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“It’s early days. She’s not quite three months along.”
“What do you think about the journal? Found anything else interesting besides learning Meg was Chickasaw and not Choctaw?”
“Not yet. But if Aunt Ella says there’s a secret in it, I should know something by the end of the day.”
Dani waited until he was gone to ask. “Nobody knows it was me who found it, right?”
“Only a few of us at the PD. You’re still incognito. Now let’s get the statements made and signed. We need to stop by the chief’s office first and give him Mrs. Bing’s phone number,” Aaron said, and walked her down the hall and knocked on Sonny Warren’s door.
“Come in!” Sonny called, then stood as they entered his office.
“Good morning. Have a seat,” Sonny said. “Were you able to get any rest last night?”
“A little. You asked about contact info for Mrs. Bing?” Aaron said.
“Yes, do you have a number?” Sonny asked.
Dani pulled up the number from Arlene Bing’s phone call, then handed him her phone.
“Yes, I do. Her name is Arlene Bing.”
Sonny wrote it down. “And she called you to warn you?” Sonny asked.
“Yes,” Dani said, and quickly explained about the tracking app his mother had put on his phone before he disappeared. “Right before she disconnected, she was crying,” Dani said. “She said something was wrong with her sons. She and her husband didn’t understand it or know why, but they’d been afraid of them for years.”
“Psychopaths come in all shapes and sizes,” Sonny said. “I appreciate the info. Glad you’re both okay. Ithink there’s a detective waiting for you in interview room three.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you,” Aaron said, and escorted Dani out of the chief’s office.
While they went to give their official statements, Sonny Warren made the call.
Arlene Bing was at the breakfast table working the daily crossword in her local paper. Her coffee was getting cold, and she’d been unable to finish her food. The knot in her stomach was too hard and too tight to accommodate sustenance.
Her graying hair was long overdue for a coloring. She hadn’t put on makeup in weeks. And she and her husband no longer addressed the issue of the elephant in the room. They couldn’t even look at each other when they spoke.
She knew Alex was still in Jubilee. But she doubted he was there for the fun. When she’d called Dani Owens, she’d had a horrible feeling that Alex had tracked her there, and felt obligated to warn her. Afterward, she was both heartsick and relieved. Relieved that she’d alerted Dani, and heartsick that she’d had to betray her son to keep someone else safe.
She took a sip of the lukewarm coffee as she read the next crossword clue.
22 Down—waiting for news
She counted the spaces. A twelve-letter word for… “Anticipating?” Arlene mumbled, and it fit!
But before she could write it down, her phone rang, and when she saw the caller ID, she froze.
Jubilee Police Department? As in Jubilee, Kentucky? Her hands were trembling when she picked up the call.
“Hello.”
“This is Chief Warren of the Jubilee Police Department calling for Mrs. Arlene Bing.”
She started crying. “I’m Arlene. Is he dead? Is my son dead?”
Sonny blinked. “Yes, ma’am. I am sorry for your loss.”
“What happened? What did he do?”
Sonny quickly explained.
