Page 67 of Forged in Steele

“Sure,” Harri said. “We eat here a lot.”

They reached the tables, and Bristol was the first to sit, facing the parking lot.

“You’re not here for the food.” Harri dropped onto a bench on the other side and slid his legs under the table. “What do you want?”

Jared perched on the splintery wood table top. “We’re here about Reya.”

“Reya?” Harri blinked a few times before narrowing his eyes. “What’s going on with her?”

“I’m sorry to tell you that she’s been found dead,” Jared said. “We suspect she was murdered.”

“Murdered?” Harri slapped his paint-stained hands on the table and gripped it tightly. “That’s impossible.”

Unless Harri was an Oscar-worthy actor, he didn’t know about the murder.

“When’s the last time you talked to her or saw her?” Jared asked.

He dropped his hands from the table, and his shoulders slumped. “The day they found Darcy and then her memorial service.”

“And did you see Reya in person or just talk to her?” Bristol asked.

“We talked after we got the news. Had to make arrangements for a funeral. Then I saw her at Darcy’s memorial service. Haven’t seen or talked to Reya since then.” His eyes glistened with tears. “You think the same person who took Darcy killed Reya?”

“We don’t know.” Jared hated to ask this, but… “Where were you at eleven-sixteen a.m. yesterday?”

He frowned. “You think I killed her. But why would I? We didn’t have anything to do with each other anymore. Anyway, I was here. Working. Wilma, the owner you just talked to, can vouch for me.”

“Do you know of anyone who might want to harm her?” Bristol asked.

“Nah, unless it was the person who took Darcy.”

“Does Reya have family that we should notify?” Bristol asked.

“It was just her and her dad, but he died right before Darcy was found.”

“No siblings.”

Harri shook his head. “She was an only child. Adopted.”

She was adopted. Could that be important to the investigation?

“What about friends?” Jared asked.

“I don’t know these days, but all of our friends slowly ghosted us after Darcy disappeared. Some of them thought we did something to her, and the others just couldn’t stand our grief. Was the reason we split. Together we couldn’t get past it. Alone I could move on. Not Reya. She got so involved in the missing children website and community. I couldn’t work with other people’s grief like that. Not and not lose my mind.” He shook his head. “She has some friends in that group, but I don’t know their names.”

“Any other thoughts on who might have harmed her?” Jared asked, wrapping up with that question.

“None.” Harri took in a shuddering breath. “S’pose you let me know when her body is released.”

Jared nodded.

“We done here?” Harri rubbed a hand over his face.

“I’ll walk up to the shop with you.”

Harri got up, and Jared looked at Bristol. “Want to order a snack since we missed lunch, and I’ll be right back?”

“Sure.”

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