Acumen
Confabulate
Kiddo? You still with me?
Those messages, so hopeful, so vulnerable, were like knives to Josie’s heart. Whatever Turner was, whatever he had done, it was obvious he loved his daughter. He had tried to connect with her.
The last text he sent her before Josie showed up at his apartment door was simply a photo of two owl figurines about the size of his palm with the message:will you at least talk to these guys?
Josie was so focused on trying to untangle the dynamics between Turner and his wife and daughter that she jumped when the sound of a phone ringing filled the car. Chief Chitwood’s name flashed across the console.
“Great,” Noah muttered. “Just what we need.”
TWENTY-THREE
“Let’s just get it over with,” Josie said, stabbing at the answer icon. “Chief?”
“Quinn!” he boomed. “What the hell’s going on with this Turner investigation? It’s been hours since I left you and Palmer here to handle this case and I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you, but it’s pretty damn important.”
Josie could just imagine him with his phone pressed against his ear, glowering even though they were miles away. She could practically see the white hairs dancing over his bald pate, as if animated by his agitation. Was his face red? On the Chitwood anger scale, which went from mildly peeved to completely ballistic, he sounded like he was right around moderately irked. That was going to change when they told him what the hell was going on, or rather, what wasn’t going on.
“Noah’s with me,” she said. “Gretchen went home to get some sleep.”
“Quinn, I don’t give a little tiny rat’s ass what Palmer does in her spare time. Tell me you’ve got something.”
The pressure in Josie’s chest had nothing to do with the Chief’s pending ire and everything to do with the sense of powerlessness she felt. Only a few hours had passed since theERT finished processing the scene at Dani’s house. Before Noah came on shift, she and Gretchen had worked without food or sleep, sucking down black coffee from the break room while they pursued every avenue of investigation possible. They’d methodically gone through the protocol for when they had an abduction, working as quickly as they could. Officers Brennan and Conlen were helping since Turner was sidelined. Officer Dougherty had also come in early to assist them.
Josie sighed. “A couple of the neighbors who were canvassed thought they saw the suspect walking down the street, but couldn’t offer anything more than the description we already have based on the security cam video. No home surveillance cameras caught him walking past or, if they did, the footage was erased already.”
“Yeah, well, guy in baseball cap isn’t all that unique. He was wearing long sleeves and jeans, for godssake, Quinn. No one noticed him?”
“Landscapers wear long clothes in the summer,” Noah interjected. “Lots of people on that block pay local outfits to mow their lawns. The neighbors figured he was one of those guys.”
The Chief made a noise of exasperation. “They didn’t notice he had no landscaping truck? No mower? That it was almost eight at night? You two are gonna have to do better than this.”
Oh, he was heading toward fairly angry now.
She didn’t bother to point out to him that it wasn’t her fault witnesses didn’t remember certain things or that they hadn’t thought very critically about what they’d seen or that Denton PD was three days late to the scene. She also didn’t remind him that most people going about their daily lives weren’t analyzing every person who passed them by in case they found out later that the person was a kidnapper or killer. He could blame her and berate her all he wanted. The only thing she cared about right now was getting Turner’s family back. Hopefully alive.
“Let me guess. The LPRs were nowhere near the area at that time?”
License plate readers were electronic devices affixed to police cruisers that allowed them to capture and identify the license plates of any vehicles they passed. They were mostly used to flag outstanding warrants, stolen vehicles, and missing or expired registrations but they could also be invaluable in cases like Dani and Cassidy’s abduction. Unfortunately, only three Denton PD cruisers had them.
Josie nearly winced as she delivered the bad news. “No. No LPRs in the area at the time.”
The Chief treated them to an expletive-laced tirade before getting back on track. “What about Charles Barnes? You talk to him?”
“Gretchen did while I was with Turner. He said he didn’t recognize the guy.”
According to Gretchen, despite it being the middle of the night when she arrived at the Barnes family home to show Charles the photos of the suspect from Dani and Cassidy’s abduction, every window in his house was alight and he’d answered the door drunk. Gretchen said she was pretty sure he wouldn’t recognize the suspect sober, either. Like the Chief said, “guy in baseball cap” wasn’t very memorable.
“Where was this Barnes guy when Turner’s family got nabbed?” The Chief asked.
“Home,” Josie said. “Or so he says. Just like when Maxine and Haven were killed. Couldn’t get any confirmation from neighbors though. We’re waiting for the records from his phone and GPS system to confirm.”
“What else? You gotta have something else, Quinn. Fraley?”
Noah gave her one of his mind-reader looks and she knew he sensed her distress. He took over, telling the Chief about Dustin Emmer and that they were on their way to speak withhim. Before the Chief could respond, the twenty-four-hour diner came into view, its blue neon sign glowing like an incandescent beacon in the dead of night.
