“Listen, Uncle Dan, I know it sounds insane, but it’s true. Emory is missing and everything points to her ex-husband, who runs this church in Texas.”
“And how do you know this?”
I cracked my knuckles, glancing out the slider to see my mom gently rocking a chair on the patio.
“The last time she was seen or heard from was Friday night. We went to her apartment and everything pointed to her being taken.”
“What’s ‘everything’, Jae? Your vagueness isn’t helping. Was her door busted in, was there signs of a struggle, broken furniture, signs of an injury?”
I could feel Jae’s stare on my face and I sighed, scrubbing my forehead.
“Her ex, they had this ritual, something to do with the bathtub. Shi-She’s afraid of the bathtub because of it. When we searched her apartment, her tub was filled to the top, her clothes discarded by the side that she had been wearing—” I paused, swallowing back the bile in my throat. “The clothes she’d had on when I said goodnight to her on Friday.”
“That still doesn’t mean she’s missing? What about her car? Her phone? Has she contacted you?”
My patience was gone, and I couldn’t contain the level of frustration that filled my voice.
“No. No one has contacted us. And no one will. This guy wants her to himself, and her phone was left behind in her apartment. Her front door was unlocked when we got there. Her car and motorcycle both parked inside her apartment garage.”
“Then why no police? If they haven’t reached out to you, why can’t you let law enforcement handle this? You’re just guessing that her husband found her—”
“Ex-husband,” I corrected and my dad raised his hands in apology.
“Okay, then tell me why no police? Enoch, you’re not making any sense. Law enforcement is your best option if shehasbeen taken against her will.”
“Really? You think they can be trusted? Is that why you’re still working for the police in Texas? Oh wait, you’re not.”
My dad’s mask finally broke and he frowned.
Jae held my knee again, but it did nothing to control the persistent bouncing. I pulled out my phone, checking the time and for any messages from Bradley, but there was nothing.
“You expecting a phone call?”
“We’re meeting someone,” Jae said when I didn’t respond.
I elbowed him in the ribs, but he ignored me.
“Who?” my dad demanded.
“A law enforcement officer,” Jae said.
My dad closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You just said you couldn’t involve police, and now you’re meeting with someone from the police?”
“He’s notpolice,” Jae explained and I nudged him again, mouthing at him to shut up, but he shoved me off the bench. I landed with a thud on my ass and I glared up at him. “Emory was involved with the witness protection program. We’re meeting her handler.”
“Jae,” I growled, standing up, “shut. The fuck. Up.”
He turned on me, leveling me with a glare. “Do you want your dad’s help or not?”
“We agreed we weren’t going to sharecertaindetails.”
Jae shook his head with a sigh, “Yeah. And look how well that’s going for us.”
“Can one of you, please, just stop dancing around the details and just explain the damn truth?”
Jae broke our stare down to look at my dad.
I growled in my chest, pulling at my hair as I spun away from the table. My eyes bounced around the kitchen and the thought bubbled up before I stop it.
