Page 38 of Husband Missing

“You’re a police officer,” Dex said. “That’s why he didn’t just approach you. Whatever he’s got himself into, it ain’t legal. He wouldn’t want to risk you asking too many questions, given your position.”

Or maybe the people he was running from were closing in too quickly for him to try to finesse his way to accessing the box.

“What was he driving?” Josie asked.

Under Dex’s quick strokes, the face of a second owl appeared, emerging from the wood, startlingly lifelike. “A beat-up sedan. Blue. When he left, I wrote down the plate number. Pennsylvania tags.”

Trinity looked from his hands to his face. “Really?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, really. Kid creeped me the hell out and I learned my lesson when it comes to Lila Jensen. Pay the hell attention to everything, even if it seems like nothing.”

Adrenaline shot through Josie’s veins. “You gave it to the state police?”

“Of course. Don’t know if anything will come of it.”

It wouldn’t surprise her at all if the car had been stolen.

Dex kept talking while he carved out the body of the second owl. “He was sitting right here in this room, telling his tall tales, looking as nervous as could be, and you know what I kept thinking about, Josie?”

Her palms were sweaty. “What’s that?”

“That old fingerprint kit you used to mess around with when you were a kid.”

Josie inched forward in her seat, wiping her hands on her jeans. “Dex, if you’re saying what I think you’re saying, I’m going to kiss you.”

He laughed, hands working at warp speed now, the second owl’s talons appearing, as if by magic. “He was a coffee drinker. Put the mug into a paper lunch bag after he left and hid it in the back of one of the kitchen cabinets. That state police detective was just tickled when I handed it over to her this morning.”

“Holy shit,” said Trinity.

Dex brushed off the sculpture and held it out to Trinity. “Twins.”

Josie watched her sister accept it with a look of reverence. The owls were identical, sitting side by side on a branch, majestic and beautiful, their eyes expressive, almost hypnotic. “I can keep this?” Trinity asked.

Dex’s half-smile appeared. “Sure can. Josie, you don’t have to kiss me. Just find your husband.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

Josie didn’t even realize she was falling asleep until the sound of Trinity’s nails tapping against the table between them startled her awake. She’d never found the booths in Komorrah’s Koffee to be particularly comfortable until now. Then again, she was running on four hours of fitful sleep, enough caffeine to keep a horse awake for a month, and fear.

Noah had been gone twenty-four hours.

Blinking the grit from her eyes, Josie straightened her body and looked around. There was only one other occupied table. Two college students across from one another, each of them focused on their laptops. They both had earbuds in and yet, occasionally, they’d bark something out to one another without making eye contact. Playing a video game together, Josie guessed. At the front, the barista leaned against the counter, scrolling on her phone.

“You don’t have to be here for this,” Trinity said. “Go back to Gretchen’s and try to sleep.”

“I won’t be able to sleep. Besides, I want to see how he acts with you.”

Trinity rolled her eyes and took a sip of the caramel macchiato she’d ordered. “You’re obsessed.”

Josie didn’t deny it. “I need a distraction. This is a good one.”

Trinity huffed. “I don’t know what you’re expecting to witness.”

“Me neither.”

The jangle of a bell announced that someone had come into the shop. Kyle Turner filled the doorway, pulling up short just inside and searching until he spotted them. With a curt nod to the barista, he strode over and muscled his way into the seat next to Josie. His head swiveled in her direction, looking her over. There was something in his eyes Josie had never seen before, and she didn’t like it one bit. It nearly killed her when she realized she’d rather see his cocky grin than this.

“Don’t,” Josie snapped.

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