And now, after all those torturous weeks of silence, hed finally gotten in touch again. Of course, he didnt know he was communicating with Evies mother or even that it was a woman. All he knew was that this was a potential client interested in discussing an abduction for hire.
This time she would come up with a better plan than before. The last time, she had less than an hour to get to his assigned meeting place. She tried to set up a decoy to go in her place and survey the situation from afar. But somehow he knew the decoy wasnt legitimate and he didnt come. She couldnt let that happen again.
Stay cool. Youve held out this long and its paid off. Dont ruin it by doing something impulsive. Theres nothing you can do right now anyway. The balls in his court. Just give a basic response and wait to hear back.
Keri typed one word:
understoodThen she put the phone in her purse and stood up from her desk, too nervous and excited to sit still. Knowing there was nothing more she could do, she tried to force the Collector from her mind.
She headed for the break room to get a bite to eat. It was after 4 p.m. and her stomach was growling, although she wasnt sure if it was because shed skipped lunch or due to general anxiety.
When she arrived, she saw her partner, Ray Sands, rifling through the refrigerator. He was notorious for snagging any food not properly marked. Luckily her chicken salad, with her name clearly taped to the container, was hidden in the lower back corner. Ray, a 6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound black man with a bald head and a heavily muscled frame, would have to really be desperate to navigate himself down there just for a salad.
Keri stood in the doorway, silently enjoying watching Rays butt wriggle as he maneuvered. In addition to being her partner, he was also her best friend and lately, maybe something more. They both felt a strong attraction to each other and had admitted as much to one another less than two months ago, when Ray was recovering from a gunshot wound hed sustained when they took down a child kidnapper.
But since then, theyd only taken baby steps. They flirted more openly when they were alone and there had been several semi-dates, where one of them would come to the others apartment to watch a movie.
But they both seemed afraid to make the next move. Keri knew why she felt this way and suspected Ray felt the same. She was worried that if they decided to really go for it and it didnt work out, both their partnership and their friendship could be put at risk. It was a legitimate concern.
Neither of them had a great romantic track record. Both were divorced. Both had cheated on their spouses. Ray, a former professional boxer, was a notorious ladies man. And Keri had to admit that since Evie was taken, shed been one big pulsing nerve, constantly on the verge of spinning out of control. Match.com wouldnt be putting either of them on posters anytime soon.
Ray sensed that he was being watched and turned around, half of an unclaimed sandwich in his hand. Seeing that there was no one in the room but Keri, he asked, Like what you see? and winked.
Dont get cocky, Incredible Hulk, she warned. They loved to tease each other with pet names that highlighted their substantial size difference.
Whos using the double entendres now, Miss Bianca? he asked, smiling.
Keri saw his face darken and realized she hadnt done a good enough job of hiding her nervousness about the Collector. He knew her too well.
Whats wrong? he asked immediately.
Nothing, she said as she brushed past him and bent down to grab her salad. Unlike him, she had no problem navigating tight spaces. While she wasnt as small as a fictional mouse nickname might suggest, compared to Ray, her 5-foot-6-inch, 130-pound body was Lilliputian.
She could feel his eyes on her but pretended not to notice. She didnt want to discuss what was on her mind for a couple of reasons. First of all, if she told him about the email from the Collector, hed want to break it down in detail with her. And that would undermine her efforts to keep sane by not thinking about it.
But there was another reason. Keri was under surveillance by a shady lawyer named Jackson Cave, who was notorious for representing pedophiles and child abductors. To get the information that led her to find the Collector, shed broken into his office and copied a hidden file.
The last time theyd seen each other, Cave had hinted that he knew what shed done and said outright that he had his eye on her. It was clear to her what hed meant. Ever since, shed done regular sweeps for listening devices and been careful to only discuss the Collector in secure environments.
If Cave knew she was on to the Collector, he might warn him. Then hed disappear and shed never find Evie. So there was no way she was going to mention anything about it to Ray here.
But he didnt know any of that, so he pressed her.
I can tell somethings up, he said.
But before Keri could diplomatically shut him down, their boss burst through the door. Lieutenant Cole Hillman, their immediate supervisor, was fifty but looked significantly older, with a deeply wrinkled face, uncombed salt-and-pepper hair, and a growing potbelly he couldnt hide with his oversized dress shirts. As usual, he wore a jacket and tie but the former was ill-fitting and the latter was ridiculously loose.
Good. Im glad youre both here, he said, skipping any kind of greeting. Come with me. Youve got a case.
They followed him back to his office and both took seats on the weathered loveseat against the wall. Knowing she likely wouldnt have a chance to eat later, Keri scarfed down her salad while Hillman read them in. She noticed that Ray had already finished the sandwich hed stolen before they sat down. Hillman dove right in.
Your possible victim is a sixteen-year-old girl from Westchester, Sarah Caldwell. She hasnt been seen since lunchtime. Parents called her multiple times, saying they couldnt reach her.
Theyre freaking out because their teenage daughter didnt call them back? Ray asked skeptically. Sounds like pretty much every family in America.
Keri didnt reply despite her natural inclination to disagree. She and Ray had argued this point many times. She thought he was too slow to sign onto cases like this. He felt that her personal experience made her far too likely to jump in prematurely. It was a constant source of friction and she didnt feel like getting into it at this moment. But Hillman apparently was willing.
I thought so too at first, Hillman said, but they were very convincing that their daughter would never go this long without checking in. They also tried to check her location using the GPS on her smartphone. It was turned off.
Thats a little weird, but still, Ray reiterated.
Listen, it may be nothing. But they were insistent, panicked even. And they noted that the policy of being missing for twenty-four hours before starting a search doesnt apply to minors. You two dont have any pressing cases right now so I told them youd stop by to take their statement. Hell, the girl may be home by the time you get there. But it wont do any harm. And this keeps our asses covered on the off chance something is up.
Sounds like a plan to me, Keri said, standing up to go with her mouth full of her last bite of salad.
Of course it sounds good to you, Ray muttered as he took the address from Hillman. Another wild goose chase for you to drag me on.
You know you love it, Keri said, walking out the door ahead of him.