Page 69 of Jack

“I don’t understand,” Harper said.

“He’s on probation,” Mrs. Bowman whispered.

“Oh,” Jack said. “I see.”

Harper didn’t see. “What does that have to do with?—”

“He’s not allowed to leave the area without permission.” Mrs. Bowman’s voice contained an edge. Then she held up her hand. “Sorry. He turns off the location on his cell, and that’s usually when he’s out of the area.”

“How do you know he turns off his location?” Jack asked.

“I have a family finder app on my phone. He’s connected. Unless he turns off his location. I saw that he did it on Tuesday night, and I just knew . . . airport run.”

Harper glanced at Jack, whose mouth made a grim line. She could almost read hisDollars to donuts, it wasn’t an airport run he was making to the cities, but she also said nothing.

“This was Tuesday night? What time?”

“About six p.m. I called him a couple times after that, but no answer, so I started to text.” She covered her mouth, shaking. “I had no idea that he was . . . he was . . .”

Jack put his arm around her.Professional nice guy.

“I’m sorry I lied to you.” Mrs. Bowman blew her nose again.

Now Harper crouched in front of her. “When did they find him?”

“Yesterday, maybe around noon? It took them a while to identify him. He didn’t have his wallet. But they ran his plates, and Sheriff Davidson came to get me about five, I think. He was just out of surgery. They have him in a medical coma because he keeps having seizures.” Her eyes filled again.

“Where did they find him?” Jack asked softly.

“Oh. At the Duck Lake boat ramp.”

“What would he have been doing there?” Harper asked.

“He likes to ice-fish and sometimes spends the night out at our fish house, but . . . it’s not on Duck Lake.”

“Your fish house isn’t on Duck Lake?”

“Oh no. We have land on Loon Lake. Used to spend our summers there, at a cabin, when his dad was alive. But the cabin was destroyed in the tornado a few years back and I never rebuilt. He stores the fish house at a boatyard there.” She wiped her eyes. “He so loves to fish.”

Jack nodded. “Thank you, Mrs. Bowman.”

“Marjorie.”

He repeated the name, and it elicited a smile. “Can I get your number, in case I have any more questions?”

She rattled it off to him, and he typed it into his phone.

Then he rose. “Can we get you anything?”

Her face hardened. “Just find the person who shot my son.”

Jack nodded, then reached out and pressed a hand to Harper’s shoulder as they walked away. He wore a hint of urgency in his expression.

“What?”

“What she doesn’t know is that you can track a phone’s location even if location services are turned off. Cell phone providers are required by law to track for emergency services. Which means the phone still communicates with nearby towers.”

“Which also means that we’ll be able to figure out where Ty was before he picked up Penelope and the other person in the car.”