“Six years.”
Luke tugged a couple photos from his pocket. “Have you seen either of these people before?”
The clerk slid the photos over the counter to see them better. “The lady goes for two packs of cigarettes and a pint of ice cream; the guy must be pumping the gas because I would certainly remember a scowl like that. She’s part of the 1 to 2 a.m. crowd. A regular. But I haven’t seen her in the last couple days.”
The odds they had a photo of Frank on that security tape had just gone up considerably. Luke pocketed the photos. “Thanks.”
He walked down to where Jackie and Taylor were studying the security monitor. Buying gas at the same place was a habit even criminals had. Luke leaned against the counter to see over their shoulders. The videotape had been used so many times it was worn over and ghost images appeared in the static, but it was better than some he’d seen.
“I’m satisfied,” Taylor said, stepping back. “That’s Frank.”
It wasn’t a clear image, but the man shoving over his cash and impatiently running his left hand back and forth on the edge of the counter could be Frank Hardin, a tight haircut and an additional ten pounds since the last picture they had notwithstanding.
Jackie sorted security tapes for the outside cameras and popped another tape into the player. She fast-forwarded to the time index in question. “Here’s another shot of him.”
The camera, which had been focused on the far bay of pumps, showed Frank walking to a compact car, circling the rear of the vehicle, and getting into the driver’s seat. The image kept flickering in and out of focus as the camera kept blooming the exposure, its control chip dying. “There.” Jackie paused the video while the image was stable. “What’s that license number? KV7 . . . it’s fuzzy. Maybe the video guys can clean it up and get us a full plate number.”
“Maybe KN7 . . . ,” Taylor suggested. “A Toyota?”
“Yes, with some kind of luggage rack.”
“I wonder what happened to the van.” Luke looked at the time stamp, then checked the current video against his watch to make sure the camera clock was accurate. It was. “Frank was here at 6:19 tonight. He’s got a full tank of gas. If we assume he’s hitting the road to get out of this publicity, he won’t stop again until he’s at least a state away. If he’s an hour plus ahead of us . . . he’s still within a hundred miles of here.” Luke looked at Taylor.
“We’ll saturate the interstates with patrols. If he’s on side roads, we’ll still need some luck.”
“Frank will likely stay on the interstate to meld into traffic,” Luke said. “Let’s get this car and partial plate added to the APB while we walk the tape through the lab to get a full plate number and find out who Frank’s traveling with now. Tell your guys to be careful; with two outstanding murders already to his credit, Hardin would kill a cop before he’d think about surrendering.”
“I’ll pass the word that caution really means caution,” Taylor agreed. “Give me a minute to talk with dispatch. Do you want to shift manpower off the call-in leads to add coverage in this area?”
It was a hard choice. Luke shook his head. “Not yet. We need another confirmed sighting to know which direction Frank is heading. That is more critical. Jackie, make a couple calls and find out which lab can give us the fastest turn on analyzing that tape, state or federal. I’ll fill up the car while we’re here so we can cruise the highways for a while without stopping.”
“Will do.”
Luke dug out his car keys as he walked outside. I’m coming for you, Hardin. This time you’re not going to slip away.
He moved the car to a free pump and selected high octane. His phone rang as he removed the gas cap. Luke tugged out his phone and accepted the call as he started pumping gas. “Luke Falcon.”
“Luke, it’s Caroline.”
She paused but he remained silent. Her tone sounded desperate. If he said anything, she wouldn’t have enough breath to get out her next words.
“Sharon and Benjamin, Mark—they’re all very late. And I can’t find them.”
Chapter Five
As Luke paid for the gas, Jackie joined him at the counter. “What’s wrong?”
Luke smoothed out his frown. “Caroline called.”
“Trouble?”
He instinctively shook his head. “No. Sharon and Mark are running late in this traffic and Caroline can’t reach them.” Caroline got jumpy. After dealing with his extra careful sense of security for the last year, he couldn’t blame her. If she overreacted occasionally now, it was as much his fault as hers. They were late, but—
He glanced over his shoulder at the highway. This traffic could disrupt well-laid plans in any number of ways. “I need to swing by and see her later.”
“They want the tape at the state lab, and Taylor can drop me off there. Go see Caroline while I walk this through the lab. When we have results in, I’ll give you a call and you can pick me up there.”
“Thanks, Jackie.”
“No problem.” She rested her hand on his arm to pause him. “I’ll have some time to kill while they work on this. If Sharon and Mark are this late—do you want me to call hospitals for you? Just to make sure nothing bad did happen?”
“I’m sure it’s just traffic or car problems.”
“I’m sure it is too, but I could rule it out for you.”
Luke hesitated, then nodded. “It would be easier than Caroline listening to me make those calls an hour from now.”
“Consider the calls made. Tell Caroline hello for me.”
* * *
Nine o’clock. Caroline stirred the Italian beef since the burner had been shut off for the last hour. Wherever Sharon and Benjamin were, her nephew was probably very tired by now. The icemaker dumped ice. The sound broke the silence, startling her, and she dropped the lid against the counter.
I just want my family to walk through that door. I don’t want a real-life example to illustrate what life is like in a storm, Lord. Just keep them safe and bring them here.
A very bad car accident topped her list of maybes now. She couldn’t come up with good explanations at this point. Not for both Sharon and Mark being late.
Luke would know what to do. He had sounded just like he always did, as if the conversation was about everyday matters rather than her sister, her nephew, and his cousin being hours late and unreachable. She hated that calmness even as she depended on that steadiness.
Knuckles rapped against the front door. She hurried down the hall to unlock it. Please be Sharon or Mark.
“Luke—” her hand tightened on the knob—“thank you for coming.” He leaned against the doorjamb with one hand, the edge of a frown on his brow. She stood straighter.
“Still no word?” The words were oddly gentle for him.
She shook her head. “I would have called you back. You couldn’t get through to them either?”
“No.” He stepped into the condo and closed the door behind him. “You’re dripping something, Caroline.”
She looked down and saw the spoon in her hand. “Oh! I was fixing dinner. Or rather I fixed dinner earlier.” She flushed and hurried back to the kitchen. She dumped the spoon in the sink, grabbed a wet rag to wipe the spots on the kitchen floor, then went to see about the hallway carpet.
* * *
Luke stepped out of Caroline’s way. Her color was high and her knuckles white on the rag, her movements a bit jerky. She was attacking the carpet as if it were a grape juice stain rather than a drip. Don’t make a trivial remark next time, he reminded himself, watching her. She finally finished and he didn’t give her a chance to see another spot. He took the rag from her, stepped to the kitchen doorway, and tossed it toward the sink. “Let’s go sit down.”
He didn’t give her much option, walking her into the living room. He wanted to hug her, but there was so much emotion flowing off her at the moment his instincts warned him to go the other direction. Caroline sank onto the brown leather couch Mark had bought three years a
go and practically got swallowed by the plush cushions.
“You can’t help me if you don’t calm down.”
“I am calm.”
“Lean back, close your eyes, take several deep breaths, and just sit there.” He’d never imagined a scenario where he’d be telling Caroline the same prescription he gave victims and witnesses. She took the order well, considering. He covered her hand with his and held it while he tugged out his phone with his other hand.
Caroline cracked open one eye to see him, but Luke merely looked back at her as he dialed his partner. “Jackie, I’m here and they aren’t. Do you have anything?”
“Nothing so far. I’m calling the hospitals from Benton to Atlanta. Give me another twenty minutes, and I’ll have them covered. As a precaution, I went ahead and put the description and plates for both of their vehicles out to the state patrols.”
“Thanks. I’ll call you back in twenty minutes.” He hung up.
“I didn’t panic,” Caroline whispered.
She’d calmed down enough the involuntary twitch beside her right eye had stopped. “You were just getting close,” Luke said kindly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier. Talk me through the plans for this weekend.”
She ran both her hands through her blond hair. “I talked to Benjamin when he and Sharon were leaving the clinic, just before 4 p.m. They were going home to finish packing before driving in. Mark was checking a house under construction and then driving from there. One of his partners said Mark left the house about five thirty. I’ve got notes of the calls I made.”
“Go get them please.”
Luke watched her leave the room. She’d have a list; she liked to be organized about problems and decisions. He glanced around the room for the first time and realized she had the room transformed into a bit of an office, stacks of papers neatly arranged on the table, schoolbooks turned so she could read the titles on the spines.
Caroline returned with a spiral-bound notebook and handed it to him. “I was using the second phone line for the calls so I wouldn’t block this number.”
“Good thinking.” There were two pages of small print: Friends. Family. Work. Hospitals. Police. As he read the neat handwriting he saw she’d covered most of the bases. “Benjamin and Sharon left the clinic about 3:50; Al Jenson talked with Mark at 5:30. It’s now 9:18. You’ve found no one who saw or spoke to them between those times?”
Caroline shook her head.
“Mark would have called if he was going to be this late. You know Sharon. I assume the same would be true for her?”
“She’d call me.”
“Therefore, they aren’t in a place where they can call or the call can’t get through. A cell tower near Benton having problems might explain it. There may be a problem dialing into this building. Have you had any incoming calls tonight?”
“No.”
Luke opened his phone, called Jackie, and asked her to call Mark’s main number. The phone rang. “Okay, that’s not the problem.”
“They must have been in accidents. They could have driven here twice over by now.” Caroline crossed her arms and rubbed at her forearms. “I’ve been calling the hospitals . . .”
“It’s possible, but the cops would have seen an accident. Maybe Mark on a back road could be missed, but not Sharon coming in on the interstate. Jackie’s getting nothing talking to hospitals either.” He looked at her list. “You called the Benton sheriff.”
“He had an officer drive by their house and confirm that Sharon and Benjamin appeared to have left. He checked my place too since it was on the way. His patrols haven’t seen either car.”
“The clinic doesn’t get an answer when they page Sharon?”
“No.” Caroline started rocking ever so slightly on the couch. “Something has happened to them.”
“Something didn’t go as planned.” Luke reached out to touch her knee and stop her movements. He was worried about Sharon and Mark, but it was a work-the-problem worry; Caroline concerned him more. He’d be managing her as much as the search. She wasn’t accustomed to a crisis like this, and only a cynic would want to push someone out of her sheltered life to learn the coping skills this would require. “Relax, that’s an order.”
Her gaze touched his for a moment and immediately shifted away as a blush chased the pallor from her cheeks. A year of dating her and he still had the bad habit of embarrassing her.
He quietly sighed and moderated his voice. “It’s going to be okay, Caroline. If Sharon and Ben coming in first had car trouble, Mark would have seen their car and stopped to help. I’m betting they’re together. And I’m willing to bet on a Labor Day weekend it is possible to go over three hours hassling with the system to get a tow truck and a phone that works.”
He checked her list one last time and made a couple decisions. “I want you to get a folder or sack and walk through the house here, collect any address books, calendars, day planners, church phone directories, or work phone sheets you can find. If it has a phone number on it, bring it.
“Everyone is a creature of habit: he’ll call a garage he used in the past, a rental car company, even a credit card company that provides roadside service. We’ll find what we need somewhere in those numbers. After that, get your purse and shoes. We’ll drive the interstate back to Benton.”
She squeezed his hand. “Thanks. I’m glad you’re here. Give me a couple minutes.” She got up to head to Mark’s study.
Luke waited until Caroline left the room. He called Jackie back. “I need someone to sit here and listen for the phone who can watch a couple movies and stay awake. Someone who doesn’t panic if there’s bad news to relay. Does a name suggest itself?”
“Try Mary Treemont. She works night shifts for the dispatch center. She’s off this weekend and would do it for babysitting money if you throw in a bonus for the last-minute call. I use her as backup all the time. Hold on, I’ll find her number.”
Luke closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. His family was missing. At least Caroline has the smarts to look as scared as she feels. He’d freeze up like she was doing if he let himself feel it.
Jackie read the number off to him and he added it to Caroline’s list. “We’re heading back to Benton. Odds are still good that this is car trouble, but if that changes, can you be ready to run the search from here? I’ll leave a packet on the counter,” he said calmly, knowing what he was saying. A missing persons case for an entire family would require dozens of law enforcement officers, hundreds of searchers, thousands of flyers.
“Luke, you know that’s a yes. As soon as you feel you need to escalate this, call me.”
“It’s appreciated, Jackie.” He selected pictures from the shelves and removed the backs to retrieve the photos. He put together a spread of individual and family photos into a folder. “Give me a couple hours and let’s see what we find in Benton.” The script for a missing persons case was one they had both run in the past. This wouldn’t get that far, not if he could help it. “Change of subject: If there’s a solid hit on Frank, call me. I’d like to know that situation is dealt with tonight too.”
“I will.”
Luke heard Caroline move from the study to look in the kitchen drawers by the phone. “Let me call you at the bottom of the hour from the interstate.” Luke hung up and then used Caroline’s list and dialed one more number.
“Benton sheriff’s office. May I help you?”
“This is FBI Special Agent Luke Falcon. I need to speak with the sheriff. It’s urgent.”
Chapter Six
Luke kept the car air conditioner on to make it easier to stay alert. Caroline leaned forward in the passenger seat, the shoulder seat belt pulled tight, scanning the opposite lanes of traffic going back into Atlanta. “If they are off the road, it’s hard to see across the lanes.”
“We’ll go as far as Sandy Hill, turn around and drive back toward Atlanta in those lanes as they would have done,” Luke replied. The speeds were picking up and the hour was g
rowing late. It would only take one driver with a bit too much to drink to cause a horrific accident. “If we don’t find something between Sandy Hill and Atlanta, we’ll search the stretch from Sandy Hill to Benton.”
“I should have called you hours before. In the dark, this is impossible.”
“We’ll stop at pull offs and show the photos around. Benjamin is not going to make an hour-plus journey at the start of his vacation without one stop for a soda, a restroom break, and an ice cream cone.”
He didn’t add that staff at rest stops had probably changed shifts, that a mom with a young boy was the norm, that Benjamin had likely changed from the clothes Caroline remembered from school before leaving home. Finding them on this road was a long shot; it was just better odds than the next option on his mental list.
“What do you think happened?”
Luke glanced at the dashboard clock. 10:05. Caroline had waited longer than he expected before asking the question. He didn’t plan to tell her what he thought. She was definitely in the civilian side of the world, and the law enforcement answers would just turn her pallor a deeper gray. “I don’t know, Caroline. Right now we have too few precious facts.”
She went quiet for too long for his comfort. He glanced her way. “Tell me about this month,” he asked.
“What do you want to know?”
He just wanted her talking rather than brooding. “Start somewhere and catch me up on what’s been going on with everyone this last month. Has anything unusual happened?”
“Not like last fall, if that’s what you’re really asking.”
Her fast reaction told him a lot about how last fall still stung in her memories. “As I said at the time—the only reputation you’ve got with me is that you notice things. And frankly, right now I’m hoping you’ve got a really good memory as well.”
She shifted in the seat. “Sharon had her first patient who gave birth to triplets. She’s carrying photos around like she was the one to deliver them. I think Mark was in Atlanta a couple times to meet with his partners, but otherwise he was working out of the Benton office. Benjamin has been talking about the tree house Mark is helping him design and anticipating seeing the Braves game this weekend.”
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