“But see how it only has two doors? We need a car that’s bigger, like ours,” Miranda told Ethan as they drove slowly through the streets of Santa Raquel. She’d tried Marie’s phone, just in case the woman would pick up a call from her, but it went straight to voice mail.
As she drove, trying to see every single car within sight, she prayed that Marie and Danny were okay.
And that Tad would be, too. Knowing that he was out there, also looking, was a comfort to her. Strange how in her most frightening situations, thoughts of Tad were what brought her back to a sense of being okay.
The sexual attraction she got. The other, the comfort part, not so much. Maybe she just didn’t want to get it. Knew that she couldn’t take it any further, so she didn’t want to think about it.
“There’s one!” Ethan said, pointing at a car that was the same size and basic shape as Marie’s, but a different make and model. She’d shown her son a picture of the vehicle before they’d left their driveway, having checked it out on the internet on her phone.
“That’s almost it, but remember that symbol on the back of the car I showed you? That’s what we’re looking for.”
They’d been at it for half an hour, up one street and down another, just driving and watching, when Ethan saw a car that looked exactly like Marie’s parked in a driveway. Devon was staying with a friend in the area, which was why she’d chosen to search there, but she didn’t know which house.
Picking up her phone, she dialed Chantel, gave her the address and prayed again.
* * *
It took too much precious time for Tad to make it all the way around that park. Parents and kids were filling all three diamond areas as different T-ball and Little League teams held practices and scrimmage games. He talked to at least fifty people, showing them Devon Williams’s picture, but no one had seen him.
Anxious to get back on the road, to get to the part where he was out there doing all he could to find the guy, he nonetheless stayed his course. Chantel had asked him to cover the park. He was going to do that.
Others were out on the roads, cops and volunteers like Miranda. He didn’t always have to be on the front line.
His call with the chief still plagued him a little as he walked from the second to the third diamond area, completely on the other side of the park from where Danny had practiced. Why had O’Connor led him to believe he was tending to an important business matter if he was on vacation?
Could Gail’s source have made a mistake?
The possibility was highly unlikely. Gail checked and double-checked everything, just like Tad did. Needing to know firsthand. It was one of the shared traits that had made them such good working partners.
Approaching a woman who was sitting alone on a bleacher, watching a group of little boys gathered around a man on the field, Tad said, “Excuse me. I’m looking for my brother. You didn’t happen to see him around here, did you?” He showed the picture of Devon.
“He’s not from around here, recently had surgery, and needs his medication...” He’d invented so many stories over the years, he always had one handy.
Expecting to hear the same “no, sorry,” that he’d been hearing for the past half hour, he was surprised when the woman took a second glance.
“Yeah, actually, I did,” she said, looking up at him. Her eyes were squinting against the sun, but she appeared to be about Miranda’s age, late twenties. She was dressed like almost everyone else, in jeans and a T-shirt, had short brown hair, and wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
Something about her expression had Tad paying close attention.
“It was kind of sad,” she said, “the way he missed his son’s practice.”
“You spoke to him.” Careful now, he’s your missing brother needing medication at the moment. Not a potential suspect who might be hurting his wife and son. He softened his features.
“No.” She shook her head. “I just heard him talking to the coach, right before practice started. He seemed to think his little boy would be practicing at noon. He acted somewhat...off, though.”
“He needs his medication.”
“He was really mad, like he thought the coach was hiding his son from him.”
An angry Devon. Things didn’t look good for Marie.
“Did you see which way he went?”
“Yeah.” She tilted her head to her left. “He got in a blue full-size pickup right over there. I’m sorry...he obviously shouldn’t be driving, but no one knew.”
“It’s not your fault,” Tad said, hurrying away. She’d understand his urgency and even if she didn’t, he couldn’t worry about it. Pulling out his cell phone as he ran, he got Chantel on the line.
* * *