A Darkening Stain. Robert Thomas Wilson

say it. She always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt, always had excuses when someone did bad shit or treated her wrong. But I can read between the lines.”

      “Give me some examples,” Sophia insisted. “What did she say to make you think that?”

      “She usually clammed up when anything to do with her dad came up. But she told me once that she was glad they’d divorced, him and her mom. That she couldn’t take living with him anymore.”

      “Did she ever mention running away?” Evelyn asked.

      Furrows lined his forehead and he sat forward, crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, look, yeah, she might have mentioned that a few times, but it was a while ago. And she never actually would have done it. Besides, her dad was out of the picture. I mean, sure, he had some sort of partial custody. She had to visit every once in a while, but it wasn’t like he was around all the time.” He stared hard at Sophia. “If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that if Haley had decided to run away, she wouldn’t do it this way. She’d never let her mom worry. Never.”

      Sophia nodded, her expression telling Evelyn that everything she’d learned about Haley in her investigation meshed with what Jordan was telling them.

      “What about her stepdad?” Evelyn asked.

      “Pete?” Jordan rolled his eyes. “She thought he was kind of an ass-hat, that’s for sure. She definitely avoided him.”

      “Did she ever talk about him being a threat?”

      “No. She wasn’t his biggest fan, but he’s sort of a weirdo, so that’s no surprise. You’ve asked me all this before.”

      Sophia glanced at Evelyn, giving a small shrug, and Evelyn jumped in.

      “Jordan, I want to go over what happened when you dropped Haley off at school. Everything you can remember.”

      “Sure.” He glanced between them. “But I haven’t thought of anything new.”

      “That’s okay. I just want to hear it from you instead of a police report.” Sometimes, even with witnesses who were telling the truth, repeating the details raised inconsistencies, gaps in memory or brand-new information.

      Jordan’s whole body tensed. “It was a pretty typical day. Haley’s school day was over, and I’d been to my morning classes. I picked her up after she finished for the day and we just drove around a bit. We got some ice cream because, for December, it was crazy warm. It’s probably why her team was practicing on the field instead of in the gym. The cheerleaders,” he clarified.

      When Evelyn nodded, his focus went back to some spot on the wall, as though he was searching his memory for details that might matter. “She acted happy. Nothing seemed wrong, like I told Detective Lopez before.” He shook his head, but he still wasn’t looking at them. “I didn’t see anyone weird hanging around. I watched her walk toward the school when I dropped her off. She turned back and waved at me. It’s the last thing I remember before I drove away.”

      He stared at Evelyn again, a sad, desperate look in his eyes. “I should have waited, seen her go inside. But I assumed she’d be safe there.”

      “So you didn’t actually see her go inside?”

      “No. But didn’t her friends? I thought the cheerleaders saw her go in. And besides, where else would she go? The whole reason I dropped her off was for her cheerleading practice.”

      “And she didn’t tell you anything about meeting someone later?”

      He shook his head. “No. She was going to grab a ride home from practice with Marissa.”

      “Marissa Anderson,” Sophia interjected. “Haley’s best friend. They were on the cheerleading squad together.”

      “And she never spoke of anyone she was afraid of? No one who was hassling her?”

      “Other than her dad?” Jordan shook his head.

      “How were things going in your relationship?” If they’d only been dating for six months, as Sophia had said, that meant they’d met while Jordan was at Neville U and Haley was still in high school. It wasn’t a huge age difference, but the experience difference between a high school junior still living at home with her mom and a college student, living in a frat house, could be huge.

      “Fine.” Jordan shrugged. “Good.”

      “No arguments? Neither of you were seeing anyone else?”

      “We weren’t exclusive, I guess. I mean, we hadn’t really talked about it. But no, neither of us was seeing other people.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “Yeah.”

      “No jealous exes, then?”

      Jordan gave a short laugh. “Haley didn’t have any exes. And no, not on my end.”

      “So no one you can think of who might want to hurt her?”

      “No! Everyone loved Haley. She was sweet, innocent. No one would want to hurt her.” He sounded offended by the idea. “I heard about that note her mom talked about on the news—some kind of stalker—but I can’t believe she wouldn’t have told me.” He visibly puffed up. “I would have protected her.”

      “She never mentioned thinking that someone might be following her around?”

      “No.”

      Evelyn nodded, not surprised. She stood, and Sophia slowly did the same.

      Jordan stayed in his seat, staring up at them. “That’s it? Why haven’t you found her? It’s been a month, and you’re back here questioning me about the same old things?”

      “Sometimes people remember new details if they go through it again,” Evelyn said calmly. Most of the time, she consulted from a case file and not directly on a scene, but when she did talk to families and friends, she was used to the frustration and anger and fear. And Jordan’s seemed genuine.

      “We’ll be in touch,” Sophia said.

      As they headed for the door, the high-pitched whine of a young woman reached them. “Seriously? You went out and got yourself a coffee and didn’t bother to get me one?”

      Evelyn glanced back and saw a blond college student in tight yoga pants and a T-shirt that swallowed her, ultrared lips pursed in a pout as she stared down at Jordan. Her hair was a mess, and she’d clearly just climbed out of bed, thrown on some clothes, swiped on some lipstick and went looking for Jordan.

      He darted a look over his shoulder and flushed when he caught Evelyn’s eye.

      Instead of lingering, Evelyn walked out the door.

      “So much for the worried boyfriend act,” Sophia muttered.

      Evelyn frowned, pausing to glance backward. Jordan’s reaction when he’d first spotted Sophia hadn’t seemed faked. Sure, he might have had nothing to do with Haley’s disappearance, and still be sleeping with someone else, but he’d said he wasn’t seeing anyone besides Haley. Was he just too embarrassed to tell them he’d already moved on? Or was it all a lie?

      As the girl stomped out of the frat house, looking annoyed, Sophia stopped her. “How long have you been dating Jordan Biltmore?”

      “Dating?” the girl scoffed. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Met him at the frat party last night. I should have gone home with one of the other guys hitting on me. Asshole didn’t even share his coffee.” With that, she headed past them, toward the center of campus.

      Sophia stared after her a minute, then stomped toward the car, looking pissed off on Haley’s behalf. “I’ll tell you one thing. I don’t care whether he’s found himself a new girlfriend, or he’s just sleeping around. It’s been a month since Haley disappeared. That’s pretty damn fast to move on in any way, if he really cared about her. Jordan Biltmore