“Yes.” Sasha’s voice had dropped to almost a whisper. “I told her there was no reason to run back to Eric, but she insisted on going to the park. Said she’d walk if I didn’t drive her. I figured talking with Eric would only reinforce there was no hope for them—the guy wasn’t going to be providing much in the way of child support—so I agreed.” Sasha shook her head. “If I had known she’d disappear, I’d never have left her alone.”
“It’s not your fault,” Autumn hastened to reassure her. “I’m sure Jenny would have walked if you hadn’t given her a ride. That was in late August, right?”
“Yes. The weather was nice, but there were storm clouds moving in, which is why she wanted a ride.” Sasha held her gaze. “You’re going to find out who did this, right?”
“That’s our goal.” She decided not to go into detail about the task force. “Can you think of anyone else I should talk to? Anyone who Jenny may have confided in?”
Sasha frowned. “I was her best friend. I would have thought she’d confide in me.”
She nodded in understanding. “You don’t think she’d have talked to her coworkers at the Dollar Store?”
“Maybe Mary Leland,” Sasha said. “I would think that if Jenny was mad at me, she’d talk to Mary. They hung out together sometimes.”
Autumn made a note of Mary Leland in her phone. “Anything else?”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve been going over this ever since I heard the news. I can’t think of anything else.” Sasha stared down at her cup. “I hate feeling as if I let Jenny down.”
“You didn’t,” she reassured her. “I’m sure Jenny valued your friendship.”
“I hope so.” Sasha appeared overwhelmed with guilt. “Maybe I should have agreed to look at two-bedroom apartments. Maybe then she’d be alive.”
“Hey, this isn’t your fault,” Autumn said. “Jenny had the option of moving back to the ranch.”
Sasha nodded but didn’t look entirely convinced. Autumn slid a business card across the table. “If you think of anything else, call me, okay? Sometimes even the smallest detail can help.”
“I will.” Sasha took the card. “I hope you find who did this.”
Autumn did, too. She smiled then quickly headed back outside. She was glad she’d kept the interview. She hadn’t learned much but found it interesting that Jenny had been pushing for Sasha to move into a two-bedroom apartment.
And Sasha had reinforced Jenny’s reluctance to move to the ranch. She imagined that a nineteen-year-old might view Jordan as domineering, overbearing and controlling. He was, what, ten years older than Jenny? The age gap must have seemed insurmountable.
Yet, the Jordan she’d come to know had cared deeply about his sister and had searched relentlessly for her. She wished Jenny had given him a chance.
She made a quick stop back at the Dollar Store to get contact information for Mary Leland. The clerk didn’t answer her call, so she left a message.
As she drove back to her place, she called River. He answered on the first ring. “Hey, Autumn. How are things going?”
She filled him in on the scant information she’d obtained from Karen and Sasha. “It’s not much, but I think it’s interesting that Jenny wasn’t happy with her current situation. Maybe she ran into someone who offered to help.”
“That’s a possibility,” River agreed. “And would play into the first two murdered girls. But I don’t think Mia would have been interested in help. She didn’t need financial support.”
“True.” Jenny wouldn’t have needed help, either, if she’d just accepted Jordan’s offer to live at the ranch. “Did you learn anything new?”
“Nothing yet.” River sounded a bit dejected. “I have one more friend of Eric’s to talk to, but the others haven’t given me anything useful.”
This was the bane of police work, Autumn knew. Hours of legwork that didn’t always produce results. “Okay, we can touch base later.”
“Later,” River agreed and disconnected from the call.
Autumn thought about her conversation with Sasha as she made the trip to her home. She was surprised to find the police vehicles were gone when she arrived. Jordan’s truck was still there, though, and she was touched by his agreeing to stay.
She gave Bear a few minutes to get busy, then headed inside. She stopped abruptly when she realized Jordan was cleaning up the mess.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she protested.
“I know.” He flashed a wry grin. “But standing around doing nothing isn’t my style.”
Ridiculous tears pricked her eyes, and she quickly turned so he wouldn’t see them. She was a tough cop—being emotional wasn’t normal. Jordan’s thoughtfulness shouldn’t have made such an impact.
