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“What do you suppose they’re doing in there right now?” Lisa asked, gazing out the window.
I turned to see where she was looking. Another police car had pulled up to the front of the house. “I guess it depends on which they you’re referring to.”
A knowing smile lit up her eyes. “The Jackson Creek police, of course. Do you think they’re spinning their wheels like they did with your sister’s case?”
My heart seized, but I tried to hide my roiling emotions. “I’m sure they’re following police procedure.”
She released a bitter laugh. “That’s bullshit and we both know it. If they were trying to follow procedure, don’t you think we’d see a sheriff’s car or two out there? We both know the Jackson County Police Department’s too small to handle a case this big. Just like they were too small to handle your sister’s kidnapping and murder twenty-some-odd years ago.”
Twenty-one. I never forgot how long Andi had been gone.
“The sheriff’s department was involved with Andi’s case,” I said.
“Not in the beginning. They only brought them in once it became public.” She leaned closer. “They’ll try to keep this quiet too. Mark my words.”
“Why wouldn’t they want the sheriff’s department involved? They have better resources. They have a crime lab.”
“Exactly,” she said, picking her cup up again. “Why would they try to keep this under Jackson Creek jurisdiction? Why not bring in all the help they can?”
Dammit. I’d always presumed they were incompetent, but I’d never considered they might be up to something sinister or underhanded.
“What do you think they’re hiding, Lisa?”
She shrugged. “I never said they were hiding anything—then or now. But it makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
If her goal had been to plant a seed of suspicion, she’d just transplanted a sapling.
I held my breath, trying to refocus. “Do you know of anyone who has an unhealthy interest in Ava?”
“Does her father count?”
“You think he has an unhealthy interest in his daughter?”
“He’s a very controlling man, including with his children. He stifles that child. Expects perfect grades, perfect manners and behavior. He pushes her to be the best of the best in everything.”
“Which only makes the case stronger for her being a runaway.”
Her lips pinched together. “No. Ava’s a lot like her mother—scared of her own shadow. She would never run away.”
That was twice now that someone had accused Vanessa of being timid, which was funny since she’d never been like that as a kid. Not even immediately after Andi’s kidnapping and murder. “So Ava’s a timid girl?”
Her head bobbed in an exaggerated nod. “Definitely. She can’t even ride a bike. Too scared she’ll fall. Much to her father’s outrage.”
“Outrage?”
“He had her out in the street last weekend, trying to force the issue, and he shouted at her when she didn’t get it right. It didn’t help that her sister picked it up within a few attempts.”
I cringed. All the more reason to think Ava might have run away, despite the evidence that she’d been taken.
“What about her mother?”
“Vanessa?” she asked, then pushed out a breath. “She lets the man do as he sees fit. Perfect little Stepford wife.”
“Do you think TJ Peterman physically abuses his daughter?”
“Now that, I don’t know, either with corporal punishment or sexual abuse, but let me say I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he was guilty of both.”
Shit.
