Page 65 of Husband Missing

Trinity frowned. “You think she somehow got him to embezzle money for her?”

“Something like that. It definitely fits her pattern—well, one of her patterns.”

The driving forces behind Lila’s behavior had always been startlingly predictable. Men she could control because they fed her starving ego. Men who might fill the void inside her caused by the circumstances of her birth and a life that repeatedly reinforced the notion that she was nothing. Worthless. That was why she’d always been so jealous of Josie. As an infant, Josie was supposed to be little more than a bargaining chip to win back Eli Matson’s affection. When Eli fell in love with Josie—supposedly his own daughter—Lila went mad. The same thing happenedwith Dex when he began to care for Josie. Lila had never known love, so she didn’t understand it. What had the woman who’d read Lila’s foster care file said about it? Everything bad you can imagine happening in a foster home happened to Lila.

If she’d ever stood a chance after being rescued from Roe Hoyt, it had been crushed under the unforgiving boots of the foster care system as it stood in the sixties and seventies.

Beyond trying to fill the void left in her soul with the attention of men, Lila only ever cared about three other things: drugs, money, and revenge. Drugs were plentiful enough that she’d never had an issue getting them. Her revenge tended to be the type that ended in someone’s house burning down, as evidenced by the first article. Which meant that she’d somehow ensnared Alec Slater and convinced him to ruin his career and possibly go to prison to provide her with a payoff.

“Slater was either romantically involved with her,” Josie said, “or Lila had something on him.”

Trinity tapped a nail against the screen, indicating the date on the article. “He was thirty-nine. Lila would have been a lot older and if it was this close to when she returned to Denton, she wouldn’t have been looking so great.”

Lila had been dying of cancer at that time. Josie hadn’t even recognized her after the disease ravaged her body. It wasn’t out of the question that she still could have seduced a younger man, but Josie thought this particular scenario involved something darker and more treacherous.

“There’s no mention of a wife or family,” Trinity added. “But what if this is Dylan’s father?”

The same thought had been swirling at the edge of Josie’s tired consciousness. Though if that was the case, it meant Alec Slater was dead. Dylan had told Dex that his father passed away. Josie held her hands out for the laptop and Trinity handed it over without protest, watching as Josie opened a newbrowser tab. For the next twenty minutes, they searched for any information they could find about Alec Slater, eventually discovering that he was married and had a daughter. By all accounts, he was still alive. Disappointment hit Josie hard.

It could never be that easy. Not when her husband’s life hung in the balance.

Trinity gave a frustrated sigh. “What do you think? Is it still worth tracking this Slater guy down?”

They had no other leads, no more clues to how Lila had spent her years after leaving Josie with Lisette.

Forty-six hours.

“Yes. Let’s do it.” Josie stood up and stretched her arms over her head.

Trinity snapped her laptop closed and gathered up the printouts. “I’ll find him then. Hopefully he’s still in the Williamsport area. We could pay him a visit tomorrow.”

Josie’s phone rang. Trinity abandoned her messenger bag and climbed off the bed, coming to Josie’s side as she pulled it out of her pocket. The two of them stared at it like it was a bomb about to go off.

Not Heather.

“Josie,” Trinity said softly. “You have to answer.”

“No, I don’t.” Everything inside her started to shrink, to curl in on itself. An emotional retreat. If she didn’t fall back, she wouldn’t survive this, and she would be damned if she let herself break.

“You should.” Trinity’s voice was still gentle.

Josie swiped the decline icon, shocked at the steadiness of her finger. “No,” she said firmly. “I have to find Noah.”

Trinity opened her mouth as if she was going to say more but then decided against it. She gathered her messenger bag and walked to the door, where she stopped to check her own phone. “Drake will be here soon.”

Josie was surprised by just how much she wanted to see Drake. He wasn’t just her future brother-in-law. He’d become a good friend to her and Noah. He would be another cool head in this chaos, just like Trinity. Like Gretchen and Paula. Josie knew he’d be there for whatever she needed, making no demands of her.

“Is he getting a hotel?” she asked, following Trinity downstairs.

“Yes, but don’t worry, I’m staying with you at Gretchen’s house.”

Josie’s automatic response was to tell her she didn’t need to do that, she should go stay with her fiancé, but the truth was that Josie needed her right now. Needing anyone—besides Noah—was a difficult thing for her to admit. She was glad Trinity didn’t make her say it.

“Call him back. I’m going to go out front and see if I can get Turner on the phone.”

FORTY-FOUR

Josie blinked, trying to clear the haze from her eyes. The phone screen blurred, turning her two dozen unanswered texts to Turner into a jumble of letters. It was too easy to fall asleep now that she was back at Gretchen’s, in bed with Trout and Trinity, who were both snoozing. The uncharacteristic quiet of the house didn’t help either. Josie didn’t want to fall asleep yet. She wanted answers from Turner. Why wasn’t he responding to her? At the very least, she would have expected him to accuse her of harassment again. She’d left at least five voicemails for him. He couldn’t go ten minutes without scrolling on his phone. Was he even still alive?

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