Spooky Business (The Spectral Files #3) - S.E. Harmon Page 0,65

a neighbor who’d simply disappeared. “Did you call the police and report her missing?”

“Of course,” she said indignantly. “They said she was a grown woman and if she wanted to take off, she could.”

“Where did she say she was going the last time you saw her?”

“She didn’t. We mostly exchanged gardening tips and recipes, things like that. But I do know she was happy about life in general. She loved her job, and she’d met some guy at work she really liked.”

“What was his name?”

“Craig, I think. It had only been a few weeks, but he seemed like a nice guy.” Darla sighed. “She was most excited about getting her little boy back. She’d left him with a friend while she got her life in order.”

I frowned. “I wasn’t aware she had a child.”

“We helped her decorate his new room in a farm animal theme. He would’ve been… let’s see….” Darla cast her eyes upward as she did some mental math. “Four or five, I think.”

She’d left her son with an old friend. A friend like Valerie, perhaps? Tabitha had researched Joseph’s adoption and hadn’t been able to find much of anything. We theorized that records were a lot less organized back then. Cases changed hands, storage rooms flooded, files were lost, records just slipped through the cracks in general. But suddenly, a dearth of adoption records for Joseph made a lot more sense.

Delilah had finally gotten her life together. She had a job at a gardening center. New friends. A relationship with potential. And a cute little house with a room just for Joseph. All that was left on the checklist was to go pick up her son.

I wonder how Valerie had felt about that.

Darla peered at me. “Does any of that help?”

“It does. I could hug you.” She narrowed her eyes, and I held up my hands quickly. “But I won’t.”

“Good, because I don’t hug no—”

“Cops, I know, I know.” I stood, dusted off the seat of my pants, and headed down the porch steps. “The jewelry is in a coffee can under a loose floorboard on the back porch.”

“What if it’s not there?” she called as I hit the sidewalk.

“Well, I sincerely hope it is because Grandma Ruth is gone.”

“What?” Her hand flew to her mouth, and for the first time since I’d met her, I saw genuine emotion without a hint of craftiness. It was briefly disconcerting. “She left?”

She came down the porch steps, clinging to the railing like a lifeline. When she got to the bottom, I held out a hand to help. She didn’t let go, even after she was safely on the cracked sidewalk.

“Why didn’t you tell me that would make her leave? I wouldn’t have even bothered with the damned jewelry.” She took a composing breath, squeezing my hand hard. “I can’t believe it.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not an exact science. The furthest thing from it.” I shrugged helplessly. “I think she said her peace and felt comfortable enough to leave. I don’t always know what they consider unfinished business.”

Darla nodded jerkily. “I’m glad she found peace, at least.”

I didn’t know what else I could say, especially when she wrapped her arms around my middle. I guess she hugged cops after all. I shifted so that her hands weren’t near my gun and let her cling to me like human Saran Wrap. She smelled like baby powder and aloe.

“I wasn’t ready to let go,” she said quietly.

No one ever really is. I didn’t think that would be particularly helpful, so I just patted her back awkwardly and pretended not to notice when she started to cry.

Chapter 17

It was a little after five in the morning. when Danny and I walked into the diner next to the station. As I looked around for a place to sit, I spotted Nick in a booth near the back, hunched over his phone. It wasn’t that much of a surprise to see him there—everyone on our team ate at the diner at least twice a week. We slid in across from him, and he raised an eyebrow. “What are you two doing up so early?”

Early morning sex and then waffles, mostly. I shrugged, trying to keep my blushing to a minimum. “Nothing. Can’t a guy get up early?”

Nick stared at us both for a moment. Then, he scowled at Danny. “I hate that you have a life now. I really do.”

Danny huffed out a laugh as he grabbed a menu from the holder near the syrup caddy.