Evidence of Life - By Barbara Taylor Sissel Page 0,73
it anywhere near your wife’s cabin?”
“Not really. You pass it going there, I guess.”
“Look inside.”
Hank opened the cover. “That’s Sondra’s fax number.”
Abby said, “That’s Nick’s handwriting.”
“This is how you found me?”
Abby nodded.
“But if he wanted to get in touch with her, why wouldn’t he just call her? She has a cell phone, or she did have.”
“He might have faxed her documents related to the trial,” Abby said. “I haven’t any idea, really, but there’s something else you should know.”
He waited.
“My friend Kate ran into Nick in Bandera last winter, not long before you lost touch with your wife.”
Hank’s brows shot up. “Alone or—?”
Abby shrugged. Kate hadn’t mentioned seeing Nick with a woman, but given Kate’s history, that might not mean anything.
Hank’s gaze considered her. “Your husband—he was implicated when the money went missing last fall from the account that was set up for those kids, wasn’t he? But it was that other guy, Helix Belle’s own attorney—Sanders, Sandover, something like that—”
“Adam Sandoval.” Abby supplied the right name. “Nick had nothing to do with it.” She stopped short of saying that she’d gone looking for Sherry Sandoval; she wasn’t going to repeat any of what the Sandoval’s neighbor had told her. It was as Kate said, nothing but gossip. It couldn’t be more....
Hank said he remembered the raw deal Nick got. “Sondra went on a rant about it.”
“Did she ever talk about Adam? She must have known him, too, from the courtroom.”
Hank kept Abby’s gaze, and she watched the wave of disquiet creep over his expression. Her own breath felt uncertain. Even her surroundings, their entire conversation, seemed unreal now, the product of bizarre imagination.
“Jesus, he’s gone, too, isn’t he? He jumped bail. It was all over the news.”
“Last spring, right before the flood, not long after your wife—”
“My wife and your husband took off.”
“Nick didn’t take off, not with our daughter.”
Hank’s eyes widened at the bite in Abby’s words. She didn’t care.
“So what is all this, then?” He matched her hard tone, spreading his hands. “A coincidence? My wife worked for a judge who oversaw a case where two of the opposing attorneys are now missing, along with a helluva a lot of cash. What’s next, or maybe I should say, who’s next? The judge? Is he going to disappear?”
Abby didn’t have an answer. She picked up the matchbook, returning it to her purse.
Hank’s sigh was heavy and unsettled the air. “I still don’t see what the cabin has to do with anything. Sondra never went there much. She’s a city girl, can’t stand being stuck in the boonies. She only kept the place because her grandparents loved it, and she loved them. But now that they’re both gone, she’s talked about selling it.”
“It’s isolated, then.” Abby found Hank’s gaze, saw him take her meaning.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s a great place to hide.”
* * *
“Mom? What are you doing?”
“Driving home,” Abby said. “Can I call you back?”
“No, Mom. Jesus, Gramma called me. That teacher from the school called and said you never showed. Gramma’s been trying your cell phone and the home number all morning. She’s about to go up to Hardys Walk.”
“Oh, God, Jake, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Hold on.” Abby laid the cell phone in the passenger seat and steered the car over two lanes of traffic and onto the shoulder of the freeway. Cars rushed past so close, they shook the BMW. Abby closed her eyes a moment, making herself breathe, then picked up the phone and apologized again.
“But what are you doing?” Jake demanded.
“I realize you’re angry with me, and I wish I could explain. I have to do this, that’s all. There’s just no other way, and I’m so tired of arguing—”
“Mom, stop. You’re jabbering.”
Abby pressed her lips together.
“You went to see the guy who sent the fax, didn’t you?”
“Who told you?”
“Gramma. She figured that’s where you were.”
Abby danced her fingers along the top of the steering wheel.
“I don’t know how you can accuse me of keeping stuff from you,” Jake said.
“I haven’t accused you, Jake.”
“Maybe not in so many words, but you make it pretty clear.”
Abby sighed. “Maybe we’re both insane.”
“Now you’re talking. Who is the guy anyway? Does he know Dad or what?”
“He doesn’t. But his wife might.” Abby waited for Jake to ask who the wife was, to ask why Hank’s wife would know his dad. But the silence from Jake’s end was profound.
“Jake? Are you there?”
He said, “Yes,” but the distinct hesitation before he answered was unmistakable. Ominous. Alarm prickled