Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

N ate lost track of how many people he shook hands with. Pizza had been consumed, all the volunteers thanked, and the store looked amazing. Now it was just him and Bailey, Rachel, Jenny, and the kids, and everyone was exhausted.

Rachel took in the building with satisfaction. "I've got to say, people came through in a big way. We should be able to open normally on Friday."

"It's truly a miracle." Bailey collapsed on a stool behind the main counter. "Tomorrow evening, I'll focus on getting some pumpkins lined up out front for those who don't want to go down to pick them directly from the vines."

"I'm happy to help." Nate flashed her a smile.

"I appreciate that." When Bailey returned the smile, there was an added warmth to it. He couldn't wait to sneak a kiss in later.

Jenny stretched and hopped up to sit on the counter. "I'm looking forward to a long bath, some chocolate, and a good night's sleep."

Bailey pointed to her. "Amen, sister. "

Nate's phone rang, and Paris's name flashed on the screen.

He answered it immediately. "This is Nate."

"Hey. I'm here with Logan. We've been able to dig up some more information."

"Great. Let me put this on speaker." Nate did so and set the phone down.

Bailey glanced at Seth, who was watching them curiously. "I'm going to take the boys out to play." It was clear she didn't want them to overhear any details.

"Oh! Let me do that." Rachel held out a hand to each of the brothers. "Come on, boys. Did I see some dominoes in that toy chest out there? Let's see if we can build a long chain of dominoes and then knock them down."

"Are you sure?" Bailey hopped down from the stool. "We're good if you want to head home."

"Don't you worry. I've got this." With a wink and a smile, she led the boys over to the toy chest.

Nate moved into the small office where the three of them gathered around the desk. He set the phone down and put it on speaker. "All right, Paris. You've got me, Jenny, and Bailey here." He put a hand against Bailey's lower back, and she immediately leaned into the touch.

"Hey, guys," Logan said. "Mr. Tinsley mentioned that Jeremy Price lived on Cherry Street, so I started my search there. No one with the last name Price has ever lived on Cherry Street in Destiny. There was also never a Jeremy Price registered with the Destiny School District."

Paris spoke up. "Since Mr. Tinsley said Jeremy seemed several years older than Sophia, he may not have attended school in the area. I got the impression they probably met at one of the parties Sophia liked to sneak off to."

"That's what I was thinking, too," Logan agreed. " So I expanded the search to all school districts in Texas, and I found a Jeremy Price registered in Denton County. His file there was filled with all kinds of behavioral issues. He was suspended twice for inappropriate behavior and fighting. It looks like he lived with his father at the time, a Warren Price. After the last suspension, he dropped out of school and never went back."

Paris cleared his throat. "I reached out to law enforcement in Denton. Jeremy was questioned about a number of petty thefts and property damage reports, but somehow he always managed to skate by due to lack of evidence. He was never booked into the system. I've got a call into Warren Price, but he hasn't returned it yet. Logan did find photos of him from the school district in Denton. We sent a copy over to Mr. Tinsley, and he verified that he's the same guy that Sophia was dating."

"Then we can assume Jeremy left Denton after he dropped out of school and came here to Destiny. But why Destiny?" Bailey reached up and scratched behind her right ear. "I mean, I love our community, don't get me wrong, but why would you just randomly choose this place as your destination?"

"Something must have brought him here," Jenny agreed. "So we know Jeremy had issues with violence and inappropriate behavior before he moved to Destiny. We have confirmation that he's the one who was seeing Sophia Tinsley. Have you been able to figure out where Jeremy is now?"

"That's the weird part," Logan said over the phone. "It's like the guy just disappeared after that. No online activity or any bank accounts opened under his name. However, there is one more thing we found. Detective?"

There was some clattering in the background before Paris's voice joined the conversation again. "I sent a photo of the watch that was found on the property over to Mr. Tinsley. He not only identified it as his daughter's watch but was able to tell me the inscription word for word. He said he bought it for her when she started to pull away from him because he wanted it to be a reminder that, no matter what happened, he loved her, and she could always come back home. She wore it all the time, and when she took it off to go to bed, she placed it in a dish on her side table. He's certain she was wearing it the night she disappeared because he hadn't been able to find it since."

Nate couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "The jeweler said that it would have taken some force to break the band." Had Sophia and Jeremy argued? Did he grab her arm, and that's how the band was broken? Maybe Mr. Tinsley's worry about his daughter being murdered wasn't so over the top. "I hate to ask this, Logan, but have you done a search for Jane Does in Texas to see if any match Sophia's description?"

"I did, and there were no matches. Plus, Sophia had been brought in by police several times for petty theft and once with a group of teens after a large party was broken up. Her fingerprints are in the system. Even if her body had turned up somewhere else, they should've been able to identify her?—"

Paris's voice broke in. "I'm getting a call from Warren Price. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Bailey shivered. "What if Sophia was killed right here on this property?"

Nate slid his hand from her lower back to her shoulder and gave it a reassuring clasp. "Even if that were true, then what happened to Jeremy?"

They talked about several possibilities while they waited for the detective to return. The sound of a door opening and shutting signaled that he'd re-joined Logan.

"All right, I spoke with Mr. Price. He said that his son took off after he dropped out of high school. Since Jeremy was almost eighteen at the time, the father wasn't worried about it and, frankly, he was relieved to no longer be stressed about what his son was going to do next."

"Wow." Bailey shook her head. "I can't even imagine."

Price quickly continued. "I asked if he knew why Jeremy might have come to Destiny. It turns out that his mother lived here, and Jeremy often threatened his father with changing his last name to hers. I got the impression Warren would've been just fine with that. If that's the case, we need to be looking for a Jeremy Carmichael."

"Carmichael?" Why did the name sound familiar to Nate?

Bailey's form stiffened as she straightened. "What was his mother's name?"

"Rachel Carmichael."