Manhunt On Mystic Mesa

“You didn’t know Jenny and Eric were engaged?” Jana asked.

“I had no idea until he showed up at camp looking for her,” Eddleston said. “I’d seen them together a few times, but I never dreamed there was anything serious between them. Frankly, she didn’t even act as if she liked the guy that much.”

“Does your wife know about the affair?” Ryan asked.

His face paled again. “No! And there’s no need for her to. She and I are back together. We’re trying to fix our marriage.”

“Did Jenny know you and your wife were back together?” Jana asked.

“She did. And she was very cool about it. She wished me luck. That’s how I know our relationship wasn’t serious. We were both just having fun.”

“Are you in the habit of seducing students?” Jana asked.

Eddleston drew himself up to his full height, his body rigid. “I did not seduce anyone,” he said. “Jenny actually propositioned me. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flattered, and surprised, too.”

“Why were you surprised?” Ryan asked.

He grimaced. “Please, Officer, I know what I look like. I’m no movie star and Jenny is genuinely beautiful. She has no shortage of good-looking men her own age who would have been happy to date her. But she wanted to go out with me.”

“Did she say why?” Ryan asked.

He let out a sigh and his shoulders slumped. “She said I made her feel safe. Not the greatest romantic declaration, but show me a man my age who isn’t vulnerable to a young, beautiful woman’s proposition and I’ll show you a dead man or a saint.”

“Safe from what?” Ryan asked. “Was she afraid of something—or someone?”

Eddleston shook his head. “I have no idea. I mean, she isn’t a timid girl or anything like that.”

“And you have no idea when she started seeing Eric Patterson, or when they got engaged?” Ryan asked.

“No.”

Ryan studied him. So far, he had a sense Eddleston was telling the truth, but some people were better liars than others. “How did you feel when you found out?” he asked.

“I was upset.” Eddleston shrugged. “While we were dating I thought we were exclusive. That’s the impression I got.” He turned to Jana. “Jenny didn’t strike me as the kind of woman who keeps a lot of guys on a string. She’s sweet. Kind of the girl-next-door type. But then this Patterson guy tells me they’re engaged and I don’t know what to think.”

“What did you do when you found out about the engagement?” Ryan asked.

“There wasn’t anything I could do. Jenny had disappeared. I was worried about her.”

“Were you still seeing Jenny at the time of her disappearance?”

“We weren’t dating anymore, no. We ended it a couple of weeks ago. I told her I wanted to try to fix things with my wife.” He twisted the ring on his finger.

“Jenny was okay with that?” Ryan asked.

“I already told you she was.”

“So the two of you didn’t argue about it or anything?”

“No!” He leaned toward Ryan. “What are you getting at?”

“Breakups are usually rough,” Ryan said. “Maybe she was upset you were going back to your wife. Or maybe you found out about Eric and were angry she’d been two-timing you. You had an argument, one thing led to another...” He let the sentence hang, the atmosphere heavy with the unspoken accusation.

“We didn’t argue,” Eddleston said. “And I didn’t know she was engaged to Eric. I’m not even sure when they became engaged. It could have happened after we split.”

“He says they’ve been engaged a couple of weeks,” Jana said.

Eddleston compressed his mouth in a tight line but gave no answer.

“What do you think led Jenny to walk off the job yesterday afternoon?” Ryan asked. “Was it because she was upset?”

“I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “She wasn’t upset with me.” He turned to Jana. “I like your sister. She’s a sweet girl and we had a good time. We were friends—we are friends. Neither one of us did anything wrong.”

“Someone did something wrong,” Jana said. “My sister is missing and no one can tell me what happened to her.”