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.
Could you two please be a little more professional when you get to the Caldwells? Hillman shouted through the open door after them. Id like them to think were at least pretending to take them seriously.
Keri tossed her salad container in the trash and headed for the parking lot. Ray had to jog to keep up with her. As they reached the exit, he leaned in and whispered to her.
Dont think youre off the hook on whatever it is youre keeping secret from me. You can tell me now or you can tell me later. But I know somethings going on with you.
Keri tried not to visibly react. There was something going on. And she did plan to fill him in when it was safe to do so. But she needed to find a more secure location to tell her partner, best friend, and potential boyfriend that she might be on the verge of finally catching her daughters abductor.
CHAPTER TWO
As they pulled up in front of the Caldwell house, Keris stomach suddenly clenched up.
No matter how often she met with the family of a potentially abducted child, she was always taken back to that moment when she first saw her own little girl, just eight years old, being carried across the bright green grass of a park by a malevolent stranger in a baseball cap pulled low to hide his face.
She felt the same familiar panic rising in her throat now that shed experienced as she chased the man through the gravel parking lot and saw him toss Evie into his white van like a rag doll. She relived the horror of seeing the teenager whod tried to stop the man get stabbed to death.
She winced at the memory of the pain shed felt as she ran barefoot on the gravel lot, ignoring the sharp bits of rock that embedded in her feet as she tried to catch up to the van that was peeling out and driving off. She recalled the sense of helplessness that had overcome her as she realized the van had no license plates and she had almost no description to offer the police.
Ray was familiar with how much she was always affected by this moment and sat quietly in the drivers seat while she worked through the cycle of emotions and gathered herself for what was to come.
You good? he asked, when he saw her body finally relax slightly.
Almost, she said, pulling down the visor mirror and giving herself one last check to make sure she wasnt a total mess.
The person staring back at her looked much healthier than she had just a few months ago. The black circles she used to have under her brown eyes were no longer there and they werent bloodshot. Her skin was less blotchy. Her dirty blonde hair, while still pulled back in a utilitarian ponytail, wasnt greasy and unwashed.
Keri was closing in on her thirty-six birthday but she looked better than she had at any point since Evie was taken five years earlier. She wasnt sure if it was because of the sense of hope shed had since the Collector had hinted all those weeks ago that hed be in touch.
Or maybe it was the real possibility of romance with Ray on the horizon. It could also have been recently moving out of the ratty houseboat shed called home for several years into a real apartment. Or it might have had to do with her reduced consumption of large quantities of single malt scotch.
Whatever it was, she noticed more men than usual turning their heads when she walked by these days. She didnt mind it, if only because for the first time in forever, she felt like she had some power over her often out-of-control life.
She flipped the visor back up and turned to Ray.
Ready, she said.
As they walked up to the front door, Keri took in the neighborhood. This was the northernmost part of Westchester, adjacent to the 405 freeway and just south of the Howard Hughes Center, a large retail and office complex that dominated the skyline in this part of town.
Westchester had a reputation as a working-class neighborhood, and most of the homes were of the modest, one-story variety. But even those had exploded in cost in the last half dozen years. As a result, the community was a mix of old-timers whod lived here forever and young, professional families who didnt want to live in cookie-cutter developments but somewhere with personality. Keri guessed these folks were the latter.
The door opened before they even got to the porch and out stepped a clearly worried couple. Keri was surprised at their age. The woman petite, Hispanic, with a no-nonsense pixie cut looked to be in her mid-fifties. She wore a nice but well-worn womens suit and old but immaculately maintained black shoes.
The man was easily half a foot taller than her. He was white, balding with tufts of grayish-blond hair, and spectacles hanging around his neck. He was at least as old as her and probably closer to sixty. He was more casually dressed than she was, in comfortable slacks and a crisp, buttoned-down plaid dress shirt. His brown loafers were scuffed and one of his laces was undone.
Are you the detectives? the woman asked, reaching out her hand to shake theirs even before getting confirmation.
Yes, maam, Keri answered, taking the lead. Im Detective Keri Locke of LAPDs West Los Angeles Pacific Division Missing Persons Unit. This is my partner, Detective Raymond Sands.
Good to meet you folks, Ray said.
The woman beckoned them in as she spoke.
Thank you for coming. My name is Mariela Caldwell. This is my husband, Edward.
Edward nodded but didnt speak. Keri sensed that they didnt know how to begin so she took the initiative.
Why dont we have a seat in the kitchen and you can tell us what has you so concerned?
Of course, Mariela said, and led them through a narrow hallway adorned with photos of a dark-haired girl with a warm smile. There had to be at least twenty photos covering her entire life from birth until now. They came to a small but well-appointed breakfast nook. Can I offer you anything coffee, a snack?
No thank you, maam, Ray said as he tried to squeeze against the wall to maneuver around and into a chair. Lets all just sit down and get as much information as possible as quickly as we can. Why dont you start by telling us what has you worried? My understanding is that Sarah has only been out of touch for a few hours.
Almost five hours now, Edward said, speaking for the first time as he sat down across from Ray. She called her mother at noon to say she was meeting up with a friend she hadnt seen in a while. Its almost five p.m. now. She knows shes supposed to check in every couple of hours when she goes out, even if its only a text to say where she is.
She doesnt ever forget? Ray asked, keeping his tone neutral so that only Keri caught his underlying skepticism. Neither of the Caldwells spoke for a moment and Keri worried that Ray had offended them. Finally Mariela answered.
Detective Sands, I know it may be hard to believe. But no, she doesnt ever forget. Ed and I had Sarah later in life. After many failed attempts, we were blessed by her arrival. She is our only child and I admit that we are both a little, whats the word, hovering?
Helicopter parents, Ed added with a wry smile.
Keri smiled too. She could hardly blame them.
Anyway, Mariela continued, Sarah knows that she is our dearest love in the world and amazingly, she doesnt resent it or feel stifled. We bake together on weekends. She still loves to go to take your daughter to work days with her father. She even came with me to a Motley Crue concert a few months ago. She dotes on us. And because she knows how precious she is to us, she is very diligent about keeping us in the loop. We established the text where you are policy. But shes the one who chose the two-hour rule.