He traded a few more comments with the diver and another cop and then moved toward her. A warm tingle settled in her stomach as he homed in on her like a guided missile.

He stopped in front of her, and she saw her reflection in his shades. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I got a message you needed to talk to me.”

“How’d you know we were out here?”

“Word travels.” She nodded over her shoulder. Parked at the far end of the emergency vehicles was a gray minivan with Kate Morris behind the wheel.

“Shit,” Brandon muttered.

“She told me she drives out here every day.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Anxiety, I guess?”

“No, why did she tell you that?”

Leigh shrugged. “We’ve become friends, sort of. She’s under a lot of stress. Needs someone to talk to.”

Brandon’s jaw tightened, and she could guess what he thought of her befriending relatives of a potential victim.

“So, have you guys found anything?” she asked.

Brandon peeled off his shades and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. It was a mild sixty degrees, but he and his team had been out here awhile, according to Kate. His brown eyes were intense as he gazed down at her, and she could practically see the debate going on in his head.

“Not a thing,” he said, surprising her. She’d expected another one of his non-answers. “No body, no clothing, no weapon.”

She looked at the dock. “They searched the whole lake?”

“This side, anyway.”

“Why only this side?”

His mouth clamped shut, confirming what she’d suspected from the beginning. There was evidence Brandon hadn’t shared with her, evidence of foul play. Had they found tire tracks out here the night Vanessa disappeared? Maybe footprints or drag marks?

“What about shell casings?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“You look frustrated.”

He turned toward the lake, where a second diver was hoisting himself onto the end of the pier. “Hard to investigate a homicide without a body. Damn near impossible, in fact. Slows everything down. Warrants, questioning, everything.”

“Well. Maybe it’s good, right? Maybe it’s not a homicide.”

His jaw tightened again as he looked down at her, and she could tell he didn’t believe that.

“We got Vanessa’s phone records,” he said, changing the subject. “That’s the reason I needed to get a hold of you. There’s a call to your law firm from Vanessa last week.”

“Really?”

“Wednesday at five thirty p.m.”

“Huh.”

“You didn’t know?”

“No, I didn’t. I told you from the beginning, I hadn’t heard from her in weeks until that package showed up at my office.”

He gazed down at her, and she started to get annoyed.

“You don’t believe me?”

“Any chance your receptionist lost a message?”