Page 58 of The Couple's Secret
Mentally, Josie filed the theory away to be analyzed later and tried to get Hollis back on track. “She came to you and told you she wanted to leave Tobias?”
“No. She didn’t come to me. I still went to the diner a lot and one time I was there for lunch. I was waiting for her to come out of the back so I could say goodbye to her but ten, fifteen minutes went by, and she still didn’t come back. I went looking for her and found her in the ladies’ room, sitting on a toilet, bawling her eyes out.”
“When was this?” asked Gretchen.
“A week before they disappeared.”
“Why did she want to leave him?” Josie said.
“She just… she wasn’t happy. It wasn’t just about him not wanting her to work. Things just weren’t good.”
“Was he violent toward her?” Gretchen asked.
“No, no. Never. Cora just… she said he was moody all the time. Nothing she said or did was right. He’d criticize her or get all distant and not speak to her for days. She said it was like walking on eggshells. Like when she was with Dalton except without the violence. But with Dalton, she always knew what would trigger him. With Tobias, she never knew what would bring on one of his moods or how long they would last or what he’d say. She just didn’t want to live like that anymore.”
“Was Tobias moody?” Josie said. “You knew him longer than Cora.”
“I guess so but can you blame the guy? His first fiancée ran off with some other guy and then his wife died. Yeah, he could get dark sometimes. Quiet. Irritable. No one’s perfect.”
The shrill alarm from a heavy-duty vehicle reversing somewhere near the rear of the lot interrupted them. Gretchen waited until it cut off before continuing the interview. “What was Cora planning?”
Hollis glanced at the nearby workers, who had lost interest in their exchange, moving far more quickly and efficiently. “At that point, she was just putting away as much money as she could to rent an apartment for her and Riley. She made me swear not to tell Tobias. I promised her that I wouldn’t as long as she promised to talk things out with him before making any major decisions. Maybe something like that could be worked out if they just communicated.”
“Did she agree?” asked Josie.
“Yeah. She promised she’d discuss her feelings with him.”
Gretchen scrawled more notes on her pad. “Do you know if she did?”
“I don’t know. I?—”
The sound of a cell phone ringing cut him off. He fished in his pocket, frowning at the screen. “I gotta take this. All the kids are staying with me this week to avoid the press.” He gave Gretchen a pointed smile. “I’ve got a much bigger house now. Lots of land around it. Hey, Zane.”
Hollis listened intently. “Did you try calling her? Oh, well, it’s not the first time she’s forgotten her phone. What did Jacks say? Right, right. Yeah, I’ll leave now.”
“Everything okay?” Josie asked when he hung up.
“Riley went out this morning after I left and didn’t come back. She didn’t take her phone. The boys are worried. Jacks is out looking for her now. I’m gonna go and join Zane to see if we can locate her.”
“How long has she been gone?” Josie said.
“About three hours. Jackson woke up around nine this morning and she wasn’t in bed. Zane didn’t see her leave either. I saw her right before I left for work around seven. She was coming in as I was leaving.”
“Coming in?” Josie prompted.
“Yeah, she’d gone home to get Captain Whiskers’ heartworm medication and some of her little toys. Said they left all that behind when they brought the cat to my house. With the press crawling all over the city, I wasn’t sure how long the kids would be staying with me so I told them it was okay to bring the cat. She must have gone back out after that.”
“Does she do this sort of thing often?” asked Gretchen. “Take off on her own without telling anyone where she’s going?”
Hollis grimaced. “No. She’s just been really upset since the funerals. Also, uh, she’s been drinking a lot more than usual. Zane thinks she might have taken a bottle of vodka from my place.”
“He thinks she’s driving drunk,” Josie clarified.
The tight expression on Hollis’s face told her everything she needed to know.
Gretchen fished her phone from her pocket. “Is there a particular place she goes when she’s upset?”
“I don’t think so. We’ll just start from my place, drive around, see if we can find her.”
