Chapter Seventeen
Atticus glanced at his phone when it buzzed. It was a text from Becs.
??? I’ll get back to you. Meredith and Decker went nuts when they saw the photo.
He read the message out loud to Archer.
“Wonder why?”
“Maybe he knows we got it from the trailer.” That was the only logical conclusion Atticus could come up with. If Cicily Rose was their daughter, there would be no reason to get upset about it. Unless, for some reason, no one was supposed to know about her.
“Yeah, maybe. We need to do some background on her,” Archer suggested. “See if we can find out where she is.”
“I asked Becs to do that, but it sounds like she’s busy.”
“What about Charlie?”
“She took on looking into Allison. She texted about an hour ago, said she was following a lead on her location.”
“That sounds promising.”
Atticus had thought so, too. He wasn’t sure what information Allison could provide, but she was tied into this somehow. Considering they’d determined Calloway was blackmailing her, there was a good chance she wouldn’t tell them anything.
“At the very least, we’ll know where she’s at. Anything from Brantley or Reese yet?”
“Nope.”
“Well, it is Sunday. I’m not sure there’s a lot going on at the FBI office.”
Yeah, Atticus had thought of that already. They’d come up on a weekend expecting to nail down leads without much to go on. Besides what they’d found at Decker’s trailer, they weren’t getting very far.
“You hungry?” Archer asked.
“Yeah. Sure. What sounds good?”
“You like Mexican food?”
“It’s one of the main food groups, right?”
Archer chuckled. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
Doing his best to ignore the way those words made him feel, Atticus grinned. “You have a place in mind?”
“Actually, I do.”
A couple of minutes later, after Archer had entered the information into his phone’s navigation, they were following the instructions to a place Archer said would knock his socks off. Atticus wasn’t sure about all that, but he figured it beat fast food burgers and fries.
Nearly an hour later, they’d all but licked their plates clean and were getting ready to pay the bill when Charlie called.
“Hey,” Atticus greeted, putting his finger in his right ear to block out the noise. “Hold on just a sec. I can’t hear.”
“I’ll take care of this,” Archer said. “Meet you outside.”
Nodding, Atticus headed for the door. When he stepped outside, the din of conversation subsided, replaced by the beep of a horn, the gunning of an engine, and the occasional shout from nearby. Typical Sunday in downtown, he figured.
“What’s up?” he asked Charlie as he stepped away from the restaurant door.
“I found her,” she said, sounding excited.
“Do you have eyes on her?”
“No. Sorry. I … uh … I’m at home with my mother. But I was able to track one of her credit cards. She’s here.”
“Here as in…?”
“The Austin area. South, to be exact.”
“How far south?”
“I don’t have it nailed down just yet, but she’s used her credit card at a couple of places in Johnson City and at another in Dripping Springs. I’m not familiar with those areas, but I can tell you they aren’t too far apart on the map.”
“Can you tell what’s down there?”
“I’m guessing a member of Censorious. I was looking at the spreadsheet Simon started this morning, and he shows one of the members lives in Blanco. Maybe she was hanging out down there.”
Maybe.
“Can you tell when she was in Coyote Ridge last?”
“She doesn’t have any charges here or close to here that I can tell. If she’s been in town, she’s payin’ cash or not spending anything. I’m gonna see if I can get her cell phone pings next.”
So she wasn’t keeping an eye out for Meredith? Was someone else? Were they even worried about Meredith anymore? It had been nearly two years since Kylie died. What would make them think she’d come back now?
“Atticus?”
“You happen to get any information on her parents? I was hopin’ we could chat with them while we’re up here.”
“From what I can tell, her mother moved to Arkansas a couple of years ago. And her dad … he’s in prison.”
“Prison?” How the hell had he missed that during their initial search?
“Yep. Armed robbery.”
Sounded like a great guy.
“If you track Allison down, do you think you could trail her for a bit?”
“I wish I could,” she said, sounding sincere. “I need to stay here with my mom.”
Atticus knew Charlie’s mother suffered from dementia and they’d had problems with her wandering off.
“Understood. I’ll give Slade a call,” he told her. “See if he can spare some time.”
“I’ll send you the stores where she used her card. If I can shuffle some stuff, I’ll let you know.”
“No worries. Thanks, Charlie.”
As soon as the call ended, he dialed Slade’s number. He was surprised when the man answered. He thought for sure he was going to be ignored.
“Hey. Any chance you can follow up on a lead for me?”
“What lead?”
“Allison Bogart. Charlie was able to track her down. I’d like to get eyes on her.”
“Sorry. No can do.”
“Why not?”
“I’m busy. You know. Doin’ my job.”
Frowning, Atticus tried to rein in his temper. “This case takes precedence.”
“And you’ve got the whole team at your beck and call. Everyone but me. Sorry. I’m workin’ with Luca.”
Atticus was about to argue when Archer stepped out of the restaurant. Not wanting his partner to hear him go off on Slade, he decided to let it go.
“I’ll find someone else. Thanks.”
He didn’t wait for Slade to say anything before disconnecting.
Archer eyed him cautiously as he approached. “What’s goin’ on?”
Atticus relayed the information Charlie had given him, explaining that she wasn’t able to follow up, and neither could Slade.
“What about Evan?”
“I’m gonna try him next.”
“You care if I drive?” Archer asked.
Atticus palmed his keys, considering it. “Sure. Why the hell not?”
He tossed the keys to Archer as they made their way down the sidewalk toward the lot they’d parked in a couple of blocks over.
By the time they got to the truck, he’d gotten a response from Evan letting him know that he and Becs would be glad to assist as soon as they were finished talking to Meredith and Decker.
“Hopefully they’ll find her and get her to talk.” Archer moved the seat back to accommodate his long legs. “And if not, we could always check out early, head back down, follow her ourselves.”
Yes, they could. They were in charge of the case, and since Brantley and Reese were currently tasked with finding and following Martin Calloway, there wasn’t much for them to do in the area.
Since their options were extremely limited, Atticus said, “Let’s go back to the hotel, review what we’ve got, and figure out a plan of action.”
“Sounds good to me.”
As Archer drove, Atticus stared out the window and thought about Slade. More specifically, his lack of respect when it came to his authority on this case. It shouldn’t matter that they were sharing a bed on occasion; Atticus deserved more than to be dismissed because Slade was in a mood.
Then again, did he expect anything less?
Becs had been surprised when Evan called that morning, asking if she would accompany him into the field.
They hadn’t talked much lately. Not unless it pertained to work.
As his analyst, she did her best to accommodate his needs while being mindful that her personal feelings for him had no bearing on her ability to work with him.
She had to give herself credit. She was doing well to pretend she didn’t have a dull ache in her chest where he was concerned.
It was completely inappropriate for her to have fallen for him, but there was no denying it had happened.
At the same time, she wasn’t willing to sacrifice her own needs for a fling, so she was keeping her distance even though it was killing her to do so.
She listened while Evan and Meredith exchanged questions and answers.
Although they hadn’t gotten a straight answer about the photo Atticus had sent, Evan was chipping away at Meredith slowly.
They now knew that she had left her husband and daughters because of Martin Calloway.
According to her, he had threatened to tell her husband about her affair with her student, and she did not want to hurt him like that. It had been her only option.
Only problem was, she was lying.
Becs didn’t know how she knew that, but she did.
What she didn’t know was how to get Meredith to open up and tell the truth. It was the only way they could help. Not knowing Calloway’s motivation where Meredith was concerned kept them at a disadvantage.
“I told you, I don’t know,” Meredith repeated, sounding irritated.
Becs reached over and touched Evan’s arm. She felt his muscle tense beneath her fingertips, but he didn’t jerk his arm away.
“I think we should come back later,” she suggested. “Give Meredith some time to process. Maybe she can come up with more once she does.”
Evan’s dark brown eyes lacked sympathy, but he nodded. “Fine.” He looked at Meredith. “You two should get some food. We’ll check back in a couple of hours.”
“That would be good,” Meredith said, her arms wrapped around her middle as though she was holding herself together.
Becs got to her feet, grabbing her phone from the table. When Evan opened the door, he stepped back so she could walk out first. The brilliant sunshine hit her like a spotlight.
“Wow. Was that room really that dark?” she asked, shielding her eyes with her hand.
“It was.”
She needed to invest in some sunglasses.
“Where to?” Evan asked when he got in the car.
“Atticus sent the addresses Charlie gave him for Allison. Said one’s a gas station, another’s a hotel, I think.” She tapped her phone, pulling up his last message. “It’s worth a trip to see if we can catch up to her.”
Evan didn’t say anything, just started the car.