Cold Case at Carlton's Canyon Read Free Page B

asked.
    Fisher gripped the water bottle with white-knuckled hands. “We knew each other in high school but didn’t date until our senior year. We got engaged last Christmas. Kelly took some time after high school to do some mission trips, then decided to get her teaching degree. She just graduated with a masters in education and is looking for a teaching job.”
    “What do you do?”
    Fisher shrugged. “I’m a financial consultant. I just started with a new company in Austin. We were moving there after the wedding.”
    “Any problems between you and Kelly lately?”
    Fisher shook his head, his leg bouncing up and down. “No.”
    “No recent fights? Arguments over where you’d live? Money?”
    “Not really. We get along great.”
    “Do you and Kelly live together?”
    Fisher nodded. “We moved in together our senior year of college.”
    “What did her father think about that?”
    “At first he wasn’t too happy,” Fisher admitted. “But eventually he realized it made sense. And when a student was raped on campus, he said he was actually relieved she was living with me.” Emotions made his voice warble. “He felt like she was...safe.”
    Justin heard the guilt in Fisher’s tone. He understood that kind of guilt. “Do Kelly and her father get along?”
    Fisher frowned up at him. “Yeah, why?”
    “Anything you tell us about Kelly might help us find her,” Justin hedged. “So they get along?”
    Fisher nodded. “Kelly’s mother died a while back and they went through a rough patch. That was before we started dating. But they were both grieving and adjusting. She said the last two years they’ve been close.”
    “How did her mother die?”
    “Cancer. She was sick a long time.”
    So no skeletons that might suggest Lambert had hurt her. “What did Mr. Lambert think about the upcoming marriage?”
    Fisher sipped his water again. “He was cool with it.”
    “But?”
    Fisher shifted in the seat. “At first he wanted her to wait until we saved more money. But Kelly assured him we’d be okay.”
    “You have money?” Justin asked.
    Fisher shrugged. “A little. I had scholarships for college, so I saved over the summers, enough to get us by until we both started getting paid.”
    “So Mr. Lambert gave you his approval?”
    “Yes,” Fisher said a little curtly. “Now why all these questions? Shouldn’t you be doing something to find Kelly?”
    “We will do everything possible, Mr. Fisher. But like I said earlier, we need to know everything about Kelly to help us.” He hesitated and decided to take another tactic. “You said Lambert wanted you to wait until you were more financially sound. Did he offer to help out financially?”
    Fisher shook his head. “He was paying for the wedding, but not our rent or bills. I saved the money for a down payment on a house.”
    Admirable of the young man. Maybe he had nothing to do with Kelly’s disappearance.
    If not, he’d have to look at the father.
    And the serial killer they had nothing on yet...
    “How are Lambert’s finances?” Justin asked.
    “He owns the bank in town. How do you think?”
    “Being a smart ass won’t help you,” Justin said, his voice sharp with warning.
    The young man shoved his hands through his hair. “Sorry, I’m just nervous and worried.” He gripped the edges of the seat. “I feel like I need to be out looking for Kelly.”
    He’d check Lambert’s financials just to verify Fisher’s statement. If Lambert needed money and had an insurance policy on his daughter, that would provide motive. Although, the man appeared visibly distraught.
    If he had money and had nothing to do with her disappearance, and this case wasn’t related to the serial kidnapper, Lambert might receive a ransom call.
    Fisher unscrewed the lid of the water bottle and swallowed a huge gulp.
    “What about arguments between the two of you?”
    A slight hesitation. “We disagreed over seating my uncle Jim next to her cousin Monique ’cause