“Off the computer.” She swallowed and avoided looking him in the eye. “I’m not proud of what I did, but…” His sister struggled to find the words. “I put software on her computer, to spy on her activity. I used it the last time, but I swear to God I had no intention of—”
“No one’s judging you here, sis. You and Nikki have history. I’m not gonna pretend to know what it’s been like.”
“I thought I could trust her again. I wanted to. God, I didn’t think I had to keep doing this.”
His sister was pale, the skin of her face a ghastly gray.
“Nikki did this on purpose, to shut me out.” Susannah collapsed onto her daughter’s bed. “I should’ve taken the computer away for good, but I was afraid.” A strange amusement drove harsh laughter from deep in her chest, a nervous outburst that sounded out of place. “Afraid I’d make things worse. Can you believe that?”
Her eyes filled.
“I was just trying to establish boundaries for her. I thought I was doing the right thing. If this ends up being my fault, I won’t…I just can’t…”
His sister grabbed for her daughter’s pillow and clutched it to her face, breathing in the scent of her only child. It broke Payton’s heart. He reached out a hand and stroked her head. Nothing he could say would help, but he had to do something.
“We need a recent picture of Nikki.” When she looked up at him through dazed eyes, he said, “So we can make flyers to post around town. We’re not gonna leave Nikki in the hands of the local law without helping all we can.”
Not waiting for her permission, Payton looked around the room and found a picture of his niece. Smiling, the young girl looked so much like her mother, but something in the eyes hinted of Nikki’s father, a guy Payton knew nothing about. Susannah had her only child without the dubious benefit of marriage, and she’d never confided the sperm donor’s name.
It reminded Payton of the troubled times following the gaping wound caused by the tragedy of their parents, when his already fragile link to his sister nearly swirled down the drain too. The memories came at him in a rush, like a blitz he never saw coming. At the time, he had put his life on hold and took control, helping Susannah deal with the unexpected pregnancy. All this came on the heels of pro football scouts courting him. The added pressure, coupled with the instantaneous celebrity, had not been a good mix. He knew that now, but back then he thought he was bullet-proof. Mr. Teflon.
He stuffed Nikki’s photo into his shirt pocket, but an empty frame on the desk by the computer caught his eye.
“What was in this frame?” He held it up, showing it to his sister. “Didn’t she used to have—”
“The photo of her thirteenth birthday, yes.” Susannah reached for the frame with trembling fingers, using both hands to hold something precious to her. “I remember.”
“Maybe she took it with her, sis. That’s got to mean something, right?” Payton sat beside her on the bed, putting his arm around her shoulders again. The unexpected glimmer of hope bolstered his spirits too. Nikki hadn’t completely severed the link with her mother.
“Tell me what happened with the state troopers.”
“One of them came here, took a report and a photo of Nikki. He also took something of hers for fingerprinting and asked about dental records. Said they’d post her picture on the Internet and get the word out through some kind of database clearinghouse for bulletins.”
He knew the trooper’s request meant something more. Dental records and fingerprints were used to identify a body, if it came to that. The gravity of their situation hit him hard. And by the look on his sister’s face, she knew it too.
“Before, you said they were handling this like a missing person case. Why aren’t they treating it like an AMBER Alert?” Payton asked.
Joe stepped in, to save Susannah from having to explain something she probably didn’t fully comprehend in her condition.
“Nikki has a history of running away,” he said. “And she left a note and took clothes. Not good. If they don’t have evidence of an outright abduction, they make a judgment call to treat this like a missing person case.” Joe set his jaw and fixed his gaze on Payton. “Plus, she’s seventeen. Different jurisdictions have lower age restrictions. It varies state-to-state.”
“What difference does that make?” Payton asked.
“An alert may not get transmitted across every state line.” Joe crossed his arms, a pained expression on his face. “They make rules about AMBER Alerts for a reason. Overuse of the system would undermine its effectiveness. I know it’s hard to understand, but—”
“No, I tell you what’s hard to understand, Joe.” Susannah’s face had turned bright red. She pointed a finger at the former lawman, aiming all her anger and frustration. In the quiet room, her raised voice shocked him. “The law is supposed to help. My little girl is out there somewhere with a stranger. For all we know, it could be a sexual predator. And no one is lifting a finger.”
His sister had made the leap toward blaming someone else, a convenient lifeline in a raging sea of desperation.
“Susannah, Joe is only trying to help,” Payton whispered, and stroked her hair. When she settled down, he kissed the top of her head and pulled her to him. “We’re gonna find her, but we need your help too.”
He glanced up at Joe.
“Joe and me, we’re gonna get answers from the state troopers’ office. Then we’re gonna plaster this town with posters, even into Anchorage. But I need you sober, sis. Joe made coffee. Use it. If Nikki calls and wants to come home, I want you to contact me on my cell.”
“You think…?” She looked up at him. The fragile hope glistening in her eyes wrenched his heart. “Please find her, Payton. All I want is one more chance to make it right. Please.”
“We’re gonna find her. I promise you’ll get that chance, Susannah.”
He had no business making that promise, not with his track record, but his heart pulled rank over his good sense. When he stood and caught the eye of Joe Tanu, the harsh reality of their undertaking took hold, and his belly churned hot with the prospect of another failure. But he didn’t see the sense in shoving his sister off the same cliff. For now, he had no qualms with letting her believe he could do it.
“You comin’, Joe?”
His friend lifted a corner of his mouth—his version of a smile—and handed him the pages of Nikki’s code.
“Just try and stop me.”
Payton stuffed the computer printouts in a pocket of his flannel shirt and headed for the front door, but by the time he got there, the phone rang. He stopped dead in his tracks, and for a split second stared at Joe and his sister. It didn’t take long for him to jump to some pretty dark conclusions. He knew this call could change everything.
For the mother of a missing child, every phone call could bring life or death. His sister raced to the phone after the initial shock wore off.
“Hello.” Susannah held the phone tight, her knuckles white with the strain. She shut her eyes tight—to block out the rest of the world—and fresh tears squeezed onto her cheeks. After listening for a long moment, she fixed her eyes on Payton and shook her head.
He stepped closer, feeling the weight of Joe by his side. Payton reached for his sister’s hand and locked his fingers in hers.
“Can I put you on speaker, Trooper Fitzgerald?” she asked, her voice trembling. “I’ve got my brother and Joe Tanu here. I need them to hear this too.”
By the look on his sister’s face, Payton wasn’t sure what to expect.
CHAPTER 6
Susannah punched a button on her phone and spoke again.
“Go ahead. You’re on speaker.” She wiped the tears from her face with both hands and took a ragged breath.
Payton recognized Dan Fitzgerald’s voice when he came on the line.
