Underneath the rough exterior, I saw a good man with a bright yellow aura. This was a man, who, despite being heartbroken, was a happy content man, the kind of person who doesn't need much to be fulfilled – a lot less complicated than Jenna, or Mason, for that matter.
He offered everyone coffee and drinks, pulled chairs from the kitchen and dragged them easily into the living room to accommodate the whole lot of us. He was nothing but gracious. Right off the bat, I knew this was not a guilty man.
I found myself between Ace and Leo, and the tension between them was so strong, it was distracting me. I had to excuse myself and move to the old seventies-style sofa, and squeeze myself between Kendra and Brianna. They both eyed me with confusion. “The kitchen chairs are hard,” I whispered by way of explanation. It was easier than explaining that I had no desire to be in the middle of a weird, freaky love triangle.
I stared down at my glass of water as Simone and Detective Miller went over the details of the case for the umpteenth time. Roy was clearly heart-broken over the disappearance of Haley. He’d been actively involved in the search party, and posting Missing Person flyers around the neighborhood. As he explained, when he wasn’t working to pay the bills, he was looking for Haley.
I knew our presence was probably a nuisance, but I also knew he was as desperate as Jenna, and was willing to entertain the craziest of possibilities. It’s no secret that most people think we’re a bunch of quacks, a bunch of kids with psychic powers in nerdy cardigans and plaid skirts. C’mon. I’d think the same, too, if I were a normal person.
But we were worth a try. Thankfully, people are willing to believe anything when they’re desperate. That’s why RAMS exists.
“I doubt that you’ll find anything,” he said as he let us roam through his house. “I’ve only met Haley once,” he explained. “She’s never been here.”
I found it curious that he was so dedicated to the search for Haley if they’d only met once. But then again, I knew there was more to it.
“Would you be open to speaking with Leo and Anna,” Simone asked him in that gentle charming way she has. She’s the kind of person you can’t say no to – she’s almost as hypnotic as Ace. “They’re both gifted psychometrists, and might be able to glean something useful from your memories,” she went on with a charming smile.
He shrugged. “Sure. No problem.”
Leo stood over me, and his mouth pressed against my ear. He whispered, “You go first. You’ve got this.”
Roy and I walked into a small makeshift study; a small bedroom, turned into an office; a lone desk and chair, and an old plaid loveseat. I settled next to him and melted into the sofa and noticed that my skirt matched the pattern of the cushions.
He smiled awkwardly, but was quite receptive, which made my job a lot easier. “I’m Anna,” I said nervously. “Uh… you know that already,” I added with an awkward chuckle. “I’m actually new to RAMS… and I’m a psychometrist like my friend Leo,” I rambled on. “Basically that means that I can read minds… are you okay with that?”
God, I was so bad at this. I was glad Simone and Leo weren’t there to witness this disaster of an interview. In my defense, I was new and still didn’t know what I was doing. And it wasn’t like there was anInvestigative Mind Reading for DummiesI could read.
“No worries, Anna,” he said quietly. His willingness was a huge comfort. A guilty person would not be so willing to be read. Well, unless they thought the whole thing was a real quack, of course.
There was no need to hold his hand – he was open and close enough. “What was the nature of your relationship with the Hendersons?” I was forward right off the bat, asking the kind of questions I’d seen investigators ask on shows likeLaw and Order.
He hesitated for a long moment. “Uh… I… I lived in the guest house for almost a year. I was a boarder… I paid them rent,” he clarified.
He was only lying by omission. Everything he was telling me was the truth, he just wasn’t divulging everything. I felt all his emotions then; regret, guilt, anger, heartbreak, nostalgia… love.
He still loved Jenna. She was all he could see. Haley was there in his thoughts, too, but she didn’t shine as bright.
I saw him in an embrace with Jenna, his mouth pressed against the curve of her neck. I blinked. I didn’t want to see more. It seemed like a huge invasion of his privacy. I didn’t need to see more. I got the gist of their relationship. I’d already seen it when I’d spoken to Jenna.
“You and Jenna Henderson were lovers?” So far, my direct approach hadn’t worked very well, but I suspected it would be different with Roy.
His shoulders slumped and his gaze fell to the floor. “I regret it,” he confessed. “She was married, and had a little boy. I had no right.”
“I’m not judging you, Mr. McMillan. We don’t care about the details of your personal lives. We just want to find Haley--”
“Me, too… it’s all I want.”
I smiled sweetly at him. “Good. It looks like we’re on the same page,” I said. “We just need all the information to get us closer.”
“I broke it off when it got too serious,” he told me, and I could feel the weight on his shoulders; unbearable guilt. This was not a Casanova who played recklessly with people’s emotions. This was a good man.
“She’s quite beautiful… Jenna,” I pointed out. “That must have been hard.”
He turned to me. “Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
I nodded. “But it was the right thing.”
He shrugged. He was a large man, but at that moment, he seemed as small as me. “I packed up my things, handed her a check covering two months, moved out, didn’t leave a forwarding address, and tried to forget all about her,” he explained. “It wasn’t until Haley’s disappearance, and I saw them on the news…” he trailed off.
