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“But that’s impossible,” Jodi said. “It would have been in the news.”
“Like Emery Geddings’s disappearance?” Ambrose said.
“That’s different,” Jodi said. “I think.”
“We’re doing a deal here, in case you haven’t noticed,” Ambrose said. “We promise to tell you whatever we find out about Geddings’s disappearance, but in return we need something we can use to track down the other patient who checked into the clinic that night.”
Jodi was silent for a beat. “All right, I’ll see what I can find.”
Pallas experienced a frisson of dread. “If I were you, I wouldn’t mention to anyone that you’re trying to find information on the other patient.”
“Don’t worry,” Jodi muttered. “I don’t want to get arrested for violating patient confidentiality laws.”
“Moving right along,” Ambrose said. “Where did Geddings live?”
“Out at the end of Hurley Cove Road,” Jodi said. “It’s the onlyhouse on the cove. You can’t miss it. Emery’s grandmother left it to him. She raised him after his mom died. After Emery disappeared I drove out there a couple of times to take a look. The first time was the day after he was supposed to do the deal with you, Mr.Drake. The house was locked up. I didn’t try to get in, because he told me he had some good security installed.”
“You were afraid you would set off the alarms and the cops would respond?” Ambrose asked.
“I wasn’t worried about the cops,” Jodi said. “I was afraid the place might be booby-trapped. Emery told me he got some special training in explosives when he was in the military.”
Ambrose felt Pallas go very still.
“Explosives?”Pallas said. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, but it’s okay,” Jodi said. “I went out there a second time a few days later. It was obvious someone had broken into the place and trashed it. Nothing had exploded, so I guess Emery hadn’t rigged up any traps after all. The door was open, so I went inside. I looked everywhere but I didn’t find anything that told me what had happened to him.”
Ambrose watched her aura. “Are you certain that there aren’t any booby traps at the Geddings house?”
“Positive,” Jodi said. “If you go out there you’ll see what I mean. Someone tore up the whole house. Whoever it was, they were probably looking for drugs. Like I said, a lot of people assume Emery was in the business.”
“How do we contact you?” Pallas asked.
“I’ll give you my number.” Jodi rattled it off and watched to be sure Pallas entered it into her phone. “Is that all? I have to go now.”
“Did you love him?” Pallas asked.
Jodi was silent for a beat. “He wasn’t exactly the hearts-and-flowers type, but we were good together. I thought we had a future. I want to know what happened to him. I need to know if he walked out on me.”
“I understand,” Pallas said.
“Thanks,” Jodi whispered.
She turned and went quickly back out onto the sidewalk. Her footsteps faded into the distance. Ambrose watched until her aura vanished into the fog.
“She was telling the truth,” he said. “Or what she thinks is the truth. She doesn’t believe Geddings booby-trapped his own home.”
“She loved him,” Pallas said.
“If you say so.”
Pallas glanced at him. “You’re the one who reads auras.”
“You can’t see love in an aura,” Ambrose said. “At least, I can’t. Hate, yes. An effort to lie, yes. Fear and panic, yes. Excitement, yes.”
“But not love?”
“Nope.”
