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“Would Martha mind?”
“What do you think? She’s got search dogs running in and out constantly.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Jon shot off a text to Annie telling herMilo was going to the Blue Bonnet. “What can I do to help with the wedding?”
“Just show up with a smile and bring your new family. It will be the start of a new life for all of us.”
Jon was never more sure that he wanted to marry Annie than he was in this moment with his dad as they both envisioned a new nuclear family. A wife and daughter. The reality of it took his breath away.
***
Trees crowded the road as Annie drove toward Houghton. She thought through what they knew about Joel West. “I wonder if we should speak to Shainya Blackburn before we see West. She might have heard from him since they broke up, and maybe she saw him with Glenn.”
“Give her a call,” Mason said. “We’re still twenty minutes away. You have her number?”
“I’ve got it.” Annie pulled to the side of the road, scrolled through her contacts, and placed the call.
Shainya answered on the third ring. “Hello.” Her tone indicated caution and curiosity.
Annie put the call on speaker. “Hi, Shainya, this is Law Enforcement Officer Annie Pederson. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
“Annie.” Her tone brightened. “No, not at all. I almost didn’t answer because I didn’t recognize your name at first. You came up on my phone as LEO Pederson. I always think of you as Annie.”
“I’m glad you answered because the sheriff and I have a few questions about your ex.”
“What’s Joel done now?”
“How long did you date him?”
“Two years. I realized he was wrong for me three months in, but I kept thinking he’d change for me. Why do women do that? No one changes, not really. Live and learn, I guess.”
Annie had seen way too many friends go down that same path. “Listen, did you ever meet Joel’s cousin Glenn Hussert?”
There was a gasp before Shainya answered. “I nearly called the sheriff after I heard about Glenn’s involvement in fraud and abduction. I thought the sheriff might roll his eyes at my call though.”
“Sheriff Kaleva would never do that. He’s always glad for any information. What did you want to tell him?”
“Joel and Glenn are as thick as thieves. They seem to talk in a secret code too. Sometimes what they say to each other doesn’t make sense.”
Annie’s thoughts went to the pictures with the hats and tees. “Do you have any examples?”
“One time they were talking about going hunting on Saturday, and Joel told Glenn he was bringing cookies. I packed his food and knew there were no cookies, so I had no idea what he meant. There was always a lot of that kind of doublespeak.”
Cookies held no magic information for Annie, but the doublespeak mention reinforced her suspicion the pictures had some other kind of meaning. “How often did you see Glenn?”
“Every week. We’d be out getting pizza, and he’d show up like Joel had told him where to find us. Or we’d be at my house, and he’d stop by to call Joel outside to talk.”
“Did they go hunting a lot?”
“Almost every week. That was one of the things we foughtabout all the time—his time with Glenn was always more important than being with me. I got tired of it. The first time he hit me, I thought it was a fluke and he’d never do it again. When he broke my nose, I knew he was never changing. That’s when I left.”
“I’m sorry you went through that.” Annie could forgive a lot of things, but physical violence wasn’t one of them. She had zero tolerance for that kind of thing.
“Did they always hunt in the same area?”
“Oh sure. They guard it like it’s the location of the crown jewels, but Joel forgot one of his guns once and had me bring it to him.”
Annie’s pulse raced. “Where was it?”
