Page 47 of Lost Lake
El held out her phone, the screen displaying the picture they’d found in the house of Kenna and the unidentified man. “Is this the guy, and did you ever see him wearing a jacket like this?”
She peered at the picture. “Yes. Yes. That’s him, and I saw him wearing that jacket a couple of times. He had a sweatshirt on underneath with the hood pulled up.”
“So he was a big guy?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah. Kind of like you except a little bulkier. But tall and he had kind of a swagger when he walked. You know, like some of those young guys you see on television.”
Gabe didn’t know exactly what she meant, but the man having kind of a swagger could help them.
“What about a vehicle?” El asked. “What does he drive?”
“That’s the odd thing.” Mrs. Z. leaned back in the rocker. “He parked down the street. Like he and Kenna didn’t want anyone to know who he was or that they were in a relationship.”
“Maybe she thought you would recognize him if you saw him,” Gabe said.
“Me? Not hardly. I wouldn’t recognize any younger man unless he was from church. That’s the only place I really go besides doctors’ appointments.”
“Maybe she didn’t want anyone to know a man spent the night at her place,” El said.
“You don’t think she was…that they were doing something they shouldn’t do outside of marriage? No. I can’t believe that about Kenna.”
Gabe could tell her about the pregnancy, but he didn’t think she needed to have another loss to grieve. He met El’s gaze, encouraging her not to say anything. She opened her mouth. Gabe held his breath.
“Did Lucy ever mention him?” she asked, and Gabe started breathing again.
Mrs. Z. shook her head. “I also wondered if he came over when he did so Kenna didn’t have to introduce him to Lucy.”
“Which would suggest a more casual relationship,” El said.
“I didn’t get any sense that she’d fallen in love. At least not by her behavior. It didn’t change. Wait, I take that back. She was suddenly worried about her and Lucy’s safety. Made her put all those locks you had to have seen on her door.”
“Did she ever discuss that with you?” Gabe asked.
“Sort of. But she never gave me a good answer about why she suddenly felt unsafe. Nothing around here scared the rest of us. I was worried that something had happened at her place, and she was hiding it from us.”
“I’ll check police reports to see if there’ve been any incidents in the area,” El said.
Mrs. Z.’s face narrowed in a scowl. “You’ll keep us updated if you find anything, right?”
“Of course.”
“One thing you could check for at her place if you haven’t already found it. The last month or so, she spent a lot of time scribbling in a journal. The book was green with a big black cross on the front. I asked about it. She sidestepped my questions and said it had to do with her faith.”
“But you didn’t believe her?” El asked.
Mrs. Z. shook her head. “And you know what? It wasn’t like her to lie. I can’t say she was downright lying to me, but she was avoiding telling me the truth.”
Gabe made a mental note to tell Sierra to look for the journal and Kenna’s missing tablet.
“Has anyone approached her house since she left?” El asked.
Mrs. Z. shook her head. “Unless of course they came when I was sleeping, which at my age is getting less and less.”
“What about the other neighbors?” El stood. “Could one of them have gotten a good look at this guy or know why Kenna added the locks to her doors?”
“It’s doubtful,” Mrs. Z. said. “They’re never home, and it’s been hard to connect with them. Besides, I have the best view of Kenna’s front door. If I didn’t see this guy, they probably didn’t either.”
Gabe gave her hands a squeeze and stood. “We still need to talk to them.”
