“Emily,” I said, holding her gaze. “If your mom didn’t want you to come home, she wouldn’t offer a reward. I promise you, she wants you.”
Anna broke. “Emily?” she sobbed. “Are you there?”
Emily’s eyes grew huge, and she froze.
Then a man came on the line, his voice hard with panic and anger. “Why won’t you assholes leave us alone? We’ve been through enough!”
I looked down at Emily. She still didn’t move. She didn’t believe it. Or maybe she was still stuck in her fear. She’d been through a lot tonight. This was probably too soon.
“I have Emily with me,” I said, wishing I’d thought to ask Emily for her dad’s name. “She’s in the Little Rock area, and the people who had her convinced her that you and your wife don’t want her back. She only needs to hear you say that you do.”
The silence that greeted me was terrifying.
Then he spoke, and his voice broke. “Emily… are you really there?”
“It’s okay,” I whispered to her. “They love you. They really do want you to come home.”
“Em,” Anna said, breathless and desperate. “Please come home, baby. Please. I love you so much. Em… please.”
Emily just stared at the phone.
“Emily,” I said gently. “You have to say something. They need to know it’s really you.”
Her voice came out tiny. “Do you really want me to come home?”
Anna began sobbing in earnest, but her husband’s suspicion surged right back. “Are you holding her for the reward?”
“I don’t want your money,” I said, keeping my voice level. “I just want to bring your daughter home. She said you’re in Fayetteville?”
“Are you with the police?” he asked cautiously.
“No,” I said. “I’m a PI, and I ran into your daughter tonight at a truck stop.”
“At a truck stop?” Confusion edged his voice. “What would she be doing at a truck stop?”
“That’s not important right now.” I said, cutting him off before he could spiral. I didn’t want to get into what Emily had been through on the phone. Especially not in front of her. “What matters is that your daughter wants to go home. Can you meet me halfway?” Under any other circumstances, I’d have driven her straight to Fayetteville myself. But that would put me a total of nearly three hours from Little Rock. Three hours round trip would be bad enough.
“Why don’t you take her to the police?” he demanded.
Emily’s grip tightened around my arm.
“No police,” I said. “She’s been conditioned to be terrified of them. Will you meet me or not?”
“What the hell are you doing, John?” Anna snapped, then her voice rose, sharp with purpose. “Where do we meet you? Just tell us where.”
I exhaled with relief. “I need to figure out what’s halfway between Fayetteville and Little Rock.” Since I didn’t have a smart phone, I’d have to find a map. Then I realized I didn’t have to figure this out totally on my own. I could call Carter. “I’m going to hang up and start driving west on I-40. Once I pick a spot, I’ll call you with the meeting location.”
“This is a trick,” the man muttered in the background.
“I assure you it’s not,” I said. “But I’m still working this case, and this is the safest way to get your daughter back to you.” I hesitated, then went ahead and said it. “There’s a good chance some members of the Little Rock police are involved in what Emily was mixed up in. And not in a good way.”
Anna gasped. “No police,” she said quickly. “I just want my baby.”
I glance down at Emily. “Do you want to say something before we hang up?”
She looked up at me, eyes wide.
“You’re brave, Emily,” I said. “This was brave. You can do this.”
