Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) by Olivia Jaymes (reading women .txt) 📕

told me that she'd ended things with him. Finally, she was becoming her old self again and seeing him for who he truly was. She knew he wasn't going to magically change back."

"Smart woman."

"Lori was intelligent but oftentimes she let her heart make her decisions for her. Luckily, your brother hurt her one too many times and she'd had enough. Also, he hadn't succeeded in cutting her off from her friends and family. We were still there telling her that he wasn't any good for her. Eventually she believed us and not him."

"What happened the last time you spoke with her? Or saw her?"

Michelle took a deep breath, her hands visibly trembling. "I saw her about a week before she disappeared. All three of us had lunch in Douglas. It was a Saturday. She'd broken up with Cal and we were celebrating. Lori seemed really happy and we all had a great time. We were talking about taking a vacation somewhere warm and sunny. She didn't have a care in the world. Except for...I don't even know if I should mention this."

"Mention what?"

"There was a guy at her work. I don't even remember his name, but she complained about him that day. She said he was sort of creepy. That he seemed to have a crush on her. Jenna and I told her to ignore him."

Knox would definitely be checking him out.

"You didn't get his name?"

"Bob, maybe? Bill? Brian? It started with a B."

"I'll talk to her co-workers," Knox assured Michelle. "I'll find out about him. Now the last time you spoke to Lori?"

"The last time I spoke to her was right before she was to meet Cal at the coffee shop. She and I spoke about the vacation again and then she said that she had to go. She was meeting Cal to have a cup of coffee and tell him that there was no chance of them getting back together. It was over. I told her to call me right after and she said she would. She said that it wouldn't take much time and I told her that he was probably going to cry or beg to get her back so don't weaken. She said she was determined and that she wasn't going to get into a debate with him. She'd tell him that the decision was made and get out of there. I waited for her call but it never came. That was the last time I ever spoke to her."

"You received a text from her a few days later, I believe? May I see it?"

"Sure." Michelle stood and walked over to the end table, picking up her phone and thumbing through it. "I've saved it, of course. Here it is."

It was short and to the point. Lori wrote that she was going off on her own for a little while and she'd be in touch. She said not to worry, and that she just needed some time.

"Lori's phone was never found?"

"Her purse and phone were gone, but her car and all her belongings weren't touched."

"You're sure?" Knox pressed. "Maybe she only packed a few changes of clothing."

Although that didn't make any sense if Lori didn't know how long she would be gone. In Knox's experience, most of the women he knew would usually overpack, not underpack.

"I'm sure. Lori had the cutest overnight bag that had all these little pockets and such. If she was going to pack light, she absolutely would have used it. But it was still in her townhouse. Both Jenna and I looked through her clothes and all of her favorite outfits were still there."

It didn't make any sense for a woman to walk away with nothing. Jared was digging into Lori's credit card history right at this very moment so hopefully they could see any patterns.

Tom and Jenna joined them in the living room again. Tom carried a tray of finger foods such as crackers, cheese, and smoked meat. Jenna had a tray of cold drinks.

"We thought you might want a snack," Tom said. "We ordered dinner but it will be about an hour before it gets here."

"Maybe we can also get some work done as well," Jenna suggested. "I've been trying to make up a list of everyone that Lori mentioned in her life like friends, neighbors, co-workers. That sort of thing. But there may have been people that you know of that I don't remember."

"We need to talk to all of them if we can," Knox said. "It's usually one little piece of information that pushes a case along. It may not even seem all that important in the beginning."

Tom nodded, his expression solemn. "We can do that."

Time to get down to work. There was a case to be solved.

Where was Lori Waters? What had happened to her?

And did Callum have anything to do with it?

"I can certainly see what you saw in him," Michelle declared, sitting cross-legged on Jenna's bed. Dinner was over and everyone had retired to their rooms to get some rest. The real work of the investigation started tomorrow. "He's gorgeous."

The last thing Jenna needed to do was sit and think about how handsome her ex-boyfriend was, especially as he was just two doors down the hall.

"He is nice looking, but there's more to him than that."

"I wasn't saying that there wasn't but...yowza. I'm just saying that I can understand why you didn't tell him the truth that first night."

Jenna wasn't sure she liked what Michelle was saying.

"I never tried to deceive him. I tried telling him the truth several times but he kept changing the subject and trying to