Page 73 of Wild Frost

"I told you, I don't know.”

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Earlier this afternoon.”

"Did he say anything to you about his plans?"

Her brow wrinkled. "What plans?"

I gave her a flat look. "His plans to kill Darrell York."

Her jaw dropped with astonishment. She glanced at the TV. I couldn't tell if it was an act or if she really didn't know.

"I need you to cooperate with me, or you're going to be charged with conspiracy, aiding and abetting, obstruction of justice, and whatever else the state’s attorney can think of."

Mrs. Sweet swallowed hard. "I don't understand. What's going on?"

"Stop playing games with me. You know what's going on.”

She frowned.

"I want you to call your husband right now. Find out where he is.”

Robinson frisked her to make sure she wasn't carrying any weapons. You couldn’t be too careful in a situation like this.

She grabbed her phone from the coffee table, then dialed her husband. I told her to put it on speakerphone and let it ring.

"You've reached the voicemail of Jacob Sweet. I can't get to the phone right now. Please leave your name and number, and I will return your call as soon as possible."

She looked at me with a blank expression.

"Tell him to call you back. Don't say anything else.”

She did as instructed, then ended the call.

I texted Isabella and asked her to track Jacob’s phone. She texted back a few moments later with bad news.

39

“His phone’s off the grid,” Isabella said when she called. “Been off the grid all afternoon. I’ll let you know if anything turns up.”

I thanked her for the info and asked her to monitor comms between family members. I ended the call and asked Mrs. Sweet, "Where would Jacob go?"

She shrugged and gave me a blank look. "I really have no idea."

"Your son lives here on the island, yes?"

She gave a hesitant nod.

"Where?"

She didn't want to answer. "On a boat at Pirates’ Cove. Serenity.”

I told Mendoza, Robinson, and the others to stay here and keep an eye on the house just in case Jacob came back.

JD and I hustled out and darted back to the Porsche. We hopped in and sped across the island to Pirates’ Cove.

At the marina, we hopped out and jogged down the dock, looking for theSerenity. It was an older 32-foot monohull in decent shape. It had a single helm station, a blue Bimini top, and was a tad grungy.