False Pretenses - Kathy Herman [88]
The intercom buzzed.
“Sheriff, there’s an Ethan Langley on line one. He says it’s urgent, and that he won’t talk to anyone but you.”
“Okay, Lisa. I’ve got it.” Jude picked up the receiver and put it to his ear. “Ethan, this is Sheriff Prejean. What can I do for you?”
“I think something’s happened to Vanessa! She was on her way to pick Carter up earlier this morning and never showed. I left three messages on her cell, and she hasn’t returned my calls. I just talked to Pierce and Zoe. They haven’t heard from her either, and she told me she was going to call them before she picked up Carter. I’m really worried. Something’s wrong.”
“When’s the last time you spoke with her?”
“At eight forty-five. She was just leaving Zoe B’s. Said some male customer had been staring at her—to the point that it gave her the creeps. I stayed on the phone with her until she got in her car and locked the doors. She sounded fine. But I haven’t heard from her since. And neither has anyone else.”
“Did she say what the guy looked like?”
“No. Just that the way he looked at her seemed threatening.”
Jude shook his head but made sure his voice didn’t register his grave concern. “You say she was sitting in the car with the doors locked when you last spoke?”
“That’s right. She was on her way to use the pay phone at Rouses Market—to check in with the Broussards. And then she was going to pick up Carter at the Corbins’. Ricky’s mother, Lindsay Corbin, just called me and said Vanessa still hasn’t shown up, and her phone isn’t working. Sheriff, I’m worried this has something to do with this Shapiro character. What if he was stalking Vanessa? What if he’s trying to get her to tell him where the Broussards are?”
Jude thought for a minute. Didn’t he owe it to Ethan to tell him what was going on? “I hate to say it, but that’s a real possibility. We just got new information on Shapiro.”
“What information?”
“His real name is Reagan Cowen. He’s wanted in Texas for aggravated assault and drug trafficking.”
“That confirms he’s dangerous!”
“Ethan, there’s more. We have DNA evidence that puts Cowen at the scene of Remy Jarvis’s murder.”
“What?”
“We haven’t connected the dots yet. This evidence has just come out within the past hour—after we went to the Broussards’ apartment and retrieved the clothes Zoe was wearing when she was accosted by Cowan. It was his DNA on Zoe’s tank top and Remy’s T-shirt. No doubt about it.”
“Then this guy’s a killer!” Ethan said. “What if he has Vanessa? What if he’s forced her to tell him where Zoe and Pierce are? They could all be in danger.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Let us check out your apartment first. Do you want to meet us there?”
“I’m at the clinic in Lafayette. It’ll take me forty-five minutes to get there.”
“Do you have a key hidden somewhere?”
“No,” Ethan said. “But go through the Broussards’ apartment out to the gallery. We leave our sliding glass door open.”
“All right. We’ll check it out. I’ve got your cell number. Is that the best number to reach you?”
“Yes. Call me as soon as you check the apartment. I’m coming back to Les Barbes. I need to pick up Carter.”
Jude sat at the desk in his office and dialed the number for the Broussards’ prepaid cell phone. It rang once. Twice—
“Hello.”
“Pierce, it’s Jude. How’re you doing?”
“What can I say, other than I’m glad we’re safe?”
Maybe not. Jude bit his lip. “Have you heard from Vanessa?”
“No. Ethan asked me the same thing, not ten minutes ago. I got the feeling there was something he wasn’t telling me.”
“There is. He just called here. Vanessa was supposed to pick up their son at a friend’s house where he spent the night—and she never showed. She hasn’t returned Ethan’s calls. And now her cell phone isn’t working.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“Is Zoe where she can hear me?”
“I’ll get her, hold on … Zoe, Jude’s on the phone. He wants to talk to both of us.…”
A few seconds passed, and he heard a rustling sound.
“Okay, she can hear you.”
Jude picked up a pencil and started drawing arrows, the way he often did when he was processing. “Zoe, the lab put