Free Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 08 - Vows & Victims by Laina Turner Page A

were looking for Jeff West.”
    She peered at us suspiciously. I put my best smile on and held out my hand.
    “I’m Presley Thurman and this is Tobey Stone. Do you know where Jeff and his family went?”
    “Jeff and his family didn’t go anywhere. And why do you want to know?”
    This was one time I didn’t really want to tell the truth. I wasn’t sure how to tell her we were trying to investigate a sex ring and a murder, but I couldn’t rack my brain for a plausible excuse.
    “We are just here to follow up on a potential business matter we had discussed with him a while back,” Tobey said, jumping in to my rescue.
    I just looked at him. That seemed like a ridiculous excuse, but it was very vague so maybe she would fall for it.
    The look on her face told me that was a negative.
    “Listen …? I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
    “That’s because I didn’t give it. It’s Edna. Edna Wilson.”
    “Edna,” I said, again smiling brightly, trying to be my most charming self. “We mean no harm to Jeff or his family. We just need to talk to him. It’s to help a friend of ours.” I thought maybe this would appeal more to her. That we were trying to help someone. She might think we were nice people and be willing to talk.
    She seemed to soften a little. “Jeff and his family didn’t go anywhere. His wife, Donna, and the kids went to her mother’s and Jeff went somewhere else. I don’t know where exactly, I just know it wasn’t with Donna. And I don’t know why, so don’t ask!”
    I looked at Tobey and knew we were both thinking the same thing, that Jeff’s wife had left him after his arrest for allegedly soliciting a prostitute.
    “And you don’t know where he went?”
    “Nope, and wouldn’t tell you even if I did know.”
    “Thank you, Edna.”
    “Harrumph. Just get out of here and stop peeking in people’s windows. It’s creepy. Didn’t your mother raise you with manners?”
    I couldn’t help but smile. She was quite a hoot and little did she know I mortified my mother on a regular basis.
    “And young man, if you’re going to make up stories, you need to work on that. You’re a horrible liar.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Tobey said contritely.
    Tobey and I turned back to the car. I was trying not to laugh, and he looked at me and said, “Shut up. You certainly weren’t coming up with anything better.”
    “I know. I’m just laughing at how she called you on it.”
    We got in the car and immediately drove away because Edna was still staring at us from her front porch. I didn’t want her coming after us again with her bat.
    Tobey pulled out of the subdivision and drove down the street about a half mile where he pulled into a McDonald’s.
    “I’m hungry,” he said.
    “Hey, I’ll never refuse fries.”
    Enjoying the hot, crisp, salty McDonald’s fries I knew I shouldn’t be eating but were too good to pass up, I asked Tobey, “What do you think happened to Jeff West and his family?”
    “You’re guess is as good as mine.”
    “That his wife left him? That has to be it. How fun to have had Edna for a neighbor,” I said, changing the subject.
    “She reminds me of my Grandmother Sally on my dad’s side. Don’t take shit from no one. Sassy as hell.”
    I wiped the salt and grease from my fingers and threw away my trash. “Are we off to the third person now?”
    He nodded. “Hopefully the third try will be more successful.”
    “Tobey, I know Chris is your brother and you’ll always be on his side, but do you really think he’s changed?” I asked as we were driving to Rachel’s, which was about twenty miles away. “You think he won’t hurt Katy anymore?”
    “He’s my brother, but I know he hasn’t always made the best decisions, and Katy has often been the recipient of the fall out of those bad decisions. To answer your question, yes, I do. He really loves Katy.”
    “Hmm. I want to believe that, for Katy’s sake.”
    “I think he’s finally realized how lucky he