Flashback (Kendra Michaels #11)

“We all are,” Williams said. “Paula and I knew them since they were children. We were with them the day we found their mother’s corpse near that hiking trail. It isn’t something you easily forget.”

“You and Paula stayed in touch with them over the years?”

“On and off. They’ve been kind enough to invite us to some of their big events. High school and college graduations, that sort of thing.”

“They reached out to you several times, isn’t that right? That’s unusual.”

“Very. But those are two extraordinary young women. Most families of murder victims retreat into their grief and just learn to live with it. Not Chloe and Sloane. I’m sure you’ve seen the lengths to which they’ve gone to investigate their mother’s murder over the years.”

“Of course. Did you ever do anything to discourage that?”

“Absolutely not. It’s how they chose to deal with it. I’ve met the families of many murder victims in my career, and everyone deals with these things in their own way. If this helped them feel that they had some control over their world, who was I to take that away from them?”

“I get it,” Lynch said. “But did you ever feel that their investigation might put their lives in danger?”

“Never.” Williams seemed annoyed by the suggestion. “If I believed that, I never would have encouraged them. I know Paula felt the same way.”

Kendra leaned forward. “Paula was trying to figure out what they were doing in these last few weeks. She didn’t have much luck. Did she talk about it with you?”

“Only after they disappeared. Chloe and Sloane were in the process of re-interviewing witnesses, and somewhere in that process, they apparently found out something that put their investigation on a whole new track. Paula thought I might know something about it, but I didn’t. I hadn’t seen either one of them in years.”

“Really? I would’ve thought you would be one of the first people they re-interviewed,” Kendra said.

“We exchanged a few emails, but I honestly didn’t have anything new to give them. I’d already been in touch with Chloe and Sloane several times over the years. I just tried to be of help.”

“Was there anything about their questions, anything at all, that gave you even the slightest hint about what leads they may have been pursuing?”

Williams flashed a pained smile. “Paula asked me the same thing. I’ll tell you what I told her: I’m afraid not.”

“I can tell that Paula Chase’s death hit you hard,” Lynch said. “It hurt Kendra, too. The minute she heard, she was on her way to find out how she could help. I had to be the one to break the news to her. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“You have no idea,” Williams said. “I’m still in shock about it. She was my partner for over nine years.” Kendra could see tears welling in his eyes. “She was a better cop than I ever was.”

“Did you keep in touch with her after you retired from the force?” Kendra said.

“Not as much as we said we would, but I guess that’s normal. I retired first, and she left a couple of years later.”

“Any theories at all about what happened to her?” Kendra asked.

He shook his head. “I leave the theorizing to the cops working her case. But of course, it’s suspicious that this happened just as she was investigating this old case of ours. Yet I don’t know what to think.”

“One more question,” Kendra said. “And I know this is going to sound strange. Did Chloe and Sloane say anything to you about ‘the bomb place’?”

He cocked his head as if he may have heard her incorrectly. “I beg your pardon?”

Kendra repeated herself. “The bomb place.”

“That’s what I thought you said. No, they didn’t mention anything like that. Really? ‘The bomb place’? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Neither do I,” Kendra said. “I have no idea what it means. Or if it even means anything at all. It just came up during the investigation.”

Williams shrugged. “Sorry.”

Kendra stood, and the others followed her lead. “Thank you for your time, Detective. I appreciate it.”

He smiled and shook her hand. “I’m not a detective anymore. I’m just Todd. If there’s anything I can do to help bring Chloe and Sloane home, please let me know.”

Kendra and Lynch didn’t speak until they were back in the car and pulling away from Williams’ house.