about Glen showing up at the house with a knife to annihilate his family, his anger boiling over into a murderous rampage.
She had awakened bathed in sweat. Nina was left on her own to protect her children, and Ginny’s suggestion to buy a gun no longer sounded ridiculous to her.
Meanwhile, other stresses began pinging away, including paying the mortgage. She was formulating plans to move out. Let Simon have the damn house; she’d go live with Ginny or Susanna if she had to.
In an ironic twist, Simon had at last gotten what he desired: Nina decided to take a leave of absence from her job. She had stopped by The Davis Center first thing in the morning to deliver the news to her boss, Rona, in person. She gave vague excuses of a difficult family situation and no timetable for her return. Nina filled out some paperwork and that was that. Maybe they’d fire her, but she couldn’t trouble herself with those concerns, at least not until she got her dog back and Simon was out of the picture.
There was no perfect time to step away, but this moment was as good as any. She’d finished her report on the Cooper case, recommending joint custody for the children. There’d be fallout from Wendy for sure, but Nina wouldn’t be in the office to hear it. Instead, she was at the police station, seated in an interview room, getting Wheeler’s take on his part of the investigation. He did not look like a man about to deliver good news.
“Let me go over what we’ve done and where we’re at,” he began. “We interviewed most of your neighbors, and nobody saw Simon leave your house with Daisy.”
“Okay,” said Nina, nodding. She had expected this answer, because she had checked with her neighbors as well. She had also contacted Granite State Dog Rescue, put up posts on the Seabury community Facebook page, and once again pinned missing dog posters around town, but so far none of those efforts had yielded any results.
“What about the burglary?” Nina asked.
“We investigated and found nothing. The person who reported the incident said he was a tourist from out of town and heading home when he saw something suspicious.”
“Have you spoken to him?”
“Called. No answer.”
“That’s because it was Simon.”
“Not according to the name he gave us.”
Nina knew when a conversation was going nowhere.
“What about Simon, have you spoken with him?”
“Of course,” Wheeler said. “And you can guess what he told us.”
“He doesn’t have Daisy. And before you ask, his neighbors haven’t seen a dog out in the yard, or seen Simon walking a dog, or heard barking, for that matter.
“Simon did tell us that you two got into a fight and he’s living at his other home until you work something out. That’s not a crime, Nina. People break up all the time.”
“Sure, but they don’t always steal a dog when they go. Detective, Daisy is part of our family, and we need her back.” Nina’s voice shook with a mix of frustration and sadness.
“Look, Nina, we want to help, but we’ve got our hands full with you. Glen, Simon, your dog—you’re like a full-time project here. Have you tried talking to Simon?”
“No.” Nina kept her head down, afraid if she looked the detective in the eyes she’d crack and tell him what she suspected he’d done to Maggie. She had no proof other than a store receipt that he’d laced her brownie with peanut oil and no idea how Simon might retaliate if the police questioned him about it. Until she got her dog back, Nina did not want to take any unnecessary chances. Maggie was fine. They were all fine … all but Daisy.
“Can’t you just get a search warrant?” Nina pleaded. “Go in there and look for yourself?”
Wheeler’s deepening frown told her the answer was no.
“That’s a big ask. We need probable cause, a court order, all of that,” he said. “And right now, we don’t have it.”
“I kicked him out of the house, and the next night my dog goes missing. That should be proof enough.”
Wheeler’s mouth tightened, telling her it was not. He glanced at his files. “According to the report, the front door was partially ajar. You really need an alarm system.”
“We called an alarm company—well, Simon did, after you told us Glen attacked Dr. Wilcox. But the company couldn’t get the install scheduled until next week.”
Wheeler glanced at his case file. “From what I’m reading here, it’s not the first time