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Jasper’s jaw tightened. “Autumn, this is serious. Someone kidnapped Ava. I’m worried sick about her. And Lara’s going out of her mind.”
“Then she should have watched her own kid better,” Autumn hissed between her teeth.
At the woman’s crude words, Lara clutched her chest, as if she’d had the breath knocked out of her.
“I always watched her,” Lara whispered miserably.
“I know.” Ellie laid a hand over Lara’s to comfort her, and sympathy registered on Derrick’s face.
“I know you were angry at me,” Jasper said, his voice surprisingly calm. “Did you take Ava?”
The young woman straightened a wrinkle in her silk blouse. “For God’s sake, Jasper. I can’t believe you’d ask me that.”
“You mentioned getting rid of her,” Jasper countered.
Autumn rolled her eyes, dismissing the comment as nothing. “I only suggested that because you were always so freaked out about money.”
Jasper lunged at her and practically dragged her across the table. “Tell me,” he shouted. “Did you take her to punish me for breaking up with you?”
Derrick rushed from the room, the door slamming shut behind him. Before Ellie could stop Lara, she’d run after him. Ellie followed, calling for her to stop, but she was too late––Lara had already caught up.
“Let her go, Jasper,” Derrick ordered.
“Get him off me!” Autumn cried.
Jasper tightened his hands around Autumn’s throat, squeezing hard. “Where’s my little girl? What did you do with her?”
Ellie grabbed Lara to hold her back while Derrick yanked Jasper off Autumn and pushed him against the wall. “Calm down,” Derrick hissed.
Autumn rubbed her throat with inch-long acrylic nails. The red imprint of Jasper’s fingers lingered, but Ellie found little sympathy for this selfish woman.
“Arrest him now,” Autumn said shrilly. “He assaulted me.”
“You bitch!” Jasper lunged at her again, but Derrick gripped his arms and held him back.
Tears streamed down Lara’s pale cheeks, “Please tell me where my baby is,” she pleaded. “Please. She must be so scared.”
Autumn glanced back and forth between all of them, her eyes as brittle as ice. “What the hell is this? Where’s my attorney?”
A knock sounded at the door, and Captain Hale entered the room, his face set in a scowl as he took in the scene. “The attorney is here,” he said, before addressing the rest of them. “Agent Fox, I suggest you escort Mr.Truman somewhere to calm down.” Then he motioned for Ellie to step outside with him.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she told Lara. “I’m sorry that got out of hand, Captain,” she said once they were alone.
He shrugged. “It backfired, but it was worth a shot. That Ms. Juniper is a cold one.”
“No argument there, sir,” Ellie agreed. “I’ll have Deputy Eastwood drive Lara back home and stay with her.”
“Good.” He patted his pocket then handed her an envelope. “I have the warrants. And the ground-penetrating radar to search the construction sites is all set. We just need to tell them where to go.”
Fifty-Two
Lazy Days development, Chattahoochee River
Ellie and Derrick spent the next hour comparing the sites Jasper had provided with the list from Cato Construction, the firm he worked for. They matched, which at least confirmed that Jasper had been upfront. Ellie sent Deputy Landrum to the construction site office to dust for prints on vans parked there and would have forensics do the same with each van at the various construction sites.
Thankfully, the list was short. There was only one site where the land had been dug to pour a foundation in the last forty-eight hours—a pool at a clubhouse for a new development on the Chattahoochee River called Lazy Days. It catered to retirees wanting to settle into a relaxing community with riverfront views, a pool, and daily planned activities.
She coordinated with the captain and the team set up to run the GPR equipment, and she called Cord and asked him to bring search dogs for the development. If Autumn or Jasper had killed little Ava and dumped her body, she could be on the property or buried beneath the pool that had been poured in the last twenty-four hours.
