“I’m off to see the sheriff.” She slung her giant purse over one shoulder. She’d changed into what Lance called her lawyer uniform: a fitted navy-blue suit, white silk blouse, heels, and pearls. They all went outside together, and Sharp locked up the office.
Lance thought about kissing her goodbye, but the gesture felt awkward. Their relationship felt awkward, especially in front of Sharp. Instead, Lance said, “Good luck.”
They parted on the sidewalk. Lance watched her walk away. The skirt and heels did magical things to her legs. She was all at once ladylike, professional, and unbelievably hot.
At least she was to him.
Morgan got into her minivan and drove off. Lance and Sharp settled in Lance’s Jeep.
“What’s going on between you two?” Sharp said before he’d even fastened his seat belt.
“It’s hard to quantify.” Lance started the engine and pulled away from the curb. “Her grandfather has been sick. She has her hands full, and we both know my mom is a lot to manage.”
Sharp stared over the console. “Stop overthinking. You are not going to find another woman like that one. Make time for her. Do not fuck this up.”
“That isn’t my goal.”
“You can’t possibly manage every single piece of your mother’s life forever. You’re entitled to some happiness.”
“I know.” But it didn’t feel that simple. His mother’s mental health and physical safety required a delicate balance of medication, routine, and vigilance. He’d slacked off during college, and she’d needed inpatient treatment to get back on track. Since then, he’d erred on the side of micromanaging, but that didn’t allow much room for a social life.
They drove the rest of the way in silence.
Chelsea and Tim lived in a quiet subdivision. As Lance turned the Jeep onto their street, he slowed to drive around a couple pushing a baby stroller. Ten feet ahead of them, a small child pedaled a tricycle. At three o’clock in the afternoon, grade school-aged kids swarmed a play lot in the center of the cul-de-sac.
Lance parked in front of Tim’s house. It was a nice starter home, small but generally well kept. The lawn needed raking, but Lance supposed Tim had had little time or interest in yard work since his wife had vanished.
Two sedans were parked in the driveway, the Toyota that Tim had driven to Sharp Investigations and a late-model Dodge sedan.
Tim answered the door and let them into the house.
“Has the press been hounding you?” Sharp asked.
“They hung around the first day, then they seemed to lose interest.” Tim ushered Lance and Sharp into the kitchen. Suitcases crowded a corner of the adjoining family room. “My in-laws just arrived. I don’t know how I survived the last few days without them.”
He introduced them to a couple in their late fifties.
Chelsea’s mother, Patricia, was a tall, fit blonde woman who looked as if she could still hike all day. She wore black yoga pants and a sweater that ended midthigh. She had the sleeping baby draped over one cloth-covered shoulder while she rubbed his back in a circular motion.
Chelsea’s dad, Randall, sat at the kitchen table with a little girl of about three perched on his lap. Lance assumed the child was Tim and Chelsea’s oldest. Bella and her grandfather were working on a large-piece puzzle.
“We’d like to ask you both a few questions,” Sharp said.
Dark circles and worry lined Patricia’s eyes as she nodded. She glanced at the little girl on her husband’s knee, clearly concerned about the child overhearing the upcoming conversation. “Tim, maybe you could take Bella and William to the playground.”
“Yay.” The little girl jumped off her grandfather’s lap.
Tim did not appear to share his daughter’s enthusiasm, but he simply said, “Good idea. Bella, get your coat and shoes. I’ll put William in the stroller.”
Bella skipped out of the room. The sounds of Tim getting the children ready floated back from the hallway. Bella chattered. The front door opened and closed.
After Tim and the children left, Patricia sat next to her husband at the kitchen table. The older couple joined hands, their fingers intertwining in a show of solidarity Lance admired. This was the way marriages were supposed to work. Couples should lean on each other.
“We usually stay in a hotel. The house is small. But this time . . .” Patricia said, “Tim needs help.”
“When was the last time you talked to your daughter?” Sharp settled across from Randall.
Lance took the chair opposite Patricia.
A tear leaked from Patricia’s eye. “Chelsea calls us almost every day. I spoke to her Friday morning.” She pressed a clenched fist to her mouth. “She was looking forward to going out that night.”
The poor woman.
“How was her mood? Did anything seem off?” Lance swallowed his pity and pushed aside memories of his own mother’s confusion and grief after his father disappeared. More than two decades later, he could still see her as clear as day in his mind. The tears, the dark circles, the pale skin.
The way she’d seemed to fade away over the following months and years.
Patricia sniffed and wiped a fingertip under her eye. “She’s had a rough time since the baby was born.”
“It didn’t have to be that tough. Tim could have been more useful.” Randall scowled.
“So Tim isn’t a good husband?” Lance asked.
“That’s not fair, Rand.” Patricia’s knuckles whitened around her husband’s. “Tim loves Chelsea. He’s a hard worker who’s trying to build a future for his family. And he’s a nice boy.”
“As smart as he is, that’s exactly what he is—a boy.” Randall didn’t look convinced. “He needs to grow the hell up.”
“Anyway, we’re so glad Tim agreed to hire a private firm,” Patricia said. “After speaking to the sheriff over the phone, we didn’t have much confidence in his investigation.”
“You asked Tim to hire us?” Lance asked.
Patricia’s forehead wrinkled. “Not exactly. We were discussing our frustration with the sheriff. No matter how many times I told him Chelsea would never leave her babies, he seemed convinced that she was depressed and left on her own. Tim said he wished he could afford to hire his own investigator, but he didn’t have the cash. So we gave him the money.”
“Does Chelsea have an agenda book, a calendar, a place where she leaves notes for herself?” Lance asked.
Patricia slid a USB drive across the table. “Tim said he copied everything from her computer and phone onto this. As far as I know, she keeps her calendar and address book on her phone.”
Lance pocketed the USB drive.
Of course, having all the information filtered through Tim had its downsides. Tim was skilled with computers. He could have purged any damaging tidbits before he handed the information over. But such was the challenge of working in the private sector. Lance couldn’t go to a judge and get a subpoena for Tim’s records.
“How about friends?” Sharp asked. “Do you know of any besides Fiona? Someone from back home?”