Lauren was quiet.
Bradley turned away from the door and stepped into the living room. “I’m sorry.”
“No, no. That’s okay.” She lifted her palms off her knees and extended her hands. Tucker pushed up off the floor and bounded over to her. “It is kind of strange, though.”
“Unless whoever’s doing this is someone your dog knows.”
“He doesn’t know anyone well enough to be comfortable like that.”
“For all you know, whoever’s been handling Tucker could’ve been coming by your house every day when you weren’t home, making friends with him, feeding him treats. Hell, even steak. No way that dog would turn on him. He’d be his buddy. If that’s the case, this guy’s a real pro.”
Suddenly, Lauren’s eyes widened. “That could be why he wasn’t hungry tonight. I filled his bowl and he never ate.”
“When the perp came over to change the sheets, he probably gave the dog a nice juicy meal.”
Lauren crossed her arms in front of her chest and hugged herself. “I feel so violated. Dirty.”
“I think you should consider staying somewhere else — like a motel, or a friend’s place.”
“I won’t be driven from my home, Nick. That’s what this sick bastard wants. That much I know, that much I understand.”
“But I’m looking at it from a safety perspective. Maybe psychologically it appears that he’s just trying to drive you from your home. But I think it’s more than that. Each incident has grown bolder. It’s as if he’s playing with you. Almost torturing you. If he doesn’t get what he’s looking for, he may turn up the stakes.”
“I’m not leaving my house, Nick.” She said it staccato, as if each word deserved emphasis.
Bradley rubbed at the back of his neck, then sat down on the couch. “Why don’t we talk about Michael for a moment. Did he have any enemies, financial problems, did he owe anyone any money—”
“None of that.”
“You said at the meeting you’d written down the place where Michael had gone, but that you couldn’t find it.”
“I wrote it down on a magazine at my office, but a patient must’ve taken it. I went to Michael’s company and found an e-mail on his computer from one of his buddies, the one I think who was organizing the trip. I replied to it and asked for his name and number.”
“If you give me the e-mail, I can probably track him down through his Internet service provider, assuming it’s not a Web-based e-mail address.” Lauren rose from the couch and walked back into the kitchen, where she found the handheld PC. She turned it on and began tapping the screen, navigating through the software. “I went through his desk but couldn’t find anything that would help.”
“You don’t mind if I go there myself and poke around?”
“Of course not.”
She turned the device toward Bradley, who pulled a pad from his pocket and jotted down the e-mail address. “This ‘targard’ could be a company name. I’ll check it out.”
“Don,” Lauren said. “Or Dan. Maybe it was Dave.”
“What?”
“One of his frat buddies. I just remembered Michael mentioning him once. I think it was Dan.”
“I’ll check into it. Do you know which fraternity it was?”
Lauren thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I checked through his stuff yesterday to see if I could find something, a plane reservation or a car rental confirmation number, or whatever. I didn’t see anything with a fraternity logo on it, not even a pin or a shirt.”
“I can do some legwork on it, but once I figure out which one he was a member of, I’ll need Deputy Vork’s help. Frats don’t release rosters to anyone without a court order. But what about a yearbook? Maybe we can start there.”
“I couldn’t find one. He once told me he had a fire in his apartment just before we met. He lost most of his stuff.”
Bradley clicked his pen shut. “How about your relationship with Michael?”
“What about it?”
“Were you two having problems, was it strained, that sort of thing.”
She hesitated for a moment. “I’ve been thinking about that ever since Deputy Vork told me that most cases of missing husbands are actually men leaving their wives behind.”
Bradley studied Lauren’s expression for a moment. Her eyes were downcast, and she was fiddling with a small piece of paper in her hands. “Is that possible, Lauren? You’ve got to be honest with yourself here, and with me. No matter how painful it might seem.”
“At first, no, I didn’t. But now…” Lauren’s eyes met Bradley’s. “I guess it’s possible.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Bradley waited for her to gather her thoughts.
“Are you playing therapist with me, Nick?”
“I’ve heard it helps.” He smiled warmly.
“Michael had been a little down the past few months. I don’t know how to describe it. And I didn’t even see it that way until today. But maybe that’s the whole problem. It’s always about me, the focus is always on me, ever since we got married.”
“Let’s back up a minute. You said he seemed down. How so?”
“Restless. Bored.” She shook her head. “I’m a damned psychologist and I couldn’t even see the signs under my own nose.”
Bradley placed a hand on hers. “How was he bored? You mean with you?”
“With everything. It all started with me. I ran into problems with my practice. Things didn’t work out, and I ended up having to shut it down. I had a bad time with it, accepting it, you know? I lapsed into a nasty depression, I was prone to panic attacks… Michael had to leave his job in San Francisco.”
“That could’ve been a positive for him. The commute’s a bear.”
“Nice try. But he was a software engineer for an upstart Internet company that had incredible potential. He said that one day we’d hit it big and money would never be an issue for us. He was excited, passionate about his work. That’s why he never cared about the commute. He would stay over some nights, when he had to work late. They had a cot in the back room where a few of them would sleep.” She sat there for a moment, staring off at the wall before continuing. “He left that job because he needed to be home for me every night. I wasn’t doing well and he didn’t want to be that far away.”
“Do you think he resented you for it?”
Lauren snorted. “Michael would grin and bear it, never let on that he was upset or disappointed. But about a year and a half after he left the company, they went public and the remaining partners took in fifty million apiece. And where was Michael? Working that dead-end job he found with Cablecast. When he left the Internet company, we needed money right away. Cablecast had an opening for a network account manager. He jumped at it and that was it. About six months later I was well enough to take a counseling job with the state. Of course, Michael arranged that one for me, too.” She shook her head. “He’s done everything for me. And I just let him do it.”
“So he gave up an exciting, stimulating career for something that was boring with little room for advancement or personal growth. It would be only natural for him to have developed resentment, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t see it at the time, but now…” She looked down at her lap. “I’d have to say it wasn’t just professional boredom. Michael was born in Los Angeles, he loved city life. When we met, I had a job that was tied to Placerville and he was just starting work with the company in San Francisco. Cost of living was much less here, and it reminded me of my home, in Wyoming. He missed the city, its excitement. I shouldn’t have forced him into living such a quiet life. It just wasn’t him.”
“That said,” Bradley softly remarked, “I think you should take a minute and consider the possibility that maybe Michael did just leave…”