Claimed

“Yeah,” the beefy cop said, looking down at the pad in his hand. “Kelsey Rowan.”

James’ heart was beating so hard he was afraid the cops could hear it. He ran a hand over his face as he struggled to compose his thoughts. He looked up. “She’s missing? She quit the bank a while back. It was the same day I started my leave, I remember now. She didn’t give any notice. She just left a voice message. It was pretty shocking, really.” He shrugged, making eye contact with the older cop. “Young people today…”

“Did she say where she was going? Did she have another job she was taking?”

James stared at the ceiling, pretending to think back. He shook his head. “No, not that I recall. Her parents are in Florida, I think. Maybe she went back there?”

“Nope. Her parents are the ones who made the report. Apparently she hasn’t been back to her apartment for quite some time, and her cell goes straight to voice mail. We haven’t been able to trace the phone’s location. There’s been no credit card use. Her rent’s past due. Do you still have the voice message she left, by chance? They accessed your voicemail at work, but it wasn’t there. Did she call your cell?”

“No, I’m sorry. We were just colleagues, nothing more than that. The call was on my work phone, but I routinely delete my voicemail messages as a matter of course. It didn’t occur to me to save it, frankly.” He blew out a breath and brought his hands to his face, silently praying the cops were buying his story.

The fat cop consulted his pad again. “Some of the bank employees we interviewed indicated you two were the last ones left at the group’s happy hour. Ms. Rowan was seen leaving Sal’s Pub on Thursday, July eleventh around eight o’clock with a man matching your description.”

James’ blood froze in his veins and for one horrible second he thought he was going to burst out crying. Stop it. Get a hold of yourself. They don’t know a fucking thing. They’re just fishing for information. James lifted his head and forced himself to meet the man’s eye. “I remember that night. Some of the folks in the department had gone out for pizza and a beer. I gave Kelsey a ride to her bus stop afterward.”

“You had a car parked at Sal’s?” The cop frowned.

Stick to as much of the truth as you can. “No. I have a parking space in the car garage next to the bank. We walked down together and then I gave her a ride. She didn’t say anything about quitting either. I didn’t get that message until the next morning when I went into the office.”

“Where did you drop her? What stop?”

James told them, silently congratulating himself that he knew exactly where Kelsey got on and off the bus, along with where she shopped for groceries, where she lived, and a whole lot more, not that he’d ever let them know that. Instead, he said, “Man, this is really awful. I hope nothing’s happened to her. Yeah, she was irresponsible, but she was a sweet kid. If there’s any way I can help…” He held out his hands, palms up and looked at each cop in turn.

“Keep your eyes and ears open,” said the older cop as he hoisted himself to his feet. The young cop handed James a card. “If you hear anything or think of anything that might be useful, give us a call.”

James took the card and shoved it into his pocket “I will,” he promised. “Gosh, I hope you find her. I hope she’s okay.”

“You too,” the younger cop said. “Hang in there.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

James walked the cops to the screen door, and watched as they got into their unmarked vehicle. The young cop climbed behind the wheel, while the fat one scribbled something on his pad. Finally they drove away.

James went back into the house and collapsed onto the couch. He felt as if he’d just run a marathon. His muscles had turned to jelly, his hands were shaking, his heart beating so fast he thought he might pass out.

He lay back against the couch, taking deep, slow breaths until he could calm himself down. Everything was okay. Those cops were just doing their duty, going through the motions, checking all the leads. They hadn’t even asked to come inside the house. He wasn’t a suspect.

He realized now what a horrible, stupid risk he’d taken in going back to her apartment, but apparently no one had noticed his coming or going in that big, impersonal complex in which she had lived. He would be even more careful going forward. Kelsey’s cell phone was in the trunk of his car, along with her purse. Thank goodness he’d thought to remove the cell battery. He would dispose of her things as soon as possible. He would hide them in a bag of garbage and take the bag to the local dump. He would make sure Kelsey never left the cabin. She wouldn’t even be allowed on the screened-in porch anymore. At least not until this whole missing person thing had well and truly blown over.