When A Man Loves A Woman(26)

He looked Parker up and down. “You look like a movie star in those shades. Is that a Florida thing? Or an undercover PI thing?” Mac teased. He had always admired Parker’s confident air and swagger.

Mac caught Parker up to speed on the information Delilah had uncovered in his research. He handed over the envelope to him.

Once they were inside Mac’s house, Parker didn’t waste any time before he opened up the manila envelope. His let out a whistle as he surveyed the picture. He swung his gaze toward Mac. “This is one mind-blowing photo. You were so little,” Parker said, his voice clogged with emotion. “Way too little to be put through hell on earth.” There as an underlying anger in Parker’s tone.

Mac put his hand on his shoulder. “I know,” he said with a sigh. “It’s tough for me to look at this picture also. There are so many memories that come rushing to the surface when I see myself in this image. But I know that I need to keep my eyes on the prize and focus on the goal. Locating Callie.”

“I agree,” Parker said. “What do we know about the photographer?”

“His name is Dirk Grazio. He’s a photographer from Western Massachusetts. He was on staff at the Farmington Gazette and did some freelance stuff according to Delilah’s notes.”

“I’d like to track him down if he’s still in the area. He might have a whole bunch of these pictures. Wouldn’t that be something?”

“It would, Parker. In the meantime, take a look at the other photo in the envelope.”

Parker dug inside the envelope and pulled the second picture. He peered at the old photo. His gaze swung up and he met Mac’s. He pointed a finger at the photo of Mac in the ambulance with a small girl looking on. “Is that Callie?”

“It is. I actually remember that night. I can recall this exact moment in time and what she said to me right before one of the adults took her by the hand and led her away.” Mac stared off into the distance. If he closed his eyes he could almost feel Callie’s fingers skimming against the back of his hand as she tried to hold on to him.

“Mac. Please. Let me come. I don’t want to be away from you!”

“Just go with the nice lady, Callie. Don’t worry. I’ll find you later.”

Remembering that terrible night brought back the agony of his foolish words. He had promised to find her, yet he’d been powerless to do so. He had foolishly thought that once they left home that the danger posed to both of them would be over. The desperate look in Callie’s eyes haunted him. Had a part of her known in that moment that she would never see him again? In the end had he failed to protect her?

Parker’s deep voice brought him back to the present. “So that’s where this investigation is going to take me. Back to the Farmington area. I’m going to track this guy down and see if he has any other pictures from that night. If he does and we hit the jackpot it might really move this thing along. There have been so many advances in forensic imaging that if we have a decent shot of her face we can really create some wonderful age-progressed images.”

Age-progressed images were all the rage. It was amazing what tools were used by law enforcement to track down missing and exploited children. He felt fortunate that his search for Callie would benefit from these advances in technology.

“What about Mrs. Worther? Any leads?” Mac asked.

“I just got a call earlier from a buddy in law enforcement. There’s a B. Worther in New Hampshire and a J. Beatrice Worther in Rhode Island. Roughly same age. Retired. I’m going to check both of them out.”

Mac rubbed his hands together. Today had been a day full of leads. This investigation was really starting to gain steam.

“Between that news and the photos from Delilah,” Mac said with a satisfied grin, “I’m starting to become really hopeful.”

“I knew I liked Delilah,” Parker said. “It was smart of her to go through the microfiche records.”

Mac frowned. It shouldn’t bother him that Parker was expressing admiration for Delilah. But it annoyed him. A lot. He felt a tight knot forming in his stomach.

Parker narrowed his gaze. “What’s with that look? Oh, I get it. You like her, don’t you?”

He wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t have feelings for Delilah. What was the point? “Yeah, I’m interested.”

Parker clapped him on the back. “That’s awesome, Mac.”

Mac quirked his mouth. “It’s not like we’re getting married or anything,” Mac drawled.

“Not yet anyway, right?” Parker teased. “Have you asked her out yet?”