Page 18 of Whispers Left Behind
“Thank you.” His words were sparse, carrying a sorrow that was as much a part of him as his own flesh and blood. He was old school, and he would never allow a stranger to witness his vulnerabilities. Tobias gestured toward the coffee. “Help yourself.”
Kinsley wrapped her fingers around the mug, the warmth seeping into the palm of her hand. She leaned back, mindful not to spill her coffee.
“People are saying the Fallbrook Killer is back.” Tobias set his coffee on the arm of his chair as he turned his full attention her way. “Any truth to that?”
“There is evidence that points us in another direction.” Kinsley had carefully chosen her words. While Tobias lived in Halliday, his daughter resided in Fallbrook. There was a good chance that he had already been informed about movement inside Gantz’s residence. “We don’t want to close the door on any potential leads, though. It’s the reason I’m here, actually. Did you see Rachel on Wednesday?”
“No. She came by the farm last weekend, though.” Tobias firmly pressed his thin lips together, as if attempting to rein in his emotions. After visibly swallowing, he continued. “My Rachel always came by once a week. No matter what, unlike her mother.”
“Was Rachel upset?” Kinsley would circle back around to Tobias’ relationship with his daughter. Louise Baird had mentioned last night that she was close to her family. Why would she lie about something so easily discredited? “Did Rachel say anything to give you the impression that she was in fear for her life?”
“Do I look like a man who would allow my granddaughter to leave my farm if she thought her life was in danger?”
Tobias raised a fist to his lips as he covered a slight cough. Once he had cleared his throat, he picked up his mug and took another sip of his coffee. For a moment, his eyes glistened. He blinked, clearing away any moisture before setting his mug to the side. It wasn’t long before he began to push the rocking chair with his work boot in agitation.
“Rachel was happy the last time she was here. Smiling, laughing, and playing the guitar for me like usual. My Rachel has a beautiful voice. Can sing like an angel. Rachel is…was…kind and loyal. I adored my granddaughter, but I also wasn’t blind to her faults. Loyalty was part of her problem, too.”
Kinsley took a sip of her coffee. Out in these parts, an individual partook in the pleasantries or one could seethemselves to the door. She needed information from Tobias, so that meant drinking his coffee, which just so happened to be the best she had enjoyed in months.
“How so?” Kinsley inquired, having already gotten the sense of who Tobias was about to reference. “Or rather, who? Her husband?”
“Never cared for the man,” Tobias admitted as he reached into the pocket of his work shirt. He pulled out a tin can and thumped it against the palm of his hand. “Sebastian traveled for his job, leaving Rachel home alone more often than not. I understand about having a work ethic, but that man would sell an imaginary bridge if he thought it would make him money. He is faithful only to the person next in line who can offer him something in return.”
“Was Rachel aware of your feelings about her marriage?”
“Rachel was happy.”
Kinsley took his response to mean that Tobias kept his mouth shut. His generation was certainly different than hers. While Rachel would have had a sense of Tobias’ reservations regarding her husband, she wouldn’t have brought it up out of respect for her grandfather.
“Happy enough to want children,” Kinsley finally said after taking another sip of her coffee. She placed her mug next to his so that she could also gently rock the chair. Between the soothing motion and the crisp breeze coming in off the pasture, there was a peaceful quality to the open land. “It’s my understanding that Rachel and Sebastian were having trouble in that area.”
“Does it matter? My Rachel is dead.”
The brief respite of tranquility had evaporated, and there was little Kinsley could convey to ease the man’s grief.
“Rachel was run off the back road leading away from Halliday toward Fallbrook. Do you have any idea why she would have been out driving in the middle of the night?”
“None. Like I said, Rachel hasn’t been here since last weekend.” Tobias’ gaze swung out toward a male subject approaching from one of the outbuildings. “That's my grandson, Gage. Hasn’t said much since...well, let’s just say that he and Rachel were close. He’ll be driving to his mother’s place shortly. A dairy farm doesn’t run on its own.”
Gage Baird came to a stop at the porch steps, but he made no move to join them. His eyes were just as inflamed as his grandfather’s. Rachel’s brother was tall like their grandfather but quite muscular. Kinsley assumed it was from working the farm. She had pulled his information this morning before leaving the station.
Gage was twenty-eight years old with brown hair in need of a trim. No criminal record. Not even a parking ticket.
He nodded curtly at Kinsley, acknowledging her presence.
“Detective Aspen is here asking questions about Rachel.”
“Is it true that Gantz killed Rachel? That he came back to town to flaunt his freedom?”
Kinsley was getting really tired of that assumption.
“The evidence so far suggests otherwise.” Kinsley brought the rocking chair to a complete stop. “When did you last speak with your sister, Mr. Baird?”
“Wednesday.” Gage’s stare fixated on his grandfather. “She called me in the morning to say that she wanted to talk about something, and she would be by the farm before the end of the week.”
“Do you know what Rachel had been referencing?”
“No.”
