Chapter 21
Foley texted me an hour later saying the judge was reviewing the warrant.
“Shouldn’t be much longer,” he added. “Be ready.”
Ready felt like an understatement.
I decided to use the time the way Whitlock always did when he was waiting on something, and to squeeze whatever fruit was left on the tree.
When I’d spoken to Audrey’s classmate Sadie about the party, the purse, and the missing money, she’d told me Willow Robinson knew Logan better than most. If anyone knew where he’d gone, or if he was safe, it might be her. And I’d been meaning to talk to her anyway.
I headed toward the Robinson house, and when I arrived and knocked on the door, footsteps sounded inside, heavy ones at first, then lighter ones behind.
When the door opened, a tall, broad man with a dark beard and a stiff posture stood in the doorway.
His arms were crossed as if he was expecting trouble.
“Does Willow Robinson live here?” I asked.
“Who’s asking?”
“Are you Aiden?”
He nodded. “Again, who’s asking?”
“I’m Georgiana Germaine, a private investigator working with the police on Audrey Ashford’s case.”
His grip on the door tightened. “We’re not interested in talking to you about the case. It’s got nothin’ to do with us.”
Before he had a chance to close the door, a gentle voice drifted from behind. “Dad, wait. It’s all right. I want to talk to her.”
Willow stepped into view, and the tension shifted. She was slender with soft brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail, and there was a sweetness about her, a calm presence that drew me in.
“Dad,” Willow said. “Let her in.”
He shot her a look that said he didn’t think it was a wise idea, but after a long moment, he stepped aside. “You can come inside as long as you understand I’m staying in the room while you talk to my daughter.”
“I understand,” I said, though it made things trickier than I’d hoped.
The house was warm but cluttered when I walked in, with mismatched furniture and a faint smell of sawdust. Aiden led us into the living room, where he took a seat in the armchair. Willow sat on the couch. I remained standing.
“Thank you for agreeing to speak with me,” I said to Willow.
She nodded. “I want to help. Audrey was my friend. We were supposed to spend the weekend together, a group of us. On the day she died, Audrey asked me to come over to help finalize plans with her and Talia, but I told her to make the decisions without me. If I’d been there … maybe things would be different now.”
Aiden cleared his throat. “No sense thinking that way, Willow.”
“I’m not blaming myself,” she said. “I just miss her.”
“Sounds like you and Audrey were good friends,” I said.
Willow nodded. “She was easy to be around, and we were a lot alike in personality. She didn’t always tell people what she was dealing with, though. She kept a lot inside.”
Aiden tugged at his beard. “Why do you need to know all this information? The police have already questioned Willow. This house is not a revolving door for questions.”
“I’m trying to fill in the gaps,” I said. “There are things Audrey may have known that put her in danger.”
Willow looked up quickly, alarm touching her face. “What things?”
Again, Aiden cut in. “Maybe it’s best we don’t know. Don’t need to be getting all caught up in whatever got her killed.”
“Dad!”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” he shot back.
“I want to know.”
And I wanted to be as far away as I could from this guy.
“Ask your questions,” Aiden said, “but keep ’em simple.”
It wasn’t the ideal situation, but I’d take what I could get.
“All right,” I said, turning toward Willow. “You spent time with Audrey. Did she ever mention feeling unsafe? Or did she tell you about anything strange she might have found? Or a secret she may have been keeping?”
Willow hesitated, then shook her head. “No. At least not to me.”
Aiden nodded, satisfied.
“What about Logan?” I asked.
Willow’s expression shifted—not much, but enough for me to notice she’d stiffened.
“Logan?” she repeated.
“You’re close friends with him, right?”
She glanced at her father, then back at me. “I guess so.”
“He’s missing,” I said. “No one has heard from him in days.”
I studied Willow’s face, noting the news I’d just told her didn’t seem to come as a shock.
Aiden leaned forward. “Logan is a strange kid. You shouldn’t waste time on him.”
Willow gave him a frustrated glance.
“He isn’t strange,” she said. “People say things about him that aren’t fair. He keeps to himself, but he’s a good person.”
“Do you know where he is now?” I asked.
Her breath caught, almost imperceptible, but enough to expose her.
She knew something.
But she remained quiet.
“Willow, if you know where Logan is, I can help him if he’s in trouble. I can protect him a lot better than he can protect himself.”
Aiden looked at his daughter, then at me. “That’s enough questions. You have no right coming in here and implying my daughter knows something about the kid’s whereabouts.”
“I’m not implying anything,” I said. “I’m trying to find him, to make sure he’s safe.”
“Good luck with that,” he said. “We’re done here.”
Aiden shot up, standing in front of me like a blockade.
I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to Willow. “If you think of anything I should know, anything at all, please get in touch with me. And I meant what I said about Logan. I can protect him. I’m not here to get him in trouble. I’m here to get him out of it.”
Willow reached for the card, but Aiden snatched it instead.
“She won’t be getting in touch,” he said.
He glanced out the window, eyes wide as he cursed at a car parking in front of his house, which gave me just enough time to reach into my pocket again, pulling out a second card. I slipped it into Willow’s hand.
“Time for you to go, Detective.”
I stepped through the doorway, and before I reached the porch step, the door slammed behind me so hard the frame rattled.
I walked to my car with the heavy certainty that Willow was hiding something, not about Audrey, but about Logan.
And then there was Aiden, whose defensiveness felt excessive. Whether that was his nature or a sign of something deeper, I wasn’t sure.
I slid into the driver’s seat, turned the ignition, and rested my hands on the wheel. Then my phone lit up with an unknown number.
This is Willow.
I know where Logan is, but please don’t tell my dad.
I’ll send the address.
A few seconds later, a drop pin appeared, and my heart raced.
Logan wasn’t just missing.
He was hiding.
And whatever he knew, it was time I heard his side of the story.
All of it.