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“Well, would you look at the time. I guess I’d better be going.”
“Are you married, Violet Parker?”
Caught off-guard again, I told the truth. “No.”
Jeff responded by gulping down the last of his beer and then crushing the can in his fist.
I tried to peek around his bulk. “I’ll see you later, Kelly.”
A faint “Bye” came from behind her father.
Backing down the first of two porch steps, I nodded. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Wymonds.”
He pushed his face against the screen. The mesh bulged as he leered at me, his scruffy beard sticking out through the screen in spots. His gaze crawled down to my sandals and then back up to my chest. “Come back soon, Violet Parker.”
Shudders of revulsion made my arms and legs tremble. There was something wrong with his eyes, like something inside his big, messy-haired skull had gone sour. I couldn’t believe Natalie ever shared a backseat with this inebriated hulk.
Barely keeping my feet from galloping, I fast-walked toward the safety of my Bronco.
“Hey, Violet Parker,” he called out when I reached the driver’s side door.
The way he kept saying my name had a cheese-grater effect on my nerves. I pulled open the driver’s side door, pretending I hadn’t heard him.
“I can see where your daughter gets her looks.”
That knocked the wind out of me. How did he know what Addy looked like?
A finger of dread crept up my spine. I locked my door. That was it. Strike three. The asshole was out. Addy was just going to have to hate me for the rest of her life, because there was no way in hell she was ever setting foot in Jeff Wymonds’ house as long as I breathed oxygen.
As the engine rumbled to life, I stared at the steering wheel. Why was Kelly’s dad at home getting wasted in the middle of the day on a Thursday? Why wasn’t Kelly with her mom? Why had Jeff been expecting the sheriff? What exactly had the jerk meant when he said his daughter didn’t have any friends anymore? Did he have something to do with Kelly’s best friend disappearing? Did he have any connection to the other girls who were missing?
Back to the most important question of all, how in the hell did he know what my daughter looked like? Had he seen her at the pool? Riding her bike around town? Or had he sought her out because she was a petite, blonde, nine-year-old girl—just like the other three?
I glanced at the screen door as I backed out of the drive, expecting to still see the hulk’s face. The sight of Kelly standing there alone on the porch, waving at me, made the back of my throat burn.
There was something wrong with that whole scenario. For Addy’s sake, I needed to find out what.
* * *
Back at Calamity Jane’s,Mona and Ray were arguing about the price of land in Mexico. I didn’t have the time to find out if that was related to the price of eggs in China, my dillying at Harvey’s and dallying at Kelly Wymonds’ had me racing to make my house-showing appointment with Doc.
I paused long enough to download the pictures I’d taken of Harvey’s house, return Mona’s camera to her desk drawer, and wet my throat with a much-needed Diet Coke. Then I grabbed the MLS printouts I’d prepared for today’s house-hunting adventure and scooted toward the front door.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry, Blondie?” Ray spoke with his usual demeaning tone.
Oh, how I longed to cram one of my sandals down his throat, but I was wearing my only pair of Anne Klein sling-backs, so I resisted. “To show some houses.”
I’d hoped to see something akin to fear in his eyes, the realization that his nephew’s future at Calamity Jane Realty was in danger. A smirk was all I got.
“You really think you have a fighting chance this late in the game?”
I backed against the door, pushing it open. Heat whooshed inside. “Kiss my ass, Ray.”
The sound of his laughter followed me out onto the sidewalk, where Doc stood waiting for me. He had to be boiling in his black jeans and tan T-shirt, which hugged his broad shoulders.
“Hi,” I said, squinting up at him. “I didn’t realize you were out here. You should have come inside where it’s cooler.”
He shrugged. “I don’t mind the heat.”
