Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Salt Lake City, Utah
Fourteen Months Earlier
Of course, Jax told her to wait where she was while he came around. Not that she couldn’t get out of the car by herself, but if he wanted to help her, she could accept the assistance.
Jax pulled the door open, and Kenna turned in the seat, putting her feet on the ground. He held out his hand. “You’re still a crime fighter who kicks butt on a regular basis.”
She grabbed his hand, and he hauled her up out of the car. “I just happen to be a very pregnant crime fighter.” Plus, her feet hurt because they’d walked two miles this morning for exercise, talking through the case details and working out what they were going to do next.
“This is her place?” Kenna scanned the squat structure—a trailer in the center of the park. One of fifteen or twenty with dirty snow packed between, and icy roads that no one had salted. Kenna had her boots with thick tread on, but she still walked carefully.
Jax glanced at her, looking unhappy.
“It’s just a conversation.” She wasn’t going to sit around all day wishing Ellayna was found.
That wasn’t what would get her back. Sure, she could pray all day, but it felt so much better to do something, even just a quick trip out to interview someone who might be able to shed some light on these events.
The family’s disappearance.
Yet another murder.
“Her son was killed. She might not want to talk to us.” Jax knocked on the front door, then hit the button for the doorbell.
“People used to expect guests to show up without warning. People went visiting their neighbors to spend time with them. So many people these days don’t even answer their front door. Especially not if they look at the camera and see it’s someone they figure is selling something.”
Jax shook his head, looking amused. “If she doesn’t answer, we both get what we want. Is that it? I keep you from being exposed to potential danger, and you get to leave the RV for a bit.”
She was about to respond when the door opened an inch. An older woman in a pink T-shirt with a unicorn on it and gray leggings answered, wearing fuzzy slippers on her feet. She had dull blonde hair and some makeup, but not much. “Who are you guys?”
“Ma’am, my name is Oliver Jaxton. This is my wife, Kenna Banbury. We’re working with the police on a case and wanted to ask you some questions.”
The woman looked at Kenna’s midsection, emphasized by the fact that she couldn’t zip up her puffy army-print jacket over the baby bump. Hopefully, it made her look more harmless than a crime fighter who kicked butt. Which, of course, she was still very capable of doing.
Mostly.
After she’d taken a nap.
“We were so sorry to hear of your son’s death.”
The woman’s expression hardened. “That’s the case you’re working? I didn’t figure the police would waste much time on Marcus. I didn’t.”
“Is it okay if we come in?” Kenna didn’t want to ask to use the restroom too early, but she would if it got them inside.
The woman backed up, holding the door.
Jax stepped in first. “You’re Denise Neerwood?”
“That’s right.” She waved. “Sit wherever you want.” Then she shut the door behind them.
Kenna went to the couch and perched on the edge.
Denise had a plate and mug on the table, along with a couple of worn paperback romance novels, but otherwise, this place seemed neat and tidy.
“Again, we’re really sorry for your loss.
No matter what kind of man he was, a life lost in violence is always a sad thing. ”
Denise leaned against the back of a recliner. “He and I parted ways a long time ago. I wasn’t surprised to hear he’d been shot.”
Jax stood to the right, over by a lamp, like he was standing guard over the room. A sentry. The man who had chosen to be the one who always looked out for her. “Any idea what he might’ve been into that got him killed, or if someone in his life might want to harm him?”
Denise shrugged. “I don’t know the answer to that.”
“It could be a long-standing feud, for all we know. You might be able to help us find whoever did this.”
She didn’t seem super convinced by Jax’s inference that she could break the case.
Kenna had nudged Ryson earlier about getting a rush on the forensics from the murder scene in Marcus’s apartment. Hopefully, ballistics from the weapon used or some other DNA evidence would be discovered that matched a suspect.
“You think he had some kind of vendetta? More likely, he ripped someone off, and they killed him.”
Kenna said, “He’s the father of Crystal’s son, Abe, isn’t he?”
Denise’s expression softened. “My grandbaby. Light of my life.”
“You get to spend time with him often?” She didn’t know if Denise was aware that the family was missing. Kenna might need to break this to her gently.
“Crystal calls if she needs help with the kids, like picking up Abe if she’s gonna be late from work.”
Kenna asked, “What about Ellayna?”
“That child has always been older than her years,” Denise said. “I’m sure you’re aware of what happened to her.”
Jax looked at Kenna, but she just nodded.
Denise continued, “Doesn’t want a babysitter. Thinks she can watch her brother, no problem, as if she’s a little adult trapped in a child’s body.”
“I remember being twelve. Thinking I was so grown up.” Kenna smiled.
“Were you aware that no one has seen Crystal, Ellayna, or Abe, in a couple of days?” She paused to give Denise a second to absorb that and watched the older woman’s eyes flare.
“I’m worried about them. I think someone might have taken them. ”
She’d asked Zeyla to go to their house and have a look around, given that the police were barely beginning these missing person cases. And there was currently no reason to believe they’d been kidnapped, even.
Denise shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What do you mean taken?”
Jax said, “They haven’t shown up at any of their usual places in a few days. This morning, we discovered their phones are switched off, and none of Crystal’s debit or credit cards have been used.”
“What about the car?” Denise glanced between her and Jax. “Crystal could have taken them on a trip.”
“Any idea where they might have gone?” Kenna asked. “A favorite place, or someone they might’ve gone to visit?”
Denise looked at the ceiling and shook her head slowly. “It’s not like Crystal has a vacation cabin somewhere. She doesn’t even take trips. She has two jobs and two kids, and Lord knows Marcus never helped her with any of it.”
Kenna needed to figure out if his death was connected to their disappearance or not. Otherwise, it might be two completely unrelated cases.
“How much did he see Abe?” Jax asked.
Denise shrugged. “He’d show up once in a while. I think Crystal didn’t really like to tell me because she probably thought I’d get upset. But he’d come over late, after Abe was in bed, and expect her to wake him up so he could see his son. He’d ask her for money.”
Kenna didn’t want to think ill of the dead, let alone speak it, but this guy could’ve been a better human, and father, in a lot of ways—or so it seemed.
“If he was killed because someone took them, then I hate to say it, but he was probably involved.” A look of disgust crossed Denise’s face.
“Who knows what he got himself into. I don’t even want to think that a son of mine would put his family in danger, but he turned out far too much like his father for my taste.
He never would listen to reason. Always had to do things his way. ”
She drew in a shuddering breath and continued, “I hope you’re able to find them, whatever happened.”
“We hope so, too.” But hope was something that seemed flimsy until the concrete answer made itself known.
Hope seemed almost like something that might not pay off. The push and pull between taking action herself and waiting on God—trusting Him for the outcome—was probably something it would take her whole life to figure out.
Right now, the stakes of not finding them were far too great. Three lives snuffed out. Three reasons to doubt the goodness of God, even though she knew in her soul that the two didn’t cancel each other out.
Kenna curled her hands into fists on her knees, wanting to do something that would get her a step closer. But how? It seemed impossible when there were no answers at hand.
Kenna had one final question to ask. “Denise, have you ever heard of a group called Dominatus?”
Denise flinched a little. “What is that?”
“People who do bad things, like kidnap families. I don’t mean to worry you, but there’s nothing about this situation that reassures me.” Kenna stood. “I believe they’re in very real danger, and I intend to find them.”
Denise didn’t quite meet her gaze. “How would I know about people like that?” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I hope you do find them. They’ve been through so much. They don’t deserve this.”
Kenna stuck her hands in her coat pockets. “Denise, is Ellayna the kind of kid who would take it upon herself to do an interview with a true crime podcaster to talk about her experience with the Seventh Day Killer? Would she have told her mother about it?”
Denise sighed. “I don’t want to say she’s that kind of child, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Did she really do it?”
Kenna nodded. “We have the audio. He interviewed her.”
And if they didn’t find out who he was, they might never solve this case.
Denise said, “I have no idea if she told her mother about it. None of them said anything to me last time I saw them.”
“And when was that?” Jax asked.
“A couple of weeks ago. Abe had a head cold, and Crystal asked me to go to the store and pick up her grocery order. Other than the baby being sick, they seemed fine.”
“Thank you for your time,” Kenna said.
She walked first to the front door, and Jax protected her back. Then he went first outside, trusting that Denise wasn’t a threat—at least not any more than someone out front might be.
But there was no one on the street, just the same chilly scene of old snow and dampness everywhere. The blue sky didn’t seem to fit, but the lack of clouds just made everything colder, and the temperature hadn’t warmed enough to melt the remainder of the snow.
The rental he’d picked up might not have the same armor plating as their vehicle, but it was a whole lot less conspicuous to drive while the other one was being fixed.
Kenna got in the front seat and checked her phone. She had a missed call. Zeyla had followed that up with a text. “Zeyla is at the house. She said she found Ellayna’s phone.”
“Good. We need to find them.”
“Problem is what we might find when we do.” She didn’t want to lose hope that the young family would still be alive, but no one had received a ransom demand. Unless that was what Marcus had been doing that got him killed. “We have more questions than answers right now.”
Jax put the car in drive and pulled out. “Let’s go see what the phone can tell us.”