Searching For Jenna novel Chapter 36

He quickly showered and put his clean clothes on to cover up any evidence of his femininity quickly. While putting on his clean binding vest, he flexed his biceps and noted the scar that ran from his armpit and up to his deltoid. He'd gotten it climbing over a fence into a friend's yard. It was one of the many times he was grounded. He wasn't supposed to leave the house, but he was going to meet Cara at their friend, Amy's house. Elliot's shirt got caught on the barbed wire surrounding Amy's yard that kept her father's pit bulls deterred from jumping the fence. The spike on the top of the barb had dug into Elliot's shoulder and dug a deep trench into Elliot's arm. Cara's mom took him to a doctor friend who patched him up. He wondered if Cara saw that scar if she would make the connection between him and Jenna. He'd have to keep his arms lowered.

Cara and Megan were staring out the window when Elliot came out of the shower. "What are you girls looking at?"

Motioning Elliot over to them, Cara took hold of his arm when he got close enough and pointed to a white truck sitting in the restaurant parking lot next to the hotel. "We think we saw the guy who was asking about Jenna get into that truck. He left the hotel a few minutes ago and has been sitting in his truck ever since."

Elliot smiled at the way Cara was clinging to him. Like she trusted him to protect her, and he would do that to the very best of his ability. Right now, though, he wanted to know who this mysterious man was. "Keep an eye on the truck," Elliot said, gently pulling away from Cara. "I'm going down there."

"Elliot! He might have a gun or something," Cara said, alarmed.

"Well, then you may want to record what's happening on your phone," Elliot said as he sat down on the bed closest to the window and started putting his boots on.

"I don't think going down there is a good idea," Megan said.

"We need to find out who this person is," Elliot said. "If he came here looking for Jenna, he must have known Cara was here, which means he's following Cara." He looked up at Megan, who was facing him while Cara watched the truck. "Do you remember seeing the guy at the bar last night?"

"No," Megan said, "but there were so many people there."

"Exactly." Elliot picked up the room card key. "After I find out who he is, I'm going to get coffee and breakfast stuff. Have any preferences?"

"Pastries," Cara said, not taking her eyes off the truck.

"Me, too," Megan agreed.

"Okay." Elliot stood and picked up his smartphone and handed it to Cara. "Start recording what happens downstairs in case we need it for the police."

"Be careful," Cara said leaning into him and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Elliot smiled. "I will."

"Absolutely," Cara said. "Jenna has been missing for over two years, and this guy finds me in a hotel miles from Evansville and asks me about Jenna. That is just too weird."

"What is the whole story behind that?" Megan asked. "I mean, I know she was your girlfriend and that she disappeared, but what else happened?"

Cara recounted how things happened the night Jenna disappeared. She told them about arriving at Jenna's house, kissing her, and then finding herself flung across the room.

Elliot flinched instinctively when Cara told about the beating Jenna's father was giving Jenna. Elliot could still feel those blows when he felt the pain in his face and head occasionally.

Then she told them about coming back to Jenna's house with her mother, and the police telling her that Jenna was missing. "I just couldn't wrap my head around what they were saying," Cara said. "Jenna's father was brutally beating her; I couldn't imagine her being able to move, let alone walk out of the house on her own."

"So you think he killed her?" Megan asked.

Cara shook her head sadly as tears fell. "No, and yes. For her not to have contacted me in all this time, it's the only thing that makes sense. If Jenna were still alive, she would have found a way to contact me."