“Look, I’m trying to clock a few hours at my desk this afternoon because I haven’t shown my face here in days. I don’t see how this is relevant.”
“I’ve been trying to create a timeline for the last months of Shannon’s life, see if it points me anywhere.”
“Uh, okay. She began helping me around March. And yes, she worked from home at first—developing a batch of marketing materials.”
“And when did she start coming to the office several days a week?”
“Jeez, I don’t know. June maybe. Yeah, June. The kids had just started camp.”
I used my free hand to pencil in the new detail on the timeline.
“It’s probably nothing, but I’ve always wondered if the killer could have targeted her, that he might have crossed paths with her in the weeks or months before her death. I’d been thinking she started at your office in March, but I realize I had that wrong. Could one of the workers have become fixated on her?”
“You mean like one of the loaders or drivers? I don’t see—”
A pause.
“What?” I prodded.
“We actually had a couple of new drivers come on for the summer. But they’re good guys. Both of them.”
My heart skipped. Alice had theorized that the killer could be a trucker.
“Just out of curiosity, how far away do you end up delivering?”
“We cover three counties right now, though we plan to expand eventually.”
Not enough to fit with Alice’s long-haul trucker theory. So maybe my revised timeline wasn’t going to tell me a freaking thing.
A call came through on the other line and I was about to send it to voice mail when I saw that it was a Chicago number.
“I need to take this, Cody, but thanks for your time.”
I clicked to the other call.
“Bailey Weggins.”
“It’s Ben, Alice Hatfield’s son. I found your note.”
My heart squeezed at the sound of his voice.
“Thanks very much for calling, Ben. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“I appreciate that. Look, I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
“Yes, I’m eager to speak with you as well.” I glanced at my watch. It was now after eight. “I could meet you first thing tomorrow, even for breakfast.”
“No, this can’t wait. Can you meet me right now?”
Chapter 20
HIS VOICE SOUNDED TINGED WITH URGENCY AS MUCH ASgrief. Maybe Alicehadtold him something.
I said yes, of course, I could meet tonight. He asked where I was staying and after hearing my location, he said he’d meet me in the hotel bar in twenty minutes.
I used the little bit of time I had to freshen up. According to the mirror, I looked drained and fish-belly pale, possibly the aftereffects of staring down the barrel of a Glock. The mascara and lip gloss I swiped on barely helped.
Before dashing from the room, I placed one more call to Lisa Mannix, still perturbed that I hadn’t heard back from her. Based on my read of J.J. when we parted, I was betting Lisa was okay and was probably stonewalling me, regretful for having dragged me into her sordid little drama. And yet I wanted to be sure. Once again, the call went to voice mail.
