Page 5 of Crossing Lines

After Jo left, Sam didn’t feel like going home. Jo’s revelation had unsettled him. He decided to seek out Jesse Cowley and see if he could make any headway on the case.

Kids had been congregating in one section of the woods to party since Sam was a teenager, so he knew exactly where to go. He usually left them alone. They didn’t bother anyone, and though some of them might be underage, there was never any real trouble. He figured there were a lot worse things they could be doing.

He parked on the side of the dirt road where there was a small grassy section people used for parking and trudged through the woods. Even from the road, he could see the bonfire and smell the woodsmoke. The raucous sounds of a party slowly materialized as he got closer.

When he was at the edge of the crowd, someone in a red hoodie turned and recognized him.

“Cops!”

There was an explosion of activity, kids throwing beers in the woods and running off in different directions.

Sam managed to catch Jesse by the arm. “Not so fast.”

Jesse scowled and jerked his arm away, his gaze darting to Lucy. Lucy was at the ready. She’d tackle Jesse to stop him from running on command, but Sam didn’t think that would be necessary.

Jesse knew he wouldn’t get into trouble—his value as an informant was too great—but he also had to make things look good in front of everyone else. If word got out that he snitched to the cops, it might not bode well for Jesse’s health. Sam didn’t want that to happen. Jesse wasn’t a bad kid. Not to mention he didn’t want to see his source of information dry up.

Jesse glanced around nervously. Everyone else had scattered.

“What?” he asked belligerently.

“We’re looking for a girl. Kirsten Stillwell, you know her?”

Jesse shook his head but looked hesitant.

Sam pulled out the picture. “This refresh your memory?”

Jesse narrowed his eyes. “Why? She in trouble?”

“No, she’s missing. We need to find her,” Sam said. “I was hoping maybe you would tell us she’d just been on a partying binge or something. Her mother says she never came home last night.”

Jesse’s gaze flicked from Sam to the picture. “Yeah. I guess I do recognize her. She hangs around out here sometimes. I don’t know anything about her disappearing though.”

“What do you know about her?”

Jesse shrugged. “Seems like a nice girl. I don’t know her that well, and I have no idea where she would be. I haven’t heard of any big parties going on.”

Sam nodded. Jesse had no reason to lie. He’d been hoping this would be an easy case, but he’d already had his first strike. “Okay, can you keep your ears open and let me know if you hear anything?”

“Will do.” Jesse backed away and then turned and sauntered off into the woods.

Sam turned to Lucy. “I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to widen our search. Maybe she’ll show up at home in the meantime.”

Lucy chuffed.

“Yeah. I’m not holding my breath on that one, either.”

* * *

Maybe telling Sam about her investigation into her sister’s disappearance wasn’t the right thing to do, Jo thought as she pulled into the yard of her cottage. On the one hand, it felt good to get it off her chest, but on the other, she sensed Sam was a little hurt. Now she was worried she’d damaged their relationship. Unfortunately, there was no one to blame but herself for taking so long to tell him.

A movement on the porch of the small cottage caught her eye. The orange feral cat she’d been trying to make friends with sat on the bottom step, watching as she got out of the car.

She approached the cat slowly. The soft yellow glow from her porch light illuminated the steps. The chirping of crickets and the gurgling of the stream that ran behind the cottage filled the air. Out here among the pines, it was quiet and secluded. That was what she liked about it.

She crouched and extended her hand. The cat came over and sniffed, eyeing her warily. Then he turned and trotted toward the woods.

At least he didn’t run at the sight of her now. She was making progress. With any luck, the cat would feel comfortable enough to stay on the porch during winter. Hopefully she wouldn’t get any flak from her landlord about that. He’d been clear about no pets being allowed inside, but he’d never mentioned the porch.

---