He tapped in the number for her phone and listened while it rang. No answer, though another text came through.
—Take care of Jordan and leave me alone. This won’t work. I thought it would, but I made a mistake.—
She couldn’t mean this. And why wasn’t she picking up the darn phone? His heavy footsteps echoed through the house as he went from room to room, wondering what was happening. Not again. His heart had been ripped out and stomped on once before. Her father had been behind it that time. But he was dead.
“Peanut, you okay in there?” How would Jordan react if Chelsea had really left them?
“Yep. Daddy, look. Mama got me that bed I wanted. And the dresser to go with it. I love it.” Jordan sat with her doll on a single bed with a princess bedspread. The headboard had small flowers painted on it that matched the ones on the dresser.
What in the world? How could Chelsea buy furniture for her daughter one day and decide to desert them the next? His head spun with confusion as he wandered into what would have been their bedroom. Nothing unusual here. Except...in the corner. He advanced and flipped on the light.
Chelsea’s sneakers peeked out from under the bed. The polka dot canvas ones she loved to wear. The ones she’d been wearing yesterday when she left his house. And her purse. On the floor like it had been tossed there. Or dropped. Reaching inside, he found her wallet, license, and credit cards, as well as a good deal of cash. How had she planned on paying for gas for her car ride home?
Cold sweat trickled over the goosebumps that popped up everywhere. The hollow feeling permeating his chest expanded and threatened to destroy him. His hands shook on the bag as he noted her phone wasn’t in there. Obviously. Someone had just texted him with it.
That someone had not been his wife.
Chapter twenty-four
“Whenwasthelasttime you saw Chelsea?”
Aiden stood in the living room, flipping open a notepad. Theo had called his friend as soon as he’d found Chelsea’s purse.
“Last night. She helped put Jordan to bed and then came here.”
“Was it typical of her to stay here at night?”
“Not in the last month, no. Ever since her accident, she’s been staying at my place.” Theo took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. “But we had a bit of a fight yesterday.”
“Could she have taken off to cool down a little?”
“That’s what I thought at first. Then, I got her texts.”
“She sent you a text? Recently?”
Theo produced his phone and scrolled to the conversation. As he handed Aiden the device, he explained, “The first few texts I thought she was still upset. Then, they didn’t make sense. Going home? She never thought of Westchester as home. And we were here, so she didn’t mean this place.”
Theo told Aiden about the purse, wallet, and the shoes.
“Well, my wife has plenty of shoes she could wear. However, not having her license and wallet is another matter,” his friend said.
“Look at that last text. I sent it as kind of a test.”
The police chief scrolled and read, “What should I do with Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and Moe?”
“Her response is to keep the animals. But those aren’t their names. Whoever is using her phone seems aware we have pets but not what their names are.”
Aiden gazed around the room, then strode over to the officer he’d brought with him. After a few minutes of talking, he came back while the cop left the house.
“I sent Tom to get the fingerprinting equipment from the car and to call in a few more people to help with evidence. I want to walk through the house. Tell me if anything else looks off.”
The front door opened, and Tom came back in with Angie right behind him. She rushed to Theo, her eyes concerned.
“What’s going on? You said you needed my help, but I show up here and there’s a police car outside.”
“I need you to take Jordan home for me. I’m not sure how long I’ll be.” His gaze roamed the room, and he lowered his voice. “Chelsea is missing. I don’t want Jordan to know. She’s upstairs in her room.”
“Missing? Are you sure she’s not at the store or picking up pizza?”
