What Janie Saw(69)
* * *
IF HE HAD to do it over again, he’d not toss back an innuendo with an even more loaded innuendo. At his words, Janie started fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, something he noticed she only did when she was nervous.
Rafe got another phone call. Then, three more in quick succession. The final call was from Justin.
“You got your radio on?” he asked.
“No, Janie’s in the car with me. We just left the college. I haven’t had time to think.”
“Well, somebody’s had plenty of time to think. Seems a reporter covering the murder for KLBG heard about the missing art book and the confession it held. He sniffed around and reported the possibility that two students, along with Derek, kidnapped and murdered Brittney. He insinuated that the students were known to Brittney, maybe she even considered them friends. According to the news, you’re not responding to attempts to reach you.”
“Did he name names?”
“No, but it’s going to be an interesting Monday when classes resume. Every male who shared a class with Brittney is going to feel under the spotlight.”
“I’ll start damage control when I get to my office.”
Rafe couldn’t hide the conversations from Janie. Usually, having a civilian overhear police business disturbed him. But she’d been such an integral part of this investigation since reading the art book that he valued her opinions. In a way that surprised him. Had his own mother been in the car, he’d have stopped, gotten out and carried on his conversations on the side of the road. Oh, he valued his mother, too, but she’d be little to no help.
Because a missing child, no matter the age, could put his mother in bed for a week.
Halfway to Scorpion Ridge the phone calls stopped. He glanced at Janie. She’d stopped fidgeting and was staring out the window.
“I take it,” she said softly, “that Derek Chaney’s involvement in Brittney’s disappearance is no longer a secret.”
“No, and that means your involvement is no longer a secret. You can expect the reporters to start calling.”
She took out her phone and said, “I have five missed calls from the same number. I think it’s safe to assume they’ve found me. Great, just great.”
“It was bound to happen.”
She didn’t answer and her eyes stayed glued out the window.
“You okay?” he asked after a few miles.
“I’m trying to imagine whether they brought her this way. Every once in a while we pass an exit, and I wonder if she’s out there, within our grasp, just waiting for us to find her.”
“I wonder that, too.”
She turned from the window and looked him full in the face. Even after such a draining day, she was beautiful. Her blond hair still had a bit of curl. Her eyes stared at him as if they could see inside of him, as if they could change—or at least limit—his pain.
A pain that stemmed from not being able to prevent a second death.
“I don’t think Nathan’s heard of the butterfly effect,” he said conversationally.