Page 51 of Husband Missing

“She used to say, ‘You can’t always be all roses and sweetness, that don’t get shit done.’”

Trinity pursed her lips momentarily. “That’s…”

Josie tried to smile again but she wasn’t sure if she did. Her eyeballs felt like they were made of sandpaper. A buzzy feeling settled in her bones. It was like she’d been awake for a week. Her body was shutting down under the stress of the last thirty hours. The effort it took just to regulate her emotions—poorly—had sapped her strength.

Thirty hours.

Where was Noah?

She shook off the questions before they had a chance to crowd in. She was too tired to fight off the storm of emotions they would bring. Blinking, she worked hard to focus on Trinity again. “It’s okay. You can say it.”

“No. I can’t.” She started gathering up the reports and photos and tucking them back inside the file. “I think you should go see her.”

“What?”

Trinity didn’t look at her. “Roe Hoyt. You should go see her. She’s very old. I don’t know how much longer she’ll be around. I think one day you’ll regret it if you don’t. You can find out if she had any contact with Lila while they were incarcerated together. See if Lila told her anything important—anything that might lead to someone who might know where to find that Dylan kid or how to track him down. There have been lots of medical advances since the late sixties. It’s possible she’s had therapy for her aphasia by now. The tremor, too. Maybe she cancommunicate somehow. I know it’s not a strong lead in terms of finding Noah, but I think you should go see her.”

Josie opened her mouth to say that Heather or someone from her team would do that but thought better of it. This was personal, and not just because of Noah. Besides, what if Lila had told Roe something that only Josie could decipher?

“Wait,” Trinity said. “I forgot. There’s a three-day waiting period for visiting inmates in Pennsylvania and that’s if you’re already on the approved list. I could probably get access if I try to do it as a journalist, but it will take longer than three days.”

“I can get in tomorrow,” Josie said.

“Really?”

It would be cheating, technically, and if her Chief or Heather Loughlin found out, she’d be in deep shit. But she’d throw her career away in a heartbeat if there was even a chance that Roe Hoyt knew something that could get them closer to finding Noah. “I can get in because I’m law enforcement.”

“Even if you’re not working a specific case?”

Josie grimaced. “That’s tricky. As long as no one asks for specifics, I can get in. It’s kind of an informal process, especially since I’ve been there so many times for various investigations. Basically, all I have to do is call the prison to let them know which inmate I want to speak with and tell them what time I’m coming. I’m assuming Roe doesn’t have an attorney anymore so that won’t be a sticking point.”

“No paperwork?”

“I haven’t been asked for documents in years. I’ll call the superintendent in the morning.”

Trinity’s look of incredulity turned into a grin. “Perfect.”

Josie waved toward the reports and photos spread out before them. “Is there anything there we didn’t go over?”

Trinity took her time organizing the contents. Then she pulled out a few more documents. “The appeal her attorney filedwhich was denied, of course. Records from her admission to SCI Muncy. Oh, and this…this is interesting. It’s an approved visitor list. One from just after she was incarcerated in 1968 which lists her lawyer. No one else. But this one…” she thrust the page triumphantly in Josie’s face, “is an updated list from 1970.”

The words on the page swam. A few hard blinks later, Josie was able to read them. “Who’s Eva Owens?”

“I don’t know but I’m sure as hell going to find out.”

Josie didn’t have the energy to change her clothes or brush her teeth or stand up even though Shannon had gone back to her house and packed a bag full of clothes and toiletries for her. But she wanted to stay awake. What if there was news?

Trinity put the reassembled file on her nightstand and pointed at Josie. “You sleep.”

“I won’t be able to sleep,” said Josie. “I shouldn’t.”

“You will and you should,” Trinity assured her. The laptop was back in her lap. The sound of her fingers clacking against the keys filled the room. “Because you’ll know that I’m working on leads the whole time from this file. Not one minute will be wasted. When you wake up, we’ll be ready to go!”

Josie laid down and turned onto her stomach. Trout rolled over until his back was pressed into her hip. She reached under her pillow for Noah’s shirt and brought it to her face, inhaling. Her eyes drifted closed.I’m coming for you, she told him silently.Nothing will stop me.

“You can say it, Trin,” she mumbled as sleep pushed at the edges of her consciousness.

The typing stopped. Josie’s body jostled as her sister moved—on or off the bed, she couldn’t tell. Her eyelids were too heavy to open. A blanket settled over her. Trinity’s fingers were featherlight as she tucked it around Josie’s shoulders. With a sigh, she said, “Fine. Lila’s saying is kind of badass. All this time, I thought there wasn’t a single thing that vile bitch said or didin her life that could be considered remotely positive—besides dying—but I like that saying. Ugh. It feels so wrong to admit that.”

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