Page 56 of Dark of Night

Her eyes blurred with tears again. Why did life have to be so hard?

Annie hadn’t offered any money or property, but then, not many people would give up an inheritance for someone else.

Taylor picked up the picture of the whole family again and stared into her parents’ eyes. If only they were still alive. She dropped the picture back onto the coffee table, closed her eyes, and exhaled.

The decision could wait awhile.

***

Annie glanced at her phone to check the time as Jon parked in front of the shelter. “It’s five. We have an hour before your dinner meeting. I don’t understand why Idoya would be following us. Or why she tried to run you down.”

He switched off the engine. “I’m trying not to assume toomuch. Black SUVs are common around here, and hers might not be the same one parked by your place. Let’s go in calmly and without judgment. Find out why she was following us. We know for sure she was doing that much.”

Annie nodded and got out into humidity that frizzed her carefully styled hair and clung to her skin. She’d wanted to do Jon proud when they met his prospective boss, but they would have to take her like they found her.

Jon followed her up the walk to the empty front porch. The scent of sloppy joes and french fries wafted out the screened front window, as did the sound of children giggling inside. She rang the bell, but no one came so she rang it again.

A redheaded boy about Kylie’s age opened it. “We’re not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“That’s a very good rule. I’m a park ranger, kind of like a police officer. I need to talk to Idoya. Is she here?”

“She’s in her office.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I guess it’s okay since you’re the cops. I can show you.”

She didn’t want to get him in trouble. “I know how to find her office. I was there once before.”

He opened the door, and she shot a quick look back at Jon, who followed her inside. The little boy scampered off to the back of the house where other children talked loudly, probably the kitchen. Annie found her way to the office, but the door was closed.

She squared her shoulders and rapped on it.

“Go away. You know better than to disturb me when the door is shut,” Idoya’s voice called out.

“Idoya? It’s LEO Pederson. I need to talk to you.”

There was a flurry of movement from inside, papers shuffling,a chair squealing, then footsteps toward the door. Idoya looked flushed and annoyed. And a little scared. “How did you get in here?”

Annie ignored the question. “This won’t take long. You can either invite us in, or I can ask my questions where the rest of the house can hear.”

Idoya bit her lip and stepped out of the doorway to allow them in. She shut the door behind them and went to her desk.

“Our visit can’t be a surprise,” Jon said. “I saw you in your SUV. You followed us all the way through town, even though we took a roundabout route. Don’t try to deny it.”

Annie took a step closer to the messy desk Idoya seemed to be using as a shield. “I’d like an explanation.”

Red spots bloomed in the older woman’s cheeks and left splotchy color on her face. “I was hoping you had found Michelle.”

“You could have called and asked.”

“I didn’t think you’d share anything with me. If Michelle was in hiding, you shouldn’t tell anyone anything. Not even me.”

Annie didn’t buy it. The woman wouldn’t meet her gaze, and she kept looking around as if the answer to her dilemma was in one of the papers on her desk. “Have you been watching my marina too? Searching for Michelle?”

“Of course not. I don’t even know where your marina is.”

The woman was a terrible liar. “Someone in a black SUV nearly ran Jon over this morning. It looked like yours.”

“I wouldn’t do anything like that! I don’t even know him. Look, I’d like to find Michelle. Our books are in a bit of a mess, and she’s the only one who knows how to figure some of this out. There’s a password lock on part of it, and I can’t get into it.”

That part of her story had the ring of at least partial truth.But again, why follow Annie when a simple phone call would do? She could tell she wouldn’t get much more information out of her, but maybe Mason could dig a little and see what he could find out.

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