are the same man. She was looking for a renter, and I happened to get here first. That’s it.” He tapped the picture against his palm. “Tell me how Jennifer came across one of our flyers.”
“She’s a graduate student at the university and saw it posted at the library.”
Holly had insisted on putting her phone number on the flyer, which made sense because hers was local and not long distance. Also, Caleb knew a woman’s name and number would seem less threatening. But Holly and this Jennifer woman had both been stupid to meet on campus so late at night—not that there was any point in arguing about it now. “What I don’t understand is why she noticed something so obscure in one of her pictures,” he said.
“Susan was involved in an argument that drew everyone’s attention. When Jennifer saw the flyer, she looked through the pictures she’d taken that night and, voil
With a truck like Ellis Purcell’s in the same vicinity. Was it another strange coincidence? Or did the police have a copycat killer on their hands?
“Did Jennifer say what the argument was about?” he asked.
“She wasn’t sure. She thinks Susan bumped someone’s fender while trying to park or something like that. Jennifer and her friends weren’t really aware of anyone else until Susan screamed a curse. Then they all craned their heads to see what was going on. A male voice answered by calling her a stupid bitch. Then Susan got in her car and peeled off.”
“What did the guy who called her a bitch look like?”
“He was beyond their view. After Susan left, Jennifer and her friends went back to their fun. She said if she hadn’t seen the flyer, she probably wouldn’t have thought about the incident again.”
Caleb returned his attention to the picture, trying to figure out what it meant.
Holly watched him closely, fiddling with the cuff of her long-sleeved, black cotton blouse. “This might or might not have any relevance to my sister’s disappearance, though, right?” she said. “I mean, for all we know that truck’s a coincidence and Susan was arguing with Lance, the guy she was dating.”
“At least this picture narrows down the time she could have disappeared,” Caleb said. “Jennifer said this was taken on Tuesday?”
Holly nodded.
“She was reported missing when she didn’t show up for work on Wednesday, which means she disappeared sometime Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.”
“Do you think it was Lance she was arguing with at the pizza place?” Holly persisted.
“We’ve talked to Lance. The last time he saw Susan was when they spent the night together on Saturday, remember?”
“That’s what he says. Maybe he’s afraid to tell us about the argument for fear it’ll make him a suspect in the case.”
“He’s already a suspect,” Caleb said. “In any homicide, the police look at the husband or boyfriend first, then extended family members and friends. But Gibbons doesn’t believe Lance is our guy.”
Her eyes narrowed. “When did you talk to Gibbons?”
“Last night.”
“You didn’t mention it to me.”
“I haven’t had a chance.”
“We were passing out flyers together all day!”
“It’s a moot point,” he said. “Lance has a good alibi.”
“For when?”
“For Monday and Tuesday nights.” And for Wednesday and Thursday, as well, but Caleb didn’t want to go into that.
“Where was he?” she asked.
Caleb raked his fingers through his hair, wondering how to frame his answer.
“What is it?” she pressed when he didn’t respond right away. “You know something you’re not telling me.”
What the hell, he decided. The truth was the truth. “Lance is engaged to be married,” he said. “He’s been living with his fiancée and seeing Susan on the side.”
“What?” Holly scrambled to her feet. “Susan told me he was living with his sister.”
“If it makes you feel any better, his fiancée didn’t know about Susan, either. She kicked him out as soon as she learned. But she maintains that he was home by six o’clock both Monday and Tuesday nights. She works evenings and needed him to sit with her mother, who just had surgery to replace a knee. The mother confirmed that she and Lance watched television together for several hours both nights.”
“I can’t believe it,” Holly cried. “What scum! Men are all alike!”
“Hey, I never cheated on you,” he said.
“You quit loving me. That’s even worse.” Burying her face in her hands, she dissolved into tears.
Her crying tugged at Caleb’s heart, but he told himself not to feel any sympathy. He couldn’t afford sympathy. Where Holly was concerned, the softer emotions always got him into trouble. But he couldn’t stand to see her, or any woman, cry.
Leaving his beer on the counter, he went to see if he could get her to settle down. “Holly, you’ll meet someone else,” he told her.
She slipped her arms around his neck. His immediate impulse was to pull away, but she looked so crestfallen he couldn’t bring himself to do it. “Someone who’s more compatible with you than I am,” he added, patting her awkwardly. “And we’ll find Susan, okay? Don’t give up hope. Not yet. She needs us to believe.”
Holly clung to him, nestling her face into his neck. “What if we don’t find her? I’ll live my whole life never knowing what happened to my own sister. I’ve lost you already, Caleb. I can’t bear to lose her, too. She’s all I’ve got left.”
Caleb thought of the other families suffering through the same kind of loss. He didn’t relish the idea of lying to Madison Lieberman, but it seemed a small price to pay to resolve the mystery that had affected so many lives.
“I’m going to help you find Susan,” he said. “Have some faith.”
Holly shifted slightly in his arms, fitting her body more snugly to his. “If we don’t find her, you’ll eventually have to give up.”
“We’ll find her.” He got the impression she was making her body accessible on purpose, and decided he’d given her all the comfort he could.
But when he tried to release her, she held on tight.
“Caleb?”
“What?”
“Is it really over between us? Because sometimes it doesn’t feel like it is.”
It had been more than two years since he’d made love to Holly. After his second divorce, he’d gone on a brief womanizing rampage, trying to repair what his failed marriage had done to his ego, he supposed. But he’d soon found the lifestyle too empty to bother with and had thrown himself back into his work. Now it had been ten months since he’d made love to any woman.
He had to admit he was beginning to feel his body’s long neglect, but Caleb wasn’t about to make another mistake with Holly. After their first divorce, a moment’s weakness had left her pregnant and, for the baby’s sake, he’d married her again. He certainly didn’t want a repeat performance.
“It’s really over,” he said, putting her firmly away from him.
“Is there someone else?” she asked.
After tolerating Holly for so many years, Caleb suspected he wasn’t naive enough to ever