Chapter 64
Chapter
Sixty-Four
Wren blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean he doesn’t have any aunts.”
There was clearly a misunderstanding. “Are you sure? I mean, I remember hearing the story and . . .”
“I’m positive.” Rachel slowly shook her head. “His mother was an only child. His dad had two brothers, one who never married, and the other was married but his wife died a long time ago.”
Wren felt the room tilt just enough that she planted one hand on the edge of the nearest table. “I . . . I don’t know what to say. I know that’s what Nora told me.”
Rachel gave a short laugh that held no humor. “I was married to him for six years. I’m pretty sure I’d know if he had an aunt.”
Nash stepped up beside Wren and kept his voice calm. “Did Jacob have a relative treated at the hospital within the past four or five months?”
“Not that I know of. He doesn’t even have any relatives nearby.”
Rachel started to say something else, then stopped.
Nash caught it and stepped closer. “What is it?”
She looked between them. “I mean, this is probably nothing. But Jacob hates hospitals.”
Wren’s pulse jumped. “What do you mean? Why?”
Rachel lowered her gaze. “His mom died in one. Cancer. He spent a lot of time there near the end. After that, he avoided hospitals whenever he could. Ellie needed stitches last year, and he made me take her because he said he couldn’t sit in an ER.”
Wren stared at Nash. He’d gone completely still.
“He lied,” she whispered.
“Yes,” Nash said.
“Why would he lie about that?” Rachel squinted before shaking her head in confusion.
His jaw tightened. “Because he needed a reason to be at that hospital.”
Wren’s chest tightened. “To meet Nora?”
Nash met her gaze. “Maybe.”
A memory hit her.
Dark sedan. Four doors. Sitting low.
Wren grabbed Nash’s sleeve. “His car.”
Rachel looked between them. “What car? What are you implying right now? Maybe I said too much. I wasn’t trying to imply that—”
“I can explain more,” Wren rushed. “But first—what does Jacob drive?”
“A black Accord.”
Wren’s fingers tightened around Nash’s sleeve. That was right. She remembered seeing it at her house when he pulled up. But she’d dismissed the fear niggling inside her. She’d told herself it was nothing, a coincidence.
But it wasn’t.
Prine crossed toward them. “What’s going on? What did I miss?”
Nash turned to her. “I need you to run Jacob Morgan. He hasn’t been entirely truthful with us.”
“We already ran Jacob,” Prine told him. “He has no criminal history.”
“Run everything,” Nash said. “Vehicle. Employment. Phone. Addresses.”
Prine’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
Wren answered before Nash could. “He’s hiding something. He lied about how he met Nora. He told my sister he was visiting his aunt at the hospital.”
“And? Maybe he was just desperate for an excuse to meet her. It doesn’t make him a criminal. It might make him a hopeless romantic, though.”
“He doesn’t even have an aunt,” Wren said. “Rachel just confirmed that.”
Prine’s expression sharpened.
Wren pressed a hand to her forehead.
Something else was trying to surface.
“Last night . . .” she started.
Nash’s attention returned to her. “What about it?”
“I don’t know if it’s relevant but . . . he asked me if the police believed Christian. And he wanted to know if the DNA test had come back yet.”
Prine lowered her phone.
“Nora has been telling him everything for days.” Panic began to build in her chest. “Christian. Roy. The investigation. Mason. Jacob would know what school my son goes to. Mason has met him before. Mason might even trust him because of that.”
Prine motioned to one of her colleagues to come closer.
The entire room seemed to shift around Wren.
Rachel took a step backward. “You actually think Jacob took Mason?”
Wren looked at Mason’s picture on the wall.
Her beautiful boy smiling beneath those terrible words.
MISSING.
Nausea roiled inside her. “I don’t know.”
But she knew one thing. Jacob hadn’t just happened to meet Nora. He’d put himself in her path—and he’d done it for a reason.
And if he’d lied about that, there was no telling what else had been a lie.
Wren looked at Nash. “We need to find him.”
His expression hardened. “Yes. We do.”