Vanished(12)

Mason fought back a smile. For someone not investigating, she definitely had some questions. “I think you’ll find Robin and Lucas are what they appear to be. I don’t know Lilian that well, but Robin has always said they have an understanding.”

“An understanding?” Her nose crinkled, and Mason noticed she had freckles. Not a lot, but a few across the nose and cheeks.

“They get along. They really do. They have a mutual respect for each other and care about Henley. I don’t know what else to tell you. There’s no psychotic bitch hiding anywhere. I don’t know Lilian’s past, but I’m sure it’s being pulled apart as we speak.”

Ava glanced at her watch. “Lucas Fairbanks is being interviewed right now. They must be using a side room here somewhere. I warned the family they’d be doing a lot of talking to the police, and that most of it would be repetitive.”

“I told them the same thing,” answered Mason. He glanced out the doors, a movement catching his eye. “Holy crap. The media has found the command center.” Two Clackamas County deputies were putting up crime scene tape to hold the camera crews back from the building and corral them into a tidy spot. Another deputy stood directly in front of the double doors, guarding it, his hands on his hips, shaking his head. Mason understood how he felt.

“Two satellite trucks already,” muttered Ava. “I wonder how many are at the house.”

Mason shoved his hat on his head. “Good point. Let’s go see if they need any help.”

A cell phone sounded, and Agent McLane reached into a jacket pocket, a different pocket than the one that held the previous vibrating cell phone.

Work pocket, personal pocket. Mason had given up the personal phone a few years ago. Jake was the only person outside of work that he communicated with, and that was limited to a few texts. He didn’t feel it was any abuse of his work phone.

“Special Agent McLane.”

Mason watched her face. Her eyebrow twitched once as she listened, and she kept her calm gaze on the growing media crowd.

“I’m on my way now. I’ll be there in less than five.” She ended the call and gave Mason a half smile. “Sounds like there’s a bit of a to-do going on back at the house. The mothers are yelling at each other, and the deputy assigned to sit in front of the house says that the media outside can hear it.”

Mason pressed his lips together. He’d just preached to Agent McLane about how in sync the two women were.

Sounded like their tempers were in sync, too.





7

9 HOURS MISSING

The deputy shooed the reporters away from the driveway entrance as Ava pulled up. The reporters stepped back, turned their eagle-eyed cameras her way, and bent over, peering to get a good look inside her vehicle. Ava wished for privacy glass. How long would it take for them to identify her as FBI? She watched the reporters pull the same routine on Callahan as his vehicle pulled in behind her.

The deputy had been correct. When Ava stepped out of her sedan at the top of the Fairbankses’ long driveway, she heard yelling inside the home. When she’d left the home a few hours ago, the only car visible had been a patrol unit parked in front of the house. The Fairbankses’ vehicles were parked inside their three-car garage, and Lilian had left her vehicle at her condo. Now there were the patrol unit, a television satellite truck, news vans, and other media vehicles all squeezed onto the formerly quiet street. The sun had set, and the streetlight in front of the home lit up the small crowd of reporters and cameras.

The more media coverage for Henley, the better. But when the media got bored or felt the need to outdo each other, Ava had seen them get pushy or overstep their boundaries. Focus on the missing child, she wanted to lecture them, don’t sensationalize every factor.

Luckily, the house sat far back from the street, placing a wide stretch of manicured grass, shrubs, and bark dust between the reporters and the home. Would some of them venture onto the property? She’d make certain the doors and windows of the home were locked at all hours. And they’d keep the blinds closed. What a pain in the ass. Thank goodness Clackamas County had seen the need for a patrol unit in front of the home.

She and Callahan strode to the front door. She hit the doorbell then tried the handle. Locked. Good. “Robin? It’s Agent McLane,” she hollered close to the door. The yelling inside had stopped at the sound of the doorbell. She looked directly at the peephole, waiting, feeling like she was on stage with the reporters staring at her back.

“Damn vultures,” muttered Callahan. “They’re going to freaking multiply like randy rabbits.”

The door opened, and Ava was surprised to see Jake’s face.

“Get back,” she and Callahan told him in unison. The kid didn’t need to be on the news. Those camera lenses could get a close-up of his face from the street. She and Callahan stepped in, and he closed the door behind them.

“Use the peephole,” he instructed Jake. “Open the door only for people with police or FBI ID. And stay behind the door when you do open it.”

“How long will they stay out there?” the teen asked. “Won’t they leave for the night?”

Ava exchanged a glance with Callahan. “No,” they replied together.

“What is with your mom and Lilian?” Callahan asked. “I could hear them outside.”

Jake dropped his gaze, his shoulders hunching slightly. “I don’t know. I’m trying not to listen. Something about a guy Lilian dated.”

Ava sucked in a breath. Here we go. The truth was leaking out.

Callahan’s boots were loud on the wood floors as he headed toward the family’s great room. Ava followed. He glanced back at her and pointed at himself. She nodded. She’d let Callahan ask the questions. The women knew him better. If she got the sense one of them was holding back, they’d separate the women and question them one-on-one.

In the great room, Lilian sat in an overstuffed chair, her shoulders slumped and her hands over her face. Robin stood in front of her, her arms folded across her chest, her face red and her eyes wet. Robin turned as the two entered the room, her chin lifting.

“What the hell is going on?” Callahan started, looking from one woman to the other. “We could hear the shouts outside. And all those damned reporters can hear you, too.”

Robin didn’t look at Lilian. “Tell them,” Robin snapped. “Tell them what you told the agent in your interview today and what they discovered about the men you date.”

Lilian lowered her hands and dug her fingers into her jeans, her jaw tightening. “One guy. This is about one guy, and I had no idea what his past was like.”

“That’s why you dig into their background before you bring them into your home!” Robin’s lips were a white slash where her mouth had been.

Lilian looked at Callahan and then Ava. “It’s a guy I went out with a few times this summer. The FBI just told me that he’s a registered sex offender. I had no idea!”

“Why did you stop going out with him?” Callahan asked.

Lilian shrugged. “It didn’t work out. We just didn’t connect.”

“Did he feel the same way?” Ava asked. “Would his version of the breakup be the same?”

Lilian flinched and looked away. “I don’t know.”

“What do you really think he’d say, Lilian?” Callahan prodded. “Was he angry? Was the breakup one-sided?”

Lilian rubbed her nose and shifted in her chair.

“He was pissed. We only went out a half-dozen times, but I wasn’t feeling it. I guess he was hoping for more. He called me a few choice names on the phone when I said we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

“Did he meet Henley?” Ava asked softly.

Lilian’s face crumpled. “Yes, twice when he picked me up. Just for a minute or two.”

“Stupid,” stated Robin, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. “Why introduce him to your daughter? You shouldn’t do that unless you think it’s going to last.”

“I go into every relationship hoping it’s going to last!” Lilian shouted at Robin. “What type of person goes in with the mindset that it’s doomed to fail?”

Ava mentally raised a hand.

“Calm down!” Mason stepped between the two women, showing a palm to each one in a “stop” gesture. “Lilian,” he continued in a quieter voice, “what did they say his offense was?”

“Statutory rape. She was seventeen.”

“Pervert,” spat Robin.

Mason shot Robin a warning look but continued with his softer tone. “Did the agent say anything else about the case?”

Lilian sniffed. “He’d claimed she’d told him she was twenty.”

“Of course that’s what he’d say,” Robin said. “Did he ask your age before you slept with him?”

“I didn’t sleep with him,” Lilian yelled, straightening in her chair.

“Knock it off!” Mason pointed at Robin. “You! Go in the kitchen and get something to drink.” He shot a glance at Ava.

Robin glared at him but obeyed. Ava nodded at Callahan and followed Robin into the huge kitchen, leaning against the counter as she watched the woman open the fridge and stare inside. She didn’t pick out anything. She simply stood and looked, blinking rapidly. “He’s just trying to put some space between the two of you,” Ava offered.