by Dana Mentink
“Need some quiet time, girl?”
Dusty crawled into her crate near his desk and flopped down for a snooze while he dialed Bradley’s number.
“You’re missing a good party,” Tyler said.
“I know. I’m on my way. Figured I’d call from the car but you didn’t pick up.”
“Sorry, I was hauling pumpkins. What did you get?”
“Remember the lead on someone named Andy, who was house-sitting for someone on the Emerys’ street around the time of the murders? I finally tracked that Andy down.”
Tyler’s stomach tightened. Young Lucy Emery had told them her favorite person besides her Aunt Willow and Uncle Nate was someone named Andy, someone with brown hair. It was their only slim lead on a possible witness to who had killed the Emerys. Perhaps the “Andy” clue referred to the killer himself, someone bent on delivering Lucy from the care of her neglectful parents. Maybe Randall, maybe not. He held the phone tight. “Did you find him?”
“Yes and no.”
He groaned. “You’re killing me. Spit it out, Bradley.”
“Yes, I found one Andy Spinoza, who was house-sitting six doors down at the time of the murder.” He paused. “Andy is short for Andrea.”
He blinked. “A woman?”
“Yep.”
Lucy had been adamant that Andy was a male, but she might have been mistaken. Tyler sat forward. “Does she have brown hair at least?”
“Nope. She’s seventy-two and her hair is white as the driven snow. What’s more, she claimed she’d never met Lucy Emery or her parents.”
“Is she telling the truth?”
“Yeah. Her details check out.”
Tyler had to restrain himself from not thunking his head on the desktop. “Another dead end.”
“That’s an affirmative. I’ll be back at the office in ten.”
“Copy that.”
He pushed back his chair, slapping his thighs in frustration. He was becoming more and more convinced that the whole Andy thing was simple confusion or imagination from the mind of a traumatized child. At the moment, it was a lead that went nowhere in answering the question that burned in all their minds.
Was Randall Gage the Emerys’ killer, too?
That’s the number-two priority, he reminded himself.
His first mission was to capture Randall and lock him in a cell.
Permanently.
The murmur of party noise drifted down the halls, but suddenly he did not feel in a festive mood. The open house was a momentary distraction, but the danger remained undiminished. As soon as the party ended, he would redouble his efforts and beat the bushes for any meager clue that might lead him to his quarry.
With so many cops looking for him, Randall was living on borrowed time.
And that meant Penny was, too.
THIRTEEN
Penny helped Rain spread orange frosting on her pumpkin cookie. She held up the tray of decorations. “What do you want to put on your pretty pumpkin?” Rain scooped up a collection of goodies with her plastic spoon and festooned her treat entirely with orange candies and sprinkles. She refused any other colored item.
“Well, that’s orange all right,” Penny said with a smile. “Your daddy will like it.” She glanced around but Tyler had not returned. She wondered if the call had anything to do with Bradley’s absence. Her nerves tightened. She wished her brother would arrive soon. The longer he was away, the more her worry mounted. What if Randall changed his mind and decided to harm Bradley first? Her throat went dry.
“See?”
Penny refocused on Rain, who was holding up her cookie for Penny to admire. “What a great job you did.”
“Daddy?” Rain said.
“He’ll be back in minute. Are you going to share your cookie with him?”
Rain immediately shoved in a big bite that puffed out her cheeks.
Penny giggled. “Every good chef has to taste-test first, I guess.”
Rain put down the cookie and climbed off the chair in search of the puppies. “Hold on there, sticky girl,” Penny said, snagging Rain’s gummy hand. “We have to wash first. Then you can see the puppies.”
Rain complained. “Doggies.”
“Frosting is bad for doggies,” Penny insisted. “And besides we have some fun foamy soap in the ladies’ room.”
Relenting, Rain clutched Babby under her armpit and followed Penny into the ladies’ room. Penny turned on the water and got the temperature adjusted correctly, but Rain was too short to reach. There was a stool in the tiny corner cabinet, where the other desk clerk stored extra sets of clothes for her one-year-old twin girls. “Hold your hands up for a second, Rain, while I get the stool. Like this.” Penny demonstrated.
The little girl thrust her own sticky hands up high.
“Stay right there for just one minute.”
Penny went to the corner and opened the cabinet door. She had to get on her knees to reach the stool. “Okay. Got it. Step up on...” Her heart jolted as she turned around. Rain was not there.
Immediately, Penny pushed open the two stall doors. “Rain?”
There was no sign of her. Whirling, she ran to the door. When she saw a sticky orange handprint indicating the child had exited, she went cold all over. Stomach clenched, Penny ran out into the hallway. Babby was lying on the floor and she snatched it up. “Rain?” she called. Scrappy must have heard her from where he was playing in the puppy area. He came bounding up quickly and skidded to a stop.
Vivienne appeared, carrying a roll of paper towels.
“What’s up, Penny?”
“Rain’s wandered off.”
Vivienne frowned. “She couldn’t have gone far. I’ll check the kitchen.”
“I’ll go to the kid area.” Penny sprinted down the hall. Surely that must be what had happened. Rain couldn’t wait to have her hands washed. She’d gone on her own to find the puppies. Bursting into the room, she scanned the crowd. There were kids picking up pumpkins and others trying on tutus and cowboy boots. Three were busily absorbed in creating cookie masterpieces. None of them was Rain. The knot in her stomach tightened.
She whirled and ran out, plowing into Tyler in the doorway.
“What’s wrong?”
“Rain.”
His blue eyes darkened to steel. He clenched her forearm. “What happened?”
“I was washing her hands in the bathroom. I turned to get the stool and she disappeared.”
His tone went flat and hard. “Where have you looked?”
“The hallway and here. I just...”
Vivienne poked her head in. “Rain’s not in the kitchen. Jackson said she wasn’t in the stairwell, either.”
Tyler and Penny both sprinted to the larger conference room. Families were chatting away and eating platefuls of food. Gavin looked up from his bite of pasta, his eyes narrowing.
“Walker?”
“Rain’s missing.”
He immediately put down his fork and pushed back from the table.
Bradley was just sitting down with a plate of sliced brisket and potato salad in the spot next to Gavin. He bolted from his chair with King. “We’ll search the parking lot, just in case she got outside the building. Seal it off. I’ll check with the patrol cop.”
“What should I do?” Penny almost sobbed.
“Nothing,” Tyler snapped.
It was hard to breathe. “I could check outside, make sure—”
“No. I’ll handle this.” His expression turned to granite as he took Rain’s bunny from her clutched fingers. “Stay here. I’m going to get Dusty.” He ran toward his cubicle, returning in a moment with Dusty. Penny could only look on with her heart in her throat as the recrimination pounded her.
She had lost Tyler’s daughter.
She looked up to find Willow touching her arm. “
It’s okay. They’ll find her.” Lucy was tucked in her other arm. So small, so dependent on her adopted mother. Rain had trusted Penny to care for her.
And Tyler had trusted Penny, too.
She choked back a sob as all around her cops began to search every square inch of the building. Tyler thrust Rain’s bunny at Dusty. “Track, girl.”
Dusty trotted down the hallway, nose glued to the floor. Penny followed Tyler on shaky legs. His back was rigid with tension. A million thoughts ran through Penny’s brain. If Rain had gotten out somehow, wandered into the street... If Randall was watching the building...had lured her away.
She remembered what Randall had said about her parents. They were neglectful, bad parents. Was she bad, too?
Was that what she was destined to be? A bad mother? She slowed to dash the tears from her eyes. Vivienne raced down the stairwell. “She’s not upstairs.”
Visions swirled through Penny’s head, each more far-fetched and terrible than the last. Rain hit by a car. Tumbling out an open window. Vanished, never to be recovered again.
The panic made her feel light-headed.
Vivienne reached out a hand. “Maybe you should sit down here for a minute.”
She leaned against the wall to steady herself and prayed with all her might that Rain would be found. From the direction of the front office, she heard a shout.
“She’s in here. I found her,” Tyler yelled.
Found her. Hurt? Or worse?
Penny’s knees went weak, but she forced herself to continue into the reception area. She peered at the cops gathered around, then edged past them with nerves quaking. Rain was there, curled up underneath Penny’s desk on Scrappy’s cushion. Tyler tossed a rope toy to reward Dusty, then sank to his knees next to his daughter.
Penny leaned on the door for support, her vision blurred with unshed tears. Thank You, God. Her heart quivered with gratitude and pain. Tyler had trusted her with his most precious possession and she’d let him down, let Rain down.
“That was very naughty,” Tyler said to Rain. “You should have stayed where Miss Penny told you and not left the bathroom.”
Rain pulled a frown and stuck her sticky thumb into her mouth. She would not look her father in the eye.
“Daddy and Miss Penny were worried about you,” he continued. “All the officers were looking everywhere. They were all feeling scared and sad because you were gone. I felt scared, too.” Rain started to whimper, and Tyler pulled her into his arms, sticky hands and all. He stood with the child clinging to him. He leaned his face against her pigtails and Penny read in the lines of his posture the utter relief as the terror ebbed away. In a moment, he would turn around to face her.
She did not want to see the look in his eyes, the expression that revealed his disappointment in her, the woman who’d lost his daughter.
She’d neglected Rain, lost her, put her at risk.
Before he could say a word, she hurried out of the room.
* * *
Tyler kept his expression stern as he cleaned Rain’s palms with a wet wipe. His pulse was still elevated, and the harsh tone he’d used when he’d barked orders at Penny rang in his mind. He hadn’t faulted her for letting Rain slip away, not really. It had happened to him, too, and the sheer panic that erupted when it had happened pushed him into cop mode both times. Now he looked around for Penny as the partygoers relaxed back into the festivities. The expression on her face when she’d told him Rain was missing had been nothing short of unadulterated terror. He had to find her, had to apologize.
Tyler toted Rain and her bunny, determined not to take his eyes off his precocious daughter as he searched.
Ten minutes later, his mom arrived, and he’d still not found Penny.
“What’s wrong?” she said. “You’re worried about something, I can tell. What happened?”
“Nothing. Just a small glitch. Penny was watching Rain and she wandered off. That’s all.”
Francine frowned. “You didn’t yell at Penny, did you?”
“No.” He paused, grimacing. “Not exactly yelled.”
She skewered him with a look. “As in ‘not exactly but I used that horrible I’m-in-charge tone’ that crops up whenever you feel like things are out of control?”
He huffed out a breath. “Probably.”
“Probably?”
“Okay, I did use that tone, but I’m going to apologize as soon as I can. I’ve been looking all over for her.”
Francine took Rain. “An excellent idea. Go find her right away and tell her your behavior was inexcusable and you’re very, very sorry. It wouldn’t hurt to order her some flowers later, too. Roses would be nice. I’m taking this kiddo straight to the bathroom for a good hand-washing. Get busy, Ty.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said meekly. Bradley. He would know where his sister was. But Bradley was absent from the dining table.
“He went to the break room, I think,” Vivienne told him.
Bradley was indeed in the break room, staring into a cup of coffee, his plate of uneaten food nearby. Penelope was not with him.
“Where’s Penny?”
Bradley studied him coldly. “She needs some time alone,” he said.
“No, that’s not what she needs. She needs an apology from this blockhead for snapping at her.”
Bradley didn’t smile but his expression relaxed slightly. “If you were any other guy, I’d be reaming you out for hurting her feelings, but I know this is more about her than you.”
He sank down in a chair across from Bradley. “How so?”
“Her deepest fear is that she is going to be like our mom and dad and she’ll let her own kids down. That’s why she breaks off relationships, I think. She’s afraid to find out she’s cut from the same cloth they were.”
“That’s nonsense. She’s the most loving person I know.”
“Yeah,” he said with a thoughtful look at Tyler. “And she cares a lot about you and Rain. She’s allowed herself to get close to you both, I’ve noticed. It required a lot of courage on her part.” There was an accusation in his tone.
Tyler rolled his shoulders, suddenly weary. “And I shook her confidence, didn’t I?”
“Probably, but I’m sure you can apologize sufficiently and she’ll understand.” He paused. “What I’m more concerned about is what happens from here.”
“What do you mean?”
“If history is any indication, my guess is she’s going to distance herself from you both.”
A sharp pain cut at him.
“Is that what you want?” Bradley asked.
“Me?” Was that what he wanted? A simple way out of his emotional dilemma? It would be so much easier than having to deal with his untidy heap of emotions. “No,” he said after a minute. “I care about your sister.”
Bradley folded his arms. “That’s what I thought. And she cares about you, too, so if you want her in your life, let me give you a word of advice. Don’t let her walk away because she won’t come back. If you do convince her to stay, you’d better mean it for the long term.” Bradley stood. “That’s all I’ve got to say. I’m going to go finish my lunch.”
“Where is she, Bradley? I have to talk to her.”
“She doesn’t want me to tell you, but you know my sister.” He offered an innocent shrug. “She’s a hard worker. Any excuse to tidy up the files...” He let the words drift away.
Files. Tyler made a beeline for the small file room close to the front office.
Penny was there leaning against a cabinet, arms hugging herself. Scrappy hovered nearby. Her face was blotched from crying. When she saw him, she gulped and straightened. “I was just... I mean... I had a file to return so I figured...”
He stepped close. “Penny, listen to me. I am so sorry. My tone with you was unnecessary. I absolutely don’t blame you for losing track of
Rain. She’s a crafty one, for sure.” He tried a smile, which she did not return.
“Perfectly okay,” she said brightly. “I never should have turned my back on her. I probably shouldn’t have thought I could take care of her in the first place.”
“No, really, Penny. I get it. It’s happened to me. It wasn’t your fault and you didn’t do anything wrong or neglectful.”
The word seemed to slap at her. She jerked back as if to keep the maximum distance between them. “That’s nice of you to say. Thank you. I need to get back to the party.”
He reached out a hand. “No, please, Penny. Listen to me. I...”
The phone rang in the outer office. “I’d better get that. Waiting on a call from the homeless shelter.”
“Penny...”
But she’d skirted around him and darted into the outer office. He followed.
Whatever damage he’d caused, he had to show her that the fault had been his and his entirely.
If he didn’t succeed, he had a feeling she would drift right out of his life for good.
FOURTEEN
The phone at her desk rang a third time before she got there. She wanted to grab her purse and head right out the door, but she could not leave the open house, not until everything was cleaned up and the last guest had left. At least if she could tackle the phone call, maybe Tyler would leave and she could regain her composure.
She sucked in a breath and steadied herself as the phone rang again. Work would restore her purpose. Work would salve the raw place in her soul, the place that said, “You’d be a bad mom, just like your own mother was.”
She grabbed the phone. “Brooklyn K-9 Unit, how may I help you?”
“Hello, Penny,” Randall said. “Why didn’t I get an invitation to the party?”
Ice flashed across her nerves, freezing her an inch at a time. Tyler must have read the shock in her posture. He ran to her side and hit the speakerphone button.
“Who is this?” he demanded.
“Hello, Detective Walker. I’d recognize your voice anywhere. This is the guy you shot at the docks. My side’s still killing me, by the way.”