THE MISSING (L.A.P.D. Special Investigations Book 4) (17 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“DO YOU HAVE any kids?” Caitlin asked.

The question caught Julianna off guard. It wasn’t the first time since Michael died that she’d been asked the question, but the years hadn’t made it any easier to answer. “I did once, Caitlin. But he’s in heaven now.”

The child looked amazingly like her mother with strawberry-blond hair and big eyes, though brown not green like her mom’s. Laura Gianni hardly looked old enough to be anyone’s mother.

“My daddy’s in heaven, too,” the child said, matter-of-fact.

Cait was sitting next to Julianna on the couch. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Julianna said, but after those few words, she couldn’t think of another thing to say. She hadn’t been around children much since moving to San Francisco and when she was, she was always at a loss.

“Would you like to watch television?” Julianna looked to Laura for a response. “I don’t know if Luke has anything else here for kids to do.”

“She’d love to, I’m sure,” Laura said, motioning to the child who had already picked up the remote. She clicked on the TV and went right to the cartoon channel.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Sure,” Laura said.

“Ice tea? Coffee? Soda? Something stronger?”

“Ice tea is great.”

Julianna got up and went to the kitchen. As she took the pitcher of tea from the fridge, Laura followed her.

“I apologize for Cait. I should’ve told her but didn’t think.”

“It’s okay. Can you get a couple glasses from over there?” She gestured to the cabinets with the glass doors. “So,” Julianna said. “I hear a wedding is on the horizon.”

Laura nodded, a big smile forming. “Yes. And I have to say I’m getting more than a little nervous.”

After filling the glasses with ice and pouring the tea, Julianna handed one to Laura. “Would Cait like something?”

“She’s okay for now. I’m sure she’s happy.” Laura sat at the table instead of going back into the living room.

Leaning against the counter, Julianna took a sip of her drink. “Will it be a small wedding?”

Laura rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “I wish. I wanted it small, but somehow it got out of hand. Jordan’s family…well, they have lots of people to invite. The wedding party is fairly small, though. Just three bridesmaids and three groomsmen, Luke and Rico and Jordan’s brother Harry.”

Sitting across from Laura, Julianna said, smiling, “That’s big to me. Mine was half that size.”

“Oh,” Laura said, looking surprised. “You’re married now?”

Heat rushed to Julianna’s cheeks. “Oh, no. I meant when Luke and I were married.” She shook her head. Why the hell had she even mentioned that? “It was a small wedding. Just family. My sister was the maid of honor.”

Laura tipped her head, questions in her eyes. “I guess Luke told you I was married before.”

Jules nodded, not sure what to say to that. Before Laura and Cait had arrived, Luke had mentioned that Laura had withheld information from the police about her ex-husband’s death to protect her daughter, but finally she testified against her ex’s uncle, a Mob boss. But Julianna wasn’t going to bring that up.

“And did he tell you the other stuff…about Cait’s father’s death? That I had to testify?”

“A little,” Julianna answered, shifting uneasily. “He told me how you’d met Jordan.” It was awkward talking about such personal things with someone she barely knew, and yet it made her feel closer to Laura. She hadn’t been close to anyone in such a long time.

“Regardless of the circumstances, I was so lucky to meet Jordan,” Laura said. “He literally saved my life. And he’s wonderful with Caitlin. She adores him.”

Laura beamed when talking about Jordan, and Julianna couldn’t help but be happy for her, though a little envious. Would there ever be a time when she’d feel like Laura did?

“Luke’s great with Cait, too. I was hesitant to bring her here when I found out—” She stopped, as if aware she’d said the wrong thing.

“It’s okay. You can say it. My son is gone. I’ve learned to live with it.” That wasn’t totally true, but it was easier than admitting there wasn’t a day that went by when she didn’t think of Michael. Few people knew what to say to someone who’d lost a child. Herself included.

Laura smiled at Julianna. “I can’t imagine,” she said. “You’re a stronger person than I’d be under the circumstances.”

Laura’s compassion touched her. Here was a woman who’d gone to hell and back to protect her daughter and she thought she wasn’t as strong as Julianna. What a laugh! Julianna was only as strong as she could act, and that varied from moment to moment. Sometimes she had to push herself just to make it through another day.

Luke had once said running away wouldn’t solve anything. And there’d been many times in the past week with him that she’d wondered if he wasn’t right. Had she only kidded herself that she had to leave to start a new life?

“What I was going to say,” Laura went on, “was that I was hesitant to come over because I’d made such a big blunder with Luke. Did he tell you about that?”

“No, he didn’t. What happened?”

“There was a point during the investigation when both Luke and Jordan seemed to be questioning what I’d done to protect my daughter. I got angry. I lashed out and said they didn’t have kids and couldn’t possibly know what it was like to want to protect their child. I had no idea.”

Julianna’s heart melted for Laura. “Luke’s got a thick skin. I’m sure he didn’t think anything of it.”

“No, he was deeply hurt. I saw the pain in his eyes. He left the room, wouldn’t even tell me what was wrong. I heard later from Jordan that Luke had had a few bad years after the divorce. That he’d almost lost his job.”

“I—I didn’t know that.” She knew Luke had been drinking too much. He’d told her that himself. But she couldn’t imagine he’d do anything to jeopardize his job. He was a dedicated officer. He lived for his badge.

“I apologized, and since then, we’ve become good friends.”

Julianna nodded. “That’s great. If Luke’s your friend, you’ve got a buddy for life.” As she said the words, a strange sense of loss gripped her. She and Luke had once been best friends.

Tears threatened behind her eyes. She blinked them back, and then asked Laura about her job and the shelter she ran. After Laura explained how she helped runaway girls get off the streets, Julianna felt an even greater connection with the woman. They were much alike in their desire to help others. Soon they were talking about all kinds of things and found they had many common interests. The rapport was so easy, it was as if they’d been friends forever. She regretted that after today, she’d probably never see Laura and Cait again.

LUKE KNOCKED on the door of the upscale home in Pasadena, and within seconds, a woman answered. Mid-fifties, short and plump.

“Mrs. Jenner?”

“Yes.”

Luke flashed his shield. “I’m Detective Coltrane and this is my partner Detective St. James. We’d like to talk to you for a few minutes. Can we come inside?”

The woman stared. “Uh…what’s this about?”

“It’s about your daughter’s case.”

“But…that was fifteen years ago.” She finger combed her graying hair while standing back to let them in.

Glancing around, Luke noticed Mrs. Jenner’s standard of living had greatly improved in the past fifteen years. At least compared to what he’d read in the file.

“We’re taking another look at the case and we’d like to go over some facts with you.”

“Okay. If I can remember.”

How could she not remember! Luke recalled every minute following his son’s abduction, the searching, the calling, the seesaw of emotion, one moment hope—and then the soul-wrenching devastation when they didn’t find him. The unbearable heartbreak when they did. “I know this is difficult to talk about, but it’s important.”

She indicated the couch, but Luke took the chair. Jordan preferred to stand. The woman sat on the couch.

“You remarried a short time after Renata’s disappearance—is that right?”

“Yes. Rennie’s stepfather and I weren’t doing all that well before…what happened, and it got worse afterward.”

“How did Renata get along with her stepfather?”

“I told the police before that they had problems, but Fred would have never done anything to hurt her.”

“We’re only asking questions, Mrs. Jenner. Not accusing anyone.”

Her lips thinned. She wrung her hands together. “Well, the police did before! They wouldn’t leave us alone, kept asking us questions and more questions. They even hunted down my brother who only stayed with us for a little while.”

“I understand.” More than she could know. Even though when Michael went missing he’d gotten a bit of a break because he was a police officer, he and Jules were still questioned ad nauseam. Jules nearly had a breakdown because of it. “It’s standard procedure in an investigation of this type to start with the family. Most crimes against children are committed by family members—or someone close.”

“While the real murderer gets time to escape.”

Jordan glanced at Luke. “Can you tell us where your brother is now?” Jordan asked.

Luke studied the woman. The mention of her brother made her sit up straighter. They’d been able to get an address for the ex-husband and for the girl’s biological father, Terrence Willis, but they hadn’t been able to locate Mrs. Jenner’s brother.

“He’s a good man.”

“Do you have his address? We’d like to get in touch with him.”

She shook her head. “He’s a restless sort. Moves around a lot.”

“So how do you contact him? Do you have his number?”

“No. He calls collect.”

“How often?”

“Once a month maybe. He’s called more lately though since I told him about that magazine that’s doing stories about Renata. He worries about me.”

The hairs on the back of Luke’s neck prickled. “So, have you talked to the person writing the stories?”

“A few times, then I decided not to anymore. It was too upsetting.”

“When did your brother last call?”

“A week ago.”

“Do you know if the writer talked to him?”

“I don’t think so. I told him she wanted to, but he didn’t want to speak to her. It made him mad that she was digging up all this after so long.”

“Do you keep records of your phone bills and payments? You could easily tell where his phone calls came from.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“I’d like to see your last couple of bills.”

Without answering, she got up and went into another room. The woman was gone so long, Luke was about to go see what she was doing, but just as he stood, she came back.

“No, I don’t have them. I’m sorry.”

Jordan gave Luke a disbelieving glance. Finally, after another half hour of questioning about her ex-husband and other people who were in their lives at the time Renata was murdered, they had little more information than when they came. “One last question,” Luke said. “Your brother wasn’t married when Renata disappeared. Is he married now?”

“Not anymore.”

“Do you know where his ex-wife lives?”

“Of course. Marion was my sister-in-law.”

“Did they have children?”

“A boy and a girl.”

“Why did they divorce?”

Mrs. Jenner pulled back. “I’m sorry, Detective, but I don’t see the point.”

Luke wasn’t sure there was one. Except that his ex might know more about Beau Thatcher than anyone else. Before they left, Luke made a point of getting the sister-in-law’s name, address and phone number, gave Mrs. Jenner his card and told her to call if she remembered anything else.

Backing out of the driveway, Luke said, “It’s suspicious that her brother refused to be interviewed for Jules’s story.”

Jordan shrugged. “It’s natural for a brother to be protective and not want to see his family hurt again. What I don’t get is the no address thing. The brother calls her, but she doesn’t know where he lives. How bogus is that?”

“My take, too.”

“On the other hand, maybe he’s avoiding support payments. People do odd things, but it doesn’t mean they’re serial killers.”

Luke glanced at Jordan. His buddy always gave people the benefit of the doubt. A great quality, but sometimes Jordan’s analyzing slowed the process. Luke’s mode was action—as quick as possible. “Right. Now let’s see if we can get Mrs. Jenner’s phone records.”

“What about the ex-husband. I’ve got an address for him.”

Luke stopped at a traffic light. “Right now, I’m more interested in the brother’s ex-wife.”

“Because?”

“Because he called his sister more often after hearing about Jules’s story. Because Thatcher and his ex-wife have kids together. He may have visitation rights or send support payments. She might know where he is. Because this guy was barely looked at in the previous investigation.”

“It’s late. Let’s do it tomorrow,” Jordan said.

“I have a flight out in the morning.”

“So, I’ll do it then.”

Luke tightened his grip on the wheel. Damn, he hated when his personal life interfered with his job.

But his father wasn’t in any shape to go home on his own. And there was no way he’d send Jules back alone.