She nodded. “When he went into the hospital last weekend, the doctors told us it was very unlikely he’d be coming out. My brothers and I took turns sitting with him so that he was never alone. He slept a lot, but there were a few times when he’d wake and want to talk.” She smiled at the memory. “He and I, we’ve always talked a lot, and when I became a lawyer, it seemed as if we talked more than ever. Every time I ran into a problem case, he was the first one I turned to. I can’t remember a time when he didn’t suggest something I hadn’t thought about.” She paused. “One night at the hospital, he wanted to talk about how work was going, and about any issues I might be having.
“I told him I did have one case that had reached a point where I didn’t know what to do next. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that could be fixed with a creative motion in court or a well-written letter on firm stationery. He said he wanted to hear about it anyway, so I told him. When I finished, I thought he’d fallen asleep, but apparently he was thinking. After a bit, he opened his eyes and said, ‘You need to talk to Harp.’”
As she said his name, Harp rubbed a self-conscious hand across his mouth.
Callie shifted her gaze to Logan. “That’s when he told me about what you did for that girl, that you’d gone clear to Asia to find her.”
“It wasn’t as big a deal as he probably made out,” Logan said.
Harp frowned. “Don’t listen to him. It was a big deal. If Logan hadn’t been there…” He shook his head.
Callie’s eyes were still on Logan. “I’ve come to a dead end. I’m hoping there might be something you could do.”
“I’m sure there is. We’d be happy to look into it, won’t we, Logan?” Harp said.
Logan adjusted himself in his chair. What he’d done for Harp’s friend Tooney, bringing the man’s granddaughter back, had happened because if he hadn’t done something, no one would have. He wasn’t so sure that was a good habit to get into. Then again, Callie was basically family. You didn’t turn your back on family.
“What exactly are you hoping I’ll do?” he asked.
“Find my client’s wife,” she said.
Her answer did nothing to dissipate his discomfort. “If you think I’m some kind of missing persons expert, you’re mistaken.”
“Technically, she’s not missing.”
“Technically?”
Callie took a moment to collect her thoughts, then said, “My client’s name is Alan Lindley. A month and a half ago, he and his wife Sara went to San Diego for a long weekend. On their last day, they decided to visit Tijuana. He says they had a wonderful time, but as they were headed back for the border, Sara realized she’d lost her passport and didn’t have any other ID. Alan crossed the border alone to get her driver’s license out of her luggage so they could get her a temporary passport, but when he got to the car, her things weren’t there. Only a note telling him she was gone.”
“Oh, that’s horrible,” Harp said.
“I’m sorry for your client, Callie, but people leave marriages all the time,” Logan said.
Harp shot him a look. “Logan, where’s your compassion?”
“I have compassion, Dad. But if this woman left, she must have had her reasons.”
“I’m not finished,” Callie said. “They went to San Diego because they were celebrating.”
“Wedding anniversary?” Harp asked.
Callie shook her head. “At the time, their first anniversary was still a month away. Sara came into the marriage with a daughter. Emily is two now. What Sara and Alan were celebrating was that his adoption of Emily had been finalized the week before.”
“She didn’t take the girl with her, did she?” Logan said.
“No, she didn’t.”
Logan shrugged. “I’m still not sure what I can-”
“Naturally, Alan was distraught,” Callie said, cutting him off. “He couldn’t understand why she’d left. By his account and others I’ve interviewed, they had a great marriage. He came to me because he wanted to find her, not to bring her back if she didn’t want to come back, but to find out why she left. I was thinking it was going to be mostly a divorce case. We have other lawyers in the firm who handle those, but since Alan was one of my personal business clients, I agreed to help track Sara down. I did the obvious thing-hired a detective to look into it.”
“So what did the detective find out?” Harp asked.
“Nothing.”
Logan nodded, expecting as much. “She probably stayed in Mexico. That would make it hard for her to be found.”
“No, you misunderstand me. He didn’t find
A thick silence descended on the table.
After several seconds, Logan said, “Maybe your detective didn’t know what he was doing.”
“I don’t waste my money,” Callie said, her tone serious. “I’ve used Joe Fulkerson dozens of times. He definitely knows what he’s doing. Alan’s wife has no history.”
Harp leaned forward. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe it was a scam,” Logan said. “Did she take any of his money, or something valuable?”
“No,” Callie said. “The only things missing were a few of her possessions and pictures.”
Logan’s brow furrowed. “Pictures?”
“That’s the last thing. When Alan got home, every picture in their house that Sara was in was gone. Even the digital shots on their computer had been permanently erased from the hard drive.”
“
“That’s not all. Out of all Alan’s friends and family, only his sister had a picture with Sara in it, and she was just in the background. Apparently, Sara was good at avoiding camera lenses.”
“But that’s…that’s crazy,” Harp said.
Callie simply shrugged.
“Have you gone to the authorities?” Harp asked.
“That’s…not an option,” she said.
Harp looked confused. “Why not?”
But Logan knew the answer. “Emily.”
Callie nodded. “Exactly.”
Harp was still lost. “Emily?”
“Sara’s been using a false identity,” Logan explained. “Which means the marriage, I’m pretty sure, is invalid.”
“It is,” Callie said.
“And if the marriage is invalid, then the adoption…”
Harp stared at Logan for a moment before it hit him. “Oh…oh, no.”
“If I were to get the authorities involved,” Callie said, “they’d have no choice but to take Emily away. I have a good friend in the FBI, but I don’t even dare ask her for advice. She’d ask me questions I couldn’t answer.” She looked at Logan again. “If this were a simple matter of a wife ditching her marriage, my dad would have never brought you up. But after what we’ve learned, both Alan and I are concerned that Sara is in trouble. If she is, Alan wants to help her, but he can’t if he can’t find her. That’s what I’m hoping you can do. Find her, see if she’s in trouble, then let me know.”
Logan looked down at his food. He still had four pieces of spicy tuna left, but he was no longer hungry. “I’m not sure what more I can do that you haven’t already done.”
“Maybe there is nothing,” she admitted. “But you’ll come at it with fresh eyes, and given what I heard happened in Thailand, from an angle that is less…rigid than mine.”
He glanced at his father, and could see that Harp was fully behind the idea. Helping Callie-and, through her, the memory of Len-was all the motivation his father needed. And if his father felt that way, could Logan really say no?
“I guess…I could at least talk to Alan. We can see where it goes from there.”
Callie reached out and put her hand over Logan’s. “Thank you.”
