and confusion flaring in his eyes. “I deleted those damn texts because they were horrible,” he finally said. “I told Autumn I would never let Ava go, but she said… said…” Emotions choked his voice as he glanced at his wife, who was staring at him in shock.
“Said what?” Ellie asked, her tone no nonsense.
“Said if we got rid of Ava, we could be together.”
Fifty
Ellie shuddered. It seemed Autumn saw Ava as an ill-fitting shoe that she wanted to toss, not a precious little child. “What did you tell her?”
