by Rose Pressey
“Do you remember me?” I flashed a sincere smile.
“You’re Grant Kenner, right?”
I nodded. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
She stared for a moment and then nodded. “Sure, what do you want to know?”
“I want to find out where Taylor Beaumont is and want to ask a few questions,” I said.
She gestured for me to come inside. “Come on in.”
All the blinds were pulled, making the space cave-like. Gina’s appearance matched the bleak look of her house too. She had dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn’t slept in days. I supposed if she thought Taylor was missing that would be enough reason not to sleep.
“What do you want to know?” she snapped.
“Can you tell me what was said the last time you spoke with him?” I asked.
She shook her head. “He was angry.”
“What was he angry about?” I asked.
She picked at the edge of the pillow cushion. “Well, Porter Brennan turned down his permit. He was furious. He said he wasn’t going to take that shit from Porter.”
“Do you know what Taylor planned to do?” I asked.
Gina looked down at her bare feet, as if exhausted. “No, but I think he was going to confront Porter and I didn’t want him to. I told him if he was going to be that stupid then I didn’t want any part of it and that he should just leave.”
“So that’s when he left?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes, and now I regret telling him that.”
“Sometimes we say things that we regret,” I said. I’d learned that the hard way.
She shrugged. “I suppose.”
“Do you know if he ever talked with him?” I asked.
Gina pushed a stray lock of her brown hair behind her ear. “No, I don’t know.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “You know, I heard something else about you.”
Her expression changed and she tensed. “What’s that?” she asked cautiously.
“Someone told me that there was another man here recently. He’s an ex-boyfriend. Apparently he wanted to start a relationship with you again. Is that true? You know word spreads quickly in small towns,” I said.
“That’s not true.”
I leaned against the sofa. “I think it would be best if you were honest with me. If you really want to find him you’ll tell me everything.”
She avoided my stare for a moment and I expected her to ask me to leave at any moment.
“Okay, it’s true. I did have someone who came back here,” she said.
“And what happened?” I folded my arms across my chest.
“Well, I didn’t go back with him.”
“Did Taylor know about this?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes, he knew.”
“Did the men speak to each other?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact Taylor asked him to leave. Very sternly asked him to leave.” She waved her hands. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
Sometimes we had to talk about things we didn’t want to, but I’d let her off the hook for the moment. “I went by his place. Don’t you think someone needs to go in there?” I asked. “I don’t want to upset you, but what if he’s in there? Maybe he needs someone’s help.”
I didn’t want to bring up the fact that he could be in serious danger if he was in there. Maybe he was dead. That thought had to be running through Chloe’s and Gina’s minds. There was only one way to find out and that was to go in his home. The other shades were drawn, so looking in the rest of the windows was out of the question.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I have a key to his place.”
Now she was telling me this? Why hadn’t she mentioned this sooner? “Did he give you a key?” I asked.
She placed her hands on her hips. “Well, I certainly didn’t steal it, if that’s what you mean.”
I held my hands up. “No, I didn’t mean that at all. I thought maybe you’d found it after he left.”
Her expression relaxed. “Oh, well, no, he gave it to me some time ago. Should I go in there?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go in there alone. I can go with you after I take care of a few things,” I said.
She nodded. “Okay, just let me know.”
I turned and walked toward the door. “Thanks for the information,” I said, looking back at her.
Gina studied my face, then asked, “Why are you doing this?”
“I just want to help an old friend.”
“I didn’t know you’d been friends with him at all.”
“I wasn’t,” I said.
I walked out the door and toward my car. Next, I had to pay a visit to Anna Louise. She had dated Taylor Beaumont too and might have details.
Chapter Nine
Chloe wants to know why Grant is helping her
“I spoke with Grant Kenner,” Gina said when I answered my phone.
I’d been resting in my hotel room when my phone had startled me. I supposed I had been drifting off. It wasn’t surprising considering I hadn’t slept much in the past few days. It was hard to relax when I had so much on my mind. I sat up on the bed and positioned the phone between my cheek and my shoulder.
“Are you still there?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m still here. You said Grant Kenner called you?”
“No, he didn’t call, he came by my house,” she said.
I was fully awake now. “What did he want?”
“He said he wanted to help find your uncle.”
I was silent for a moment. What was he up to?
“Why was he offering to help? What did you tell him?” I asked.
“I said that would be fine. I think we can use all the help we can get. Plus his brother is the police, maybe they will take notice if he says something to them.” Gina’s voice was full of hope.
That was probably a long shot. I had no idea why he would offer to help. There had to be some other motive. Yes, I was being suspicious.
“He thinks we should go in the house,” she said.
“Well, I suppose I would agree with him on that one, but how will we do that?”
“I have a key,” she said matter-of-factly.
“What? You’ve had a key all this time?” My voice raised a level.
“Yes, I guess I didn’t want to go into his home without his permission.”
“How did you get a key?”
“If you think I stole it from him then you are wrong,” she snapped.
“Hey, I didn’t say anything like that,” I said defensively. But now that she’d mentioned it… Maybe she was lying.
If Grant wanted to check the house then maybe he did believe that my uncle hadn’t left on his own. Why would he want to help me though? Until recently, the last time I had spoken with Grant was the day I’d decided to leave Belle Grove. We’d dated, but I’d lost trust in him when I’d found out he’d been seeing someone else. Why bother staying around when he wanted something totally different than me? I had left Belle Grove without looking back and that had been the best thing I could have ever done. There was nothing for me here.
Enough with the trip down memory lane. There was no time to worry about why Grant wanted to help now.
“Well, since you have a key, we will just have to go in his house,” I said.
“Grant said he would call me after he took care of a few things and then we could go.”
I shook my head as if she could see me through the phone. “We don’t need him to go to the house.”
“Are you sure? What if your uncle is in there?”
I released a deep breath. “Then we will deal with that.” I had to be strong. “We’ll check the house. Maybe we can find a clue once we’re inside.”
“Okay, if you are sure,” she said reluctantly.
I swore I couldn’t understand Gina. Why hadn’t she mentioned that she had a key before? I could have gone inside the house a long time ago.
I was sure Gina was a nice woman, but I hadn’t figured out what my uncle saw in her. They didn’t seem compatible. But he’d always dated women who were a little eccentric. Gina was no different. Other than their recent disagreement, I wondered how their relationship had been. Gina hadn’t said and my uncle never got into his personal life much. What did he have to hide anyway? Honestly, I didn’t care who he dated as long as she was good to him.
Even though I didn’t know Gina well, she did seem genuinely concerned about my uncle. I had to assume that she was a good person.
“Okay, we’ll go to his place. You want to pick me up?” I asked.
“I’ll be there in about ten minutes,” she said.
That would give me time to run a brush through my hair and put on some lip gloss and mascara. That was when I realized that I had no reason to wear makeup just to go to my uncle’s house. Who did I have to impress? Oh, yeah—Grant Kenner.
After about fifteen minutes, a car pulled up to my door. I peeked out the window and saw Gina’s white convertible. My hair would look like hell after two seconds of that top down. I grabbed my purse and headed out the door. She saw me and waved, so I hopped in the passenger seat.
“Sorry I was late. I had to stop for gas.” She motioned over her shoulder.
I clutched my purse on my lap. “That’s okay.”
Within a few minutes, we pulled onto my uncle’s street. As we passed Grant’s house, I couldn’t help but cast a glance. Was he home? Had he been thinking about me as much as I’d been thinking about him?
It had been hard to get him off my mind since I’d returned. I’d never dreamed it would be that tough.
We pulled into the driveway. My stomach flipped. I never thought we would find my uncle there, but what if he was in there? I shuddered at the thought. Why hadn’t the police checked the house before now? Why hadn’t Gina told me she had a key? That was still bugging me and I kept coming back to it. I guessed there was no point dwelling on it now.
Gina shoved the car into park and I hurried out the door. I made it to the front door before Gina did and I watched as she took her time walking up the sidewalk. The strained look on her face let me know that she didn’t want to go in there.
When she reached the steps, I said, “You know, you don’t have to go in. I can go in there by myself.”
She pulled the key from her pocket. “Oh, no, I’m fine. I don’t want you to go in there by yourself.” I was glad she’d said that because I really didn’t want to go in there alone. Gina handed me the key. “Here, you can open the door. After all, you are family.”
“Yeah, sure.” I pushed the key into the lock and turned. The door opened. I called out, “Hello?”
That was just a habit because I knew no one would answer. I stepped into the house and motioned over my shoulder for Gina to follow. She hesitated, but finally stepped into the foyer. The place looked as if he was coming back at any moment. It didn’t appear as if he’d taken a vacation.
The place looked like a bachelor pad with only a plaid sofa, chair, scratched up coffee table, and TV in the living room. There was a small dining room table with four chairs sitting around. A mug and the newspaper was on the table.
I stepped over. This was the paper for the day that he’d disappeared. There was still a little stale coffee in the mug.
“We should check the bedrooms,” I said.
She nodded. “His room is the one on the left and he uses the one on the right as his office.”
After making my way down the hallway with Gina right behind me, I paused by the door. Finally, I grabbed the knob and turned. I didn’t realize it, but I’d been holding my breath the whole time. The bed was the first thing I noticed. It wasn’t made, but no one was in it either. I released a pent-up breath. I stepped into the room, but didn’t see anyone. I even opened the closet door. Gina stood by the door, not stepping into the room.
I placed my hands on my hips. “Nothing seems out of place in here. Let’s check his office and see what we find.”
She nodded, but didn’t say a word.
I eased into the room. There was a desk against the wall. The top was littered with papers. I stepped over and peered down. It looked as if they were all work papers. The computer wasn’t on. I switched it on and waited for it to wake up. There was a pair of jeans tossed over the arm of the chair. I reached down and picked them up. Shoving my hand in one pocket, I fished around and then checked the other one.
“Is his wallet in there?” Gina peered over my shoulder.
I shook my head. “No, the pockets are empty.”
The computer screen lit up, but it was asking for his password.
“Do you know his password?” I asked.
“No, but I have his bank info.”
I looked at her with wide eyes. She must have noticed my shocked expression.
“I did some banking for him just the other day and I still have the info in my purse. I can go get it.” She gestured over her shoulder.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
I didn’t think I did a very good job of hiding the sarcasm in my voice. I couldn’t help it though. Gina turned around and hurried out of the room. I was sure she was thankful to get away from me and my stare. I turned off the computer and headed down the hallway to meet her.
I couldn’t believe that she had his keys and bank info. That was more than a little odd, but I supposed my uncle trusted her with this information. Besides, if something strange was going on she wouldn’t have shared all this information with me, right?
After a couple more seconds, Gina came back through the front door. She stuck her hand out toward me and I reached for the paper. The account info was written in what I assumed was her handwriting. This whole situation seemed so surreal. Standing in my uncle’s place not knowing what the heck had happened to him.
“We could check his account and see if he used his card,” Gina said as she motioned toward the paper.
I nodded. “Yeah, I suppose that’s the best thing to do. I can log in from my phone. We should go back to your car though. I don’t like standing here without my uncle being here.”
She nodded. “I know what you mean.”
We headed out the door. I peered back into the house one last time before closing the door. The place seemed sad and lonely. Almost as if it knew my uncle wasn’t coming back.
Gina and I got back into her car and I immediately pulled out my phone to check his account. I was anxious as I waited for the site to pull up. Gina was leaning over in her seat trying to look over at the tiny screen.
“Do you see anything?” she asked.
“I should know in just a minute. Wait. It’s asking another security question.”
“What’s the question?”
“It wants to know his favorite color.”
“Green,” she said without pause.
I guessed she knew more about my uncle than I’d thought. After punching in the word, I watched as the page loaded. Finally it worked.
I clicked on a couple links and it finally took me to the screen that I needed. The activity for his card was on the site. The charges were from the days before he had vanished. Except for one charge from today and an ATM withdrawal from two days ago.
“His card has been used recently,” I said, my voice almost a whisper.
When I looked at Gina her eyes were wide. “What was it used for? Do you think the card has been stolen?”
I shrugged. “There’s no way to know for sure. The charge is from a hotel in Texas.”
Her body tensed. “That is odd.” It looked as if my uncle had taken off on his own. “We should go to the police again,” she said.
“The charges on his card aren’t enough. They’ll just say that it proves that he left on his own,” I said.
“But that doesn’t prove anything,” she said.
I tapped the screen on my phone. “I know that and you know that, but they won’t feel the same way.”
This revelation
had only added to the confusion. I would have to contact the hotel where he’d used the card.
As Gina drove along the road, she broke the silence. “Your uncle and I had talked about getting married. He wanted to build the house so we could live there together.”
Gina seemed so helpless and vulnerable at that moment.
I wished there was something I could have done or said to make things better for her. All I could offer was, “I’m sorry.”
Chapter Ten
Grant would never forget Chloe’s wild spirit
I was just leaving work and had to contact Gina so that she could let me in the house. All day I had debated whether I should let Chloe know what I was doing. After all that time I still hadn’t made up my mind. I wanted to share the info with her, but a part of me was afraid of what she would say. So far she hadn’t told me to get lost, and that was the way I’d like to keep it. Unanswered questions were better than answered ones if the answer was something I didn’t want to hear.
I made it to the parking lot when I noticed that her uncle’s boat was missing. I glanced around but didn’t see anyone. Other than our vehicles, there were no cars in the parking lot. Maybe her uncle had come back and taken the boat out. But where was his car?
I supposed someone could have dropped him off. I decided to go down and take a look. Maybe I’d see the boat out on the water. That scenario was highly unlikely though. I hoped that someone hadn’t stolen the boat.
I made my way down the parking lot toward the dock. There were a few other boats, but they were still there. Taylor usually stopped by to say hi when he took the boat out. I’d been around the area for most of the day, so I didn’t think that I’d missed him. I stepped up to the deck and glanced around. So far nothing seemed out of place or unusual. I moved down the dock and stopped at the end. I peeked to the left and didn’t see anything. When I looked to the right, I saw the boat.
It wasn’t far down the water, so I didn’t think it had been taken out long ago. Maybe I’d just missed it by two or three minutes. The boat wasn’t unmanned and it wasn’t her uncle driving it either.
Chloe was on the boat. I wasn’t sure what she was trying to do by standing up. Was she in trouble? Was this her distress call? I had to get to her before something terrible happened. So far she hadn’t even noticed that I was watching her. Why had she taken the boat out in the first place?