The Same Place (The Lamb and the Lion #2) - Gregory Ashe Page 0,69

Anything she said or did that might give you a hint where she might be now?”

“Everything she did was strange. She was moving out. She was stringing along young girls she met online. She wanted the farm—I’m not going to lie about that; I know how it looks, but it’s the truth—and I didn’t want her to get a red cent out of my hard work. She’d gone vegan, and that stupid woman wanted to own a pig farm. How does that make any sense? And half the time she was talking about getting back to the good old days, how she was really going to start shaking things up. It was a relief when she finally moved into the condo permanently; I didn’t want to be involved in whatever she was planning.”

“When did she make the move?”

“Middle of April, I guess. Maybe a little after that.”

“Do you think she’s still alive?”

“I think so. I think she likes the drama of hiding. I think she likes the attention. Lord, it makes me tired just thinking about it.”

“Why’d you call us? You said Hannah told you about the car—isn’t it strange that she’d call you?”

“I suppose so. She and I never were friends. The poor girl is scared out of her mind, probably worried that Joy is going to work her over for more money, that this disappearing act is all part of some way to air all that dirty laundry.”

“But why would she call you?”

“I don’t read minds.”

“And why did you call us?”

“Because I know how these things go. When someone goes missing, they look at the spouse. I wanted to tell you what I knew about Hannah. I’ve already told the police the same thing, but if you’re digging around, you ought to know too.”

Which meant Ammon knew about Hannah, the phone calls, the possibility of blackmail. And Ammon hadn’t said anything. He’d lied to Tean. Again. Tean took a deep breath and looked over at Jem, ready to announce their departure, but his friend’s face was fixed with thought. Then Jem said, “You told us things had been strange around here.”

“That’s right. I’ve heard someone skulking around the farm at night. We’re pretty far out, and sometimes kids from town like to make trouble. This is something else. I can’t go out and look because I cut my foot pretty bad when I was chopping firewood. Scares me out of my mind to hear them.”

“Every night?” Jem said.

“No.”

“How many times?”

“Twice. I was going to say three times, but the third time was you boys.”

“Who do you think it is?” Tean asked.

“Joy’s friends. I bet she told them they could come out and help themselves to whatever we’ve got. She might have hidden stuff on the property. Or it might be Joy herself. She wouldn’t be above sneaking around, trying to make things worse—wreck things up a little so she can claim in the divorce proceedings that I can’t keep the place up, that I don’t do half the work I claim to do.”

“Have you seen anything like that?”

She gestured to her foot. “I can barely keep up with the daily chores. I’m not going to tromp around looking for whatever nonsense they’ve been up to. I don’t know what goes through that woman’s head. I wouldn’t put it past her to—”

“You think she might try to kill you?” Jem said.

“Of course not,” Zalie said, her eyes on her hands.

A coyote howled out in the night.

“Do you mind if we take a look around?” Jem said.

Tean’s eyes cut towards his friend, but Jem didn’t look at him.

“Pigs are put in for the night,” Zalie said. “I don’t want you riling them.”

“If Joy’s been coming back here—”

“I shouldn’t have said that. There’s no need for you to go poking around.”

“Are you going to shoot me if I do?”

Zalie threw him a hard look.

“What if we take some pictures?” Jem said. “If we find damage, tire tracks, footprints, that kind of thing, you might be able to use them in the divorce proceedings.”

With a grunt, Zalie rocked in the chair.

“We’ll be fast,” Tean said, “and if we find anything, we’ll make sure to get pictures for you.”

“Don’t mess with the pigs. Don’t even go near the barn.”

Jem gave a huge, gameshow smile and held up three fingers, Scout’s honor. Tean wondered if it would look unprofessional to slap him upside the head.

Leaning heavily on the cane, Zalie escorted them to the door. She hit a bank of switches, and outside, more