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“I’m not suggesting otherwise,” I said reassuringly. “It’s not unusual for one parent to discipline more than the other. But it doesn’t mean the other parent gives up all disciplining.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “TJ has stronger beliefs on discipline than I do.” She made a face, and her stiff back seemed to soften. “Hell, you know how we grew up, Harper. Or at least until Andi.”
She was right. While my mother had stricter rules about grades than Vanessa’s parents, she didn’t like Andi and me in the house messing up things, so we spent the majority of our time away from it. The same had been true for Vanessa. But everything had changed after Andi was kidnapped. The citizens of Jackson Creek had realized the hard way that the town wasn’t protected from the big bad world after all.
“TJ’s parents were stricter,” Vanessa said. “And he says he turned out just fine, so he believes we should raise our children the same way.”
“You disagree?” I asked because something about the way she said it was unsettling.
She made a face and started to answer, but the machine turned off. She spun around, grabbed the cup, and handed it to me. “The best latte you’ll find in Jackson Creek.” She made a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Not that that’s hard to manage.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Now that I’m back in town, I may give you a run for your money. I make a pretty good latte myself.” I took a sip. “Nope. You’ve got me beat.”
“It’s the machine,” Vanessa said. “TJ believes in having the best of the best.”
He sounded like a narcissistic prick, but I kept that to myself.
“Has Ava run away before?” I asked as I lowered the mug and set it on the island.
“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “She’s a good girl. She follows the rules.”
“Do you think she ran away this time?”
Her top teeth scraped over her bottom lip. “I don’t know.” Terror filled her eyes, and she lowered her voice to a near whisper. “The police think she’ll come back home on her own, and the only reason they’re out there,” she nodded toward the front of the house, “is to placate TJ.”
“Why would they feel the need to placate TJ?” I whispered back.
“He’s on the city council. He could make things difficult.”
Memories slammed into me hard.
Chapter 7
My father’s position as mayor had gotten extra attention from the police department too when Andi was kidnapped, but in the end it hadn’t made a difference. Vanessa had to be thinking the same thing. I had two choices. I could tell Vanessa she’d be in my thoughts and prayers, take my leave, and stop off at the liquor store in Wolford to replace my now empty bottle of Jack, or I could stick around and keep digging.
Sometimes the investigator in me wouldn’t leave well enough alone. Then again, that’s why I’d always had a high close rate as a detective. That and a lack of a personal life, other than my relationship with Keith. But in hindsight, our relationship had revolved around work too.
“Is Ava’s room sealed off?” I asked.
Her nose scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Have the police denied you access to her room? Have they sealed it off with crime scene tape?”
“No,” she said slowly. “I don’t think so.”
Huge mistake number one, right ahead of not canvassing the neighbors, but I had no qualms about exploiting it. “Can I take a look?”
Her face turned hopeful. “Would you?”
“Of course.”
She shot a glance toward the front of the house again, then walked around the island and cupped my elbow. Lowering her voice, she said, “We can go up the back staircase.”
I was presuming she didn’t want her family to know what we were up to. I was okay with that too.
We walked up the narrow wooden staircase that had likely been made for servants when the home was originally built, both of us stepping lightly so we didn’t make any noise. When we reached the top, we were in the middle of a short hallway with doors on either end, all shut. The hall turned toward the front of the house, and I couldn’t see where it went.
“Ava’s room’s this way,” she said, taking the lead and brushing past me toward a door to the right. It led to a short hallway that ran the side of the house, with two windows on the right overlooking the house next door, and two doors on the left. The hallway bottomed out at another door, also shut. She opened that crystal knob too and pushed the door open, entering the room.
