1022 Evergreen Place - Debbie Macomber [108]
“We…we aren’t going back to the house?”
“No, sorry. I’m meeting up with a friend.”
“Oh.” The word was weighted with disappointment.
“Jeremy and I have plans.”
“Jeremy?” Shock reverberated in his voice as he repeated the other boy’s name.
Tanni grinned. “Oh, honestly, Shaw, you didn’t think you were the only guy in my life, did you?”
Thirty-One
“Can you talk?” Mack asked urgently.
Placing one hand over the receiver, Mary Jo glanced toward her boss’s office. Allan was with a client, and the meeting would probably go on for a while.
“I guess,” she said. “For a few minutes.” She rarely took personal calls at work. The fact that Mack had phoned her meant it was important. “Is anything wrong?”
“No, not at all.” He paused. “I just finished talking to my dad and he wants to see us right after work.”
Mary Jo waited. “Did he find out anything?” she prodded. “About Jacob?”
“He must have.”
Mary Jo was too excited to sit still. “I knew we made the right decision when we asked him for help.” They’d tried to track down Jacob Dennison on their own. Roy, however, was the one with experience. People hired him to do this; he was the expert and they were amateurs.
“I’ll pick you up at the house after work, okay?”
“I’ll have to get Noelle before we go over to your father’s.”
“Can I get her? That’ll save time.”
“Okay, I’ll phone Kelly and let her know.”
“Thanks.”
The rest of the afternoon dragged by. Mary Jo didn’t think she’d ever been more anxious for a workday to end. At precisely five, she leaped out of her seat like a jack-in-the-box and reached for her purse.
“See you in the morning, Mr. Harris,” she called out.
Her boss came to the doorway between their two offices. “You seem to be in a hurry this evening.”
“I am,” she said. “I think Mack’s father might have some information about that World War II soldier I mentioned a while back. Roy offered to help us.”
“Interesting. Update me when you can.”
“Will do,” she promised. True, it might be another dead end, but she had a feeling there was more.
Mack was in his truck, waiting for her, as she pulled into the driveway at home.
“Where’s Noelle?” she asked immediately.
“Mom has her. She claims she needs grandma practice. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all.” Actually, she was touched that Corrie wanted to spend time with Noelle.
They rode in silence for a couple of blocks. “Aren’t you excited?” she asked.
Mack grinned. “Yes, what about you?”
“Oh, Mack, I can hardly stand it. Did your father tell you anything?”
“No, he just said he’d uncovered some information he thought we’d want to hear.”
“How did he sound?”
“Sound?”
“Was he happy? Sad? Did his tone of voice give anything away?”
“Not really. But that’s my dad. Always keeps his cards close to his chest.” Mack parked in front of the office. Mary Jo jumped out, not waiting for him to open her door or give her his hand. He met her on the sidewalk. “You ready?”
“O-o-oh, yes. You?”
“Ready,” he said, and held open the door.
Mary Jo entered the investigator’s office and glanced curiously around. She’d never been inside before. The reception area had a sofa and a chair, with magazines neatly fanned out on the adjoining end tables. The door leading to Roy’s private office was ajar and he waved them in.
“What’ve you got, Dad?” Mack slipped into a visitor’s chair and Mary Jo took the one next to him.
Roy tipped back his own chair. “The other night Mary Jo pointed out that Jacob might not be Dennison’s given name.”
“So he had another name?” Mary Jo asked breathlessly, leaning forward in her eagerness.
“No. His name’s Jacob. That was an excellent theory but it didn’t go anywhere.”
“Dad!” Mack warned. “Just tell us what you found.”
Roy grinned sheepishly. “I was right. He was taken captive by the Germans.”
“He was a POW?”
Roy nodded. “Apparently Jacob was captured in the first few days after the invasion and sent by train into the heart of Germany.”
Mack was leaning forward now, too. “Did he survive the war?”
Roy nodded again. “Amazingly, he did.”
Mack and Mary Jo exchanged