Page 59 of Among the Innocent

A chill ran down Leah’s spine.

“That’s John.” The ten years had aged him, and yet she recognized his smile. He’d used it on her many times to persuade her to do what he wanted. “I can’t believe it.”

“Do either of you recognize the location in the background?” Dalton asked.

“I do,” Sugar confirmed right away. “That’s the old bridge outside of town.”

Leah studied the background a second longer. “She’s right. It’s about five miles out. He had to have picked her up and taken her there.”

“Probably instead of going to work. Henry spoke to the store owners. They said they had hated to let her go, but Eva was repeatedly late or a no-show for her job.”

“She was sneaking off with Jonathan instead so as to not draw her family’s suspicions.”

Dalton set the phone down. “I’ll see if there’s a way to get the history of the phone number assigned to these text messages from Jonathan, but I’m guessing he’s using a burner as well.”

“We need to talk to Justine right away before she does something foolish. She’s in danger.” Leah had a sick feeling that the killer would try to take her out to eliminate another witness.

“You want me to call her?” Sugar snatched her phone from her pocket.

Leah understood the dispatcher’s concern about her niece, but they couldn’t afford to have Justine alert John.

“Let me handle this.”

Sugar reluctantly agreed. As Leah and Dalton prepared to leave, Justine herself walked in. Judging by the younger woman’s forlorn expression, Leah believed Justine might open up more if she spoke to her alone.

“Girl, I thought you were sick,” Sugar burst out.

“Sugar—” Leah clamped a hand on the older woman’s shoulder to keep her from a full-on interrogation. “I’ve got this. Why don’t you go home. I’ll call you later.” Leah faced Dalton. “I think it would be better if I speak to Justine alone. If you don’t mind, I’d like to show Justine the photo of Jonathan on Eva’s phone.”

Dalton handed her the phone. “Use my office.”

Leah led Justine to the room and closed the door. She waited for her to take a seat. The young woman covered her face with her hands. Justine was obviously troubled.

“Hey, what is it?” Leah asked gently as she claimed the seat beside her.

“I’m so sorry,” Justine muttered between sobs.

“What are you sorry for?”

The young woman swiped her hand over her face. “I lied to you earlier. My boyfriend was there with me when you and the chief arrived.”

“It’s okay,” Leah said carefully. She didn’t want to scare Justine into silence. “What’s his name?”

“Jonathan,” she admitted reluctantly. “But he’s not the person you’re looking for. He isn’t,” she insisted when she saw Leah’s startled reaction. “He’s kind and sweet and he wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“Can you show me the number he uses to call you?”

Justine hesitated before bringing out her phone. She brought up Jonathan’s contact number. The same one that Eva had for him.

Leah sighed. Justine needed to know the truth. “Justine, that number you have for Jonathan is the same number we found on a phone Eva Hostetler possessed. There was a photo on itof the man Eva was seeing.” Leah brought it up and showed it to Justine.

All the color left Justine’s face. “That’s him. That’s my Jonathan.”

They knew about him and Justine. For the first time since he’d returned to St. Ignatius, he was worried.

Using his phone was no longer safe. The police had the number. He’d taken all the precautions by using a disposable phone, and yet Justine had betrayed him.

Foolish Justine. He’d planned to reel her in deeper before he ended her life. Now, the choice had been taken from him. There would be no more games to play with her. He’d have to kill her soon, before she had the chance to expose him further.

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