Page 36 of Till Death Do Us Part

She hit the accelerator hard, and they jolted forward.

"You had me at money."

Chapter29

We put out a search everywhere for John Baker. Chief Annie went on TV and asked the public for help, telling them to look at their Ring cameras and let us know if anything suspicious showed up in the area and if anyone might have seen him. It was a race against time to find John Baker, and every minute that passed made our task more daunting. As we canvassed the area the next day, knocking on doors and speaking with residents, we found little to go on.

"He has a brother,” I said while Matt and I were sitting at the station, frustrated, researching John Baker's background, trying to figure out where he might have gone.

"Really?” Matt said.

"Yeah, his name is Mike. I found a picture of them together on John's Facebook page. It looks like they were pretty close," I replied, scrolling through John's social media profiles.

"Okay, let's see if we can find Mike's contact information and talk to him. Maybe he knows something that can help us find John," Matt suggested.

We spent the next hour digging through online records and eventually found Mike’s address and phone number. Matt called him while I prepared to go to his house and speak with him in person. He lived in Cape Canaveral, so it wasn't far away.

We drove to Mike Baker's house, which was a small, rundown place with peeling paint and a rusted mailbox. We knocked on the door, and after a few moments, it opened to reveal a scruffy-looking man in his thirties with piercing blue eyes and a crooked smile.

"Can I help you?" he asked, eyeing us suspiciously.

"We're looking for your brother, John Baker," I said, showing him our badges. "Do you know where he is?"

Mike's face clouded over. "No, I haven't seen him."

"Can we come in? And have a talk?"

He thought it over for a few seconds, then let us in. The pungent smell of beer hit me as soon as we entered the house. The room was dimly lit, with empty beer bottles scattered everywhere. The living room was cluttered with beer cans, empty pizza boxes, and old magazines. Mike gestured to a couch, and we sat down.

"Look, I don't know anything about John," he said, avoiding our gaze.

"Come on, Mike, we know you're lying. You two are brothers. You must know something," Matt said firmly.

Mike sighed and took another swig of beer. "Okay, fine. Something has been troubling me since all this began—since Rachel disappeared."

"And that is?" I asked.

He gave me a look, and I understood this wasn't easy for him. This felt like a betrayal.

"He said something last time we were together," he said. "I found it strange but pushed it to the back of my mind at first, but then Rachel went missing, and I…." He paused and sighed, running a hand through his stubble. "I don't know; maybe it's nothing."

"What did he say?" Matt asked. "It might be useful to us."

"I don't want to get him in trouble if…."

"He's already in trouble," I said. "Running from the police is considered an admission of guilt, in case you don't know it."

He exhaled and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I always liked Rachel, and to know that something happened, that she was killed, it breaks my heart. My brother… I don't know if he is capable of something like this, but he said stuff, you know?"

"What did he say?" I asked.

He looked up at me, eyes sorrowful. "He said that he wished she was gone. On the day before she disappeared."

"And what was the context?" I asked. "What were you two talking about?"

"We were having a beer here at my place and just having our usual banter when he suddenly grew very serious and started to talk about his marriage and said he wasn't sure they'd make it. He said it was so bad that he just wished she was gone. That's how he said it. And the way he said it—like he really meant it—and for a second, I remember thinking it was strange the way he looked at me like he had already made up his mind—like he had planned to do something. When he left, I couldn't stop thinking about it, but I just told myself I was crazy. He’s my brother. I should know that he isn't capable of something like that."

"But you have your doubts," I said. "Or you wouldn't be telling us this."

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