“Did you tell your boyfriend about how I saved your life?” He kept his gaze steady and gauged her reaction to his words.
She snorted and sat down at the table. “I don’t have a boyfriend. Can I call Suzi now?”
“No.” He picked up his glass and sat across from her. “What about Pete Bogart?”
She squinted and tilted her head to the side. The hair piled on top of her head bounced along with the movement. “How do you know about Pete?”
“I know a lot of things.”
“Then you should know we aren’t seeing each other anymore. I ended things a couple of weeks ago.”
Suzi had told him the same thing earlier, but that didn’t mean Mickey didn’t know the truth about her recent ex. “When you were together, did the two of you spend a lot of time with Becca?”
Mickey straightened and her body tensed. “Sometimes. I try to see Becca once a week, and Pete would come along when he was in town. Becca’s father isn’t in the picture, and she liked having him around.”
“Why didn’t you see Becca this morning? Aren’t Sundays the day you usually see her?”
“I needed some time to myself today.” She dropped her gaze and wiped some crumbs off the table. “I wanted to get my head on straight before I spent time with her. She’s a sensitive girl, and I didn’t want her to pick up on my anxiety.”
Graham slid the file toward her. “Did you know Becca planned on seeing Pete this morning?” He flipped open the file and a grainy picture of Pete and Becca eating yogurt on the street stared up at Mickey.
Mickey’s head whipped up and met his gaze. “No. I haven’t talked to Pete in two weeks, and Suzi didn’t mention it when I called and canceled yesterday.”
“He was the last person seen with Becca.” He reached forward and fanned out the pictures in the file so all three were visible. Three photos of three different missing girls taken from various traffic cameras in the city. All with the same man. All with the man’s face conveniently covered. He hadn’t been able to obtain the bastard’s identity until the call came in from Becca’s mom this morning. “I’ve been investigating Pete for the past month. He has a connection with a sex-trafficking ring that recently moved here from Mexico.”
A high-pitched laugh bubbled from Mickey and morphed into a hysteric groan. She shook her head, but her gaze never left the photo of her goddaughter. “This is all wrong. Pete’s a goodguy. He’d never do anything to hurt anyone, especially Becca. He adored her.”
Graham waited a beat, studying her reaction. He wanted to believe she was telling him the truth, but he’d never been in this situation before. Instead of wanting to badger her with questions about her possible involvement, he wanted to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right.
“This has to be a mistake.I’m sure Pete lost track of time and will bring Becca back any minute.”
Graham raised his brows and glanced behind Mickey at the clock on the wall. “Becca was supposed to be home five hours ago.”
She grabbed her phone and her fingers flew over the screen. “Did you call Pete? Maybe they went to a movie or something.”
He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. Jolts of electricity shocked his hand and he yanked it back. Mickey dropped her phone and stared at him. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Are you going to ask about the other girls in the pictures?”
“It can’t be true. There has to be another explanation.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. She dropped her gaze to the pictures and swiped the tips of her fingers over Becca’s face.
Ring, ring, ring.
He grabbed his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. “I have to take this.” He stood, turning away from Mickey, and talked to his partner. “What have you got?”
“Harper called and wants to see us as soon as possible.”
Shit. He didn’t have time to waste dealing with his boss, but if Harper wanted them in his office he didn’t have a choice. He pressed his lips together and sighed. “I’m on my way.”
He hungup the phone and faced Mickey. Digging in his pocket, he grabbed a card and threw it on the table. “I have to go. Here’s my card. Call if you think of anything I should know. I’ll be in touch soon.”
“Can I call Suzi now?”
The slight tremor in her voice tightened the knots in his stomach. He nodded. “Yes. If you think of anything that will help us find Becca, call me. The longer we go without finding her…”
She waved away his words and tears streamed down her face. “She’s going to be fine. I know it.”
“I hope you’re right.”
He turned and walked out of the apartment and back into the steaming heat of summer. The sun shone bright in his eyes, and he lowered his shades to hide the glare. His gut told him Mickey was telling him the truth, but his head knew he needed to keep an eye on her. Too much shit had happened around her in the last week. He couldn’t ignore that. Either way, he’d just dropped a bomb on her.
