Page 11 of Let Her Live

As he approached the room, Jake could hear soft sobbing coming from inside. He hesitated, not wanting to intrude on the family's grief, but he knew that he had to do his job. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

After a few moments, the door creaked open, and Alec's wife appeared before him. Her red-rimmed eyes and tear-streaked face told Jake everything he needed to know.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Johnson," Jake said, "but my name is Agent Jake Tucker, with the FBI. I was hoping to ask you a few questions about your husband."

Mrs. Johnson nodded, stepping aside to let him in. The room was small and cramped, with two queen-sized beds, a nightstand, and a TV. The sheets on one of the beds were crumpled and messy as if someone had slept in them recently.

"My children are just getting something from the vending machine," Mrs. Johnson said. "As you can imagine, they're not doing well."

Jake cleared his throat, feeling awkward. He knew first-hand what it was like to unexpectedly lose a parent, and he felt for Alec's children. "I'll make this quick, then. Can you tell me about your husband's behavior leading up to his disappearance?" he asked.

Mrs. Johnson wiped her eyes with a tissue. "He was acting a little strange, to be honest. We've been having some problems in our marriage, and he was spending a lot of time alone, walking around the campsite or just disappearing for hours at a time. I thought he might be having an affair."

The last words were almost inaudible, her voice choking up as she spoke them.

Jake frowned. "Do you know with whom he might have been having an affair?"

Mrs. Johnson shook her head. "No. I guess... I don't know. I just assumed that maybe he had run off with someone. I never saw anyone, that's just my own paranoid mind speaking."

Jake nodded. "What else can you tell me?"

Mrs. Johnson sat down on one of the beds, looking worn and tired. "He used to be a lot more outgoing. He was outgoing, charming, and friendly. But lately, he's been so..." she struggled to find the words, "he's been so distant. So I guess that's why I suspected he might have been having an affair. I was hoping he would be honest with me, but he wasn't. And then he went out one day and never came back. I tried not to let it bother me, to be honest, because he'd been acting distant for a while, but..." Her voice broke for a moment as if she was about to break into sobs.

Jake hesitated. Now that he was here, asking her personal questions, he felt like he wasn't sure if he wanted the answers. If it had been his wife missing, he didn't know if he'd be able to handle it.

"It's so much worse, what happened to him," she said.

"I know, ma'am," Jake said, "and we're going to find out who did this."

"My Alec could be sweet," she said, her eyes desperate. "He would never hurt a fly. In fact, when we were driving into the campsite, he accidentally ran over a lizard, and he felt so terrible about it. The fact that someone would murder him like that—I just don't know how they could do that to him."

"Did your husband have any enemies?" Jake asked.

Mrs. Johnson looked at him. "Enemies? No, he would be friendly to everyone.That was part of why I was nervous he'd met someone else. He was always charismatic, but he'd been getting so distant from the kids and I."

Jake nodded, thinking. He wondered if Alec's alleged distance had anything to do with his murder, but he wasn't sure. He needed to talk to Jonas's girlfriend and see if she had any similar accounts. Maybe a connection between them could be that they were both arguing with their significant others.

***

After finishing up with Mrs. Johnson, Jake made his way over to unit 10 to talk to Jonas's girlfriend. When he knocked on the door, after a moment, a young woman with auburn hair opened it. She was beautiful, but grief had etched dark circles beneath her eyes.

"Gwen?" Jake asked, showing his badge. "I'm Agent Jake Tucker with the FBI. Do you mind if I talk to you about Jonas?"

Nodding, she turned and headed back into the room, leaving Jake to follow her. The room was identical to the one Alec's family was in, with the same two queen-sized beds, nightstand, and TV.

"I realize this is the last thing you want to do, but I wanted to ask you a few questions about Jonas," Jake said.

"It's okay," Gwen said, wiping her hands on her pants. "I'm used to it now. I've had cops and FBI agents talking to me all week. I don't even know when I can go home."

"I'm sure you can soon," Jake said. "We're still gathering information, so we appreciate you sticking around."

Gwen nodded and sat down on the bed. She wiped her eyes. "Yeah. Of course."

Jake let out a sigh. This wasn't easy for him either. "Can you talk to me a bit about Jonas? Was he acting strange at all before you first noticed him missing?"

Gwen shook her head. "No, we were having issues, but they were getting better. We were closer than we'd been in a while. And then, he just... disappeared."

Jake frowned. "Why were the two of you having issues?"

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