Page 17 of Lost Lake
“I can look for an address when I search her home. What about Lucy’s father?”
“He’s not in the picture. Never has been.” He clenched his jaw. “Kenna said he was a one-night stand. She never even brought up his name.”
“You have any theories on who it might be?”
He shook his head. “If I did, you better believe I would’ve tracked him down and pushed him to help support them. She struggled as a single mother, but she was proud. Too proud. She refused any financial help I offered.”
El’s pen scratched across the paper. Then she lifted her gaze. “Speaking of you. Where were you between seven and nine tonight?”
“What?” He stared at her, disbelief flashing hot and sharp. He dragged a hand over the back of his neck. “You think I did this? That I hurt Kenna? That’s ridiculous. I was with the team at the inn until eight, then spent every second after I left until I arrived on the scene looking for her.”
Her expression didn’t change. Not a flicker of reassurance. Not a hint that she believed him. “Other than the team confirming your presence at the inn, anyone who can corroborate the rest of the time?”
The question landed like a slap. How could she even ask it?
“Not physically in my truck with me,” he snapped. “But I was in constant contact with my team by phone.”
“You know that doesn’t physically place you anywhere,” she said calmly. “So it doesn’t confirm an alibi.”
“You can track my cell phone.”
“Can do. And we might be able to pull GPS from your truck. But that still doesn’t prove you were with your phone or in your vehicle.”
“Kenna texted from a gas station about a half hour after she left home.” He pulled out his phone and displayed the text showing she needed air in a tire. “I went back to that gas station to confirm she’d been there and nothing had happened to her.Watched the video feed. The attendant can confirm I was there and I’d be on their video feed too. Was right around eight. It would’ve taken me at least half an hour to get to the lake.”
“We’ll check on that, but it still doesn’t tell us where you were for the last half hour.”
She had a point. One he refused to respond to or argue with. Either she believed him or she didn’t.
“This isn’t personal, Gabe,” she said quietly. “You know I’m just doing my job, right?”
He didn’t know that. To him, it felt painfully personal. He bit his tongue, unwilling to say something he couldn’t take back.
She exhaled. “Can you think of anyone who might’ve wanted to hurt Kenna?”
“I don’t know the people in her day-to-day life,” he said. “Only the ones she mentioned.”
“Like who?”
“Mostly her coworkers at Little Pines Daycare. Especially the director who didn’t get along well with the classroom staff. Kenna had a bunch of stories about how she always put profit before the children.”
“Doesn’t sound like the kind of person who should be working with children.”
“I’ve picked Lucy up from daycare several times, and the woman has always been quite charming to me. Kenna told me that was a front.”
“Why did she continue to work there, then?”
“It wasn’t for the pay, that was for sure. She believed she needed to be there to try to protect these children and families. To help them whenever possible. She also believed in Safe Harbor. They’re an emergency home for kids ages eight to seventeen. They’re mostly funded by the New Tide Foundation, but I know the daycare center supported them too.”
“I’ve read about group homes like that but never had cause to visit one.”
“They help neglect or abuse cases, behavioral issues, and also serve as temporary placements. She said they successfully found permanent homes for most of the kids, and she loved volunteering there.”
“You think this could be about the daycare or Safe Harbor?”
“I honestly don’t think so. I mean, the director wasn’t very nice to her staff, but I can’t see any reason she would be involved in killing Kenna.”
“I’ll still need to interview the director, but we should move on until we have any indication that Safe Harbor or the daycare center have a connection to her murder.” El made a note. “You’re sure there weren’t any boyfriends? Current or past. Someone she broke up with and it ended badly?”
