Page 134 of Hard to Hold
I could tell she was watching my face to gauge my reaction. I didn’t respond.
“Personally, I think Jane Doe and Amy Manning are one and the same.”
Manning.
Her last name was Manning.
“And how do I play into this?” I asked.
“As you’re aware, Jane Doe was found not far from here.”
I nodded. “She was.”
The detective sighed, clearly not happy that I wasn’t willing to share information. Until I knew what her angle was, I didn’t intend to tell her anything.
“Oddly enough, Chief Jackson has visited Embers Ridge a few times in the past year.”
I sat up straight. “What?”
She nodded.
“Look,” she finally said after sipping her coffee. “Something felt really off to me about the relationship that Chief Jackson had with Amy Manning. I’ve worked for him for quite a while, even before he became the police chief.”
“When did he make chief?” It had been headline news out of Houston, but I didn’t remember the time frame.
“Eleven months ago.”
Well, that was definitely coincidental since Jane Doe had made the news almost thirteen months ago now.
“Chief Jackson and Amy were together for nearly five years,” Detective Tannenbaum explained. “That’s a long time to simply let someone go from your life. And that’s exactly what he did. If your girlfriend of five years went to take care of a family member, wouldn’t you expect her to come back?”
I figured the question was rhetorical. And yes, I would.
“Before she just disappeared from his life, Jackson talked about her all the time. He seemed enthralled with her.” Joanna brushed her hair back from her face. “Whether or not that was genuine is another story entirely. However, he did talk about her. And then suddenly, she’s gone. Simply vanished from his life and he acted as though nothing happened.”
“Did he mention they broke up when she left?”
“No. And that’s the strangest part. According to the story that’s traveled around, she simply went to take care of her grandmother, but she wasn’t coming back.”
“Were they married?”
She shook her head, then took another sip of her coffee. “No. In the beginning, he mentioned they would get married, but that died off about a year into their relationship.”
“And you don’t think she’s in… Where’d you say? Pennsylvania?”
“No.” Detective Tannenbaum rested her arms on the table. “I don’t. For one, Amy Manning didn’t have any living relatives.”
“And you know this how?”
“Like I said, the relationship seemed off to me. I was introduced to her a couple of times at various functions and she stuck with me for whatever reason. Sweet girl. Very young. Almost naïve, I guess you could say. Anyway, when the man who seemed to be so in love with this woman simply let her go and didn’t look back, I had to wonder.”
I continued to stare at her.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, a small smile forming on her mouth. “And no, I have no personal relationship with Kelly Jackson. Never have. I’ve worked for him for a long time, and to be honest, there’s something about him that’s off.”
“Off how?”
“His demeanor. The man is the no-nonsense, take-no-shit sort of guy. He’s a hard-ass, but when it comes to cops, he’s fair. However, that’s not the case when it comes to criminals. As a patrolman, he was feared. There have been stories about him. About incidents. No charges have ever stuck and he’s risen in the ranks despite the rumors. But I think he’s hiding a dark side.”
