Mean Streak

“Yeah, you mentioned that last night.” He then asked the color of her hair.

“Blondish. Actually very light brown, with highlighted streaks. About to here.” Jeff touched his collarbone.

“Eyes?”

“Hazel.”

“Last seen wearing what?”

“I don’t know.” Knight’s hands stilled on the keyboard. He turned his head to look at Jeff, who explained somewhat impatiently. “The last thing I saw her wearing was a pair of jeans, brown riding boots, and a camel-colored sweater. She was carrying her coat. But as I told you last night, she planned a long-distance run on Saturday. I assume she left the motel dressed in running clothes.”

“What kind does she usually wear?”

Jeff described them by brand name. “They’re high quality, designed for serious runners. She’d counted on it being cold. She would have a zip-up jacket. Something thermal underneath. Gloves. She usually wears one of those bands around her head to keep her hair back and her ears warm. Sunglasses, maybe.”

“Got any pictures of her?”

“At home. But there are numerous ones of her on the Internet.”

Knight used a search engine and immediately got a couple dozen hits. “That her?” Jeff nodded when the deputy pointed to a picture of Emory, taken at the ribbon cutting when she and Drs. Butler and James opened their clinic.

“Pretty lady.”

“Thank you.”

“What kind of doctor?” Knight asked.

“Pediatrician.”

“These two still her partners?”

“Yes. I talked to them half an hour ago. They haven’t heard from her either.”

“They all get along okay?”

“Of course.”

“No professional rivalry?”

Jeff blew out a breath of exasperation. “You’re barking up the wrong tree. Her colleagues are very concerned.”

“Okay. Just asking. I’m gonna be asking a lot of things that might seem irrelevant, or just downright nosy. But, unfortunately, awkward questions are sometimes necessary. It’s about the worst aspect of my job.”

Jeff doubted the accuracy of that statement but didn’t dispute it.

Knight scanned through some of the other links. “She’s an active lady.”

“Very.”

“You sure she’s not off doing one of these charity things?”

Jeff drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She came up here Friday afternoon so she could run on a mountain trail on Saturday. For conditioning.”

“You know which mountain, which trail?”

“Not offhand. She showed me a map. If I saw it, I might remember.”

“You know which park?”