Chapter 30
Pierce took the call from Jamison.
“I’m in my office. Come on down.”
“On my way.” Pierce cast a glance at his partner and told her where he’d be.
“How long will it take?” Sol asked, her gold eyes assessing. As if she knew something serious was up, something even more out of the ordinary than usual.
“I’ll fill you in once I know.” He left in a hurry and made his way through the crowded hallway to Jamison’s office.
“Close the door,” Jamison instructed, waving Pierce into one of the visitor’s chairs in front of his desk.
“I don’t know anything new,” he admitted, as Pierce took a seat.
“I called all of Naomi’s friends, checked with Roxie, even called the hospitals again, but …
nothing. No one’s heard or seen anything.
It’s like she just vanished.” Despite the dark circles under his eyes and the tension evident in his tight jaw, Jamison looked every bit the lawyer he was.
His still-damp hair was slicked back, and he’d shaved and donned a suit and tie.
His shirt was crisp, the knot of his tie precise, his suit pressed.
Somehow he’d managed to pull himself together.
At least on the surface. “Whatever it takes, we have to find out what happened to her.”
“We’ll find her.”
“God, I hope. But—oh, hell, I can’t even think it.”
“What?” Pierce asked.
Jamison’s eyes squeezed shut, and he gave a slight shake of his head. “We’ve got a real psycho out there right now,” he admitted. “What if …”
“Don’t go there,” Pierce said and noted, along with the thick tomes of case studies and statutes, the display of Jamison’s accomplishments. Multiple framed diplomas and awards hung on the wall behind him. Framed pictures of his daughters and wife sat on his desk near a military-service award.
He said, “No one has heard from her for a couple of days. No one met her yesterday. I thought she told me she was meeting friends. But who? Or was it all a lie? God, I don’t know!
” He rubbed his jaw in frustration. “And Roxanne hasn’t heard anything, either.
She even called her folks, just asking if they’d contacted Naomi.
” He shook his head. “Again: nothing. So now they’re probably worried sick, too.
” He sat down behind his desk, seemingly lost in thought for a minute.
Pierce waited.
“So I guess I’m giving you the green light.
” Jamison pulled his attention back to Pierce.
“I’ll tell the brass, then I’ll have to go to Charleston to pick up the girls.
” He winced at the thought. “I’ll probably work remotely as much as possible for the next couple of days or so.
If I can. It’s already a zoo around here, and this will only make it worse. ”
“Okay. I’m on it,” Pierce assured him and stood.
“Good.” He shook his head. “Somehow I have to hold it together. I have to. For the kids.” He let out a long breath and paused, seeming to fight some inner battle, as he stared down at the desk. Finally, he met Pierce’s gaze again. “But I am going out of my mind.”
Pierce wanted to say, “I imagine” or “I understand,” as he, too, had been in tight, worrisome situations with his wife.
Nikki had been missing in the past. He had feared for her life more times than he wanted to count, but telling Jamison that he understood what his friend was going through would only come out as a platitude.
“I really need your help on this one, Pierce.”
“I’ll do everything I can. But you will have to go through all the regular channels.”
“I know,” Jamison snapped, his calm finally breaking. He took a deep, measured breath and added, “Sorry. I’m … well, you know.”
Pierce nodded. “I’ll talk to Missing Persons and file a report.”
“For now, I’d still like to keep the press out of it as much as possible.”
“Publicity might help. Someone might have seen her, or her car. If we could get Naomi’s picture out there, with the help of the press, there’s a good chance we might find her faster.”
Jamison grimaced at the thought of the ensuing media circus and scandal, but he couldn’t deny the bald-faced truth. “Okay.” He thought a moment. “Just give me a couple of hours to get my kids before all of this breaks wide open.”
“You got it.”
Jamison’s phone rang. He looked at it and frowned. “I’ve got to take this,” he said, and with that, the meeting was over.
However, Pierce knew his nightmare was just beginning.
Nikki checked her phone for the millionth time.
Nothing.
Damn that Pierce.
Why wasn’t he responding?
She’d called him once, and his voice mail had answered.
She’d texted twice since Lily had stormed out and Kyle had left.
Still, no response.
He’d acted weird this morning after getting the phone call from Jamison and leaving for about an hour or so.
Secretive. Unlike him. And he’d been evasive when she’d tried to talk to him in the bathroom, which probably wasn’t the best idea.
Still, the fact that he wasn’t answering pissed her off.
Sure, he was a cop, a detective no less, and he had to keep things regarding his profession close to his vest, not do anything to compromise the investigation.
But she was his wife, and they had a deal, and now he wasn’t responding, so she had no option but to go around him.
So thinking, she fed the girls a quick lunch of grilled cheese, put Chloe down for a nap, then retreated to her den, where she put in a quick call to Jill at the station, but was forced to leave another voice mail.
She was being stonewalled.
Something important was up.
Had there been another murder?
Had the police and the FBI found a link between the victims?
Had the killer been identified?
A dozen questions chased after her, and she could get no answers.
In the late afternoon, the heat of the day lingering over the city, Nikki still had had no response from Pierce or anyone in the department.
She drove Phee to her lesson at the riding academy.
Maybe she could wangle some more information from Annabelle Van Camp.
It was a long shot, but Nikki decided it was worth a try.
Except today Annabelle wasn’t Phee’s instructor.
Instead, another twentysomething woman greeted Phee in the riding area that smelled of horses and dust. And the ceiling fans mounted high in the rafters were unable to cool the building on a day that promised an early summer.
With short, near-black hair, a smattering of freckles, and an effervescent smile, the replacement instructor introduced herself as Gia, then immediately went all googly-eyed over Chloe.
“You know, you’re never too young to ride.
I started when I was three.” She crouched down to Chloe’s level and added, “I bet you’d love to ride a pony, wouldn’t you? ”
“Yes!” Chloe declared. “Pony.”
“Maybe later, Chloe,” Nikki interjected swiftly, watching as Phee mounted a rangy palomino mare.
“So what happened to Annabelle?” Nikki asked Gia, who was adjusting the stirrups to fit Phee’s legs.
She shrugged. “I was just called in to sub for her at the last minute, and believe me, I take any chance I can get to work with kids. I think they can have a really special bond to the horses, you know?”
“Sure,” Nikki said, just to agree.
Gia patted the palomino fondly, then looked up at Phee and said, “Come on, let’s see what Daisy here can do.
Or what you can get her to do.” Clicking her tongue, Gia led the horse and rider to the dusty arena just as Nikki spied the same stern-faced woman she’d come across during Phee’s previous lesson.
She appeared as dour and taciturn as ever, her expression severe, her hair pulled back in that no-nonsense gray bun at her nape. Pinned to her shirt was a name tag that read simply: Miss Stacy. She sent Nikki a hard glare.
So she remembers me, too.
Great.
Oh, well.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Chloe was entertaining herself by feeding handfuls of straw through a wire enclosure, where a couple of pygmy goats were eagerly nibbling the bits offered.
Nikki turned her attention to Miss Stacy and extended her hand. “I’m Nikki Gillette, Ophelia’s aunt.”
“I remember you.” Miss Stacy’s eyes were positively glacial. Pointedly, she ignored Nikki’s outstretched arm.
So much for civility. “I’m looking for Annabelle.” She dropped her arm.
“She’s not here.”
“I see that. But she was supposed to give my niece a riding lesson.”
“I’m sure Gia can teach a beginner.” She gave a nod to the arena, where the dark-haired girl was offering advice and encouragement while Phee rode the big mare around the ring.
“Do you know why Annabelle didn’t come in today?”
The steely eyes moved over Nikki’s features with unconcealed disdain. “It’s company policy and my own personal code of ethics to never discuss the private lives of my staff.”
“It’s just that Ophelia has developed a personal relationship with Annabelle,” Nikki persisted.
“Has she?” Miss Stacy asked. “Hmm. Well, I’m sure she’ll do just fine with Gia.” She eyed Chloe, who was happily talking to the two little goats. “And, you should know, this is really no place for a toddler.”
“Really?” Nikki said, unable to hide her irritation. The woman was just plain rude. “Gia told me she took up riding when she was just three.”
“Not here, she didn’t.” With that, Miss Stacy stiffly headed up the short flight of stairs to the office.
Nikki was left doing a slow, steady burn. People in authority had tried to dominate her all of her life, but she wasn’t intimidated. You didn’t grow up as the offspring of Big Ron and Charlene Gillette without growing a backbone.
But for now, she backed off and tried to pay attention as Phee guided the horse around the arena, riding over low jumps and encouraging Daisy through multiple obstacles.
As she watched horse and rider, she kept an eye out for Annabelle, should she decide to show up, and also for Shana Kittle, whose lesson usually followed Phee’s.
But Annabelle was a no-show, and Shana, too, didn’t arrive.