“Any man who’d steal a child from her mother is a creep. I never liked him,” Jenny said scraping back her long hair. “Garnet’s so far out of his league. The mystery is why she married him in the first place. Tracy Williams and I were right to voice our objections to him at the custody hearing. Look what he did.”
“He had more decency than you and Tracy gave him credit for,” Molly ventured.
“So he phoned the preschool and told the secretary Sophie was okay. He still waited two days and notice he phoned before the police tapped the line.”
Molly tsked. “Jenny, that call kept Garnet from falling apart. I think she wishes she’d never asked for sole custody.”
“You haven’t seen Garnet cry her eyes out. She’ll never be her old self until Sophie’s back safe and Dale’s behind bars.”
Julian listened to the women sparring. He finally excused himself. “Ladies, I appreciate your insight. I guess I need to go read all the old articles,” he said, carefully keeping the reporter persona intact.
Jenny caught up with him as he approached his Jeep. “You can verify everything I said with Garnet. Sorry I didn’t think to mention it earlier, but a small group of us are going to the Silver Springs lounge to celebrate the end of school. I’ll introduce you two. Just remember, I saw you first.”
“All I’m after are some unbiased opinions.”
“Huh, you won’t find any friend of Garnet’s with an unbiased opinion.”
Julian offered a smile as he climbed into in his Jeep. He had, in fact, found two unbiased opinions. One belonged to Molly Eberhart, the other to John Carlyle. Tossing off a wave, Julian pulled out of his parking space. He spent the next hour at the library poring over old records. The story had been front-page news for months, then, as was typical, it tapered to nothing when leads fell off.
Julian shut down his laptop and thanked the archive specialist. He dropped his stuff at the motel. Then, because Larry Adams had left a message to meet him at a nearby pub, Julian dashed out again.
Lingering in the doorway of the smoky, noisy bar, Julian let his eyes adjust while trying to pinpoint the cop he’d met only twice before.
Larry recognized him, came over and slapped him on the shoulder.
“Wow, I’d never have known you if I’d bumped into you on the street,” Julian said.
“That’s the point of an undercover disguise,” Larry said, leading Julian to a booth at the back of the pub where two beers sat in sweaty mugs. He slid in first, and Julian took the opposite bench. “What’s up in Atlanta? Are they fresh out of crime? With your workaholic reputation, I never expected you to make it to my neck of the woods.”
Taking a swig of cold beer, Julian shrugged. “It’s my reward for finally nailing a sleazebag who terrorized women in one of our burbs for over four months.” He went on to describe the case in more detail.
Larry spun his mug, staring at the wet rings it left on the tabletop. “I’m glad I work Narc now. I had to get out of Violent Crimes. How’d you keep from plugging a guy like that and claiming he tried to escape? We had one recently who walked on a technicality.”
“It happens. My partner’s a twenty-year man who lost his oldest daughter to a repeat offender. He and I go the extra mile to make sure our collars are by-the-book so our evidence holds up.”
“That’s good. Alaska courts have been known to accept that our citizens are entitled to a wild and woolly lifestyle. Or maybe we attract more than our share of renegades and malcontents.” The topic trailed off as Larry perused a worn menu.
As Julian picked up his own, he considered asking Larry if he knew anything about the Patton kidnapping. It’d help to get a professional opinion on whether Dale Patton was one of the malcontents or renegades. But he’d already risked too much nosing into a case that wasn’t his. And unless his father’s hunch was correct, the case would never be under his jurisdiction. Taking another slug of beer, Julian decided against involving a casual friend.
ALTHOUGH SHE’D NEVER stopped grieving the loss of her missing child, Garnet Patton didn’t live in a fog. She’d seen the good-looking, dark-haired stranger hanging around outside her school. Strangers on campus often meant drug deals. Yesterday, when she saw him speak to some of her better students, her antennae had shot up. She hadn’t seen anything change hands and he hadn’t stuck around, so she felt all right about driving away. In class today she’d asked the students. They said the guy was a reporter.
She was surprised to hear from neighbors that a similar man had questioned them about her. Anna Winkleman from across the hall also said he was a reporter. He’d gotten nowhere with Hazel Webber.
So, who was he and what was really going on? It was definitely strange, but at least no one found him threatening. Which was why she didn’t totally freak out when her best friend, Jenny Hoffman, phoned and announced that very same guy had returned to campus and questioned her and Molly Eberhart. “I think it’s funny he hasn’t talked to you, Garnet. He said he’s a reporter, but Molly thinks he’s a cop or maybe FBI. That’s pure speculation, though.”
A ripple of hope ran through Garnet, which she quickly reined in. “Why do you suppose he didn’t come to me instead of poking about? If someone new has been assigned to Sophie’s case I would’ve expected Sergeant Savage to tell me.”
“Gary Savage is an arrogant SOB, Garnet. It would kill him to share a case.”
Garnet was used to Jenny’s dismissing the sergeant. “Hmm. And why would the department let a new man go over old ground?”
“The new guy is so hot, whoever he is. Very yummy! By the way, I invited him to come by the Silver Springs tomorrow after school.”
Garnet’s heart sped up. “He’s coming?”
“He didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no, either. I’m giving fair warning. If he shows up I have dibs on him.”
“Jenny! If he’s reopening my case, don’t distract him. Oh, but…I’m getting way ahead of myself. Could they have a lead on Dale? Gary told me months ago that all the tips had dried up. I wonder…”
“Don’t. Guessing doesn’t get you anywhere. Isn’t that what we tell our students? I’d hate to see you get your hopes up, Garnet. What if he really is a reporter?”
“I can’t help myself. Sophie should start first grade in September. From the day she was born I imagined how we’d mark each milestone in her life. Like starting school, going on her first date, graduating and…” Garnet’s voice broke.
“Don’t torture yourself, Garnet. Anyway, I have to go—I’ve got a date in fifteen minutes with Steve the Stud.”
“On a school night?” Garnet dragged her thoughts back to her friend. “Are you and Steve getting serious?”
“Are you kidding? I can’t get serious about a man whose ego is bigger than his IQ. And before you say Jenny in that shocked tone, let me say Steve knows the score. I love having a man around. That’s why I hit on the new guy. Would you believe it, Garnet? Neither Molly nor I got his name. Mr. Yummy has that lean, hungry look that appeals to my baser instincts. I suppose it’s too much to hope he’s more intelligent than most of the men we meet.”
“Jenny, you are so bad. Steve’s no dummy. If you’re going to date him, you should give him a little respect. It takes skill to be a good plumber.”
“Mama and Daddy wouldn’t let him past their front door.” Jenny sighed.