Chapter 25

TWENTY-FIVE

Jenna put down the phone and looked at Kane. “Maggie is sending up a woman who’s reported a friend missing since yesterday lunchtime. I figured it would be better if we spoke to her, in case it’s a problem.”

“That makes a lot of sense.” Kane swiveled around in his office chair and watched the door as footsteps sounded up the stairs.

Jenna was surprised to see Josie Campbell, the woman they’d interviewed previously peering hesitantly through the door. It seemed very coincidental that a person on her potential suspects list in a cold-case homicide would walk into her office. She stood and waved her to a seat. “You have a missing friend? Can you give me more details, please?” She sat down and took a legal pad out of her drawer. “Let’s start with her name.” She lifted her pen and looked at Josie expectantly.

“I believe you’ve met her. Her name is Marissa Kendrick.” As she sat on the edge of her chair, Josie fiddled with the clasp of her purse. It was obvious she didn’t want to be here.

Well, well, well, Marissa, another person on their potential suspects list, had gone missing. She already had Marissa Kendrick’s details and background information on file. She looked up at Josie. “What makes you believe she’s missing?”

“I had lunch with her yesterday at Aunt Betty’s Café and she hasn’t been seen since.” Josie lifted her chin. “I’ve been calling her for hours and went by her house. Her truck is missing and when I looked through the windows, her family room fire is dead. She’d never allow that fire to go out in winter. I’ve driven around the streets, searching for her truck in case she had a wreck or was washed away in the flood, but I can’t find any trace of it.” She searched Jenna’s face with a concerned expression. “Marissa very rarely travels far from home. She’d never go anywhere in this kind of weather unless it was an emergency. I’ve called all our friends and no one has heard from her. I didn’t know what else to do, so I came by to talk to you.”

“When was the last time you saw her?” Kane leaned forward in his chair. “Did she mention going anywhere when you spoke to her over lunch?”

“We met at Aunt Betty’s at one, and I don’t recall the exact time we left but she never mentioned going anywhere and was heading home.” Josie turned back to look at Jenna. “I know it was broad daylight and there were people everywhere, but that doesn’t explain why she’s missing.”

“I’ll call the hospital.” Kane made the call.

Jenna ran down her mental list of questions she needed to ask. “Has she had any problems in her life recently? Is she depressed?”

“I figure we’re all a little concerned after discovering the bodies of Abby and Cole had washed up in the river after being missing for twelve years.” Josie hugged her purse to her chest as if it were a life preserver. “We talked about them over lunch and how shocking it was to discover they hadn’t just run away and someone had murdered them. The press conference was very disturbing for all of their friends.” She let out a long sigh. “If you believe that Marissa would take her own life because of what happened that night, you’re mistaken. It was such a long time ago. To be honest, I can’t even remember their faces.”

“No one of that name has been taken to the hospital.” Kane placed his phone on the desk. “Are you sure there’s no one she might visit? Does she have friends in another town? If she drove to Blackwater, for instance, as the roads are flooding, she might have gotten into trouble. We wouldn’t know unless somebody called it in. In that case, surely she’d call one of her friends to tell them?”

“Like I said before, Marissa doesn’t like to drive long distances.” Josie shook her head. “There’s no more information I can give you.”

Watching her intently and seeing her agitation, Jenna moved down her mental list of questions. “If she was feeling depressed about Abby and Cole, would she have gone to church?”

“No, I’m sure she’d have mentioned it if she’d wanted to speak to Father Derry, and it’s unlikely she’d stay there overnight.” Josie shook her head. “Is the next question ‘has she got a boyfriend?’ because the answer is no. I gave a list of our friends to the receptionist and filled out all Marissa’s details, even what she was wearing.” She stared at Jenna. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Nodding, Jenna met the woman’s gaze. “Of course. Do you know the make and model of her truck?”

“Yeah, she has a white GMC Sierra.” Josie leaned back in her seat with an exhausted expression on her face. “I don’t know the plate number but it’s easily recognizable. She has a sticker on her bumper. It’s bright red with white lettering advertising her tax consultancy company. As you know, she works from home and has an office out back. I checked the office. She’d be safe there because she keeps a Glock in her drawer. Her desk faces the door, so no one is going to sneak in behind her and snatch her away—and why would they? She helps people resolve their tax problems. She is just about the kindest, gentlest person I know.”

Jenna pushed to her feet. “That’s good to know. We’ll get onto this right away. As her vehicle is a late model, it will have GPS and there might be a way of tracking it. As she doesn’t have any close relatives and we believe her life to be in danger, we don’t need a search warrant to hunt down her location. I’ll get our tech guy on it now. Leave this with us and I’ll be in touch with you as soon as we discover where she is. Make sure you leave your contact details with Maggie at the desk.”

“I already have, and I’m sure you have them anyway.” Josie stood, looking irritated, or was she scared? “Thank you.”

“If you hear from her in the meantime, don’t forget to let us know.” Kane stood as she left the room and closed the door behind her. He went to Jenna’s desk and leaned on it, looking at her. “Well, this is weird. The two people we interviewed are suddenly involved in another missing persons case. Do you figure there’s a connection?”

Jenna shrugged. “If you mean that Marissa was involved in the deaths of Cole and Abby and decided to skip town before we discovered her connection, we’ll need proof that she packed a bag and ran. I figure we go and drop by her house. We have due cause to enter on a welfare check after a missing person’s report has been filed.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Kane grabbed his coat from a peg behind the door. “If you give Kalo her details, he’ll be able to hunt down her plate number via the MVD and maybe track her GPS. I’ll go and tell the others where we’re going and give them an update. Honestly, Jenna, I figure there’s more to this than meets the eye. It’s too much of a coincidence that one of these people goes missing as soon as we start investigating the cold case. Someone is hiding something.”