Chapter 6 #2
“Nothing yet.” River sounded a bit dejected. “I have one more friend of Eric’s to talk to, but the others haven’t given me anything useful.”
This was the bane of police work, Autumn knew. Hours of legwork that didn’t always produce results. “Okay, we can touch base later.”
“Later,” River agreed and disconnected from the call.
Autumn thought about her conversation with Sasha as she made the trip to her home. She was surprised to find the police vehicles were gone when she arrived. Jordan’s truck was still there, though, and she was touched by his agreeing to stay.
She gave Bear a few minutes to get busy, then headed inside. She stopped abruptly when she realized Jordan was cleaning up the mess.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she protested.
“I know.” He flashed a wry grin. “But standing around doing nothing isn’t my style.”
Ridiculous tears pricked her eyes, and she quickly turned so he wouldn’t see them. She was a tough cop—being emotional wasn’t normal. Jordan’s thoughtfulness shouldn’t have made such an impact.
But it had been a long time since anyone had been this sweet and supportive.
Steve had grown angry and resentful of her job.
Jordan had done this without her even asking.
And while he might have an ulterior motive related to her working on his sister’s case, she didn’t think that was the only reason he’d stayed.
She also didn’t think the awareness that shimmered between them was one-sided. But it was dangerous. She needed to stay focused on the task at hand.
Jordan Clarke was a distraction she couldn’t afford.
* * *
Cutie awoke from her nap, thrilled to see Bear again. The bloodhound let out one of his heavy sighs before reluctantly batting playfully at puppy.
“How did it go?” Jordan asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone as he replaced the sofa cushions. He’d already hauled the broken TV outside and cleaned up the glass fragments.
“Good.” Autumn came over to help with the mess. “You should know Sasha tried to convince Jenny to move in with you.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “That makes me feel a little better, knowing we both tried to support her.”
“I’m glad. Because none of this is your fault, or Sasha’s either.” She sighed as she looked around. “I appreciate your help, Jordan, but this is my problem, not yours.”
“I don’t mind.” He frowned. “But I really don’t think you should stay here, Autumn. I’m no expert, but this guy is escalating. What if he comes back and decides to start the place on fire or something equally drastic?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I refuse to place Bear in harm’s way.” She smiled at her K-9. “I’ll stay one more night at the ranch, but I’m hoping to have a new security system installed very soon. Once that’s in, we’ll be fine here.”
He was relieved she’d agreed to stay with him.
And he wouldn’t worry as much, knowing she was getting a security system, although it was disappointing to know their time together would be limited.
“Great. Let’s finish up here, then head back.
I’ll throw something together for lunch, if you haven’t eaten.
” He arched a brow. “Are hamburgers okay?”
She chuckled. “I guess you have plenty of beef on hand, huh? Sure, hamburgers would be great. I’m hungry, so thanks for the offer.”
Working together, they quickly finished cleaning up the mess the intruder had left behind. The dogs were worn out from their playing, especially Cutie, which he considered a bonus.
“Good thing I had my work computer and my files in my car,” Autumn said as they headed outside with the dogs. “I need to write up a report on this break-in, then dig into my top two suspects in the case.”
“I’m surprised they’re letting you work your own case,” Jordan said.
She flushed. “Well, technically it’s been assigned to Detective Peters. But my boss, Captain Redding, agreed I could look through my previous arrests to see if anyone pops up for me.”
He nodded thoughtfully. He didn’t hold a high opinion of Peters, and wondered if that was something her boss had considered in making the concession. “If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.”
She stopped near her SUV and opened the back hatch for Bear. “I may have you help go through Jenny’s phone records to identify some of the numbers for me. That will help narrow the list.”
“Of course.” He scooped Cutie into his arms, glad Autumn was willing to include him. “I’d be happy to look them over.”
“Great.” She helped get Bear settled in the back crate. “Let’s go.”
Jordan set Cutie in the passenger seat and quickly backed out of the driveway. He led the way back to his place, filled with anticipation for the day to come.
A feeling he hadn’t experienced since Jenny went missing.
That thought gave him a twinge of guilt. He shouldn’t be happy when Jenny was dead and her baby daughter was missing. Yet, he knew there was nothing he could do to change the past.
His job now was to help find her killer.
He parked in the garage as Autumn pulled off to the side of the driveway. He would need to clear out the other side of his garage for her to park inside, too, but sensed she wouldn’t want to.
This wasn’t a long-term arrangement, after all.
They let the dogs out to get busy before heading inside. Jordan was glad he’d pulled the ground beef from the freezer the day before.
As he prepared the burgers, he noticed Autumm set up a mini office area on the end of the table. He liked how she quickly made herself at home. When she asked for the internet password, he provided it to her.
“Thanks.” She didn’t hesitate to get to work.
He sliced tomatoes and onions as the burgers sizzled in the fry pan. Normally, he’d grill them outside, but he liked the camaraderie of working next to Autumn.
More than he should.
She looked deep in thought as he set their food on the table. Then she looked up with a smile. “Can you hear my stomach growling? Smells great.”
He dropped into the chair beside her. “I’m hungry, too.”
She surprised him by reaching for his hand. “Let’s say grace. Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for this food we are blessed to eat. We ask that You keep Jenny’s daughter safe in Your care and continue to guide us as we seek the truth. Amen.”
“Amen.” He paused, then added, “And please keep Autumn and Bear safe in Your care.”
“Thanks, Jordan.” She squeezed his hand before releasing it. “By the way, do you have a printer here?”
“Yeah, in my office.” He gestured to the study, which was located off the living room. “It’s wireless so you should be able to print from your laptop.”
“Perfect. When we’re finished, I’ll print the phone list for you.” She added tomato to her burger and took a bite. “Hmm, tastes amazing.”
“Thanks.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cooked for a woman. Probably for Shiloh, but she’d left him eighteen months ago. Yet this was the second meal he’d made for Autumn in the same day.
Dangerous ground, he reminded himself.
Bear came over to hide beneath the table, apparently done with playing. When Cutie tried to join him, Jordan scooped the puppy up and set her on his lap. “Leave the poor guy alone for a while, would you?”
Cutie whined but then settled down.
“She has a crush on Bear. I think it’s cute.” Autumn smiled at the puppy. “But at five years old, he’s not going to play as much as she’d like him to.”
“She’ll get over it.” He nodded toward the computer. “Anything else I can do to help?”
“Not yet.” She sighed. “I did find that two of the men I’d once arrested who were recently released from jail are still living in Denver. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t be driving back and forth, but since they’re both on parole, it’s not likely.”
He grimaced. “I get that. But you never know. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
“For sure. I plan to follow up with their parole offices and will keep digging.”
They ate in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. He eyed her curiously. “Is there anything else you can tell me about your conversation with Sasha?”
“Not really.” At his disappointed expression, she quickly added, “I would share if I’d learned something important.”
“Okay, thanks.” He trusted her judgement. “I’m anxious to dig into the phone records.”
She nodded. “My boss thought it would be helpful to have your input on Jenny’s recent calls.”
He was glad to assist in any way he could. When they finished eating, he carried the dishes to the sink. As he rinsed and stacked them to deal with later, he heard his printer whirl.
“I’ll help you with the dishes,” Autumn offered.
“They can wait.” He dried his hands on a towel. “I want to look at those phone records.”
Autumn nodded then turned her attention back to her computer screen. He crossed to his office to retrieve the sheets of paper. There were dozens of them, but he knew the last calls Jenny had made would be most important.
Rather than stay in his office, he carried the paperwork into the kitchen to sit beside Autumn. Going through phone records wasn’t something he’d ever done, but he found them straightforward.
Using a pen, he quickly crossed his calls off to help narrow the list. Then he recognized Karen’s number from the Dollar Store and did the same there. He knew Eric’s number, too, and eliminated that one as well.
There were several numbers he didn’t recognize. “Autumn?” When she glanced up, he asked, “Can you give me Sasha’s number so I can take those calls off the list?”
“Sure.” She pulled out her phone and rattled it off.
When that was done, he noticed there were two numbers that had been used frequently in the last two days Jenny had been in town. He wondered what had happened to her phone that the calls abruptly stopped the day she’d disappeared.
“Can you look at these two numbers for me?” He showed her the list.
“This is Mary Leland, one of her coworkers from the Dollar Store, I’m waiting to hear back from her,” Autumn said. “But this number is odd. The area code is from Denver.”
He punched the numbers into his phone. A mechanical voice informed him the phone was not in service.
Jordan stared at the number. A burner phone?
Who had Jenny been talking with shortly before her disappearance?