Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO REPORTED HER MISSING BEFORE ANYONE KNEW SHE WAS GONETravis Hale arrived outside the apartment twenty-six minutes later.
Reed did not invite him inside.
Travis was forty-one, clean-cut, broad-shouldered, wearing jeans and a Vanderbilt sweatshirt.
He looked exactly like the kind of man neighbors would describe as helpful.
He immediately asked:
“Where are the kids?”
“Safe.”
“Is Rachel back?”
Reed watched his face.
“No.”
Travis covered his mouth.
“Jesus.”
“You called dispatch at one thirty-eight?”
“Yes.”
“How did you know the children were alone?”
“Emma called me.”
“She doesn’t have a phone.”
Travis paused.
“Tablet.”
“There’s no outgoing call from the apartment tablet.”
Another pause.
“She must’ve used Rachel’s phone.”
“Rachel’s phone isn’t here.”
For the first time, Travis looked irritated.
“I don’t know. She contacted me somehow.”
Reed said nothing.
Silence made people fill space.
Travis did.
“Rachel’s been spiraling.”
“How?”
“Paranoid. Accusing people. Talking about leaving Nashville.”
“People meaning you?”
“Mostly.”
“You two together?”
“Not anymore.”
“How long?”
“About two weeks.”
Emma had told Hayes three days.
Reed kept that to himself.
Travis continued:
“She thinks everybody’s trying to take advantage of her.”
“Everybody?”
“Me. Her mother. Her sister.”
“What was she accusing you of?”
Travis looked toward the apartment door.
“Money stuff.”
“What money stuff?”
“A business disagreement.”
“What business?”
Travis owned Hale Restoration & Development, a small residential reconstruction company.
Rachel had worked there for four years as office and accounts manager.
They met at work.
Dated.
Got engaged.
Then, according to Travis, Rachel suddenly became suspicious about company finances and ended the engagement.
“She thinks I used her name on something I shouldn’t have.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Reed watched him.
“What did you want her to sign tonight?”
Travis stared.
“I wasn’t here tonight.”
Reed waited.
Travis’s jaw tightened.
“Who told you that?”
“A seven-year-old.”
“She’s scared.”
“Yes.”
“She may be confused.”
“Maybe.”
Travis exhaled.
“I came by around nine.”
“Why?”
“To talk.”
“You just said you weren’t here tonight.”
“I meant not when she disappeared.”
Reed nodded slowly.
“What time did you leave?”
“Ten maybe.”
“Rachel alive?”
“Of course.”
“Kids awake?”
“No.”
Emma had described seeing Travis after eleven.
Again, Reed kept it.
Then Officer Hayes walked into the hallway.
She held an evidence bag containing the blue fabric.
Travis saw it.
His expression changed for perhaps half a second.
Reed noticed.
“Recognize that?”
“No.”
“You looked like you did.”
“I didn’t.”
Travis glanced toward the apartment.
“Can I take the kids?”
“No.”
“I’m practically their stepfather.”
“You’re not their legal guardian.”
“I’ve raised them for three years.”
“That may be true. Tonight they’re going with their maternal aunt under an emergency safety arrangement.”
Travis became angry.
“Rachel’s sister? Jenna hates me.”
“That isn’t relevant.”
“It is if she starts feeding those kids nonsense.”
Reed looked at him.
“What nonsense?”
Travis caught himself.
Then softened again.
“Look, I’m scared too.”
Reed believed that.
The question was what Travis feared.
Rachel being hurt?
Rachel coming back?
Or somebody finding out why she had disappeared?
Before leaving, Travis said:
“If Rachel calls, she’ll probably tell you I did something.”
Reed stared at him.
“You seem very certain what a missing woman is going to say.”
May you like
Travis did not answer.
That was the first moment Reed stopped treating him as the concerned ex-fiancé who happened to know too much.
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