“The owner says you can have it for one-seventy-five,” she said, as if this news was the best thing she’d ever heard.

“That’s wonderful.” He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes, so much like his mother’s. “I don’t suppose you have any others?”

Her eyebrows lifted, showing her surprise, and he thought he’d made a mistake. But thankfully, her expression wasn’t shock, it was pleasure. She was obviously making a commission on her sales.

“There is one in the back,” she said, “but it just came in a couple of days ago. We haven’t had time to clean it up.”

“Would you mind if I looked at it? I repurpose these and sell them. People love to use them to decorate their homes.”

“Yes, they do,” she said. “If you don’t mind coming with me, I’ll be happy to show it to you. As I said, it’s still rather dirty—but I guess you don’t care.”

“No, I don’t.” He smiled at her. “Just part of the job.”

When they got to the back room, he saw the other trunk. As the salesgirl, whose name turned out to be Megan, described the features of the old trunk, his only interest was in figuring out whether or not she would fit inside.

Ten minutes later, he had two old trunks in his van and Megan’s business card with her personal cellphone number in his pocket.

“I’M SORRY,” RIVER SAID. “You think Nathan had something to do with April’s disappearance?”

“Of course. Everything was fine until he came into her life. From the moment I met him, I didn’t trust him. I tried to get April to listen to me, but the more I warned her, the more she gravitated toward him.”

“It generally works that way,” River said, keeping her voice calm. “If you tell a child to stay away from someone, they usually find them more appealing.” She was trying to connect with him. Get him to relax and not see them as the enemy. She wanted to know why he was here. And how he found out Nathan had come to see them. She knew Tony was upset about the vibe April’s father projected, but she needed to stay focused on him and not allow Tony to distract her.

“You said Nathan had something to do with April’s disappearance,” Tony said. “What makes you think that?”

“Do you mind if I sit?”

River motioned toward the chair in front of her desk. April’s father sat down and let out a deep sigh. It was as if he’d exhaled all the tension in his body.

“I’m sorry if I was rude. This isn’t your fault. I’ve just been so worried. We lost her mother when April was young. It was a terrible, terrible time. And now April’s gone. I don’t know what to do.” He shook his head. “I’m Jeffrey Bailey.”

Jeffrey, not Jeff. That told them something about him. “Jeffrey, how do you know about us?” River asked.

“Nathan called and left me a message the day before he visited you. I didn’t find it until this morning. I don’t check my phone very often.” He frowned at her. “I think he’s trying to prove to me that he’s genuinely looking for my daughter.”

“He didn’t tell us that you knew he was coming here,” Tony said.

Jeffrey shrugged. “You can ask him. And you might want to ask yourselves why he didn’t let you know that. Maybe you can’t trust him.”

River looked over Jeffrey’s body language. She couldn’t see anything that made her feel as though he wasn’t telling the truth. He seemed genuinely upset.

“Coffee?” River asked.

“Not this late, thanks.”

“I’m not sure what you want us to do, Jeffrey,” Tony said.

“I want to know what’s going on,” he said, his tone a little menacing.

River cast a quick look at Tony before saying, “Nathan is our client. I’m afraid there’s not much we can tell you.”

“I’ve tried to call him, but he doesn’t answer his phone. I really need to talk to him. He only told me he was coming to see you, but he didn’t tell me why he decided to seek your help after all this time. I’d like to know more.”

“We certainly can’t force him to respond to your phone calls,” Tony said. River knew he was trying to match Jeffrey’s forcefulness, but that didn’t seem to impress the man. River was grateful all of April’s things were in the tote bag behind Tony’s desk, out of sight. If Jeffrey had noticed and recognized the bag, she felt strongly he would have asked for his daughter’s property. Since Arnie wanted the items, they could say no, but she had a feeling this man could become even more unpleasant than he’d already been.

On a whim, River reached into her drawer and took out a copy of the picture someone had left for them. She got up from her desk and put it in front of him.

“Did you take this picture?” she asked.

His eyes widened. “Of course not,” he said, angrily. “I don’t need to rely on cheap tricks or threats to get what I want.” He stood up. “Look, you need to look carefully at Nathan Hearne. He’s the only person who gains from April’s disappearance.”

“What are you talking about?” Tony said, also getting to his feet.

“Oh, I guess he didn’t tell you?” Jeffrey’s laugh was nasty and spiteful. “April has a very large trust fund. She told me she didn’t want the money because I disagreed with her engagement to Nathan. Of course, I knew that someday she’d change her mind. It was important to her mother. But Nathan kept trying to talk her into taking the money now and giving it to him. If she disappeared against her will, you should look at him.” He removed a card from his wallet. He hesitated a moment before slapping it down on Tony’s desk. “I’d like to know if you learn anything about what happened to my daughter. I was convinced that she left on her own, to get away from Nathan, but now I’m not so sure. I’m truly worried. I’m her father, you know. Nathan Hearne doesn’t love her, and I do.” Then he turned on his heel and headed for the door without another word.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

After Jeffrey left, Tony sat down and sighed. “Did we miss something? Could Nathan really be behind April’s disappearance?”

“Then why come to us?” River asked. “It doesn’t make any sense. I think Jeffrey just doesn’t like Nathan. Maybe he was jealous of their relationship. A lot of fathers have problems with their daughter’s boyfriends.”

“You noticed that he likes to be called Jeffrey too, huh?” He shook his head. “I don’t see any reason for Nathan to come to us. I mean, kidnapping April so he can get to her money? How would that work? I’m just not buying it.”

The door to their office opened again and a police officer came in. “Chief Martin sent me to pick up some evidence.”

Tony got up and handed him the bag. The officer took out a piece of paper that Tony signed. Chain of evidence. Crucial when passing off items that could end up as evidence in a courtroom.

“Hey, hold on just minute, okay?” Tony said. He pulled his pad of paper over and quickly wrote something. Then he removed the paper and slid it into an envelope. He handed it to the officer. “Please give this to Chief Martin, okay?”

“Sure. Not a problem.”

River watched Tony hand the envelope to the officer, but she was still thinking about Jeffrey Bailey’s accusation. She had confidence in her ability to read people, but she wasn’t perfect. Could Nathan have fooled them?

“River?”

She looked up to find Tony staring at her. The officer had left.

“You’re still thinking about what Bailey said, aren’t you?”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

“I thought we already decided that Nathan wasn’t involved in April’s disappearance.”

“You’re right,” she said. “Sorry. I just want to make sure we’re not dismissing the possibility out of hand.” She met his gaze. “Why did Nathan tell Jeffrey that he was coming here?”

“Didn’t he say something about trying to keep in touch with April’s father?” Tony asked. “I’m guessing he thought it was the right thing to do.”