Childfinders Inc - Hero For Hire Part 6

"And she came to you."

"No, actually I went to her. I dropped by and found her with a gun in her hand.

Her husband's gun." Veronica looked at Chad, leaving the rest unsaid. "She told me

because she knew I wouldn't tell anyone."

And now that she was, it was eating away at her, he thought. But there were more important things at stake than Veronica's conscience. "Think of me as a priest. And remember Casey."

Did he think she needed to be reminded? ''I can't think of anything else." She looked around him at the telephone in the hallway. There were phones in all the rooms. Silent phones. "Don't you think they should be calling back by now?" She could feel herself beginning to battle hysteria again. "How long does it take to get to a telephone?"

If downed lines had prompted the abrupt disconnection, that depended on how wide the affected area was. "Maybe the grid failure is widespread. Not everyone has a cell phone." He saw her look at hers. "And even if they do, they'd be fools to use it."

"Why?"

"Highly traceable." He got back to the list. So far, there was only one name on it. She'd made it sound as if there were more. "Anybody else putting the touch on you? You mentioned several people with cash-flow problems."

This time the hesitation was longer. He could see that her nerves were getting the better of her again, chewing away at her fragile hold on sanity as she stared at the telephone.

"My brother-in-law," she finally said.

Since she didn't elaborate, he made a guess. "Sister's husband?"

She looked at him, realizing that she'd momentarily drifted off. She had to keep focused. "No, Robert's younger brother." She saw a look come into Chad's eyes. He obviously suspected Neil again. "He made some investments. They're not doing too well now..." At least, that was the story he'd given her when he'd asked her for a "loan." But he was family, and she could no more turn him away than she could dance on the moon. "He has a trust fund, but he can't access enough to-"

"Trust fund?" As far as he knew, trust funds were for children. "Just how old is your brother-in-law?"

"Twenty-five. No, he just turned twenty-six." Not that the extra year had brought any extra wisdom to Neil. He was one of those people forever destined to be a boy trapped in a man's body. "His father didn't feel that he was capable of handling the money he inherited from his grandmother sensibly." Robert had shared that opinion, she recalled.

"Father knows best," Chad murmured, turning a page and continuing to make more notes.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, it struck him how utterly ironic the phrase was, coming from him. In his case, father hadn't known best. Father had known only how to inflict torment on all those around him. And on some who were far away.

He returned to the empty s.p.a.ce above the information. "What did you say your brother-in-law's name was?"

"Neil. Neil Reinholt."

The name was vaguely familiar. Something about an overnight stay in jail and a party that had gotten out of hand. He made a mental note to do a great deal of checking into Reinholt's past. "Anyone else?

There were a few more minor loans here and there, but nothing on the level she'd given Erica and Neil. She shook her head. "Nothing of consequence."

"I'll be the judge of that." When the cell phone rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin. He placed his hand on her arm automatically, as if that could somehow calm her down and rea.s.sure her. "That's mine, not yours." Hand still on her arm, he dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. With a snap of his wrist, he flipped the cover open. "Andreini."

"Are you anywhere near a television set?"

It was Savannah. The lady was quick. He glanced toward Casey's room. "Close enough, why?"

"Flip on any channel," she told him. "The story's all over the news. They're cutting into the local programming to make the announcement." She saved him the

trouble of having to watch. Sam had told her how much Chad hated to have things dragged out. "A truck swerved and catapulted off the 405 freeway overpa.s.s into some telephone lines. Lines are down through Newport Beach, Bedford and parts of Santa Ana and Tustin. They're not sure how long it's going to take to have them up and running again."

Newport Beach, Tustin, Bedford and Santa Ana. That encompa.s.sed a pretty sizable area.

Turning on his heel as Veronica watched, Chad made his way back to Casey's room and switched on the television set. The next moment, an earnest-looking young Asian-American woman dressed in a mint-green suit came on, her words captured mid- sentence as she went over the details of what Savannah had just told him.

"...and there's no telling just how long this will continue. Local crews are out en ma.s.se, trying to rectify the damage. Stay tuned to Channel Six news for up-to-the minute coverage of this story..."

He'd heard all he needed to know. "Thanks, Savannah."

"Anytime. Anything else?"

He looked down at the notepad he was still holding. "As a matter of fact-"

Flipping back the page, Chad glanced at the names he'd written down. "-I want you to see what you might come up with on an Erica Saunders." He saw Veronica's eyes widen and then annoyance enter as she placed her hand over the pad.

"Emergency or faster?" Savannah was asking.

He drew the pad away from Veronica. "The latter." He shoved the pad into his jacket pocket for the moment! "You're the best."

He heard her laugh on the other end. "So I keep reminding Sam."

"If he can't remember that on his own, I'll remind him for you."

"It's a deal. Call you when I have something."

"Thanks." Chad flipped his cell phone cover down, then tucked the phone back into his pocket. He read the wariness in Veronica's eyes. "We're all discreet at ChildFinders, Veronica. Mrs. Saunders's husband isn't going to find out a thing-and we might."

It was asking too much for her to believe that her best friend had had Casey kidnapped. Erica was his G.o.dmother, for heaven's sake. "I refuse to believe that Erica could be capable of-"

He cut her short. "No offense, Veronica, but you would be surprised what your friend might be capable of." His gaze pinned her. "What even you might be capable of, under the right circ.u.mstances. Anyone looking at you would say you were too delicate to kill someone."

She thought of the s.h.i.+ver that had gone through her just touching the gun that Erica had held in her hands. "What are you-?"

"But in the right situation," he continued as if he hadn't heard her protest, "say, defending your son, you might be capable of just that."

She knew he was right. To keep Casey safe, she would do anything, including kill someone. "Why are you trying to deliberately shake me up?"

It wasn't to see that look in her eyes, although it did make her appear wildly vibrant, instead of gracefully refined. "Because I need you to be aware of things, Veronica. And I want you to tell me the truth. About everything," he stressed. "No holding back for whatever reason. This is a puzzle..."

A puzzle? Did he take this to be just another game to challenge himself with? A game with a fat check as a prize at the end? "This is my son's life," she said to him hotly.

Chad's voice remained calm. "This is a puzzle," he repeated, trying to make his point, "in which even the smallest piece might trigger us to see the larger whole.

I want and need every small piece you can get your hands on, so to speak. It's important," he said, his eyes never leaving hers. "We'll just sit here and go over everything you can think of-until the phone rings again," he added, knowing that was foremost in her mind.

She swallowed and found that her throat was completely dry. Veronica put her fears into words. "And if it doesn't ring?"

No chance of that happening, he thought. "You're lucky, Veronica. The kidnapper

is not after your son as a keepsake. Casey hasn't been selected because someone is trying to line their pockets by selling kids, or because some mentally unbalanced person thinks he's her son brought back to life. Whoever took Casey just wants your money. The phone'll ring," he a.s.sured her with conviction that came from instinct and years of training.

He looked at the room they had already left once. This wasn't the best place to conduct the rest of his questioning, he thought. Just being here pained her.