Page 26 of Husband Missing

Although wouldn’t Josie have heard by now if there were any developments regarding the SUV? Wouldn’t one of her colleagues have mentioned it? Let it slip? Wouldn’t they have found it by now? She hated not being in charge of the investigation. However, she was sure her department had doneall of these things, and if they hadn’t, the state police would have. “Do you know if the ERT or the state police lab tried to get samples of the dried mud from the driveway?”

Trinity picked up Noah’s pillow and placed it at the head of the bed. “I’m sure they did.”

But what if they didn’t?

This was exactly the thing Josie did that drove Turner crazy. She always worried that other law enforcement officers would miss something critical. The only way to ensure that didn’t happen was to do everything herself or at least double-check everything herself. That wasn’t realistic at all, though, and Josie had had to learn to trust her colleagues to do their jobs. It had never been this hard.

As if sensing Josie’s internal strife, Trinity said, “I’ll ask Kyle to find out.”

She felt the familiar twinge of discomfort at her sister’s use of Turner’s first name. Josie had the feeling that there was much more to the story of the two of them, but all she’d been able to get out of either of them were vague details. At his old department, Turner had solved a famous cold case involving the murders of several high-end escorts. Trinity had interviewed him for a national morning show she was anchoring at the time. After that, they sometimes had lunch when he was in New York City. They both said nothing romantic had happened. Trinity insisted he was a perfect gentleman. It didn’t add up, but Josie didn’t have the time or the energy to push the issue right now.

“He can’t give out information on an ongoing investigation,” Josie said. “Even if he was privy to details, which he’s not.”

But he would find out what he could. She knew he would. Not for Josie, but her sister was another matter.

“He trusts me and I wouldn’t screw him over.” Trinity picked her way toward Josie, scanning the floor. “They took your entire jewelry box?”

Josie shook her head. “That was in pieces. The state police took the remnants into evidence. Hopefully they’ll get prints or DNA from it. They’ll start checking in with pawn shops to see if someone brings any of it in.”

That’s what Denton PD had been doing with respect to the articles stolen in the armed robberies. As far as Josie knew, nothing had turned up yet.

“I’ll get you a new one,” Trinity promised.

It wasn’t the first time a jewelry box Josie owned had been destroyed. This wasn’t even the first time her home had been invaded and trashed, although the last time had been before Noah lived with her and the damage hadn’t been so widespread. The last time was to intimidate her.

Lila Jensen, her abductor, the woman she believed was her biological mother for thirty years, had returned to wreak havoc on Josie’s adult life. She had almost killed both Josie and Trinity and very nearly destroyed everything Josie had worked to build. Even though Lila had used baby Josie to get back together with an old boyfriend, Eli Matson, she’d hated her. Back then, there were no mail-in paternity or DNA tests. When Lila showed up at Eli’s home a year after he dumped her and told him Josie was his daughter, he believed her.

He’d loved Josie fiercely, which wasn’t part of Lila’s plan. When Josie was six, he’d died, leaving her alone with Lila who was then free to abuse Josie in horrific ways. His mother Lisette, the only grandmother Josie had ever known, had fought doggedly for years to get custody of Josie. Eventually, she paid Lila to leave, and Josie’s life had been blessedly free of Lila’s wrath for sixteen years. When she returned, like a tornado upending everything about Josie’s life, it was, in her words, to “destroy everything you love.” Hiring men to break into her home, vandalize it, and steal a few items of jewelry had just been for fun.

But Lila was long dead, and Josie couldn’t shake the feeling that this time wasn’t only about stealing. Why trash the entire house and only take jewelry but no electronics?

They were looking for something. Josie was certain of it. She just couldn’t figure out what.

EIGHTEEN

Putting the main bedroom back together went more quickly than Josie anticipated, though, to be fair, Trinity did most of the work. The shelf in the closet, two of Noah’s dresser drawers, and her bedside lamp were total losses. Aside from her jewelry, nothing else was missing. Trinity found a tote bag on the closet floor and stuffed Noah’s T-shirt inside so Josie could bring it with her. She could technically stay here since the house had been processed, but she wasn’t sure she could handle sleeping in the bed she shared with Noah right now. Gretchen and Paula were happy to host her as long as she needed.

When they finished in the primary bedroom, they moved on to the rest of the second floor, cleaning the mess in the hallway, the bathroom, and the guest room. Trinity took one look inside the nursery and quickly closed the door. No need to go in there and be reminded that their adoption dreams were now most likely on the line. Josie didn’t think the agency would give them a pass on this break-in. Assuming they found Noah alive and safe.

As if sensing Josie’s thoughts, Trinity herded her back to the stairs. “One crisis at a time.”

Downstairs, Shannon was on her knees in the living room, still working on the blood. In the light of day, with no adrenalinepumping through her veins, and time to study the room, Josie saw there was far more of it than she initially thought.

Trinity’s fingers curled around her forearm. “Let’s check out the other rooms. You can inventory this one when Mom’s done.”

The dining room was already back in order, though all of their more expensive dinnerware was a total loss. The kitchen was still quite a mess. In the time Josie and Trinity had taken to straighten up the second floor, it appeared as though all Christian and Patrick had accomplished was to put the silverware back in its drawer. Shattered dishes and glasses still littered nearly every tile. Pots, pans, and broken appliances lay among the debris. The cabinets yawned open and empty. Josie hadn’t noticed it last night, but the intruders had even cleared out their dry goods and tossed them everywhere. Christian stood in the center of the mess with a box of cereal in his hand while Patrick hopscotched over obstacles, taking photos with his phone.

Trinity scoffed. “How many Payne men does it take to clean up a kitchen? What have you two been doing this whole time?”

“You need a new coffeemaker and a new toaster,” said Patrick, leaning over to snap a picture of their now-dented crockpot. “Also, I don’t know what the heck that thing is but it looks fine to me.”

Josie followed his gesture toward a silver contraption that folded into some kind of press. “I don’t recognize that.”

Trinity huffed. “It’s a panini maker! I bought it for you guys when you moved in together!”

Christian arched a brow and shuffled over to one of the cabinets above the countertop. He placed the box inside it. “I hope that was the last culinary item you gifted them.”

Under any other circumstances, Josie would have laughed. Both at Christian’s joke and at the irony that the one appliance that had survived the destruction was one they’d never used.

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