Tough Justice: Burned

Lara introduced Nick to the girls, whose eyes lit up at the sight of him. She didn’t blame them—hot older man, intense, dark eyes and a killer smile. He had them in the palm of his hand at hello.

As the girls sat at the table, a young man on a bike joined them. “Are you the FBI agents looking for Anna Russo?”

Nick asked, “Who are you?”

“Teddy McNamara.”

Lara made the rest of the introductions. “Do you want to pull up a chair, Teddy?”

“I’m okay on my bike.”

“So, the three of you were in Anna’s philosophy class and saw her leave with a woman.” Lara took a sip of coffee, watching the three students over the lid of her cup. “Can you tell us what this woman looked like?”

Farah tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “She had dark hair, about shoulder length, very thick with bangs. I’m not sure how tall she was because I was sitting down, and I think she had heels on, probably average height.”

Nick had been writing this down in a notebook and looked up. “About how old?”

“Maybe in her thirties, maybe younger. She was wearing a suit, so that may have made her look older. Oh, and she was wearing sunglasses—inside—so it was hard to tell her age.”

“Naw, she was younger than that. If she was thirty, she wasn’t much older...and she had a tattoo.”

Lara’s heart slammed against her rib cage. “A tattoo? Of what? Where?”

“I couldn’t make it out, maybe a bird or something like that on her ankle, on the outside.” He shrugged as the two women stared at him. “She had nice legs.”

“Did you hear what she said to Anna?” Nick tapped his pencil against his coffee cup.

“I was sitting the closest to Anna, but the woman sort of leaned over and whispered. I didn’t hear anything she said.” Farah rolled her eyes. “And I didn’t notice any tattoo.”

Crossing his arms, Teddy leaned back on his bike. “That’s because you were looking at her face. I couldn’t tell you what hair color she had or if she even had hair.”

Nick quirked his eyebrows at Lara, and her lips twitched.

Farah huffed. “Anyway, she whispered something to Anna, Anna got her stuff, and they left the room.”

Teddy spun one of his pedals around with his foot. “The car was a black SUV, but I didn’t see a license plate or anything. I wasn’t looking for that.”

Nick dropped his pencil. “You saw Anna get into a car?”

“I was by the window, looking out on Broadway. I lock up my bike down there when I have that class. Honestly?” Teddy adjusted his backpack. “I wasn’t looking out the window to follow Anna. I was just checking on my bike. Even if a bike is locked up, people around here will strip it clean if they can.”

“So, the woman and Anna walked to a black SUV parked on Broadway? Did Anna look like she was in distress?”

“I don’t think so, but there was a guy with them, too.” His gaze scanned Nick’s casual attire. “He was wearing a suit.”

Lara turned to the women. “Did you two see anything? Did you see the man?”

Jenna shook her head. “I wasn’t looking out the window.”

“Me, either.” Farah hugged a book to her chest. “Is Anna in trouble? Is she in danger? I knew her mom was some kind of federal agent, so I didn’t think anything of it when that woman came into the classroom. She must’ve had some ID, because she showed it to Professor Hutter.”

“We’re not sure yet what’s going on.” Lara told the soothing lie without blinking an eye. No need to upset the coeds. Moretti wouldn’t be coming after them—she glanced up at the windows of a few buildings—at least she hoped not.

Nick nudged the front wheel of Teddy’s bike with the toe of his boot. “Black SUV, woman from class and a man escorting her, no struggle and no license plate. Is that about right?”

“Yeah, and I didn’t get a good look at the man, either. Looked like a typical suit to me. He may have had a beard, and he was wearing sunglasses, too.”

“Did you notice the make of the SUV?”

“One of those big-ass gas guzzlers, tinted windows, the whole nine yards.” Teddy held up one hand. “If I thought Anna was being forced into the car, I would’ve called campus police or something. There was nothing like that going on. Tattoo lady walked her down, and the suit must’ve been waiting for them downstairs because he was walking on the other side of Anna toward the SUV. The three of them went into the car, and I didn’t even notice them driving away.”

Holding up his notepad, filled with his black scrawl, Nick said, “Ladies? Anything to add?”

“Yeah, do we have anything to worry about?” Jenna wrapped her long, brown hair around one hand.

“Nothing.” Nick rapped his knuckles on the table. “This is related to Anna’s mother, but if I can get back here tomorrow with a sketch artist, can you help us out?”

They all agreed to help with a sketch.

She and Nick handed their cards to each of the students and thanked them for their cooperation.

The girls wandered into the bookstore, their heads together, and Teddy hopped on his bike and pedaled away.

Lara checked the messages on her phone. “Interesting, but not all that helpful. And those descriptions? Thick hair with bangs? Sunglasses? Facial hair? Obviously, the kidnappers had on disguises. Now, if Teddy had bothered to check the license plate of tattoo lady’s big-ass SUV, we might have something.”

“Any updates from anyone?” He tilted his notebook her way before stashing it in the inside pocket of his jacket.

“Mei and Ty are done with Professor Hutter, and Victoria and Xander just wrapped up with Anna’s friends.”

“Speak of the devils.” His gaze shifted over her shoulder.

They pulled out the chairs Farah and Jenna had just vacated, and Mei dug her elbows into the table and propped her chin in her hands. “Nothing, nada, zip. Professor Hutter had his mind firmly on Hume, Camus and Russell, not fake FBI agents.”

“Zip it.” Ty drew a line across the seam of his lips with the tip of his finger. “Here comes the boss.”

Nick pushed back his chair and stood. “Have a seat, Victoria.”

Her eyes darted from face to face. “I can tell you didn’t have any better luck than we did.”

Lara reached across the table and curled her fingers around Victoria’s hand. The woman had been there for her more times than she could count. “Anna’s friends couldn’t tell you anything?”

“No.”

“We got a little something from her classmates.” Nick related what the students had told them about the woman, and what Teddy had revealed about the man and the black SUV. “So, we have another black SUV on the scene, like the one that pulled over for Dunst.”

“Another black SUV in a sea of black SUVs.” Victoria squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Xander, standing next to Nick, shoved his hands in his pockets. “Hang tough, boss. If Moretti wanted Anna dead, his people would’ve killed her already, stamped her and dumped her someplace public.”