Chapter 12
Emily was a fitness instructor. We caught up with her at the Stillwater Athletic Club. Dressed in tight yoga pants and a sports bra, she was easy on the eyes. She instructed another lovely young lady on proper form for tricep pushdowns.
For as small as Stillwater was, there were a lot of cuties running around this place.
I flashed my badge and made introductions. I figured Emily had already been interviewed a time or two by Sheriff Rollins and the FBI. She wasn't surprised to see two officers, though she did give us a look over, based on our attire.
"We have a few questions for you about Michelle Morgan," I said. "You have a minute?”
"I'm just finishing up with a client, but if you can give me 15 minutes, I’d be more than happy to talk to you.”
We stepped away and gave her some privacy.
It was a nice gym. They had an array of free weights and machines, along with medicine balls, balance boards, and rooms for spin class, boxing, yoga, and performance enhancement. The club was starting to fill up with people just getting off work.
With all the aerospace jobs, Stillwater was a wealthy town, chock-full of high-end boutiques, trendy restaurants, and nightlife.
After Emily finished with her client, she joined us. "I told Sheriff Rollins and the FBI everything I know.”
"We just talked to Kyle. He's got a pretty solid alibi. You think there's any way he could have been involved?"
Emily cringed. “You know, that was my first thought. He didn’t take the break-up well.
He's a possessive, abusive jerk. But he's gotten everyone at that bar to vouch for him.
" She sighed. “But I can’t imagine they’d go along with it if it wasn't true.
" She looked us over again. "You're not local, are you? "
I shook my head and told her we were trying to connect it to another case.
"What about this guy Tommy that she was interested in?" I asked.
"He seemed like a really nice guy. I thought he might be good for her. Better than Kyle. I'm sorry, but that guy is a loser. I don't know what she ever saw in him. But Lord knows, I've had my share of questionable choices. I'm not one to talk."
"You have contact information for Tommy?”
"No, I don't."
"You know where she met him?"
"She said she met him in the grocery store, of all places. Just kinda bumped into each other on the condiment aisle and hit it off.”
“How long had she been seeing him?”
“It was new. He met us out for a drink one night. But they hadn’t been out on a real date yet.”
"Do you have a last name for Tommy?”
Emily’s face scrunched with a frown. "I don't. Sorry."
"There's no chance she just ran off with him and left her mother behind?"
Emily shook her head. “No way. She’d never leave her mother like that. She’d tell me. I can say with absolute certainty, she didn't run off with someone. I don't care what Sheriff Rollins says.”
I gave her a card, thanked her for the information, and told her to get in touch if she thought of anything else.
We left the gym and had Marcus drive us to the Sheriff's Office. I figured we should touch base with Dusty. But he might not like us snooping around his town.