Amy smiled. “I know Burt very well, and I have every faith that we will be very happy for the rest of our lives. More coffee?”
“Yes.”
Amy refilled the cup.
“So, how is Susan’s husband holding up?”
“He’s out of his mind with fear of what might be happening to his son while the police are playing around.”
Amy set her cup down on the coffee table with a sharpness that made Stephanie jump.
“I have sympathy for what you’re going through, but I will not sit here in our home and have you bad mouth my fiancé and the Key West Police Department. Do you not have a shred of sympathy for what Burt is going through?”
Stephanie threw Amy a horrified look.
“Ha. He had no feelings or sympathy for what Susan and I went through when he left.”
“He paid you child support until she was eighteen. I know that for a fact. I really would like you to leave when you finish your coffee. If you have nothing that might help Burt or the police find those children, then I would suggest that you just let them do what they do best. That’s finding her killer and the children.”
Stephanie set down her cup, stood, and marched to the door. “Tell Burt I was here.”
Amy smiled. “Come back when you cool down. Maybe we can put our heads together and see if there is any way to help find the children.”
Stephanie glared at Amy and walked through the door that Amy held open. She closed the door and leaned against it. Dear God. She needs help.
* * *
Alex always carried an overnight bag in his car. It was part of his habit from his days as a fugitive recovery agent. He never knew when he would be directed to some distant place with no time to pack a bag before he left on the trail of those who did not want to be found. He drove directly to the airport where he got a ticket to Miami that was scheduled to leave in thirty minutes. He checked his bag with his gun in it, walked through the security gate and over to the deli to order a drink and then settled into a chair. Thirty minutes later he was walking out to the airplane. In another thirty he would be in Miami.
Pulling out his information notebook he double-checked Susan Abbott’s address. He was planning to go directly to her house and look for address books, letters, bank statements, whatever might give him a sense of why she would go to Key West with the kids.
The flight was a few minutes early getting into the Miami airport. He picked up his bag, headed for the car rental office, and pulled out his credit card. “I just need it until morning.”
He picked out a small compact gray Toyota and put the address into the lady of the dash to direct him to Abbott’s house.
“Good, it’s not too far away.” The house was in an older residential area with a yard slightly overgrown with plants and flowers that showed a lack of effort on the landscaping tasks. There was a small garage attached to the house. A high hedge surrounded the small yard. Alex noticed that the next-door neighbors were not at home.
He walked directly around the end of the house and through a gate to the back door. The fence in the back was wooden and six feet tall. Again, the grass was not cut and the vegetation was a little on the wild side. A swing set was set up close to the house.
Alex opened the back door easily with his set of tiny tools. Inside he moved into the kitchen quietly, noticed a bag from a fast-food place, and stopped. Moving cautiously, he rounded the corner of the divider wall and into the living room.
There was a light on just down the hall from where he stood. He slipped off his shoes and pulled out the small gun that he always carried. Moving carefully down the hall he stopped just outside the bedroom door.
He rounded the corner and into the room swiftly. “Hand’s up,” he said pointing the gun. Then he shouted, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Alex, what a surprise,” Harris said. “I’m working the case.”
“You’re not supposed to be working the case, and you’re not supposed to be here. Are you trying to lose your job?”
“Na, I just thought I’d come see if I could find anything that might help.”
“I’m after the same thing.”
“I really messed up. I wasn’t there for her when she most needed me. Stephanie’s right. I’m good for nothing.”
“Life isn’t easy. We all make mistakes. We make decisions that are wrong. I left my family because I was too young and didn’t have an idea as how to handle a family. I ran off and if it weren’t for the help of a guy down on the docks doing longshore work, I could have really failed at life.”
“Yeah? So, what’d you do?”
“I thought I wanted to be a cop, but I didn’t’ want to work at it. So, this guy tells me about fugitive recovery agents. It worked out good for me and I jumped into it. I liked the travel part and the money. Didn’t think about the family I left behind till I accidently met Sloan, my son, here in Key West.”
“But he forgave you. My daughter will never do that. She died hating me,” Harris said his voice choking up.
“Come on, let’s see what we can find here then get the hell back to Key West and find Javier and the kids. Find anything so far?” Alex asked.
“I found a couple of what the ‘now generation’ calls love letters from Javier. He
