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“Good Lord, no,” she said as though I’d suggested she was a stripper. “She and TJ have been married since they graduated from college.”
That ruled out a custody dispute or parental kidnapping.
I’d been invited to the wedding, but I hadn’t gone. I’d sent a gift card instead. Vanessa and I had tried to keep in touch after I’d left Jackson Creek, but after a while it had felt too painful. In some twisted way, it had felt wrong. Like we were betraying Andi by spending time together without her. So we just gave up.
“Do their families all get along?” I asked. “Grandparents? Aunts and uncles?”
“As far as I know. They all go to church together and often go out to lunch afterward.”
“Both Vanessa and TJ’s parents?”
“Well, Vanessa’s parents and TJ’s dad. His mother passed on a few years back. Breast cancer.”
“So no animosity that you know of? What about TJ’s siblings?”
“He has a younger brother, Travis.”
“Married?”
“No, single.”
“Does he get along with TJ and Vanessa?”
My mother’s face shifted from devastation to concern. “Why are you asking so many personal questions?”
“You had a reason for coming over here before the sun rose to tell me that Ava was missing, Mom.” She wasn’t one to share personal feelings with me or with anyone else that I was aware of, so she wasn’t here for me to hold her hand and tell her everything was okay.
Did she want me to investigate Ava’s disappearance?
That possibility was shocking. My mother hated my police work, and the only advantage to my “distasteful situation” was that I’d likely be giving it up for good.
“I came over to tell you it’s not safe!” she said in exasperation. “That it’s happening again!” She took a breath. “I thought you, of all people, would understand what I’m feelin’ right now!”
She got up from the bed and started for the door, but I stepped in front of her and took her hands in mine, looking her in the eye. “Mom, John Michael Stevens is locked in a cell in the maximum-security prison in Pine Bluff.” I knew this for a fact because I’d checked less than a month ago.
But even as I made the declaration, my stomach churned.
“That man isn’t the only person capable of perpetrating evil acts on this earth, Harper Leigh,” my mother said, fury in her eyes.
“No,” I said softly. “He’s not. Trust me, I saw plenty of evil things in Little Rock that had nothing to do with him.” I resisted the urge to shudder as some of them played in my head like a slide show.
“Why on God’s earth did you choose to go into such a dirty, vile profession after everything this family has been through?” she demanded, jerking her hands from mine.
“I went into it because of what we’ve been through,” I said, forcing myself to keep my voice even. “So I could try to stop some of the evil in this world.”
But I’d been young and idealistic back then. Hell, I’d still been idealistic a year ago, although admittedly, jaded. I’d truly thought I could make a difference, but I’d learned evil wasn’t just out on the streets. It was lurking in the places we thought were the safest.
How could I keep the world safe when I couldn’t even save myself?
“You’re a woman, Harper Leigh,” she said in disgust.
“Thanks for the verification,” I said dryly as I took a step back. “But keep your misogynistic comments to yourself.”
Anger flashed in her eyes.
It was too damn early to rehash this argument.
“It’s a moot point,” I said, rubbing my forehead with the back of my hand. “I’m no longer in law enforcement. You got your wish.”
