Page 46 of Hard Evidence
Was this jerk actually serious?“Why would he have done that?And where would he even have put her?”
“Did you look in the back of his pickup at any point during your time together?”
My face must have registered my incredulity because the officer shifted in his seat and sighed.
“Are you aware that this isn’t the first young woman associated with Mr.Norquist who’s come to harm?”
“Yes.”And whether I liked it or not, I’d also spent five years married to a lawyer, and Ridge was definitely a man who brought his work home with him.“Although another man was convicted of that murder, and I believe you meanallegedharm in Amie’s case.Right now, there’s no evidence of foul play other than the discovery of her purse, and if you don’t get out of here and look for her, maybe there never will be.”
“Ms.Packer, I’m just doing my job here.There’s no need for hostility.”
“I’m not being hostile.I’m trying to help while you’re coming up with far-fetched scenarios that get us no further forward.”
“Did you know that another of Mr.Norquist’s acquaintances used to drive around with deceased young women in the trunk of his car?”
What?My mouth dropped open, and the detective smiled smugly.Gotcha.
“Am I being detained for any reason?”I asked.
“You’re here as a witness.”
“Then I’m free to leave, and I very much hope you rethink your line of investigation soon.Amie’s life might depend on it.”
I was shaking as I hurried out of the interview room, and I hated that I’d let him rattle me, but my nerves were teetering on a knife-edge after all the business with Ridge.It didn’t take much to unbalance me at the moment.Justin was pacing outside, and he didn’t look any happier than I did.
“You okay?”he asked.
“Can we just get out of here?”
He nodded, his expression tight as he led me to the car and opened my door.I settled into the passenger seat and yanked on the seat belt, cursing as it jammed.Take a breath, Jessie.Finally, I clipped it into place as Justin settled beside me.
“The detective is a fool,” I muttered.“Alexa was right.”
“Don’t tell her that, or she’ll be saying ‘I told you so’ forever.”Justin heaved out a sigh.“They think I did it.They think I killed Amie in the parking lot and dumped her body on my way home.Fuck.”His knuckles turned white where he gripped the steering wheel.“They should be out there searching for her, and she could be anywhere by now.”
“They said you might have stashed her in the back of your truck.Is it true you had a friend who did that?”
“What?”Justin’s brow creased in genuine puzzlement, then he nodded slowly.“They must have meant Nolan’s dad.Assholes.”
“Nolan’s father killed a woman?”
“Women, plural.He was a serial killer in Washington.Eddie Calder.”
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“He got caught when a guy texting and driving rear-ended him.The trunk popped open, a passer-by spotted the dead woman tied up inside, and Calder sped off in a stolen vehicle.After he went to prison, Nolan’s mom took back her maiden name and moved to Pennsylvania.Nolan was just a kid when it happened.I never even met the guy, and Nolan hasn’t spoken to him in years either.Blackstone House was a refuge for a whole group of messed-up teenagers, but that didn’t mean we were all monsters.”
“I kind of wish we hadn’t given Amie’s phone to the police.”
“Me too.But I thought we were doing the right thing.”
“Is it wrong to say I feel relieved?Not about Amie, of course.But if the cops in Maine put the same amount of effort into their investigations as these officers do, Ridge won’t be able to weaponise them against me.”
Justin turned to face me, his expression grave.“I swear I won’t let him hurt you again.”
He offered a hand, and when I took it, he squeezed mine in a silent promise.I believed him.In that moment, I swallowed down the lump in my throat and believed him.But if I’d realised how difficult our lives were about to get, I’d have bought him a one-way ticket to a non-extradition country, pushed him onto an airplane, and waved a sad goodbye.
I was up to my wrists in pastry when the doorbell rang—I’d added too much milk by mistake—and Shiro began barking.When I got stressed, I cooked.When Justin got stressed, he sprinted for ten minutes on the treadmill and then began printing out “Have you seen this woman?”posters with pictures of Amie and a black Toyota Corolla, the same model she’d been driving when she disappeared.Tomorrow, we’d pin them all over the neighbourhood near the office.We’d spent several hours searching after we left the police station earlier, starting with the undergrowth around the parking lot and moving outward, but there was no sign of Amie.Justin had left a message for her parents to call him.
