The decision to stay or go could wait until after they’d had dinner and interviewed Jordan.
Autumn led the way inside, flipping lights on as she went. Jordan set the pizzas on the table as Cutie ran around excitedly. Bear lumbered along, seemingly warming up to the puppy.
“I thought you had someone else coming?” Jordan said as he leaned back against the counter.
“Yes, a Ridge police officer by the name of River Jameson will be here soon with his K-9. He’s checking in to a local hotel.” She eyed the dogs playing in the living room. “Cutie will be glad to meet his yellow Lab, Frankie, I’m sure.”
“Does River know about the attack on you?” Jordan asked.
“No, that’s not relevant to the task force.” She pulled glasses and plates from the cupboard, then set them on the table. “I filed an official report and of course my boss knows. Peters has been assigned to the case, but I’m helping to vet suspects, too. Given that this guy has returned, I should let River know that my house isn’t exactly a safe zone.”
Jordan grunted, as if that wasn’t a satisfactory answer. Through the living room window, she saw a pair of headlights. The black car?
She opened the door and bolted outside, then stopped. The vehicle was a K-9 SUV much like hers. The engine shut down and River emerged from the driver’s seat. Tall and muscular, he had blond hair and blue eyes. Autumn figured he was in his late twenties or early thirties. Handsome, but not as attractive in her eyes as Jordan. “Hey,” he greeted her.
“Come in. I have the pizzas.” She stepped back to give River and Frankie room to enter.
Frankie quickly joined the other dogs in the living room. Cutie was beyond excited with a new arrival. The dogs ran around, using her furniture as a jungle gym. Truthfully, Autumn didn’t mind.
“River, this is Jordan Clarke. He owns a local cattle ranch nearby. Jordan, Officer River Jameson with the Ridge PD.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Jordan said somberly.
“Likewise,” River agreed. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Jordan nodded. “Thanks.”
With the introductions over, Autumn turned to glance at the dogs. “We should feed them first, then dig into our pizza while it’s still hot.”
“Sounds good,” River said. “Do you have enough dog food? I have some in the SUV.”
“I have plenty.” She went to the pantry and pulled the rolling bin out.
“I already fed Cutie,” Jordan said.
She nodded and filled two dishes with food and handed one to River. Jordan scooped up Cutie so she wouldn’t bother the other dogs while she and River separated their dogs in different corners of the kitchen to feed them. She wasn’t surprised when Frankie finished his food first. Labs were notorious for eating fast.
Once the K-9s were cared for, she turned to the adults. “Please have a seat at the table. I have milk, water, or soft drinks.” Autumn glanced over her shoulder questioningly as she strode toward the fridge. “What would you like?”
“A soft drink works for me.” Jordan lowered himself into a chair, setting Cutie on the floor to play with the dogs.
“I’ll have one, too, thanks.” River sat on the other side of Jordan.
She brought the soft drinks to the table for the two men, then filled her glass with water. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jordan asked, “What can you tell me about this task force?”
Autumn glanced at River, who shrugged. The details about the work they were doing was supposed to be confidential, but she’d already told him the key part about other girls being found.
She chose her words carefully. “The task force is looking into Jenny’s death, along with a missing pregnant woman. It’s very early in the investigation, so there’s really nothing more we can share. But we plan to dig deep into Jenny’s case to see if there’s anything that might help us figure out who is behind this.”
Jordan grimaced and took a sip of his soda. “I wish more detective work had been done back when Jenny went missing.”
“I know.” She lightly touched Jordan’s arm, feeling awful about the lapsed time between Jenny’s going missing and finding her dead body. Especially since there was no sign of her baby. “I used Bear to search for her, but wish I had done more, too. All we can do is move forward from here. I know we’ve already talked about this, but maybe we start again at the beginning.”
Jordan pushed his half-eaten pizza aside and scrubbed his hands over his face. He quickly filled River in on the details surrounding his sister going missing at the park back in August. “It’s mostly my fault,” he said when he’d finished. “I should have insisted Jenny move in with me at the ranch, rather than staying at her friend Sasha’s apartment. But she liked being amid the action of the downtown area. Looking back, I think she was hoping she’d get back together with her boyfriend, Eric Cally.”
“Has the boyfriend been ruled out as a suspect?” River asked.
“Yeah, Cally died driving his car into a tree while intoxicated two weeks after Jenny went missing.” Autumn’s expression turned thoughtful. “He said he didn’t arrange to meet Jenny that night, and I think he even gave his phone to Detective Peters to prove that. But that doesn’t mean one of Eric’s buddies wasn’t involved. Maybe one of them lured her to the park.”
