“Sure. Sure. I’m here for you.” Susan lifted her hand as if to touch Jenna’s hand.
Jenna drew back, straightening. They weren’t friends or comrades. All she knew was that she might have a shared connection to her family. “Thanks.”
Jenna’s phone buzzed. It was her bride. Ready to see her picture. “I’ve got to go. Thank you.”
Susan laid her hand on Jenna’s arm stopping her. “You can trust me. I’m your friend.”
Jenna hesitated, searched the older woman’s eyes, full of sadness. Was she a talented liar or telling the truth? Jenna pulled her arm away and hurried out of the house not sure if Susan had reached out a helping hand or pulled the strings like a puppeteer.
When Rick walked into KC’s bar, it was close to midnight and the place was still crammed full of customers. There were two female singers on the small stage. One of the women, a redhead dressed in jeans and a tank top, played a guitar and the other, a blonde, played the violin. The customers crowded around the stage, swaying time to the music.
He glanced toward the bar and didn’t see KC but his backup bartender instead. Rick made his way through the crowds toward the back office, where KC no doubt was getting a head start on the night’s receipts.
Down a narrow hallway, he spotted the light coming from the door that was ajar. He knocked.
“Go away,” KC grumbled.
Rick smiled and pushed open the door to see KC hunched over a state-of-the art computer. He sported half-glasses and a blue Hawaiian shirt that accentuated his balding head and broad shoulders. “KC.”
The older man turned and his frown softened when he saw Rick. After all the years KC and Buddy had been partners, KC was like family. He snatched off his glasses and rose, crossing the small office in one step. He extended his hand to Rick. “What the hell brings you out? Tell me you’re chasing a woman.”
“Nope, not a woman.”
KC shook his head. “You’re a monk. You need to live a little.”
“I could say the same for you.” He glanced around the office and the wall of cubbies filled with neatly stacked papers. “I hear from Georgia that you work all the time.”
“Don’t feel like work,” KC said. “I like slinging drinks and not chasing bad guys.” He studied Rick with a paternal glare that reminded Rick of his own father. “So what brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“A question about an old case.”
He nodded. “Don’t tell me, Jenna Thompson.”
“You saw the news report.”
“Who hasn’t?”
“When she showed up here, did you have any hint about her past?”
“Nope. Not a one. The last time I saw Jennifer Elliot Thompson was almost twenty-five years ago. She was just five. When Jenna showed up here, she never once mentioned her past.”
“You worked her case with Buddy?”
A scowl deepened the lines of his face. “Everyone worked her case. An entire family was killed and a little girl missing. We were all scrambling to find her. No one figured we’d find her alive.”
“What can you tell me about the case?”
“Open and shut. We found the killer. Dead of an overdose. End of story. We were all glad she was alive.”
“Why’d he do it? Ronnie. Why’d he kill the family?”
“Best we could figure was that he had a thing for Jenna’s older sister. I’ve spent the better part of the last couple of days trying to remember the case but can’t seem to jog too much loose. Have you pulled my case files?”
“I’ve requested them.”
“The files will tell you more than this old memory of mine. Buddy, being Buddy, kept great notes.” KC cocked his head. “So why the interest in the case?”
“I didn’t like being blindsided by the reporter’s question.”
“That happens. Not a call to dig into twenty-five-year-old case files.”
“I’m curious.”
“Maybe you like Jenna. She’s a looker and if I were forty, no, thirty years younger, I’d make a play for her.”
Rick laughed, but felt no cheer at the idea of anyone else dating Jenna. “She likes working here.”
KC ran his hand over his graying hair. “They do say snow on the roof doesn’t mean there ain’t fire in the stove.”
“Right.”
KC shrugged. “Might be for the best you stay clear of her.”
“Why?”
“She’s a loner and, if I haven’t lost my touch, I’d say she’s not going to stick around Nashville long. She’ll get what answers she can and move back to Baltimore soon.”
“Why do you say that?” His tone carried more annoyance than he’d intended.
“She only took a leave of absence. And an attractive gal like her, there’s got to be someone waiting for her back home.”
Rick tightened his jaw. He wasn’t in the market for a woman so he shouldn’t care one way or the other. But he did.
KC laughed. “You got the same poker face as your old man.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Means you go all stony and silent when something is bothering you.”
“Nothing is bothering me.”
“Bullshit.”
Rick shook his head. “You’re pissing me off.”
KC laid his hand on Rick’s shoulder, a move he’d not have tolerated from many. “If you like her, then tell her.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“Closed up and alone isn’t the best life plan, kid. I’m living it and it sucks.”
When she slowly awoke, she was tied to a bed. Hands fastened to the headboard and feet to the baseboard. As the haze cleared from her body she was aware of two things: her body hurt and the room carried with it the heavy scent of diesel.
“She’s awake!” No missing the excitement, even the childlike glee in the voice. Her mouth was as dry as cotton and her head pounded.
Memories trickled back. Horrible images and feelings rushed over her as her stomach turned. Bile rose in her throat and she thought she’d throw up until she realized her mouth had been duct-taped closed.
She forced back the illness rising in her throat and tried focusing on the room. Twisting her head, she looked around the room. Small, it was furnished only with a bed.