"I think I'm going to need more information than you've given me."
A big part of him wanted to march out her front door and never come back but there was a little voice in his head that was saying that he needed to shut up and listen. He needed to know this story because it was too crazy to be true.
Although my brother is a total loser. But I don't think he's a killer.
But it was that tiny shred of doubt that kept Knox's boots planted on Jenna's living room carpet.
Jenna scrubbed at her red, wet cheeks with a tissue. "I can tell you what I know."
Knox glanced at his watch. "Then get to it because I'm rapidly losing my patience here."
The romantic mood of earlier was completely gone. Knox was pissed. He didn't like surprises. At all. The vast majority of surprises in his life hadn't been positive.
"Lori told me and Michelle - Lori's twin - that she had a new boyfriend. She really liked him and she couldn't wait to introduce us to him. She was working in Douglas at the time for a marketing firm. She said she met him at a coffee shop. When I went to visit her, I met him. Your brother, Callum Owens."
"You don't know for sure that he's my brother. He could have been lying about his name."
She nodded in agreement. "That's true but you and he do have a strong resemblance. His hair is darker and he has more lines around his eyes and mouth."
"He's older."
"Anyway, I met him and at first, he seemed just like Lori had described, charming and funny. But then it got a little weird. He seemed rather controlling and not so nice. The more I heard about him, the less I liked how he treated her. Eventually, I spoke up and she admitted that she'd had some doubts about him as well. She told me of a few incidents that made me worried."
"Violence?"
"No," Jenna said with a shake of her head. "Not actual violence, but sort of threats. Like he could understand why a guy might smack his girlfriend or cheat on her. Stuff like that. He was constantly turning every argument around on her and making himself the victim. It was always about how she needed to change and somehow he never did. I'm not sure if you get what I'm talking about."
Unfortunately, Knox did. He'd seen his father pull that shit on his mother countless times. He'd tried it with Knox and his kids too. Hell, he'd pretty much tried it with everyone and sadly, it worked more times than not. Now that Knox was savvy to his dad's manipulation it didn't work anymore. But in the past? Far too often.
Ben Owens liked to get his way, and he wasn't above some sketchy shit to get it.
"I get what you're saying. But being a lousy boyfriend doesn't make a person a killer."
His tone was aggressive, but shit...what did she expect? That he was going to roll over and just accept a crazy accusation like that? She was dreaming.
"There's more," Jenna continued, still sniffling from her earlier crying. She turned her head away from him, her expression stormy. "Both Michelle and I tried to convince Lori to leave Cal. He was getting more out of control, yelling and having tantrums when she wouldn't do what he wanted her to. Eventually, she did. At that point, she was staying mostly at his place although she had an apartment there, so she packed all of her stuff when he wasn't home and left him a note that their relationship was over."
Knox hadn't been around his brother's romantic relationships much, but he still had an inkling how Cal had reacted.
"And that was the end?"
Jenna shook her head. "Not at all. I guess Cal had a meltdown of sorts. He called all of her work friends when she wouldn't answer her phone. She'd blocked him. He called from other numbers and when she wouldn't answer those messages, he started showing up at her worksite. He said he just wanted to talk, explain himself. She told him it was over, but he wouldn't give up. Eventually, she said she'd meet him for coffee just to hear him out and give him closure. She said he kept saying that he needed closure and only she could give it to him. He just wanted ten minutes of her time."
Jesus H. Christ, Knox could almost hear his brother's voice whine the word closure. Cal was completely convinced his wants and needs were the most important in the world.
I wonder where he got that idea? Oh right, my dad.
"What happened when she met him?"
Jenna stood, her arms wrapped around herself as she walked over to the window where Knox was standing.
"That's the thing. He says that she never showed up. But there were witnesses that said that she did. All we know is that she disappeared after that. Just...gone."
He didn't want to hear this, but his cop brain was already whirling, trying to make sense of the mystery. He couldn't fucking help himself.
"What did you do? Did you call the police?"
"Michelle did. They said that it wasn't against the law for a woman to disappear."
That sounded...strange.
"They didn't look for her? Talk to anyone?"
"They did. That's how they found witnesses that said that she showed up at the coffee shop. Michelle received a text from Lori a few days later saying that she was going to take some time to clear her head but then we didn't hear anything else. The police said that it wasn't against the law
