Page 164 of Stay With Me

“Hey, you alright?”

She doesn’t move or speak for several seconds.

“Sunny?” I sit on the edge of the coffee table and cage her in with my legs. “What’s wrong?”

Finally, she blinks and looks at me. “Travis just called and said he’s in jail.”

My brows shoot to my hairline and my spine straightens. “What’re you talkin’ about?”

She goes on to explain what he said, talking about some guy named Emilio and how he needs fifty thousand dollars to pay him off. Describes how he knows she’s pregnant and basically how we’re all in danger if we don’t find a way to get this guy his money.

“Travis wasn’t arrested,” I tell her once she finishes.

After he was named a suspect, I asked the deputies to let me know as soon as he was found since Magnolia’s apartment wasone of the targets. He’s been in hiding for months, and I figured he was long gone orhopedhe was dead.

She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes at me with confusion. “Whaddya mean? I got a call from the county jail. That’s what the operator said. I heard a warning beep about five minutes in and the call ended thirty seconds later.”

“I mean, he’s still missing. They haven’t arrested him.”

“How can you be so sure? He said they brought him in last night.”

I pull out my phone from my pocket and call the sheriff’s office. The dispatcher immediately puts me through to Sheriff Wagner.

“What can I do for you, Tripp?”

I put him on speaker so Magnolia can hear.

“Did you arrest Travis Boone last night?”

“No, son. I told you when I had him in custody, I’d tell ya.”

I give Magnolia a pointed look.

“Travis called Magnolia just a few minutes ago claimin’ he was, and the operator said the call came from Sugarland Creek jail.”

He chuckles, and my irritation level ramps up.

“Wendy, did you send a call to Magnolia Sutherland tonight?” he calls out to his dispatcher.

“No, sir.”

“Sounds like he faked it. Probably had someone pretend to be the operator or downloaded one of those voice talkin’ apps you kids use on your phones. Either way, he’s still on our wanted list. If we had him, the news woulda spread all over town by now.”

“That’s what I figured. Thanks for confirming.”

“What’d he want?” he asks.

I explain everything Magnolia told me and by the time I’ve finished, the sheriff’s cussing up a storm.

“He’s pretendin’ to be in jail so she’ll give him money to pay off his bookie?” he confirms.

“That’s what I’m assuming. A few months back, there was a guy matchin’ his description who showed up at her coffee trailer in a blacked-out Denali, and it was obvious he wasn’t from the area. Travis is also claimin’ it was this guy who broke into Magnolia’s apartment and not him—to give him some kind ofwarningthat he’d go after her if he didn’t pay up. But he fessed up to the other robberies.”

“Give me his details, and I’ll add him to our watch list.”

Magnolia shares it with him, and I have to physically stop myself from digging my nails into my palms at how angry I am at Travis and the possible danger he’s put her in.

“Alright, got it. What’s the number he called you from?”