Page 33 of Her Last Promise

"Mr.Mitchell," Rachel said, taking the seat across from him."We owe you an apology.And we need your help."

Nathan's expression shifted from resignation to confusion.For a moment, he looked like a man who had just been snatched out of sleep."What?"

"Jennifer Martinez was just abducted from St.Mary's Hospital parking garage," Rachel said, watching his face carefully."Since you've been here with us, you couldn't have done it.It seems that we were wrong about you being the killer, and I'm sorry.But right now, I need you to look past that and think carefully.Who else might have a strong enough connection to your mother's case to want revenge?Who else might have been deeply affected by the court's decision?"

The color drained from Nathan's face.His mouth opened, then closed again.When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper."I can only think of one single person…but that wouldn’t make any sense at all.

"What is it?"Novak pressed, leaning forward."Who are you thinking of?"

Nathan's hands began to shake."Michael.My brother Michael.He...he took it harder than anyone when Mom..."He swallowed hard."He couldn't handle watching her suffer.He wanted to let her go, but I...I couldn't.I couldn't give up hope.We fought about it.Badly.He left for his home in France right after the court's decision.I thought it was disgusting, but he said he refused to be here to watch it play out.”

Rachel felt her pulse quicken."Are you certain he’s still in France?"

Nathan took some time to think about it, and Rachel could see fear blooming in his eyes."I haven’t reached out to him in a while.Three weeks or so, maybe.And that was through text.But as far as I know, yeah…he’s still in France.He…he’s a disgrace.He wanted to be as far away as possible from all of this.”

"How about your aunt?"Novak asked."Does she perhaps have a better relationship with him than you?"

"Yeah, she's much more cordial.I think they email here and there, just touching base.But listen…I don't have much compassion for him, and I think he's a coward and a bastard for retreating.But there's no way Michael has been doing this.He just…he doesn't have it in him."

Rachel had heard the same thing out of so many mouths in the past, usually turning out to be false.It meant nothing to her.She turned to Novak and was about to suggest they head back over to speak with Tanya Beswick again.But before she could open her mouth, her phone buzzed at her.

Rachel stood up, her mind already racing ahead to next steps.They needed to put out an APB on Michael Mitchell immediately.They needed to check every short-term rental in the area.They needed to...

Her phone buzzed again.This time, she pulled it out, seeing an unsaved number on the screen.But she’d dialed it recently, so she knew who it was.She answered immediately, putting it on speaker.

"Mrs.Beswick?"she said.

"Yes.I thought you would want to know that I found Michael's information," Tanya said.

Rachel had no intention of telling her what she was currently suspecting.She’d rather get the next bit of information from Tanya Beswick without her feeling as if she was having to defend anyone.“That’s great.Would you mind just texting it to my phone?”

“Oh…yes, of course.I’m sorry.I didn’t even think of that.”

“No worries.I do need to ask, though…when was the last time you spoke to Michael?”

“Oh…that would have been when Marjorie was put on life support.He’d come home when she fell ill.”

“And you’ve not spoken to him since then?”

“Well, once on the phone, about…oh, six weeks ago?And we do email here and there.”

“Do you know where he is currently?”

“As far as I know, he’s still in France…at his home.”

“And do you happen to know if he’s married?”

She was vaguely aware of Nathan shaking his head at the interrogation table.As if to confirm this, Mrs.Beswick said, “No.He was divorced about two years ago.”

In other words, if he’s not at home in France, there’s no one there who could tell me where he might be,Rachel thought.

Rachel and Novak exchanged looks; he had come to the same conclusion as Rachel.

“Thank you for your time,” Rachel said, ending the call.As she started for the door with Novak on her heels, Nathan spoke up, stopping them.

“Hold on.Wait,” he said.“What…what is it?”

"Mr.Mitchell," Rachel said, "to put it bluntly, I don't think your brother is in France at all.I think he came back home to get revenge."

---