An approving whistle had her turning before she thought better of it.
The clerk was offering her admiration for how Craig filled out the uniform.
“Check him out,” the salesgirl said, calling her over. “What do you think?”
For half a second she wondered what the male equivalent of cute was, but she knew what was expected. “He looks hot.”
“See, I told you,” the clerk said as she turned back to Craig.
Once Craig had gone back into the change room, the salesgirl snapped her fingers. “Boots. What size does he take?”
Ashlyn felt her face lengthen as she tried to remember every time she’d seen Craig put on shoes or boots, and then she shook her head. “I don’t know.’
The clerk gave her a knowing grin, but stopped short of winking. “Come on. You must have some idea.”
Tain felt his eyes narrow with annoyance and then widen as he realized who was sitting in his chair, flicking through his notes. He pulled an extra chair from the desk he was walking past and set it down next to his own work area.
The youth leaned back, rocking in Tain’s good chair, a half grin on his face. “So this is where you hang out, huh?”
“It’s where I work.”
“And the babe you had with you the other night.”
Tain frowned at him. “Constable Hart’s desk is right there.” He pointed to the one across from his. For some reason, looking at the two desks facing each other now reminded him of when his own desk had been pushed far against the wall, away from the team he worked with, back when Ashlyn and Craig had sat across from each other.
“You’re so predictable.”
“Excuse me?”
“Can’t admit you think she’s fine. Got to be all pc.”
“What would you know about it?”
“Hell, you tried going to school anymore? I mean, sometimes you just don’t like somebody because they’re a jerk, you know? Now the school counselor wants to figure out if it’s because they’re white or orange or have a wimpy voice. Got to put bullshit labels on everything when it might just be that they’re a jerk.”
Tain suppressed a smile. “You’re pretty sharp, Marvin.”
“I’ve got life experience.”
“Evidently. And if you can learn to watch your mouth, you could have a career in the police department.”
“Nah. Maybe the fire department. But it’s, you know, super hard to get in.”
Tain nodded. “So I hear. What else would you want to do?”
Marvin shrugged. “Not sure.”
“So what brings you by?”
He watched the boy’s face harden. “She’s not coming back, is she?”
Tain couldn’t blink under Marvin’s relentless stare, so he drew a breath and decided to play it straight. “It’s not looking good. We’re doing everything we can.”
“But it’s been days. I read that in most abduction cases, every day that goes by increases the odds the victim’s been murdered.”
“That’s usually true. But this case is a bit different.”
Marvin looked up from where his fingers were pulling at a loose drawer handle. “Are you putting me on?”
Tain shook his head. “I’d bet money she’s still alive.”
“Probably wishes she wasn’t.”
“What makes you say that?” Tain looked up, seeing the figure approaching, the questioning glance at the boy seated at Tain’s desk.
“He’s probably, you know…doing stuff to her. Stuff she wouldn’t like.” He shrugged.
“If Lindsay comes home, in time, with help, she can be okay. She’s got a family that loves her and a lot of friends like you who care about her. And it sounds like she’s a strong person.”
Daly sat down on the corner of Tain’s desk and extended his hand. “Sergeant Daly.”
“Marvin Ferguson.”
“You know, Marvin, there’s something I’d like to show you. It might help you remember something important. You up for it?” Tain asked.
Marvin shrugged again. “Yeah. You got a pop machine around here?”
Tain reached into his pocket and flipped Marvin a two-dollar coin. “Just down the hall, there.” He waited until Marvin was halfway across the room before he stood. “I’ll show him the video of the lobby before Lindsay went missing, see if he remembers our guy.”
Daly nodded. “Not a bad idea. Shouldn’t we be showing it to all the kids?”
“We tried Luke Driscoll, and he didn’t remember anything. Most of the parents are a bit freaked out, blew a gasket about us asking questions without them present.”
“You’d think we’d get more cooperation from people who want to protect their children.”
“They’re scared. People do all sorts of crazy things when they’re afraid, especially when kids are involved.” He didn’t think he really had to explain that to Daly.
For a second Daly’s eyes took on a distant look. “What have you got planned after this?”
“I’m supposed to be tracking down the clown and jewelry vendor from the fairgrounds, but I’m going to take Marvin home after we’re finished.”
“What about those photos of Nicky Brennen?” Daly asked.
“Ashlyn’s supposed to start looking into that later.”
“Right. Let me know if you hear from her.”
Tain nodded, rummaging through another file, retrieving photographs of red Honda Civics and silver Corvettes.
Ashlyn rubbed the bridge of her nose before tossing the magazine down on the coffee table in front of her.
This was the one place she was reasonably certain the rapist wouldn’t be found, and the one place she’d spent the better part of her day. Once she’d established that every nurse and receptionist on site was female, she’d proceeded to flip through the magazines lying around, finding not much of particular interest and absolutely nothing that got her any further along on the case.
Of all the places to be stuck on a beautiful summer day…She glanced out the door to the hallway and felt a prickling sensation in her shoulders as they tensed.
He looked like he must have been mopping the same bit of floor for five minutes until he saw her look up. Then he glanced away and shuffled off down the corridor.
She fished around in the purse she was carrying and removed a scrap piece of paper, jotting down a quick description of the man who’d been watching her.
Ashlyn glanced at the clock. She knew that patients were usually kept waiting anywhere from ten to thirty minutes in the exam rooms. Craig’s physical was going to take at least an hour, depending on which tests the doctor felt were necessary, and he’d been gone for an hour now.
She got up and stepped into the hallway, turning in the direction she’d seen the cleaner going.
After a few moments, Tain knocked again.
This time, he heard someone lumbering down the hall toward the door. He wasn’t surprised when it opened a crack a moment later, revealing the overgrown eyebrows that dominated the face of Father Benjamin.
“Do you have news for the family?”
“I’m afraid not, Father. But I was hoping to speak with them.”
The already creased face added wrinkles as Father Benjamin frowned. “I’m not sure that would be wise. The Eckerts are still quite distressed.”
“I understand that. This won’t take long.”
Father Benjamin seemed to have mastered the art of stopping just short of scowling, making Tain sense his disapproval without exactly pinpointing what it was about the face that gave it away. Somehow, the priest made Tain feel guilty, as though he was doing something he knew he shouldn’t.
But he’d need more than a look of practiced condemnation used for hellfire lectures to put Tain off.
Lindsay’s mother looked about to faint, clutching the top of her blouse tightly, and Mr. Eckert started to stand until Tain motioned for him to sit back down.
“I don’t have any news. I’m sorry,” Tain said. There was silence fo
r a moment before the high-pitched voice of Lynn Eckert cut in.
“Why are you here then? We know she isn’t here. You should be out there, looking for my daughter.”
She crumpled into a ball, her back shaking with the sobs.
“There, there, Lynn. Come on, come lie down.” Father Benjamin cooed as he rubbed her back, coaxed her to her feet and led her from the room.
As far as Tain could tell, Ted Eckert seemed to find nothing unusual in the priest’s behavior. He stared blankly out the window as though his wife wasn’t coming apart at the seams, his daughter wasn’t missing and his world wasn’t spinning out of control.
“Mr. Eckert, I spoke to Lindsay’s friend Marvin. He was very helpful, and I do have a few leads to follow.” Tain drew a breath, waiting for some reaction from Lindsay’s father. When there wasn’t one, he went ahead. “Would you mind if I talked to Lindsay’s brother and sister?”
Ted Eckert’s head snapped around to stare at Tain then, his previously pale cheeks filling with red. “Why?”
“Mr. Eckert, it’s possible the person who took Lindsay was watching her. I’d like to ask Danielle and Caleb if they saw anyone around.”
After a moment, Ted Eckert nodded and walked down the hall, back toward the door. He climbed the stairs at a snail’s pace, as though his feet were weighed down with cement blocks that made it hard for him to move his stocky frame upward at any respectable pace.
“Dan…” he tried, his voice getting stuck in his throat. He coughed and then tried again. “Kids.”
Within seconds, two doors opened, one revealing an older version of Lindsay, the long, silky hair pulled back in a ponytail. The other door revealed a young boy about Nicky Brennen’s age, with straight blond hair and rosy cheeks, which didn’t really fit with the generally colorless tone of the rest of the family.
Mr. Eckert turned on his heel and started clunking back down the stairs.
Tain held up his ID and, for what felt like the hundredth time that day, cursed Ashlyn’s absence.
“My name is Tain,” he said.
“Huh. Lame.” The girl rolled her eyes, her arms folded across her chest, her hip parked against the door frame.
“I need to ask you some questions,” he said, trying to resist the urge to scowl at her.
“About my sister?” the boy asked.
“That’s right.” Tain looked down at him. “Did you see anybody around your house who seemed to be…to want to talk to her?”
“Like her friends?”
“He means, like strangers,” the girl said, rolling her eyes at Tain again and taking her brother back into his room, sitting down with him on the edge of his bed. “People who shouldn’t have been here.”
Caleb’s cheeks puffed out, and he shook his head. Tain looked at the girl, who shrugged and shook her head.
“What about any cars outside that aren’t usually there?”
“Plenty of those now,” Danielle said.
“But before. Any around like this?” He extracted an envelope of pictures from his pocket, pulling out the first one, passing it to Danielle.
“Seriously? These things are all over.”
“So, no new ones hanging around your street, say, the week before Lindsay went missing?” He reached out and took the photo from her, sticking the picture of the red Civic back in the envelope. Tain passed her another photo. “What about that one?”
Her face lengthened, and then her nose wrinkled. “I think so.”
“I’ve seen that car,” Caleb said, looking up at Tain. His eyes looked as big as a puppy’s, and he almost smiled.
“Really? Where have you seen a car like that?”
“Outside when I came home from school.”
“School? That must have been quite a few weeks ago.”
Danielle shook her head. “No, we all go to a year-round school. Not much since…” She shrugged. “You know. It’s holidays next week anyway.”
“You saw this car outside your house? When you last went to school?”
Caleb nodded.
“And you last went to school…?”
“The Friday before Lindsay disappeared.”
“Thanks. That’s really helpful,” Tain said, backing toward the door hesitantly.
“Go play,” Danielle told her brother, crossing the room as he went to his table to color a picture.
She shut the door and looked up at Tain as she stepped into the hallway. “You cops, you haven’t got a clue, do you?”
Danielle walked past him into her room and slammed the door.
Ashlyn had deliberately managed to spill half the water that hadn’t already sloshed over the sides when she kicked it. “Oh, geesh, I’m so sorry! I’m so clumsy. Here.” She grabbed the bucket. “Let me help.”
“Tha-that’s okay. I can do it,” he said. He bent down, grabbed the handle of the bucket, his gaze instantly going to her legs, which were bare below the knee-length skirt she was wearing, the cut from a few days before barely noticeable. He fumbled with the bucket as he moved it a safe distance from her, and managed to force himself upright, but only glanced at her face quickly before he resumed mopping, his eyes focused in her general direction, about a foot off the floor.
“Gee, I’m really sorry. I’m uh, looking for a pay phone. My cell phone died.” She did her best to offer a wide-eyed smile.
“We…uh…there—there’s a phone down by—by the doors. Th-that way,” he said moving toward the main hallway, out of the secondary hall he was standing in. “They, uh…there…”
“There you are. I wondered where you got to.”
Her head spun around, and she plastered on an instant smile. “All finished?” she asked, moving forward and ignoring Craig’s hand. She wrapped her arm around his waist instead, and glanced back at the man with the fish pin on his collar.
“Thanks.” She gave him what she hoped was a flirtatious smile and then leaned against Craig. “Did you have fun?”
He looked down at her. “Did you?”
“Unless your doctor is a viable suspect, that’s the only one in the building I caught looking at me.”
Ashlyn felt his hand on the small of her back as he opened the door and ushered her into his vehicle. “You’re supposed to be creating a suspect list, not chatting them up.”
“I wasn’t close enough to see his name tag. ‘Unidentified cleaning person’ wasn’t going to be very helpful.”
He frowned at her and shook his head as he shut the door.
Craig felt his chest tighten as he felt Ashlyn’s head brush against his arm. She smelled of…
He realized he didn’t have a clue, but what ever it was, it was nice. Not too heavy and demanding, but still appealing.
Was it just him, or was she finding this tough?
A clerk finally came over to offer assistance. Without even looking at Ashlyn, Craig felt the slight nudge against his arm as she turned, pretending to inspect the pagers on display, all the while scrutinizing employees while he explained his business.
“One of our managers handles that. It’s a special account. I’ll go get him.”
“What’s wrong?” Craig asked, watching Ashlyn rub her shoulder.
“I must have slept funny.”
Craig’s fingers were automatically starting to work on the knot that seemed to be causing her tension when someone said, “Can I help you?”
He turned to look at the man, apparently one of the managers, and explained he was there to get a pager issued by the fire department.
“Do you have your employment letter?”
Craig held up the piece of paper in his opposite hand.
“Everyone on the department comes to me. I want to make sure you’ve got the most reliable equipment possible….”
He gestured for them to follow him behind the counter to a desk in the back. Craig felt Ashlyn tense again, but she didn’t show it in her face, maintaining a steady smile.
She stood back, letting Craig take the far chair, the
n sat down and crossed her legs. Her skirt inched a bit higher. While Craig discussed the pager and how it worked with the manager, Ashlyn leaned back and managed to look bored with the whole process.
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