Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Amanda stared out the passenger window, letting her eyes lose focus and the outside world morph into a blur of colors.
Before leaving, Rideout confirmed that Paul’s cell phone was not recovered from his remains.
That meant it was quite possible that the device was ditched in the countryside.
It wasn’t worth the investment in manpower to instigate a search for it when they already had the records from the carrier.
But there was far more weighing on her mind.
McGee. “I’m not looking forward to this conversation,” she said to Trent. “We should have seen him before now.”
“When, exactly? We’ve been on our feet trying to figure out this mess and bring Valerie and Brooke home safe. And Paul was his brother-in-law.”
“I know. It’s just, in his place…”
“In the perfect world.” Trent pulled into McGee’s driveway.
“It’s nice of you to do this, Trent.”
“Well, I could tell you were going to do it alone, if I didn’t tag along.”
We’re a team… That’s what he’d said before. “Thanks all the same.”
“You’re welcome.” He turned to her before getting out of the car.
“So I’ve been thinking about how they disposed of Paul’s body, how they didn’t place it far from the road.
Did they want him found sooner than later?
Or was there more to it? A message to let law enforcement know what they are capable of if we don’t leave them alone? ”
Amanda was often fascinated by how Trent’s mind worked.
He helped the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit with a serial rape and murder case once, and he thought like a Fed sometimes.
Murder investigations were often blown up into grand conspiracies pulled off by criminals with god complexes and elaborate agendas.
But what if he was onto something? The level of violence suggested someone without a conscience.
“I feel sorry for them if they think threats will stop me.”
“Stop us. No way am I quitting. We’re going to save Valerie and Brooke.”
“I love the attitude.”
He smiled at her. “It’s that or roll over and give up, and that’s not in my nature.”
That’s just one of the many things I love about you…
Her cheeks heated. That I appreciate platonically…
But how long could that last? She pushed the traitorous thought aside.
To fantasize about pursuing anything romantic with Trent would only set her up for soul-crushing disappointment.
As long as they were partners on the job, as long as he was with Kelsey and she was with Carter, nothing could happen.
Nothing would happen. He was an honest and loyal person. Yet more admirable qualities…
Trent got out of the car, and she followed his lead up Lloyd’s walkway.
He was standing in the open doorway by the time they got there. He was leaning against the doorframe with a rocks glass in his hand. “Were you even going to bother to call me? I had to find out from my in-laws.”
She recoiled at his sharp tone, and his hurtful implication that she’d wronged him on purpose. “They were next of kin.”
“Were you ever going to get around to talking to me about this?”
“We should probably continue this conversation inside,” Trent said.
Lloyd looked at him, at Amanda, and backed up.
The place smelled like a whiskey distillery, and she suspected it was the booze oozing out of Lloyd’s pores. He led them to the living room and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from a coffee table. It was already two-thirds gone, and he topped up his glass with more.
“How about you slow it down a bit?” Trent said.
“How about you do you, and I’ll do me?” Lloyd tipped back his glass and drained some of the amber liquid before dropping onto the couch.
Amanda and Trent sat down, facing their fellow detective.
“We can appreciate that hearing the news about your brother-in-law and his family must be upsetting,” Amanda began.
“Upsetting? That doesn’t begin to describe what I’m going through. Don’t you find it unlikely that two siblings meet with a dark fate and it isn’t connected?”
Amanda couldn’t deny the odds were against it. But what if his wife hadn’t been taken at all but had left him?
“I’m going to tell you—” He swigged back more booze. “Whoever took Abigail, killed Paul, and they have Val and Brooke now. They are alive, right?”
“We assume so. We’re looking for them, Lloyd. But how could you know the same person is behind all of this?” It was easier to run on the assumption Abigail was taken. As for the same players being involved, there was nothing to lead them there.
“Cop instinct. A husband’s intuition. My wife isn’t dead, Amanda. I feel her in my heart every day. I can still feel her touch, hear her voice.” He held up a hand. “And, yes, I know how crazy that sounds.”
“I’m so sorry for what you’re going through, Lloyd, but nothing in the investigation has led us to believe this involves Abigail at all.” She was doing him a favor by getting out in front of this before the conversation spiraled out of control.
“Then you need to look harder.”
“Can you tell us more about what happened around the time Abigail disappeared?” It wouldn’t hurt to hear him out, and keeping an open mind in any investigation was crucial.
“Taken. Abigail didn’t leave me of her own free will. Someone took her. Just like someone took her brother’s family.”
“You said she would never leave you, but what evidence supported that someone took her?” Trent asked.
A long, drawn-out silence, then, “Nothing, but I’m not losing my touch on reality. It was like she had just disappeared from the face of the Earth. I came home from work and she was gone, just like that.”
Amanda and Trent shared a look.
“Hey, all that means is a professional criminal took her.”
Amanda could only imagine how difficult it would be in Lloyd’s position. Not knowing the fate of his wife, living without closure for all these years. “So there were no suspects or leads to follow?”
“Nope.” He popped the p. “But I’m telling you… I thought something was hinky when Abby disappeared, but now her brother is murdered, his family taken? There’s no way all of this isn’t connected.”
Amanda understood why McGee wanted to assign meaning to what was happening, if only to resolve a nightmare he’d been living with for the past eight years.
But none of what he said held up to their findings.
Or does it? If Abigail was still alive, as Lloyd felt, was it possible Abigail was on the other end of the many burner phones in contact with Valerie?
But if it was her, why just start communicating in the last year, and why didn’t she come home to her husband?
And whether she was dead or alive, what bearing could it have on what happened to Paul, or to Valerie and Brooke?
“All I can promise you is we’re doing everything in our power to find out who killed Paul and get Valerie and Brooke back safely.
If it turns out to be the same person was responsible for Abigail’s disappearance, then, well, we’ll have them too. ”
“I want to help.”
“No, that’s not going to happen.” From Amanda’s perspective, McGee’s involvement in the investigation wasn’t even up for discussion. She knew she could count on Malone backing her up on that.
“This is my family we’re talking about.”
“Exactly what makes you too close to this,” she said firmly.
“I think it’s time for you to leave.” Lloyd pointed toward the door.
“We’ll go, but just promise me you’ll stay out of it and trust us to do our jobs,” she said to him.
“Fine.” Lloyd drank more of his whiskey, and Amanda and Trent left.
Back in the car, she looked over at Trent. “He didn’t exactly promise anything.”
“Nope. But what if Lloyd has a point? What if his wife was taken, and the same people are behind abducting the Archer family?” Trent turned down the street toward Central.
“I concur the chances are slim that two siblings run into trouble like this, but years have passed between the two incidents. And you must admit that Abigail is more than likely long dead.” If she was taken…
“True enough, and without knowing more, there’s nothing to suggest her disappearance has any bearing on the Archers’ abductions. Unless…” Trent looked over at her. “Could Abigail be behind the calls from the burner phones?”
“I admit that the thought occurred to me, but we can’t waste time and effort on a hypothetical. There is nothing to support that. The most important thing right now is finding Valerie and Brooke. We do that, we bring Paul’s killer to justice too.”
“I get it, and you’re right. Do you think we need to be concerned about McGee?”
“Who knows? Time will tell if he’s going to be a pain in the ass. Not that I could blame him if he becomes one. He wants answers.”
“Which is what I’m afraid of. He could jeopardize the investigation.”
“Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s see how everything plays out.”
“Again, you’re right.”
“A girl could get used to being told that. Twice in less than two minutes. It’s going to go straight to my head.” She smiled at him, but the sound of her phone ringing killed the expression. She answered without consulting caller ID.
“It’s Traci, Officer Cochran.”
“Yes, Traci?” She put the call on speaker.
“There’s been a hit on the BOLO for Paul Archer’s car.”
She glanced at Trent, and he nodded.
To Traci, Amanda said, “Tell us where, and we’ll be right there.”