Page 65 of In Her Bed
The young officer straightened, clearly relieved to be addressing someone other than Morgan.“Ma’am, I checked on her approximately an hour ago.She was with the employee, Janet Roff, discussing inventory.Everything seemed normal.”He swallowed hard.“I returned to my post outside.When I went back in to check again about a half hour ago, Ms.Roff informed me that Ms.Wells had stepped out.I immediately called it in.”
“Stepped out,” Morgan repeated, his voice dripping with disdain.“Like she went for a coffee run instead of fleeing protection during an active murder investigation.”
Jenna studied the storefront.The dreamcatchers hanging in the window swayed gently in the morning breeze, and wind chimes created a jarring melody against the tense scene unfolding below them.
“Let’s talk to Janet,” she said, moving toward the entrance.The others followed, the bell above the door announcing their arrival with a cheerful chime that felt wildly inappropriate.
Janet emerged from behind a beaded curtain, her expression shifting from professional welcome to apprehension when she registered the four law enforcement officers.
“I’ve already told Officer Daniels everything I know,” she said defensively.
“Well, now you can tell us,” Jenna said, stepping forward.“We need to know exactly how Diana left without being noticed.”
“Diana has...methods of avoiding attention when she doesn’t want it.She’s been doing it for years.”She gestured vaguely toward the back of the store.“Wigs, makeup, different styles of clothing.”
“And you didn’t think to mention this to the officers assigned to protect her?”Morgan’s voice rose.
“Diana values her privacy,” Janet replied stiffly.
Jenna stepped closer to Janet, intentionally positioning herself between the employee and Morgan’s mounting frustration.
“Janet, where did she go?”Jenna’s voice was firm but measured.“This isn’t about privacy anymore.It’s about keeping her alive.”
The employee’s shoulders slumped.“She went to her childhood home,” Janet finally said.“It’s been vacant for years, but she still has a key.She goes there sometimes when she needs to...center herself.That’s how she puts it.”
“Address,” Morgan demanded.
Janet hesitated, then wrote an address on a piece of paper embossed with the store’s logo.She slid it across the counter.
“It’s on the eastern edge of town,” she explained.“Kind of isolated.”
“Did Diana specifically tell you she was going to her childhood home?”Jenna asked, watching Janet’s face carefully.
Janet’s eyes flicked away for a fraction of a second.“Not exactly,” she admitted.“She said, ‘I’m going back to where it started.’I’m sure that’s what she meant.”
Where it started …
The words echoed something else, something important …then the connection snapped into place.
Sandra Reeves.The dream.
During her dream visit, Sandra had said something crucial—that her captor had mentioned luring the Midnight Voice “to where it all started,” the place where she “spoke to the world.”
Not Diana’s childhood home.The radio station.
“Thank you for your help, Janet,” Jenna said, already turning toward the door.“If Diana contacts you, call immediately.”
Outside on the sidewalk, Jenna turned to the group.
“I think we’re making a mistake,” she said before Morgan could start issuing orders.“I don’t believe Diana went to her childhood home.”
Morgan’s expression darkened.“And where exactly do you think she went, Sheriff?You have a crystal ball we don’t know about?”
Jenna steadied herself.“The abandoned shoe factory—Ozark Sole Works.The one that once housed Astral Waves.”
“The pirate radio station?”Morgan scoffed.“Based on what?”
Jenna measured her words carefully.“Janet said Diana’s exact words were ‘I’m going back to where it started.’For the Midnight Voice, that could easily mean where she first broadcast.”
