Page 75 of I Know She Was There

“A five-spot at midnight. What kind of girl do you think I am?” I grinned back, closed the door, unlatched the chain, and let him in.

He looked sheepish as he crossed the threshold. “I can’t seem to get things right between us.”

“Ain't that the truth,” I agreed. “You want to tell me what we’re apparently collaborating on?”

His features rearranged themselves into a serious expression. “I’ve looked everywhere for Annie, but I keep reaching dead ends.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “It’s not that I’m digging up good news or bad news. I’m not unearthinganything.”

I noted the worry in his eyes and the way his shoulders stooped. “You really care about this woman,” I said, my voice carrying a trace of envy. How I’d love to be loved like that.

“I do,” he said simply.

“Okay.” I turned and walked into my living room. He followed and sat on the only chair. I flopped back onto the couch. “Fill me in on anything about your search that you didn’t already tell me.”

“I think you know just about everything now.”

“Who else is looking for Annie?”

“I don’t think anyone.” His brows lowered in concentration. “Why do you ask?”

“Something Sloane said about others looking for her.” I called up the video on my phone and handed it to Jeffrey.

His eyes focused on the screen with a single-minded intensity. “He’s lying.”

“How can you tell?”

Jeffrey pointed to the phone. “He’s not making eye contact when he tells you he doesn’t know where Annie is. And look how he abruptly stands, trying to get you away from him as quickly as he can? I interview scum like this nearly every day of my life.” Jeffrey looked like he wanted to spit. “The store clerk who claims he never slipped his hand in the till, or the nice guy who declares he didn’t batter his bloodied girlfriend.”

I nodded. “What hedidinadvertently confirm is that someone else is looking for her.”

“Maybe a friend or her sister?”

I stared at him. “Annie has a sister?”

He nodded. “Her name is Cynthia Saunders. I don’t know their family dynamic. I see no indication that Brian Sloane ever visits her. When I paid Cynthia a visit and explained I was a friend looking for Annie, she told me to go to hell and slammed the door in my face. Just like the brother did to you. I’ve been driving by her house each day for weeks now. I usually go in the early morning or on my way to my shift in the evening, looking for anything out of the ordinary. All I ever see is Cynthia and her husband leaving the place or coming home. Sometimes they’re together, but usually they’re alone. He leaves and returns at about the same time each day, which would indicate an off-site job, but her comings and goings are sporadic. Cynthia either works from home or doesn’t have a job.”

“Anyone else with her, like kids?”

“No.” He yawned. “I’ve tried to get my buddy in the police department to check out her house, but without cause, he won’t go near the place.”

My eyes widened. “I’m glad to hear that. Officers aren’t spies.”

“I know.” He shook his head. “But it’s been weeks since Annie took off. I’m desperate. And I think the sister’s on to me. I’m pretty sure she recognizes my Jeep. I’ve seen the curtains in her front window flutter a few times when I’ve driven by.”

“Are Annie and Cynthia close?”

Jeffrey looked toward the kitchen, his eyes unfocused. “Annie and I didn’t have that kind of relationship.”

I scrunched my nose. “What do you mean?”

He looked back at me. “We seldom talked about anyone else. The two of us were caught in a maelstrom of our own making.”

“Volatile?”

“Only in the sense that it was explosive. Like a confetti bomb detonating every time we were together.” Jeffrey looked at me, his eyes shining in the dim light cast from my end-table lamp. “You know, new love and all that.”

My face reddened. It had been such a long time since I’d felt that way about Tim. Maybe I’d never experienced such all-consuming enchantment. It was uncomfortable to think about.

I cleared my throat. “Where does Cynthia Saunders live?”

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