Vanished(13)

“I know. And I shouldn’t have yelled at her.” She turned red eyes toward Ava. “But why wasn’t this the first thing she told the police this morning? Why did she let someone like that into Henley’s life?”

“She obviously thought there was nothing to it,” Ava stated. “Have you told the police about every single encounter you’ve had over the last few years?”

Robin slammed the fridge door, turning toward Ava. “I’ve never cheated on my husband. Ever!”

“That’s not what I meant. I mean did you tell them about anyone in your life you’ve parted with on a sour note? Even the little things.” She watched two lines appear between Robin’s brows as she thought. “See? It’s not so easy. An encounter that might seem trivial to you might have been devastating to another person, angering them—whether the slight was real or imagined. You never know how people think.”

Ava saw a flash of movement behind Robin, in the hallway. Jake was listening. She hadn’t said anything that should alarm the kid. In fact, he also needed to hear this.

“It’s impossible to know everything, let alone pass it on to the FBI,” Robin said. “You could mean someone I accidentally cut off with my car. But this was someone she dated. Why didn’t she tell them before now?” Robin’s eyes pleaded with Ava.

Ava infused her gaze with as much sympathy as possible. “It’s still the first day. Be glad the information came out as early as it did.”

“But what if there’s more? What if she’s not telling everything?”

“Her daughter is missing. Don’t you think she’s doing everything she can to help?”

Robin stared back for a long second. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I’m starting to wonder if I know Lilian as well as I believed I did.” She teared up. “Poor Henley. She must be terrified. I can’t stop thinking about what she could be going through. I’m never going to sleep tonight.” Her voice trailed off.

Jake stepped silently into the kitchen. He hesitated. With the instinct of a mother, Robin spun around, his name on her lips.

The teen looked miserable. His face was puffy and his hair was a disaster. Ava hadn’t seen much of him all day. He seemed to prefer to stay in his room. She admired his bravery for stepping out into the center of the drama. She studied him carefully, knowing teens needed special attention in this sort of case. His sister was missing; his parents were distracted. He was lost in the background while everything was focused on his sister. But he ached, too. He needed to express his feelings out loud before he cracked.

Ava kicked herself for overlooking him.

“Jake,” she said, pulling out a stool at the kitchen breakfast bar. “Sit,” she ordered kindly. Now was as good a time as any. She wondered if his mother’s presence would help him open up or make him censor his feelings. The teen slunk over to the stool and sat, his head down, one finger tracing a pattern in the granite counter. Ava looked at Robin and held her gaze, jerking her chin at the teen. He needs to talk.

“You heard me tell your mother that we need to know about any odd encounters, right?” Ava asked. The teen nodded, his gaze still on the countertop.

Ava licked her lips. Teens were foreign to her. She tried to remember how she’d handled her sister and her moodiness as a teen. Jayne had been all about the drama. Ava had been the peacekeeper and the one to draw her sister out of her black moods. Considering the constant ups and downs of her sister’s personality, Ava should have an honorary doctorate in Teen Therapy.

“Has something come to mind? You talked with one of the agents this afternoon, right? Have you thought of something since then?” Ava wasn’t certain who’d interviewed Jake.

“No.”

Ava waited. There was a reason Jake had ventured into the kitchen. Was he trying to protect his mom from Ava’s direct questions? She glanced at Robin and raised a brow.

The frown lines were still between Robin’s brows. “Jake, honey,” she started. “You’ve only been back in town a few days. Who’ve you talked to?”

He lifted his head, meeting his mom’s gaze. “Just the guys. You know, Eric, Jack, Lincoln. The usual. And McKenzie.”

“Are they all back from college for Christmas?” Robin asked. She glanced at Ava. “McKenzie and Jake dated a bit last summer, but it never was exclusive, right, Jake?”

Jake shrugged. “We’re friends. She’s really upset about Henley. They’re all worried.” His voice cracked.

“Have you seen any of them since you got into town?” Ava asked. She was certain an agent had already gone over this with Jake, but the investigator in her wouldn’t be quiet.

“No. Not yet. I was going to see Eric and Lincoln this weekend. Hang out somewhere. But that’s on hold.”

“You got in Wednesday, correct?” Ava asked. “Where have you gone since you’ve been home? Tell me every stop, no matter how unimportant it seems. 7-Eleven or Barnes & Noble. Nothing is too small.”

Jake’s eyes widened. “You think someone I know did this?” Terror crossed his face. Robin rushed to comfort him, hugging his shoulders. She laid her cheek on his head.

“No honey, they’re simply looking under every rock. Something one of them saw might be the key to bringing Henley home. Think hard. Don’t hold anything back.”

“Jeez.” The teen blinked hard.

“It’s only been two days.” Ava gave an encouraging smile. “There can’t be that much to remember, right? Don’t college kids sleep twenty hours a day anyway?”

“Yes,” Robin said under her breath. “I’ve hardly seen him since he’s been home.”

A heavy door behind Ava opened, and she turned to see Lucas Fairbanks step inside from the garage. Behind him like a silent shadow was the tall, slender form of Special Agent Zander Wells. Lucas looked like he’d been up for thirty-six hours. He had the same puffy eyes as Robin and the sad hunch to his shoulders that Ava was starting to associate with this traumatized family.

Robin stepped into his arms, and Lucas buried his face in her hair, closing his eyes.

“Anything?” Ava heard Robin whisper to him. Lucas shook his head. Robin’s back trembled as fresh sobs filled the kitchen.

Ava met Wells’s gaze. He gave a slight shake of his head.

Nothing earth shattering from the father’s interview.

She watched Jake out of the corner of her eye. He’d turned as his stepfather came into the kitchen and silently watched Lucas embrace his mother. Jake looked like a boy who’d lost his new puppy.

Ava looked from Lucas to the teenager. How was the relationship between the two? Callahan had spoken highly of Fairbanks but hadn’t expanded on his son’s perspective of his stepfather.

Lilian rushed in from the other room with Callahan right on her heels. She slid to a stop as she saw Lucas and Robin’s embrace.

“Henley?” Her voice slid up an octave.

“No news,” Wells answered.

Lilian closed her eyes, and Callahan put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Ava stared at the mother and swallowed hard. Behind the panic on Lilian’s face, and for the briefest second, she’d exposed her heart.

Lilian was still in love with her ex-husband.

How many layers are there to this family?

“Just because he can’t tell you that Henley’s turned up doesn’t mean there’s no news,” said Callahan. “McLane and I got some good insight into some of the work that’s being done.”

The three parents gave him hopeful looks.

“That command center is turning into a hive of worker bees,” Callahan stated. “They’ve already pinpointed and talked to the sex offenders in the area. We reviewed video from the bus and verified with our own eyes that Henley wasn’t on there. McLane found out the video from Lilian’s apartment building shows no sign that Henley went to her place. They already had a preliminary profile drawn up by one of the experts at Quantico who flew in to brief us today.”

One after the other, he held each parent’s gaze. “We’re making progress. We’re going to chip away at every lead until we find her.”



A few hours later, Mason sat in the big family room and stared at the gas fireplace. It was nearly 10 P.M. The mothers had each settled into the couch with a book, but Mason had noticed that Lilian rarely turned the pages, her eyes frequently focusing on the fire instead of her novel. No one spoke of going to bed. The guest room Mason was staying in had been attacked by Hello Kitty. It would be fine for sleeping but not for thinking or pacing. The only chair in the bedroom came up to his knees, and he felt bad every time he stepped on the huge kitty-face area rug.

So he shared the depressed family room. The TV stayed off. Mason didn’t want to see any news reports and figured the family felt the same. Jake had stepped into the room and stared at everyone like he was lost. Mason quirked an eyebrow at him, but he’d gone back to his room and turned on his Xbox. If games kept Jake’s mind off his sister, Mason was all for them.

Where was Mason’s distraction? His mind kept spinning with what ifs.

After Lucas had arrived, Ava brought in a bag from her car. Robin gave her a grateful look and directed her to the purple butterfly room across from Mason’s.