He swallowed. “I don’t remember. Probably. How can I be sure you won’t use my name in your story?”
“I’m a man of my word.” Ben stood and gathered his file, then grabbed a couple of Lucas’s business cards and held them up. “I’ll make sure to send some business your way.”
As Ben exited the building, his heart raced. Now that he knew Lucas had borrowed his dad’s car and brought it to Sacramento on the same night Sophie had disappeared, it made sense that Sophie had stormed out of the house after arguing with Jessie, happened upon a Ford Pinto with the key possibly still in the ignition, hopped in, and driven to Auburn.
He was still missing pieces to the puzzle, though. How did Vernon end up with the key to the car? Or was it all one big coincidence, and he happened to steal an already stolen car? But Leanne Baxter had stated that Ben had left the Wild West with Sophie and Vernon, that the three of them had left at the same time. Only two of them were in the car when Vernon slammed into a tree. He was right back to square one: What happened to Sophie?
Walking across the parking lot, Ben thought about his last conversation with Jessie. She didn’t trust him, and she had good reason. He had yet to tell her about his talk with Sophie’s old friend, Juliette. But he kept telling himself it was because he wanted to spare Jessie the pain of knowing the truth about Sophie. Sophie was bisexual. So what? The part that didn’t sit well was all the rest. If Juliette was to be believed, Sophie was trouble with a capital T. She stole cars, then lured men into her trap and robbed them.
He needed to come clean with Jessie, tell her everything he knew. He slid his phone from his pocket and dialed her number.
FORTY
After calling Marcus Hubbard in Woodland and leaving a message asking him to call her, Jessie drove to the police station where they were holding Arlo Gatley. He’d waived his right to be booked into the station in Yolo County.
She signed in at the front desk, asked to speak with Colin Grayson, and then took a seat and waited. A few minutes later Colin appeared. “What are you doing here?”
“I want to speak to my client Arlo Gatley about his missing daughter.”
“Jessie, that’s not a good idea.”
“I need to see him, Colin. I need to figure out what I’m going to do next. She suffers from schizophrenia. Without her father to look for her, she has no one.” She sighed. “This is important to me.”
He shifted his weight.
“Did you find something in Arlo’s house? Is that why he was arrested?”
“We found the necklace. The father of the twins came to the station last night and confirmed that it belonged to their daughter.”
Jessie anchored her hair behind her ear. She felt strangely betrayed by Arlo Gatley, an awkward man whom she’d been quick to defend against a world filled with bullies.
“Wait here,” Colin said. “I’ll see what I can do.”
It wasn’t long before he returned. She could talk to Arlo, but the meeting would be recorded. After she agreed, she was stripped of her belongings. She knew the drill. Instead of being led to the window area, she was taken to a small room with a table and two chairs. She sat quietly and waited. Colin had disappeared.
A good thirty minutes passed before Arlo was escorted into the room, his hands cuffed in front of him. He took the chair at the table across from her. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot.
He frowned. “They told me that the necklace they found in my house belonged to one of the twin girls found dead recently. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t do it,” Arlo told her.
“Didn’t do what?”
“Didn’t do any of the things they’re suggesting I might have done. I never saw those girls in my life. And I have no idea where my daughter is. I would never hurt anyone.”
“I trusted you,” Jessie said. “I fell for your stories about being bullied throughout your life. How does one person manage to be disliked by an entire neighborhood? You sit in your driveway for hours at a time staring at nothing. What is that about?”
“I miss my wife. There are days I can’t be myself around Zee, so I wait for the emotions to pass.”
Jessie stiffened. She was falling for it again. The sad face, along with the melancholy tone of his voice, made her the ultimate sucker. “You wouldn’t allow me to see the rest of your house.”
“I’m uncomfortable with other people in my space. I have nothing to hide. I just like my privacy—that’s all there is to it.”
“What about the screaming in the middle of the night? Mrs. Dixon said she used to be awakened by loud shrieks.”
“Zee has suffered from hallucinations all of her life. It’s taken years to get her on the right medication.”
The man had an answer for everything. “You’ve been secretive with me from the start, refusing to let me take a look through your house and then acting disinterested when I showed you the picture of your daughter that revealed a young man taking her photo.” She angled her head as she kept her gaze on his. “But you have an answer for everything—don’t you, Arlo?” She glanced at the two-way mirror and then back to Arlo and said, “I’ve got to go.”
His eyes watered. “What about Zee?”
She wondered if the tears were all part of the act. “I haven’t found her yet,” Jessie told him, “but I’m not going to give up.”
His shoulders relaxed.
She looked him in the eyes. “I need to know if you ever heard Zee mention a boy by the name of Forrest Bloom.”
Much too quickly he shook his head as if he couldn’t possibly fathom his daughter with a boy.
She let out a drawn-out sigh.
“They can’t keep me here—can they? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Jessie exhaled. “I don’t know what’s going on, Arlo. My advice to you is to come clean and tell them everything you know.” She stood and gestured toward the officer, letting him know she was ready to go.
“Find Zee,” Arlo pleaded as she walked away.
Colin caught up to her at the front of the building as she collected her things. “If you have a minute, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your time spent with Arlo Gatley prior to today.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Humor me.”
She regretted coming at all. Seeing Arlo made her question herself all over again. Innocent or guilty? She had no idea. “Which way?”
Colin led her past a maze of cubicles and down a narrow hallway.
“Talk is being thrown around that Arlo may have killed his daughter.”
She didn’t know what to think about that.
“You do realize, don’t you, that your tendency to always root for the underdog could blind you to the truth?”
She stopped in her tracks. “And I hope you realize that your team tends to lean too quickly toward closing a case instead of actually solving it.”
Clearly annoyed, he kept walking.
She followed.
“After receiving tips from the neighbors,” Colin told her, “police have been stationed at the house. They’ll start digging up the backyard in a few hours.”
“Those neighbors have it out for the guy.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he’s different, quirky, and he has big ears.”
“Come on,” Colin said, disbelieving.
She snorted. “He’s been bullied his entire life. His daughter has schizophrenia. People don’t like people who aren’t like them.” And yet even as she said it, she knew she needed to get real. If Arlo had been bullied all his life, it would make even more sense that he would want revenge on mankind.
The conversation stopped when Colin opened the door to the conference room. She looked at the men in suits sitting at the table.
From the looks of it, the FBI had been invited, too.
Fuck.
Jessie’s interview, which turned out to be more of an interrogation, lasted nearly two hours. She had just arrived back home and was about to return Ben Morrison’s call when her phone rang. It was Marcus Hubbard.
“Yes, this is Jessie Cole,” she confirmed when he asked. “Thanks for returning my call.”