3 The Chain of Lies (17 page)

“I guess you’re right.”

“Make sure you bring a recent photo of her, too.”

Camille and Emily turned their heads at the sound of the front door opening and closing, and they heard voices coming down the hall. Jonathan and Peter had come through the doorway, with Maggie following close behind.

“Did you find her?” Camille shot to her feet as Maggie rushed to hug her.

Jonathan almost spoke, but his eyes grew watery and his lips trembled as he tried to form the words.

“No, no sign of her,” Peter replied, stepping in to answer. “But we’ll keep looking.”

“Emily said Colin wants us to come down to the station and file a missing person report.” Camille went to stand by her husband and he put an arm snugly around her shoulders.

“Then he can put her picture and profile out to all his officers and the state’s law enforcement agencies.” Emily rose from the couch and stepped closer to Camille and Jonathan. “We should move quickly on this.”

“Don’t forget the Amber Alert, too,” Maggie added.

“Sorry, these circumstances wouldn’t qualify,” Emily said. “But law enforcement can’t do anything until the report is filed.”

“Then what are we doing standing here?” Peter asked. “Let’s load up and get down there.”

Emily turned to Maggie and put her hand on her friend’s arm. “Maggs, I think you should stay here in case Molly returns on her own.”

“Would you please, Maggie?” Camille pleaded with sad eyes.

“All right.” Maggie released a sigh of resignation as she crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “I’d rather come with all y’all, but I understand. Whatever I can do, Cam.”

“Staying here is a big help,” Camille assured her.

“Call us if she shows up,” Peter said.

Jonathan and Camille took their car and Emily invited Peter to ride with her. As they drove down the street, away from the Hawthorne house, Emily noticed the garage on the mysterious family’s home going up. The Mercedes was approaching from the opposite direction and beginning to turn into their driveway. Emily caught a glimpse of the inside of the garage before the car obscured her view. It looked like a normal family garage, she thought, fairly empty with a few boxes on shelves along the side wall. She noticed the back end of a bright red and yellow bicycle leaning against the shelving deeper into the space.

“See that house there?” Emily nodded in the direction of the house. “Where that car just pulled in?”

“Yeah.”

“Write this address down.”

Peter pulled a small notepad out of his jacket pocket and Emily handed him a pen.

“Five two three three Somerset Drive.”

He scribbled down the address. “Why did you want me to do that?”

“That’s the house where Molly and I saw the young girl from the hotel restroom. Later I saw that girl in the car that just pulled in, and I followed it down to the Jade Thai Spa. If I’m right about the prostitution ring, the woman who poses as the mother in that house is really the madam at the spa.”

Emily glanced over at him and saw he was furiously scribbling down what she was telling him.

“This will be great info for my story. After we take down this ring, Emily, I want to sit down with you and get all the details, no matter how small.”

“I’d be happy to do that, I just wish Molly hadn’t taken off yesterday. We can’t focus all our energy and resources on nailing these scumbags if we have to find Molly first. She couldn’t have picked a worse time to run off.”

“There’s never a good time for your kid to go missing,” Peter reminded her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound insensitive, I just meant having one thing on top of another makes succeeding at either a lot more difficult.”

“From what my sister tells me, you’re up to it.”

“What do you mean?” Emily glanced at him with a smirk.

“Camille talks about you like you’re Wonder Woman.”

“Believe me, I’m no Wonder Woman.” Emily rolled her eyes. “I’d say your sister’s a bit prone to exaggeration, Peter.”

“And Maggie? What’s her story?”

“You mean to tell me Camille hasn’t given you every detail of Maggie’s life yet?”

“Not every detail.”

“Why so interested?”

“I like her. She’s beautiful and sweet and smart. I feel something stir when I’m near her.”

“Geez, Peter, I can’t imagine why.” Though Emily’s comment was a bit sarcastic, she was glad to hear he liked her friend, but the timing could be a deal breaker.

“Is she seeing anyone?”

“No. It hasn’t been that long since her last relationship ended—very badly. I’m not sure you should start making advances toward her when you’re leaving town soon.”

“Seattle’s not that far away—an hour and half by plane.”

“So you’d be up for a long-distance relationship?”

“I would if Maggie and I hit it off. Do you think she would?”

“Don’t know. You’d have to ask her.” Emily was pretty sure Maggie would be open to it, eventually. Peter was a great catch, but she wasn’t about to speak for her.

“I think I should ask her out to dinner first, though,” Peter joked.

“Good idea.”

~*~

When Emily and Peter arrived, Colin was ushering Jonathan and Camille into the conference room, balancing his laptop in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He set the laptop down on the table and motioned through the glass for the two to join them.

Emily sat on one side of Camille, taking her hand, and Jonathan on the other. Across the table sat Colin and his computer. Peter pulled a chair out next to him and deposited himself.

Jonathan gave Colin the initial information, full name, address, and so on, but when it came to physical description, Camille stepped in.

“Five foot five, a hundred and twenty pounds, long red hair, green eyes. She has a light sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks.” Camille’s fingers fluttered across her own face as she described them.

“Any birthmarks or tattoos?” Colin asked.

“A small birthmark on her right shoulder—looks like a kidney bean,” Camille replied, pointing to the area.

“Tattoos?”

“No,” Jonathan answered.

Camille shook her head.

“Well,” Emily interrupted sheepishly, “she does have a small butterfly on her right hip.”

Molly’s parents both craned their necks and looked at Emily with surprise.

“She does?” Camille asked. She looked over at her husband and shrugged. “I didn’t know.”

“She got it this past summer,” Emily explained. “I’m sorry, Molly didn’t want me to tell you. She showed me the other night when we went shopping. We were trying on clothes, and well, you know.”

“What else did she not want you to tell us?” Jonathan asked, his eyes widening with irritation.

“Oh, Em, was Molly doing things behind our backs?” Camille questioned.

“Not that I know of,” Emily replied with a slight shake of her head. She looked into her friend’s searching eyes. “But you know teenagers. Didn’t you do things you never told your parents?”

“Yeah. There are plenty of things I did that my folks still don’t know anything about,” Peter remarked, “and I plan to keep it that way.”

Colin stifled a chuckle.

Camille shot her brother a quizzical stare. “Like what?”

“You all can sort that out later, let’s get back to the report,” Colin said. “Emily told me Molly’s car is still at the house.”

“Yes,” Camille replied, moving her gaze from Peter to Colin. “She must have gone off on her bike because it’s missing from the garage.”

“Can you describe it?” Colin asked.

“It’s one of those Fat Tire cruiser bikes, bright red with yellow fenders. She loved going on long rides along the green belt,” Camille described, her eyes welling up as she talked about her daughter.

Emily’s thoughts flew to the back end of the bicycle she saw in the garage of the suspicious Asians’ home. She started to open her mouth, almost blurting out that fact, but she bit her lip to keep quiet about it awhile longer.

“Was there something you wanted to add, Emily?” Colin asked, noticing she was about to speak.

“No.” Emily noticed how he was getting good at reading her, picking up on the slightest facial expression, seeing the gears moving in her mind. She hoped he’d let it drop until she was ready to share what she was thinking.

“Do you have the photo?” Colin’s gaze bounced from Camille to Jonathan and back.

She scooted it across the table to him.

“Okay, then. I think I have all I need to file this report in the National Crime Information Center and get Molly’s picture out to the media. That way the whole country will be on the lookout for her.” Colin stuck the photo in his file before pushing back from the table.

Emily patted Camille’s hand and smiled weakly at her.

“Why don’t you guys go home?” Colin stood and picked up his laptop. “We’ll let you know the second we find out anything.”

“We’d appreciate that, Colin.” Jonathan rose and helped Camille up. “The very second you know anything.”

“Peter, are you coming?” Camille asked her brother, as he remained seated.

“No, I have a meeting here in a little while, so I’ll catch a ride home with someone.”

“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot—the all-important sting.” Camille rolled her eyes and her sarcastic voice cut like a razor blade, as she pulled another tissue out of her purse to blot the tears from her eyes.

Is she blaming us?

“Don’t worry.” Emily put her arm sympathetically around her friend, knowing her suggestion was futile. “We’ll get Molly home.”

Camille looked Emily in the eye and paused, as if she wanted to say something but thought better of it. Jonathan took Camille’s hand and led her out of the room.

Emily stood in the conference room doorway and watched as the couple meandered down the hall. She couldn’t remember ever having seen her friends so upset or worried. She didn’t have children of her own, but she could imagine how terrifying it would be if one of them was missing. Her heart broke for them as she thought of their frightening situation.

Colin stood beside Emily as she watched them go. He laid his arm warmly around her shoulder and she leaned into him. He lightly kissed the side of her head. “It’s best if you don’t make promises you might not be able to keep.”

“Agreed, but there’s something you should know.” She pulled away from him and walked back to the table.

“What?” Colin followed her.

“I didn’t want to say anything while they were here, but I think I saw Molly’s bike.”

“Where?” Peter and Colin asked simultaneously.

“Peter, the house.” Emily and Peter’s eyes met.

“What house?” he questioned.

“You know…the house down the street from Camille and Jonathan’s. I had you write down the address.”

“That house?” Peter’s brow furrowed.

“Emily, explain to me what you’re talking about.” Colin crossed his arms and shifted his weight to face her.

Emily looked at Colin with eyebrows raised, giving him clues as to what she was talking about. “The house where Molly and I saw the Asian girls in the backseat of the car…the girl from the hotel…the vehicle I followed down to the Jade Thai Spa.”

He nodded. “When did you see it?”

“Just a little while ago, after we left Camille and Jonathan’s.”

“I don’t understand. How were you able to see the bike at their house?” Colin asked.

“When Peter and I drove past, the garage door was up. I saw a red Fat Tire bike near the back of the garage. It was leaning against the shelves and it had bright yellow fenders.”

“I don’t want to be the party pooper here, but it could belong to someone who lives in the house, couldn’t it?” Peter asked.

Colin’s gaze locked on Emily’s and she knew they were thinking the same thing—if she was right about what was going on, it was highly unlikely anyone in that house ever went on a bike ride for pleasure.

“It’s possible,” Colin replied. “Assuming—”

“Assuming Emily’s wrong about her suspicions.” Peter finished the detective’s sentence. He glanced at Emily, whose eyes were narrowing at him. “But that’s not likely, is it?”

“It seems to me the more we discover, the more it looks like I’m right.”

“It’s beginning to look that way,” Colin agreed.

Emily turned her wrist and looked at her watch. “The others should be here pretty soon for our next meeting, so I’m going to make a quick coffee run. Anybody want anything?”

~*~

When Emily returned, Colin’s superior was standing near the conference table talking with him and Peter. They all turned in her direction as she walked in, carrying a cardboard tray full of coffees.

“Emily,” Colin said as he put his hand out to her to draw her in, “you remember the Chief of Police, don’t you?”

The Chief was a tall man with dark skin, dressed in a navy blue suit, with curly gray hair clipped short and neat.