She remembered Jamie had walked home from school that day when she first went to Abby’s house. She drove in circles around blocks and found the school. She drove around the playground several times. Angry one minute and worried the next. Looking for a tricky little ten-year-old on a bicycle. When found, would she yell at her or hug her?
She expanded her search into the surrounding area. Driving slowing through neighborhoods, around blocks. Driving and looking. Now far from Jamie’s neighborhood. She pulled to the curb, leaned back against the head restraint, and closed her eyes thinking. Jamie might have thought that if she wasn’t permitted to go with Sandy, she’d leave Izzy’s house on her own and meet Sandy somewhere. After all, hadn’t she told Jamie to trust her? Izzy’s mother had it right; Sandy was butting in and causing trouble.
She needed help. Help from Abby or help from Izzy as to where Jamie might go. Neither would likely talk with her. But they’d have to talk with the police, wouldn’t they? She found Detective Triney’s card, phoned, and explained the situation.
“So, how long has the child been missing?”
She checked her watch. “Over an hour.” As soon as she said it, she realized how ridiculous she sounded.
“That long huh? And riding around on her bike as well? You know what I’m going to say.”
“You’re right. I just thought you could force everyone to help me. I thought you could wave your hand and make everything right again. Thanks anyway.”
She hung up, hit Dial #1, and explained it all to Chip.
“You know I’m a city cop. I can’t mess with county stuff,” he said. “Look, I’m not off until late afternoon. I’ll call you then. Meanwhile, you calm down. If she’s still missing, I’ll go out there and try to stir up things.”
He was right, she wasn’t thinking clearly. She was overreacting. The youngster had probably been riding around and was back home by now. If not, Sandy would tear down her door and choke that conniving Abby until she cooperated.
Sandy headed back toward Abby’s house. She drove slowly. Just past the school, alongside an overgrown vacant lot, her eye caught on something shiny glinting in the sun, reflecting red. Something under a ficus hedge. She braked abruptly and stopped in the middle of the street. She jumped out leaving the car door swinging.
Even before she ran up to it, she knew it was a girl’s bicycle thrown under the bushes. Her own words crashed back into her mind:
Chapter Nine
Sandy stepped carefully backwards away from the bicycle. She stood staring at it from the sidewalk while she phoned Triney again. “Now don’t give me any of that wait twenty-four hours crap. I found her abandoned bicycle in the bushes. I just phoned her mother and she cut me off short. So, then I phoned Izzy’s mother. She gave me a description of what Jamie was wearing and described Jamie’s bike perfectly. Blue with a bent basket and one handle grip missing, red reflectors front and back. That’s what I found, Triney. Someone has grabbed her. Isn’t that enough?”
“We’re a long way from kidnapping here. Kids under twelve are usually right around the house or out playing. Was she kidnapped or merely missing? Did someone see her being carried away?”
“I don’t have a ransom note in my hand if that’s what you’re asking. But she’s not out playing somewhere. She told her girlfriend she was going out to find me.”
“And you jumped to the kidnapping conclusion. Look, believe me it’d be different if she left home for school and never arrived. That’s very scary and we jump right on those cases. But you’re talking about a kid out playing who hasn’t come home.”
“Look, Abby and Toby were obviously involved in something. I’m willing to believe it wasn’t child porn. But Jamie’s a bright kid and she knows something wrong is going on in that house. She might have thought up the porn angle to get back at her mother. But I’m betting she’s being straight with me, and is just somehow mistaken about the actual situation. It’s something serious enough to make Abby want Toby dead and want me involved as her witness. This morning I was willing to drop it and butt out.”
“Good idea,” he offered.
“Later, Jamie turns up missing—too much of a coincidence. I’m convinced something criminal is going on.”
“Okay, seeing as we had that shooting last night, I guess I can break procedures somewhat. I’ll send a deputy over to the house. He can write up a report and help the mother search the place.”
“What do you mean? He’s going to look under the bed?”
“You’re damn right. As a first step, he’ll conduct a complete search of the house. Including under the beds, in closets, and in the garage.”
“Can you send Detective Pomar?”
“Pomar is suspended from duty pending an investigation into why the two of you were outside Abby Olin’s house last night.”
“Oh God, I’m sorry about that. So you’ll send a deputy to the house. You’re talking minutes here, not hours, right?”
“It’ll take time. If he doesn’t find the girl at home, then the deputy will call his supervisor for instructions. Next step would be to check with friends, neighbors, relatives, acquaintances, playmates, classmates. It’s going to take time. I’m telling you, ninety-nine times out of a hundred someone knows or has a good idea why a child is missing.”
“One super-cop is going to do all this?”
“Well, that’s how we’ll start.”
“You’ve got it wrong. You don’t need cops over there at the house. They should be over here where her bike was found.”
“I don’t think we can do that.”
“For chrissake, the crime scene is over here! I just know it is. I’m not leaving this spot until someone intelligent—wearing plain clothes—gets here. He better be an experienced detective and CSI better be right behind him.”
“Sandy, be reasonable.”
“Okay, I’ll be reasonable. I really hate to threaten you, but I’ll give you only one hour to get a crew over here canvassing this neighborhood and securing this crime scene. You need to find someone who saw a man leading away a little girl and putting her in a car. You must do this immediately. One hour, then I phone the newspaper and a TV reporter.”
“Oh, Christ. Where are you? I’ll come over myself. Am I intelligent enough for you?”
“You’ll do fine. Now how do I start an Amber Alert?”
“You’re not going to get one. They use Amber Alert usually when a car is involved. So with no evidence of a car being involved I doubt if they’d do it this early.”
“Sure, no car was involved. He tossed her over his shoulder and sauntered down the sidewalk with her kicking and screaming. We’ll talk when you get here.” She snapped her phone shut.
She was still pumped and couldn’t just stand there doing nothing. She phoned Chip and told him what happened. Could the city police do anything?
“Slow down, you’re talking too fast.”
She went on to explain about finding the bike and phoning Triney.
Chip said, “I hear someone honking their horn. What’s going on over there?”
“Oh, that’s because my car is blocking traffic. I’m trying to protect this crime scene. I don’t want cars up along the curb where the perp must have parked when he grabbed her. So everyone has to detour around. Abby said something strange when I phoned her a few minutes ago to ask if Jamie had returned home. Before she hung up on me, she said at least we know Toby doesn’t have her. In other words, if she hadn’t shot him, she’d suspect him of the kidnapping.”
“I guess you don’t know, Sandy. They identified the man Abby shot and killed last night and it wasn’t somebody named Toby.”
