Vanished (8 page)

At least he’d slept. Ava figured she’d nabbed a total of two hours in fits and spurts.

He hadn’t acted embarrassed that she’d caught him half-dressed. He’d politely greeted her and disappeared into the bathroom where she’d showered earlier. His sleepwear, loose athletic shorts and a T-shirt, had shown a man who took care of himself physically. He might grab an occasional donut with bacon, but he burned off any excess calories. He had the leanness of a runner and the lined face of someone who’d spent time squinting in the sun.

Overall, Callahan was a well-put-together package. Excessively polite, fit, smart. She studied his face. She wouldn’t call the man attractive. Instead, he had a comforting weathered look. A trustworthiness to his features that tugged at her female side. Gorgeous men didn’t impress her; she was impressed with character. Callahan had it in excess.

He chose a chocolate-chip scone. She’d pegged him as a cinnamon roll type of guy. He took a bite and smiled, looking at her with happy eyes. “Somebody has been busy.”

“I’ll guess it was Robin.”

Callahan nodded and took another bite. “Any updates?”

Ava looked at her email screen, hitting the refresh button. Nothing new popped up. “They’re still reviewing video from the neighbors. Henley’s photo is on every news network and paper. They plan to interview the guy that Lilian dated. Duncan says he agreed to come in today.”

“I’d like to be a fly on the wall for that interview,” Callahan muttered.

“They want to talk to Jake today, too.” Ava watched the detective’s face carefully go blank.

“I’m surprised they haven’t dug deeper with him yet. He’s eighteen, but I plan to be there.”

“I started to talk to him yesterday,” Ava remembered. “He seems like the type of kid who keeps all his feelings bottled up. I’m worried he’s going to pop if he doesn’t express himself.”

“Yeah, he’s always been pretty quiet. Feels things deeply, though. He’s the kind of kid that brings home birds with broken wings and gets upset when someone is bullied at school.”

“Perhaps he should be talking to someone, then. Someone professional.”

The smallest touch of alarm went through Callahan’s eyes. It was plain that he loved his kid, but he was out of his element when it came to talking to Jake about his inner feelings.

“I can put in a request for a child psychologist,” Ava added.

“He’s not a child.”

“True. But he’s not an adult. I want him to talk to someone who has experience listening to teens. I can only do so much. I’m here to meet the needs of the family, but I’m a bit lost with teens. I only have my own teen trauma to refer to.”

“Trauma?” He cocked an eyebrow.

She waved a hand. “Typical teenage-girl stuff.”

Serious eyes studied her. “I doubt you were anything but typical as a teenager. Is your sister older or younger than you?”

Ava braced herself for the usual rash of questions her next statement would bring. “We’re twins.”

“Huh. I bet that was interesting. My brother’s a few years older than me.”

Ava waited. Callahan focused on another bite of his scone.

That’s it?
She didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed the detective didn’t want to know more.

“Morning.” Lucas Fairbanks entered the kitchen. He was dressed in wrinkled sweats, but his hair was perfect. He grabbed the coffee pot and poured a giant mug of coffee. “Any news on Henley?” He turned toward Callahan and Ava, spotting the mass of baked goods. He froze. “Holy shit. That’s what Robin was doing last night. I thought I smelled cinnamon in the middle of the night.” He grabbed a cinnamon roll and took a place at the table. He looked at Ava expectantly, his bloodshot eyes hopeful.

She shook her head. “They’re reviewing all the tape they got from your neighbors’ cameras. Nothing yet.”

Lucas slumped in his chair, his cinnamon roll ignored. “I’d hoped to wake up to good news.” He rubbed his eyes. “Robin was in and out of bed all night. At one point I heard her bawling in the bathroom. She’s out cold now. I don’t know if she slept at all last night.”

His sad brown eyes reminded Ava of a lost puppy.

“I don’t know if I have any tears left,” he muttered. He picked a chunk of frosting off his cinnamon roll, looked at it, and then set it back on the plate. “Henley loves cinnamon rolls. I’m surprised Robin made them. Usually, that’s something they do together.”

“Maybe it made her feel better,” Ava offered. “An indicator that she knows Henley could come walking in at any minute to eat one.”

Lucas met her gaze, all his emotions suddenly packed away and out of sight. “Yeah, maybe. What’s the FBI going to do today to find my daughter?” His voice was flat.

Ava swallowed.
It’s normal for him to be angry. It’s not personally directed at you.
“More interviews, pavement pounding, door knocking, video review, computer forensics—”

“They took all the computers out of my business yesterday. Even my partner’s computers. How the fuck am I supposed to run a business without our hardware?” Lucas ran a hand through his perfect hair.

“Don’t you guys close down for the holidays?” Callahan asked. “Who expects their accountant to work Christmas week?”

Lucas gave him a sour look. “Clients don’t give a rip that it’s nearly Christmas. They care that they’ve exercised every possible tax break before December thirty-first.”

“You have everything backed up to a remote location, right? So you just need to rent or buy some new hardware,” Callahan said.

“We’re trying to find out. Our IT guy is on vacation in Italy.”

“Smart guy. Takes the holidays off,” Callahan said with an even face. Lucas glared at him.

Footsteps distracted the men, and Jake shuffled into the kitchen. He stopped and stared blankly at the group. “Henley?” His voice cracked.

“Nothing yet, son,” Callahan answered. “Get something to eat.”

Jake moved to the counter full of baked sugar, his gaze widening. “Mom was up all night?”

“Yep. Hey, you sleep in your clothes?” Callahan asked.

He was right, Ava noticed. Jake was still wearing the jeans and shirt from yesterday. The shirt had picked up a few more dozen wrinkles.

“Don’t have anything to wear,” Jake said around a mouthful of coffee cake. “Airport lost my suitcase and still hasn’t found it. Mom was going to take me shopping . . . and she hasn’t done laundry. I already wore the only clothes I still have here.”

“You know how to shove clothes in a washing machine, right?” Callahan asked at the same time Lucas stated, “You know how to drive to the mall.”

Jake blinked at both men. “Mom said she’d go with me. And I was hoping someone would have found my suitcase by now.”

Ava spoke up. “The airline lost your luggage? Where do you go to school?”

“Duke. North Carolina. I changed planes in Denver, but the airline’s computer system says my suitcase made it to Portland with my flight.”

“That’s the worst.” Ava had lost luggage three times. Once it’d never been recovered. The airline had said the same thing—that her suitcase had made it to its location. Something shifted on her computer screen, and she scanned the new email. “They want to talk with Jake in an hour.” She looked at both dads. “One of you want to go with him? I’d like to be there if I’m not needed for anything for a while.

The two men looked at each other. “You go,” Lucas stated. “I’ll wait for Robin and Lilian to wake up.”

Callahan nodded. “Go shower,” he ordered Jake. “Steal a shirt out of my bag.”

“But Dad, your clothes—”

“Do it. You only have to wear it for an hour.”

The teen shuffled out of the kitchen, his cake in hand.

“I’ve got a Duke sweatshirt he can borrow,” Lucas offered. “He can’t complain about that.”

Callahan nodded but didn’t look at the stepdad. Ava studied the two men. What was it like trying to raise a teen and not step on the other parent’s toes? She knew Jake spent most of his time with his mother and Lucas. What did that do to Callahan’s sense of fatherhood? Had he felt that Lucas should accompany Jake to the interview? Had Lucas’s offer to stay home felt like pity?

The four adults in the home had created one hell of a sociology experiment.

9

25 HOURS MISSING

Mason noticed that the number of cars outside the church command center had tripled. Fewer police vehicles, but more plain-looking American-made sedans and SUVs. More federal help. Mason turned his vehicle into the parking lot. The media had set up another camp in the far corner of the church lot, a mass of tents, RVs, and cameras. He drove in the opposite direction, looking for a parking spot that wasn’t too far from the doors.

The FBI had picked a good location for their command center. The lot and church building were huge. There was room for everyone. But what about church services tomorrow?

“The church announced it was cancelling all services tomorrow,” Ava announced beside him, as if reading Mason’s thoughts. “That’s a bit of a hard thing, considering Christmas is next week. It asked its members to stay home and pray for Henley or attend the candlelight vigil downtown at the water tomorrow night.”

“What?” Jake shifted forward from the backseat, sticking his head between the front seats. “What vigil?”

“I don’t know who organized it,” Ava answered. “Possibly the church. Waterfront Park tomorrow at seven.” Her words sped up, her voice rising a bit. Mason understood the hint of emotion in her speech. It hurt to think of Henley missing another thirty-six hours. The longer the girl was gone, the less likely she was to be found alive.

“Maybe they won’t need it,” Jake mumbled.

“We’re all praying for that,” Ava said.

Mason parked and the three of them exited the vehicle and headed toward the church doors. He fought an urge to tell Jake to hold his head up and not slouch. The kid looked like he’d suffered a beating. Emotionally, he had. Mason’s coat pocket vibrated. He glanced at the screen and told Jake and Ava to go ahead. Ava gave him a careful look but nodded and guided Jake inside with her hand at his elbow. Mason watched them walk away, Jake slumping and Ava with her chin up, walking with the purpose and confidence expected from a federal agent. Mason shook his head. Why did he even notice the sloppy and insecure impression Jake was making? That was the last of his priorities.

Mason glared at Schefte’s name on his screen, Ray’s warning from that morning going through his mind.

“Callahan.”

“Mason, it’s Denny. Got a minute?”

“Yep. I heard you found my prints in Josie’s place.” No point in bullshitting around.

“Yeah, there’s no doubt. I went to the lab and made them show me in person. They’re clear as day from the toilet handle and fridge. There’s one from a doorframe that’s not very good.”

“I didn’t touch anything, Denny. You can ask Ray, Morales, and Hunsinger. One of them was with me the entire time.”

“I did talk to them. They said the same. Ray says you were in the kitchen for a moment by yourself, but I assume you didn’t help yourself to any soda from the fridge?”

“Fuck, no. And there was a uniformed officer in there. I was in the fridge on a previous visit, but that was months ago. There shouldn’t be prints there or on the toilet handle. I don’t know how they can be finding my prints.”

“Let’s get you printed again. Maybe the comparison prints are crap.”

Mason wiped his forehead. It was forty-five degrees outside, but he was sweating.

New prints would definitely clear this up.

“What about the cowboy hat sightings? What’s with that? I haven’t been anywhere near that building in months. Inside or out.”

“You know the type of people who hang around that building. I wouldn’t put a lot of weight on their observations.”

Mason frowned. Why was Schefte so quick to downplay the evidence? If he were in Schefte’s shoes, he’d be yelling at him on the phone. “Ray was going to check my calendar for my last visit with Josie. I think it was in September.”

“Yeah, I saw Ray a few minutes ago.” Schefte cleared his throat. “We’d already pulled your hard drive.”

“What?” Mason’s vision tunneled.

“We’re checking your calendar, too.”

“You don’t take my whole computer to look at a calendar. What the hell is going on there?”

Schefte was quiet.

“Do I need a lawyer?” Mason asked. His brain spun like he was drunk.
What was happening?

“It wouldn’t hurt to talk to your union rep,” Schefte answered. “I don’t know about a lawyer. I don’t think that will be necessary.”

A sharp pain shot through Mason’s temple.

“Denny, I don’t have time for this! I’m trying to help my family stay sane while their daughter is missing! My son is so stressed he’s about to cave in on himself.”
And so am I.

“I know you’ve got a lot going on. This was a good time to take some time off. Come down and get your prints done again. Then we’ll talk.” Schefte sounded distant. His usual good-buddy tone gone from his voice.

Did they think he killed Josie? Impossible.

Something was screwed up somewhere. Evidence lines were getting crossed.

“Fine,” answered Mason in the same even tone. “I’ll have my rep with me.” He ended the call and slipped the phone in his pocket, feeling as though his support system was being chiseled away. His family was dealing with the worst imaginable horror. Now his job was in jeopardy? He felt like he was being ripped in half. As slowly as possible.

How did his prints show up in that apartment?

Josie. What did you get into?

Ava signed in and led Jake through the command center, appreciating the heat. Outside was crisp and cold. No rain or snow was predicted this week, just near-freezing temperatures.

Was Henley warm?

She put the thought firmly out of her mind. Someone had taken the girl for a purpose. She didn’t like to think what purpose, but whatever it was, she prayed they’d kept her indoors. An image of a small, motionless body hidden deep in the woods flashed through her head.

Stop it!

They would find that girl. This case would end happy. She glanced at Jake, seeing the first sign of life in his eyes as he took in the hustle and bustle of the command center. It was good for him to see. Sitting at home, he probably felt like no one was doing anything. The FBI could tell him over and over that they were searching high and low, but seeing it in action made it believable. Every seat in the space was manned. Various conversations filled the room. People were busy; people were focused.

Jake wiped his eyes.

Ava spotted Special Agent Sanford in a conversation with two other agents at a computer screen and raised a hand at him. He held up one finger. She and Jake stayed put. The boards on the walls were filling up with notes and photos. She spotted a board with about ten large photos of homes, recognizing them instantly. All the homes Henley would have walked past on her way to the bus. Ava had stared at the homes in person, wondering about the people who lived inside.

Was their kidnapper a passerby? Was it intentional or spur-of-the-moment?

At nearly eight in the morning?

Her experience told her it was intentional. Premeditated. A complex plan.

How else did a child vanish from between her house and the bus stop?

Sanford hurried over. “Morning. Ready to talk for a bit?” He directed the question at Jake, who silently nodded. Sanford forced a tired smile. He looked like shit, and Ava wondered when he’d slept last.

“You bring a guardian?” Sanford looked from Jake to Ava with a frown. Even though Jake was eighteen, it would make everyone feel better to know he had an adult with him for an interview. The look on Sanford’s face plainly said he didn’t consider Ava to be that person.

“His dad is outside on a phone call. He’ll be a minute.”

The three stood silently for a moment, eyeing each other.

“Do you have any leads?” Jake asked, and Ava’s heart broke at the teen’s whisper. She’d told him all she knew on the drive over. Her gaze pleaded with Sanford to be gentle with Jake.

“Ah . . . we have a lot we’re following up on. Tips are coming in from the public. We’re looking into each one.”

Jake shifted his weight from one foot to the other, hope on his face.

“And all the specialists made it in last night. We pulled them from a half-dozen states. We’ve got senior special agents in evidence recovery, hostage negotiation, computer forensics, and even some guys from BAU working with us.”

“BAU?” Jake asked. “Like from
Silence of the Lambs
?”

Annoyance flickered for the fleetest second on Sanford’s face. Ava had no issue with the public’s view of the movie. So what if an agent-in-training was pulled in on a huge serial-killer case? The movie still showed the talent of that department. But other agents didn’t feel the way she did.

“Yes, but without the Hollywood gloss,” Ava answered. “We met one of them yesterday. He was very helpful with some of his insights.”

“How long will all these people be here?” Jake asked.

“As long as we need them,” replied Sanford.

Callahan joined them, nodding at Sanford. “Sorry I’m late.” He rubbed Jake’s shoulder.

Ava picked up a highly annoyed vibe coming off the detective. He seemed distracted. What had happened on his phone call? It couldn’t have to do with the case. He would have immediately brought up anything they needed to know. She had a hunch it was about his time off from his department. Perhaps they were struggling with his abrupt departure.

“Where are we doing this?” Callahan asked.

Sanford pointed at a door leading back to the hallway. “Wells is waiting two doors down on your left.”

The three found the room. Wells was typing on a laptop at a large, round table and motioned for them to take seats. The room appeared to be a small library. Books lined the shelves, and several comfortable chairs were available for reading. Spiritual posters with scripture and clever quotes lined the walls.

D
OWN IN THE MOUTH?
T
IME FOR A FAITH LIFT
.

7
DAYS WITHOUT PRAYER MAKES 1 WEAK
.

The peace and quiet was a welcome relief from the buzz of the command center. Ava breathed a sigh of relief that Wells was doing Jake’s interview. She knew he’d be thorough and thoughtful of the boy’s feelings.

“Okay, Jake. Why don’t you tell me about Duke,” Wells began with a small smile. “What are you studying, when are your classes, who do you like to hang out with, and how’s the college food?”

Jake glanced at his father, who nodded. Jake launched into a description of his school life, and Ava let her mind wander for a few seconds. College seemed forever ago. She’d gone to UCLA, wanting to live the Southern California experience that she’d seen on TV. It hadn’t been like TV. It’d been packed with people, and her apartment had been a near-slum, but that’s all she could afford. She and Jayne had grown up in a quiet Northern California community. Almost a rural experience.

Jake seemed to like his college. As a freshman, he lived in the dorms and ate mostly at one of the campus cafeterias or restaurants that took college dining credits. He hadn’t joined a frat, his closest friends were his roommate and two other guys in his hall, and he had a hard time getting to his 8
A.M
.
classes. He shot a look at his father with his comment about the early classes. Callahan shrugged. “You were never a morning person.”

Wells led him through some casual conversation about his major—engineering—and Ava saw the boy gradually relax and stop analyzing every answer in his head before he spoke.

“When did you get to Portland?” Wells asked.

“I landed around 4
P.M
.
on Wednesday. Mom met me at the airport. But we didn’t leave for another two hours because they couldn’t find my bag.”

“Were you at baggage claim when the bags started coming out on the carousel?”

“Nah, I hit the bathroom and then stopped at the coffee place to get something to eat, but there was a big line. They didn’t serve us anything but snacks on the plane, and I was starving. Mom met me at the waiting area past security. By the time I got down to baggage, the suitcases were already going around.”

“So someone could have grabbed your bag.”

Jake nodded. “The airline thinks that’s what happened. They scanned it when it arrived, so they knew it should have been on the carousel. We waited a while to see if someone would bring it back if they’d grabbed it accidentally. It’s a black roller bag. Looks like every other bag except for the luggage tag with the Duke logo.”

Wells tapped on his computer. Ava would have been requesting camera views from the airport. She suspected he was doing just that. But was a suitcase related to Henley’s disappearance? Any unusual activity surrounding the immediate family had to be investigated. No matter how trivial it seemed.

“Give me a rundown of what you’ve done since you’ve been in town. People you’ve seen, places you’ve gone, who you’ve talked to online or via text.”

Jake surprised them all by pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. He glanced at Ava. “Special Agent McLane asked me about that yesterday. I spent some time writing down everything I could think of.”

Ava mentally patted herself on the back. She met Wells’s gaze and smiled.
You’re welcome.