AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. They call her his precious angel, stuff like that.”
Kidnapping Ava would be a good way to get back at TJ, which led me back to Ricky Morris or James Malcolm, especially given the covert way TJ was handling the entire thing.
Unless TJ himself was the one who took her.
Still, that didn’t explain the red ribbon. Surely it wasn’t a coincidence. But I couldn’t center my entire investigation around it. Not when there were multiple other leads to explore.
But what if TJ knew about the ribbon and it was his way of trying to throw me and the police off the correct scent?
“I know TJ’s hard on Ava,” I said, “but has he ever been physical?”
“Do you mean, does he hurt her?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. He has other ways of punishing her. Just his presence can be terrifying to her. I’ve seen her shrink under his glare.”
I hated bullies, especially when they were parents. I wanted to drive over to the Peterman home and personally punch him in the mouth. “But you never saw any questionable bruises?”
“No.”
I paused before shifting my line of questioning. “You attend the same church as the Petermans?”
She scoffed. “Practically everyone in Jackson Creek goes to the Baptist church.”
“How active are the Petermans at church?”
“TJ’s a deacon if that tells you anything.”
It certainly did. It was surprising, however, since the church had always been full of congregants who ascribed to the born and bred philosophy. Wolford was ten miles away but might as well have been on the other side of the ocean. “How do the Petermans get along with people at church?”
“Everyone loves Vanessa, of course. She’s such a sweetheart and helps out with Vacation Bible School. Everyone loves the girls too. They’re little angels. Especially Paisley, the youngest. TJ doesn’t seem to put as much pressure to succeed on her, so she’s much more light-hearted.”
“Isn’t she only five?”
“Yeah, but TJ started on Ava when she was pretty young. I’ve known her since three-year-old preschool, and he was on her, even back then.”
“Sounds like a lot of pressure for a little girl.”
“It is. But as for what people think of TJ…I think it depends on who you ask. The church leaders love him, but he could be a little condescending to the nursery workers back when Paisley was in the nursery. I used to work there and witnessed it firsthand.”
“How does he treat everyone else?”
She inhaled deeply, then blew it out. “TJ can be a charmer. He knows how to butter people up and get them to do what he wants.”
“Like a politician,” I suggested.
“Yeah,” she said, her face brightening as though she’d mentally connected some dots. “Exactly like a politician.”
“Has TJ or Vanessa mentioned TJ possibly going into politics?”
“Neither one of them have said anything, but last week Ava said something about her daddy running for office. She said they might be moving to Little Rock if he wins. She wasn’t happy about that.”
I folded my hands on top of one another on the table as I looked into her eyes. “Millie, do you know anyone who hated TJ? Or held a grudge against him?”
She lifted her knuckles to her lips. “TJ’s not the most liked man in town, but I don’t know anyone who hates him enough to hurt his daughter.” Tears filled her eyes again. “Do you think Ava’s okay?”
“I don’t know, but I want to believe she is,” I said truthfully. “I’m going to do everything in my power to find her.”
Her chin quivered. “I’m just so worried about her. I want to do something.”
“I understand that feeling, but trust me, answering my questions is doing something. In fact, if you think of anything else could you give me a call?”
