The Perfect Couple (Last Stand #4)(13)
Author: Brenda Novak

She pushed whatever she’d been working on aside and rocked back.

"A friend of mine called earlier, someone I met at a victims’ support group after Burke attacked me the first time."

That was also where she’d met Sheridan and Jasmine, another partner who’d since left Sacramento. "A woman?"

"Yes."

"Who is she? Do I know her?"

"I don’t see how you could. Her name’s Zoe Duncan. She’s never been involved with the charity. I’d actually lost touch with her until this morning.

She saw the ad in the PennySaver a few weeks ago, recognized my name.

She said she’d planned to call for social reasons, but that soon changed."

Skye raked her fingers through her shoulder-length, choppy hair–the result of a recent cut. "Her daughter’s missing."

He considered that for a moment. "What happened?"

"She disappeared."

"When?"

"Yesterday afternoon."

"How old is the girl?"

"Thirteen."

"Was she troubled, likely to be a runaway?"

"The age might make you wonder, but she’s a straight-A student."

"Smart kids run away, too, Skye."

"Not smart kids who are at home recovering from mono. If she wanted out, she would’ve waited until she felt better. Besides, there were no serious problems at home."

He ran a finger over his bottom lip. "She was living with her mother, then?"

"Yes."

"What about her father?"

"He was released from prison about three months ago."

Jonathan rested his elbows on his knees. "That’s an interesting coincidence. What was he in for?"

"Rape. One count. The woman he attacked was a fifteen-year-old girl.

He served thirteen years of a twenty-year sentence."

An ugly suspicion stole over him. "Don’t tell me…"

"Yes, Zoe was his victim. That’s how she got pregnant with Sam."

His jaw dropped. "She had the kid?"

"Yep."

The shock inherent in this information finally enabled him to push his encounter with Sheridan to a corner of his mind. "Holy shit!"

"Exactly."

"I’m guessing she testified against him."

"You guessed right."

"Makes you wonder if this ass**le got out, did a little research and swiped the kid for revenge."

Skye picked up the photograph of her husband and two children prominently displayed on her desk and gazed down at it. "Yes, it does."

"Does Zoe know he’s loose?" he asked.

"She didn’t mention it to me, so…I doubt it. Like most victims, she’d rather not look back."

"It’s got to be him."

"It might be. But if so, I’m hoping he just wants to see his daughter, be part of her life. He’d have to know Zoe wouldn’t be friendly to the idea.

Maybe the desire was so strong it forced him to take drastic action."

"Either way, sounds like a good place to start looking." He rose to his feet. "I’m assuming the police have already been notified?"

"They have and they’re taking this seriously because of her age, but they’re not completely convinced we’re dealing with an abduction."

"We just came up with at least two reasons she’s more likely to be a kidnap victim than a runaway."

"Yeah, well, I didn’t tell you that her grandfather isn’t much of a role model, either. He’s been in and out of jail most of Zoe’s life for petty crime and drug charges, but he was all she had so she more or less hung on to him.

While he was going through Sam’s belongings this morning, the detective assigned by Rocklin PD came across a letter she’d written to her grandpa last week but hadn’t mailed."

"And…"

"In it, she talks about how much she hates Anton Lucassi."

"Who is…"

Skye drew a deep breath. "The man they’re living with. Zoe’s fiance."

"Has anyone spoken to the grandfather to see if he has the girl?"

"Zoe hasn’t been able to get hold of him. She’s left several messages, but he’s living in L.A., so it’s not as if she can easily drive over and check."

Jonathan moved to the window and stared out at the parking lot.

"What does Zoe have to say about the letter?"

"She claims Sam might not have been enthralled with Lucassi, but they didn’t have a bad relationship."

"Meaning no abuse."

"I spelled that out with her. Yes."

"Have you met him?"

"No. But according to Zoe he’s very nice. He owns a tax-preparation company and treats her better than any of the other jerks she’s hooked up with over the years."

That didn’t necessarily mean anything. "Does he have a record?"

"Not even a speeding ticket." She cleared her throat. "So…are you interested in helping out? I’ll pay you as much as you need on this one, Jon."

He refused the promise of money. He knew it was always in short supply at TLS. Sometimes he helped with the fund-raising that kept their doors open. "I’m fine for now. I’ll let you know when they’re about to repossess my car."

She smiled for the first time since he’d walked into her office. "That old hunk of junk? No one would bother with it."

"Hey, it runs," he said. "My clients might think I’m overcharging if I had a fancy ride."

"Who would ever believe you overcharge? You hardly even remember to bill."

"Because I don’t have any clerical support."

"Because you’re not concerned about money." She sobered quickly.

"So…are you on board for this?"

He adjusted the blinds. "Why not?"

"Thanks, Jonny." Coming to her feet, she circled the desk to hand him a sticky note. "Here’s the name and last-known whereabouts of the ex-con."

"Franky Bates," he read. "Wasn’t the killer in Psycho named Bates?"

She was too preoccupied to respond to his trivia question. "I called Lancaster, where Franky served his time, just to get a feel for what he was like as an inmate."

"And…"

"He found God while he was in prison."

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Most of them do. But the devil’s still their best friend the minute they get out."

Skye shifted some files so she could sit on the corner of her desk.

"Zoe’s beside herself. I really hope we can help before…"

She didn’t need to finish her sentence. Before it’s too late. That was what they always hoped. "I’ll have to talk to her."