by Debra Webb
He took another look at Jonathan then shrugged. “Sure. Come on in.”
Melissa followed him inside, with Jonathan close behind her. The place smelled of stale cigarette smoke. Beer cans cluttered the coffee table and both end tables.
Johnny Ray cleared off a spot on the couch and took a seat. “Make yourself at home.” He gestured to the other available chairs but didn’t bother to clear the mess.
Melissa moved a stack of magazines. Her cheeks burned when she noted that they were the sort that featured unclothed females in lewd positions. Jonathan took the seat beside her.
Johnny Ray lit a cigarette. “What can I do to help?”
He sounded surprisingly amiable. Melissa looked to Jonathan. She knew what she wanted to ask Johnny Ray but getting emotional wouldn’t keep him cooperative. Better to leave this to Jonathan.
“Polly’s mother, Presley,” Jonathan began, “insists that on the night her daughter went missing, she turned in shortly after midnight and her daughter was in her room asleep. She claims she had no company that evening after her husband left.”
Johnny Ray flicked ashes onto the wood floor and shrugged. “Those two fight all the time. If I was a betting man, I’d wager Presley drank herself to sleep after Will left. That’s her M.O.” He turned to Melissa. “Wouldn’t you say, Mel?”
Melissa didn’t like when he called her that. No one called her that except him. “I imagine we’ve all done that at one time or another.” Presley had more than her share of issues, but she was Melissa’s sister-in-law.
“I’m sensing,” Jonathan went on, “that Presley isn’t being totally up-front about what happened after her husband left. You’re wired in to the local grapevine, from what I hear,” he added with something that sounded like respect. “Have you heard any rumors to that effect?”
Melissa held her breath. She felt guilty for sitting by while Jonathan talked behind Presley’s back, but if it helped find Polly, she would allow it.
And no one was more connected to the rumor mill than Johnny Ray. That was the reason she and Jonathan were here.
Johnny Ray’s expression went from relaxed to guarded despite Jonathan’s careful wording of the question. He poked his cigarette into a beer can. “I can’t say that I’m wired in to anything.” He shot Melissa an accusing look. “But I do know that Presley’s marriage has been less than the happily-ever-after she’d expected. Will just can’t seem to make her happy.” Johnny Ray shrugged. “Sometimes wives seek out that missing happiness in other places.”
Rage blasted Melissa. As if he’d felt the detonation, Jonathan put a hand on her arm.
“Are you implying that Presley is having an affair?” Jonathan ventured.
Melissa wanted to be equally angry with Jonathan for voicing the question, but time was slipping away. Painful questions had to be asked. Johnny Ray was the person to ask. He and Presley had carried on a love-hate relationship since she was fourteen. If she had gone that far, chances were the man who’d filled the room with unpleasant secondhand smoke would know.
Johnny Ray executed another of those careless shrugs. “I didn’t say that, but I couldn’t blame her if she went that route.”
This time Melissa couldn’t hold back a rebuttal. “William loves Presley. Yes, they have their problems but no marriage is perfect.”
Johnny Ray laughed as he lit up another smoke. “I can’t argue with that last part.”
Melissa bit her lips together. Arguing would be a waste of time, and it might hinder full disclosure. The cockier Johnny Ray felt, the more he’d run off at the mouth.
“So in your opinion her husband hasn’t showered her with the attention she deserves. Is that the case?” Jonathan wanted to know.
Melissa glared at him before she could school her expression. How dare he suggest such a thing? William had been deployed for the past six months. That kind of separation strained the best of marriages.
“That’s right.” Johnny Ray leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “Fact is, she didn’t want to have a baby, but Will wouldn’t have it any other way. He forced her into going through with the pregnancy and she’s been miserable ever since.”
No way could Melissa sit here and listen to this. She lunged to her feet. “I need some air.”
“Come on, Mel,” Johnny Ray said, “you know it’s true. She wanted to get rid of the kid and your brother threatened to get a court order to stop her.”
Melissa pointed every ounce of rage she felt at the arrogant man. “William had every right to want to save his child. Presley was young and confused—”
“Maybe she couldn’t take it anymore,” Jonathan said, cutting Melissa off, “and did what she’d wanted to do all along.”
The room filled with silence.
Johnny Ray didn’t even blink beneath the weight of Jonathan’s stare.
The utter emptiness left by the silence held Melissa in a chokehold.
Presley loved Polly. Melissa would not even entertain such a notion. The idea was unconscionable, downright crazy.
“I’m not saying she did or didn’t,” Johnny Ray announced, shattering the silence first. “I’m just pointing out that everyone has their limits. Maybe Presley reached hers and made a mistake.”
Defeat sucked the anger and certainty right out of Melissa, left her swaying on her feet.
He was right.
Damn it. Johnny Ray knew Presley better than her own husband did, and the point he’d made was frighteningly correct. She hadn’t wanted a child. But that was before they’d all fallen in love with Polly, Presley included.
“Johnny Ray, if you know something—”
He held up his hands. “I’m just speculating here, Mel. Laying out some of the facts that some folks don’t want to remember.”
Jonathan stood, leaned across the cluttered coffee table and offered his hand once more to Johnny Ray. “I hope you’ll let us know if you hear anything that might help find that little girl.”
Johnny Ray pushed to his feet, gave the outstretched hand a shake. “Sure thing, man. I’ll keep my ears open. No problem.”
Melissa swallowed back the crush of emotions swelling her throat. “Thank you.” Then she walked out. She couldn’t look at him anymore. Not with the ugly truth of his words ringing in her ears.
She didn’t stop moving until she was in the car with her seat belt fastened. Her gaze frozen on the street ahead, she couldn’t speak as Jonathan started the car and drove away from Johnny Ray’s house.
“Is there any possibility he might be right about Presley?” Jonathan asked.
Melissa blinked back the sting of angry tears. Jonathan didn’t know her family. His questions were logical and reasonable. She wanted to shake him and make him see that for all her past mistakes and unwise decisions, Presley would never, ever hurt Polly. There were a lot of things about Presley that bothered Melissa. The way she treated William. Her immaturity. But she would not hurt her child. “No.” The single syllable echoed in the quiet of the car, the certainty in her tone reaffirming her resolve.
“We need to talk.”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” she said, rather than the barrage of excuses on her family’s behalf she wanted to offer. She dropped back against the seat, hauled in a deep breath and slowly released it, reminding herself that Jonathan was here to help. She needed to let him.
Jonathan took the next right.
Melissa frowned. “Where’re we going?”
“I noticed a cemetery on the way to Bruce’s house.” Jonathan pulled the car under a massive shade tree that held court over the small parking area that flanked the oldest cemetery in town. “We should have some privacy here.”
“Can we walk?” Anxiety and fear were crushing in on her. She didn’t wait for his answer. She got out of the car and dragged in a chest full of air. Polly was missing. Possibly dead. Emotion burned Melissa’s eyes. It wasn’t fair, damn it! She and William had lost their father and their mother. She shot a look at
Jonathan as he came around to her side of the car. He’d broken her heart. And now the biggest bright spot in her life was gone. It just wasn’t fair!
“I know this is difficult,” Jonathan said, his voice soft and understanding.
She didn’t want to hear that softness. She wanted him to be strong and do what no one else had—find Polly.
He moved closer and Melissa wanted to back away. She couldn’t trust herself with him, not even after all this time. But his eyes—those pale blue eyes she’d dreamed of for so damned long—held her still.
“The police have found nothing. No one is talking.” As he spoke his fingers curled around her arms, making her shiver in spite of her determination not to let him see how he affected her. He pressed her with that penetrating gaze. “But I know, just as you do, that someone knows the truth. If we rattle the right cages, that someone will get nervous and make a mistake.”
She wanted to fall against him, have those strong arms hold her and those inviting lips promise her that this would be okay. That Polly would be okay. “It can’t be Presley. She wouldn’t...”
“It’s hard. Putting that harsh glare of suspicion on the people you love.” He moved closer still, so close she could smell his skin. “But this is the fastest way to get a reaction. There’s no time to waste. Too much time has passed as it is.”
He was right. A moan rose in Melissa’s throat. She had seen the glances exchanged between the policemen working the search. She knew what they thought. Hope was fading.
Melissa couldn’t help herself. She fell against Jonathan’s chest. His arms went around her and she shuddered with the overwhelming emotions.
“We’ll find her,” he promised, his lips whispering against her ear. “I won’t stop until I do.”
Melissa didn’t know how he could make such a promise, but somehow she trusted him to be true to his word.
Though she had every reason not to, Melissa believed in Jonathan and the promise he’d just made. He might not be able to commit to a relationship, but she knew enough about his past and his work to know that he would find a way to get the job done. That was the one thing he never failed to do—his job.
She tried to pull herself together, telling herself that as a nurse she faced sickness and death every day at the hospital.
She braced her hands against his chest, resisted the urge to curl her fingers into his shirt and pushed away. She drew in a breath and met his gaze. “What do we do next?” Polly was counting on her. William and Presley were counting on her. Melissa had to be stronger than she’d ever been before. For them.
“The one other person who hasn’t been in his or her place since Polly’s disappearance is Stevie Price.” Jonathan dropped his hands to his sides. “We’re going to find out where he really is and what he’s up to.”
“The chief said he went to Nashville.” In truth, she would be the first one to say that she wouldn’t have thought Stevie brave enough to attempt to follow that distant dream he’d carried around with him for as long as she could remember. Stevie was only a year older than her. They’d played together as kids, and her family had pretty much taken him in after his folks were gone. He had a good heart, but he just didn’t have the mental capacity to pull this off.
Still, she recognized that it wasn’t completely impossible.
“The chief could be right,” Jonathan acknowledged. “That’s what we’re going to determine.”
She nodded. “Okay. I know Stevie better than most. Where do we start?”
The crunch of tires on gravel drew Melissa’s gaze to the entrance of the cemetery. Will’s truck came to a screeching halt next to her car.
Her heart rammed hard against her sternum. Was there news?
Will got out, slammed the truck door hard then stormed in their direction.
The grief she would have seen in his face if there was bad news was absent. Instead, what emanated from his expression and his stiff movements was white-hot fury.
William was mad as hell and ready to fight.
Chapter Six
“She’s off-limits.”
Jonathan kept quiet as Melissa and her brother argued. The pain on her face made Jonathan want to step in and defend her position, but it wasn’t his place.
Not anymore.
This was a family matter and he hadn’t been anything to Melissa except a bad memory in a very long time.
“I’m not accusing Presley,” Melissa repeated, her exasperation showing at this point. She reached out to her brother, but he avoided her touch. The hurt his move generated played out on her face. “You have to see that there’s something about that night she’s not telling.”
William leaned in closer to Melissa, a new blast of fury darkening his face. Jonathan stepped forward. “This isn’t going to help us find your daughter.”
William glared at Jonathan, his mouth twisted with rage. “You...” He dragged in a shaky breath. “I appreciate what you did for me, Major, but this is none of your business. Upsetting Presley was bad enough, but going to Johnny Ray was crossing the line. How do you think that made her feel? She can’t take much more.”
Jonathan couldn’t deny that charge. “You’re running on empty, Shepherd.” He kept his tone calm and even despite the impatience charging through him. “Fear and frustration are preventing you from seeing the logic in Melissa’s words.” William started to argue, but Jonathan stopped him with a shake of his head. “Trust me, I know exactly where you are. It’s a bad place to be. But alienating the people who care about you because you don’t want to see what’s right in front of your face is the wrong route to take.”
Fury still simmered in William’s eyes but he kept his mouth shut.
“I’m sorry, Will.” Melissa folded her arms over her chest and lowered her eyes. “I’m not trying to make this any harder. But I’m scared to death that Presley is hiding something that she doesn’t realize might help.” She lifted her gaze back to her brother’s. “Something that might help us find Polly before it’s too late.”
William swayed back a step. He scrubbed his face with his hands as if he could erase the misery, the confusion. “Presley didn’t do anything wrong. It was me. I’m the one who left. I should have been there. But I wasn’t and somebody took my little girl.”
Melissa pressed her fingers to her trembling lips. She was barely hanging on to her composure. “You couldn’t have known.” She wrapped her arms around her brother and held him close. “We just have to find the truth and that means asking the hard questions Chief Talbot seems to be avoiding.”
Melissa’s brother pulled free of her embrace. “Why did you talk to Johnny Ray?” The anger resurrected in Shepherd’s eyes. “What does that bastard have to do with anything?”
Melissa glanced at Jonathan. Not for moral support, he suspected. He held up his hands. “I’ll take a walk.” The two clearly needed some space.
“Johnny Ray keeps up with everybody’s business, Presley’s in particular. I think maybe he’s still stinging that you got the girl he always thought would be his,” Melissa was explaining as Jonathan walked away.
Keeping the two in sight, Jonathan moved along the path that skirted the garden of headstones. He needed to clear his head and analyze the meeting with Johnny Ray. The guy had come off as nonchalant. Not quite indifferent but definitely detached. Could be that he could care less about Presley or her child. But based on what Melissa had said about the man’s long-running relationship with Presley, his attitude seemed a little too detached.
Jonathan’s first thought was that the two had rendezvoused while the child slept—after William Shepherd had departed the home. But there was no evidence of that scenario. Jonathan doubted that either one would admit to having left the child unattended.
There was no reason at this time to consider that Johnny Ray Bruce had anything to do with the child’s disappearance. If Polly was the only reason Presley stayed married to Shepherd that could, of course, be considered motive. Yet there was no obviou
s evidence to that end.
Jonathan stalled. Unless the goal was to do away with the child and then to blame the father. That would get him—as well as the child—out of the picture permanently.
An icy sensation slithered up Jonathan’s spine. He hoped like hell that wasn’t the case. But there was a ring of clarity to it that unsettled him greatly.
Still, Melissa staunchly stood by the idea that Presley loved her daughter. Was that only what Melissa wanted to see?
“Mr. Foley,” a voice whispered from behind Jonathan.
Jonathan shifted to his right, away from Melissa and Shepherd. His muscles tightened in preparation for battle.
“I need to speak to you in private, Mr. Foley.”
A man, thirty or so maybe, hovered in the trees that bordered the cemetery on three sides. He leaned to the right and peeked at the couple still debating the subject of Johnny Ray Bruce.
“What about?” It was difficult to dredge up any wariness for a man who crept around in the woods and made contact in such a manner. Particularly one who wore big glasses and a bow tie. But even more surprising was that he’d gotten so close without Jonathan noticing. Definitely not of the norm.
The man nodded toward Melissa and her brother. “Them.”
“Who are you?” The guy looked harmless enough. The glasses he wore had inordinately thick lenses. The shirt and bow tie along with the crisply creased trousers didn’t really fit with his sneaking around in the woods like this.
The man looked again to see that Melissa and Shepherd were distracted. “My name is Scott Rayburn.” He straightened, as if just saying his name out loud called for additional posturing and preening. “There’s something you need to know.”
Ensuring that Melissa and Shepherd appeared to be discussing their differences calmly, Jonathan moved toward Rayburn. “What is it you have to say?”
“You’re not from around here,” Rayburn said, seeming nervous with Jonathan’s approach. “You don’t know these people.”
“I know Melissa.” Images of her nude body entwined with his made Jonathan flinch.
