Shaking his head, Theo filled her in.
“I know you’ve had some accidents happening lately, but they seemed more aimed at you,” Aiden said to Theo. “Is there a reason someone would want to abduct or harm Chelsea?”
“Her money?” Angie snarked and headed upstairs to get Jordan.
The chief narrowed his eyes. “Chelsea has money, other than this house?”
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Theo said, “Yeah, her dad owned MedLab Pharmaceuticals. He was loaded. Gave me a big chunk of change when Jordan got here. I never used it. It’s all sitting in a trust fund for Jordan. That’s part of the reason for the fight. I neglected to tell her about it, and she found out.” He was still kicking himself for that stupid mistake.
“How did she find out? It could simply be a coincidence you had a big fight right before she disappeared, but it seems whoever took her could also have instigated the fight.”
“I assume it was Frank, her father’s right-hand man. She’d just come back from meeting him for coffee. But he’d have no reason to kidnap Chelsea. As the person running the company, he has access to all the finances there. I’d have to go to him to get any money from her accounts. Wouldn’t a kidnapper already be asking for money if that’s why they took her?”
“Not necessarily. They might want to freak you out first. Get you desperate. What’s Frank’s last name? I’ll check him out.”
“I’m not sure. But he wasn’t anywhere near here when the other accidents happened.”
Scribbling on his notepad, Aiden said, “I’ll check him out, anyway.”
“While you’re at it, check out Brett Sheehan. He has free access here, and he must have some idea how much money Chelsea has. She’s been throwing tons of it into renovating this house. Maybe he wants more than she’s paying him.”
When the girls came down, he picked Jordan up and kissed her cheek. “Auntie Angie is going to bring you home and stay with you. Kind of like a girls’ night. I need you to show her how to feed Bandit and the kitties and where they sleep. Can you do that?” He winked at Angie.
“Yup. Where you and Mama gonna be?”
What should he tell her? His mind was so muddled he couldn’t even come up with a plausible excuse.
“Mamas and daddies sometimes need to be alone without little girls,” Angie filled in, coming to his rescue. “Let’s head home, and maybe we can stop and get pizza on the way.”
“I like bacon on my pizza,” Jordan informed his cousin as they shuffled out. “And Bandit can sleep on my bed with me.”
Theo nodded at Angie’s questioning look. Now wasn’t the time to fight over where the dog slept. If something happened to Chelsea, Jordan would need all the comfort she could get. He would, too.
“Ready to walk through? Anything strange about this living room?”
“No, this room, the office, and back parlor don’t even have the furniture moved back in yet.” Theo led him down the hall and into the dining room. Two cups sat on the table, one at the head of it and one kitty corner.
“Do you know if these are from today?”
Theo nodded. “Yes. Chelsea always cleans up her dishes before she leaves.” He leaned in close and sniffed. “One is coffee, and one is tea. The one with tea is Chelsea’s.”
“So, whoever she’s with, it’s a good chance she knows them and let them in.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.” His heart thumped loudly in his chest. “Why would anyone want to hurt my wife? She’s only been here a few months and before that she never left her house.”
Waving at Tom who was sprinkling some dust over a doorknob, Aiden said, “Let’s also check the contents of the cups.”
As they searched through the house, there wasn’t much more Theo could tell his friend. The mug in the sink showed that Chelsea had made herself a cup earlier in the day, yet the box of teabags still sat on the counter. It wasn’t like Chelsea to leave things out.
“Now what do I do?”
The apologetic look on his friend’s face was not what he wanted to see. He wanted answers. And his wife back. Safely. In his arms, where she belonged.
“Go home to your daughter. I’m sorry, Theo, I don’t have any answers right now. We’ll finish the fingerprints and run them, but you said there have been tons of people tramping around here lately doing renovations. We’ll analyze the tea and coffee, and I’ll have some of my men canvas the neighborhood in case anyone saw anything. I’ll check on this Frank guy and his whereabouts and see if Brett is around.”
“What canIdo? I want her back, Aiden. What would you do if Katie disappeared?”
“I’d tear the town apart,” Aiden confessed. “Regardless, I don’t need you running around in a frenzy, especially not during peak tourist season. I promise I’ll put a rush on this, even with the texts indicating she left of her own free will.”
