Page 44 of Lost Lake
Or maybe she took it off and left it as a clue for them. She was waiting somewhere for him to find her. Terrified. Counting on him.
He forced himself to continue and turned over the next photo.
“What?” He sat forward, searching every detail of the photo. “You have to see this picture of Kenna with a man in front of a glass-fronted building. I can’t make out the guy’s face, but he’s wearing an old green army jacket and a black baseball cap.”
El rushed in, and he held out the picture.
She squinted at it. “Can’t see a logo on the cap.”
“If it’s a logo cap, several sports teams in the area have them. Like the Portland Winterhawks or the Hillsboro Hops.”
She frowned. “Either way, the picture doesn’t have enough to ID this man.”
Gabe flipped it over. To check for a date. “She took it only three weeks ago, and wrote,Our second chance.”
“Is it Kenna’s handwriting?”
He nodded. “But what in the world did she mean by that?”
Gabe flipped the photograph back over.
“She’s looking at him like he could be her boyfriend.” El continued to stare at the picture. “Maybe she saw the boyfriend as a second chance at life with a dad for Lucy?”
“Yeah, maybe. She clearly feels something for him. My gut says I know him from somewhere. It’s his stance that seems familiar to me.”
She drew an evidence bag from a large cargo pocket. “I’ll bag the photos to take as evidence.”
“Maybe Hayden or a Veritas expert can somehow use that picture to identify the guy.”
“We can hope.” She gently placed the pictures in a bag and looked at him. “Hey, hey, don’t look so discouraged. We’ll find her. I promise.”
He held up his little finger. “Pinky swear?”
She gave him a funny look.
“Oh, right, you don’t know about that,” he said, feeling embarrassed for revealing something so personal when this search should be all business. “It’s my thing with Lucy.”
She gave him a tender look and held out her little finger. “Pinky swear.”
They twisted fingers, but only for the briefest of moments.
She immediately jerked free. “Finish up here, and we’ll move to the bedroom.”
Yeah, he should’ve kept things all business. Oh well. It was over, and despite her tender look, he shoved the interaction into the recesses of his mind and went back to reviewing items on the desk. Unfortunately, nothing else provided a lead.
“I’m done.” He stood.
El met him in the hallway leading to the only bedroom.
“I always wished Kenna could afford a two-bedroom place,” he said as he stepped into the room. “But that wasn’t in her budget.”
She’d placed a double bed in one corner and a small child’s bed in the other. He’d never forget the Saturday morning when he took them to a thrift store and Lucy spotted the worn Bluey comforter now covering her mattress. The simple joy of a child. Something he hadn’t experienced much in his life.
El went straight to the shabby nightstand holding only a single vintage lamp. She pulled out the drawer. “No tablet.”
“Like I thought, she probably took it with her. I didn’t see it in her van, though.”
“If it’s in there, Sierra will find it.”
