Page 78 of Rules

"Not telling us where she was," Leah added. "We have a check in board on our refrigerator. Our friend saw it on a TikTok and wouldn't drop it till we got one, single girls living together use it to tell the others where they are. You know, just in case."

"Sounds like a smart thing to do," I said, trying to be supportive. "Please, continue."

"Well Sophia was all into it until she started dating mister mysterious. Then she refused to put her information on it. Just kept telling us we didn't need to know."

"You called him, mister mysterious. Do you know his name?" I asked.

"We don't know it. None of us did," Leah told me. "They never wanted to go out with any of us. Refused to do any of the normal couple stuff. Sophia always had to go to his place. He never came to us, not even to pick her up. It started really bothering all of us. I mean, we've been in each other's lives for a long time."

"I finally cornered her in the break room at work," Jamie continued. "She admitted she wouldn't tell me his name. Said it was complicated, that he was older and very private. That she was in love and she would talk to him about meeting us."

"Then one night my boyfriend and I were picking up food when I saw a car pull up and Sophia got out. She went into the restaurant next to ours. I got out and waited for her to come out. When she did I surprised her. She looked scared to death when she saw me. Kept glancing over my shoulder. I asked if she wasgoing to be rude and not introduce me? She looked horrified by the thought of it but she went to the passengers side of the car. She opened the door and leaned in saying I was a dear friend of hers. I bent down next to her and said hello and how happy I was to meet him." Leah looked at me. "I talk a lot when I'm nervous. Anyway, he glared at me and said hello then barked at Sophia to get in the car. She stood and apologized to me. Then she got in the car and they left. I just stood there, shocked."

"What was shocking?"

"How he ordered her into the car and how she obeyed him. Not to mention how he looked." Leah looked at Jamie. "Never in a million years would we have ever put Sophia with a guy like that."

"I'm sorry, a guy like what? Can you describe him?"

"He was built like the strongman at a circus. Dark hair, I think, he has a baseball cap pulled low. And he was wearing sunglasses, at night. But none of that holds a candle to the tattoos."

I leaned forward. "Tattoos?"

Both girls nodded. Then Jamie spoke, "don't get us wrong. We both have tattoos. We're not prudes. It's just…"

Leah picked up the conversation, "it's just when someone tattoos their face, well, that's a whole other thing isn't it. Especially…" She stopped talking.

Mickey had facial tattoos. Could there be a connection?

"Especially?" I asked.

"He had daggers on the sides of his face. Long ones." Leah drew the daggers down the sides of her cheeks with her fingers meeting them together on her chin. "They are pretty severe."

MISTER DAGGERS! SOPHIA WAS DATING MR. DAGGERS? My head exploded with my inner voice yelling. I took a breath and let it out slowly. Leah was feet from a known trafficker and she had no idea.

"Did Sophia ever mention what this man did for work?"

Jamie twisted a tissue in her hands. "She said he was in business. That he was basically his boss's right-hand man and that he was in charge of a group of guys. That he traveled a lot but was locally based. She seemed… so obsessed with him. Kept telling us he loved her, in his own way. She got so defensive."

Keeping my voice calm I asked, "Did she mention where this boyfriend lived?"

"No," Jamie answered, "just that it was built like small cabins and that she was glad he had his own place because the way the other guys looked at her made her nervous."

"Think carefully," I leaned forward, placing my arms on the table. "Did Sophia say anything about an address or a feature of where he worked or lived? Was it in town or in the country? Anything like that?"

"No," Jamie's eyes widened. Leah shook her head no too. "She was so guarded about things like that."

"Did she tell you how she got the jewelry set she was found wearing?"

"Actually, she did. The day before she..." Leah's voice caught, "the day before she disappeared, she showed me this antique necklace and bracelet set he'd given her. She was over the moon about it. Said it was a pre-gift to a ring. I remember she said she never believed she could be so in love with someone."

My blood ran cold.

"She showed it to me too, I told her she was moving too fast, that she needed to think about her future. She said I was being dramatic. She was head over heels, Sheriff. She refused to see any warning signs." Jamie's eyes filled with tears. "The next day, she was gone."

The door opened and Brooklyn stepped in. "Sorry I'm late," she said, eyes going from me to the two women. "I came as soon as I could."

Jamie stood and embraced Brooklyn briefly. They clearly had a rapport from the initial interviews.

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