Calculated Revenge

THREE

Noah found Laney in her darkened classroom slumped at her desk with damp paper towels pressed to her forehead. He cleared his throat so he wouldn’t startle her as he approached. “The children are gone for the day, but Ellen has Briana. They’re playing a game.”

“I know.” She looked up, fathoms of pain in her shadowed gaze. “She’s a good friend. She’s been giving me some space to process.”

“Is it working?” He knew the answer before he asked. This woman needed an old-fashioned bawl session, but he’d leave that to Ellen Kline’s sturdy shoulder. It was not a good idea for him to put his arms around Laney Thompson. He had to maintain professional distance, even in his thoughts. Too bad that plan wasn’t working very well.

Laney wadded the paper towels and chucked the ball across the room. She made the wastebasket.

“Good arm,” he said.

“Are they still here?”

“The FBI? Yes, they’ve commandeered a meeting room. Agent Burns said to tell you he’d have someone outside your apartment all night.”

Laney snorted. “So you’re his errand boy now? I suppose he shared that information so that I won’t call the cops on his agent.”

Noah sent her a wry smile. “He plays it close to the vest.”

“A bit too close.” She told him what Briana had confessed to Agent Burns about noticing a man in a suit lurking outside the playground just before the end of second and third grade recess.

He rubbed his chin. “That fits with the timeline for the first appearance of the backpack.”

Laney pressed a hand to her chest. “I hope this is finally a break in the case, but I’m not holding my breath. Agent Burns wasn’t in charge of the team when Gracie went missing, but he was there, throwing his weight around. They didn’t find anything then. Why should I believe results will be different now?”

“A hot new lead can sometimes break a cold case.”

Laney leaned back in her chair, her gazed fixed on him. Noah shifted his stance and looked around the room. If décor was a reflection of personality, this room did Laney justice. Everything from the skipping hippos stenciled on the wall to the bright construction paper flowers edging the bulletin board spoke of warmth and energy. This was a great room for mentally and physically challenged kids to find safe stimulation, as well as hearty doses of encouragement.

“Why do I get the feeling you know a lot about criminal investigations?” She asked the question Noah wished he hadn’t invited with his careless remark.

He sent her a casual smile. “A hobby of mine.”

Her eyes widened. “You investigate crimes in your spare time?”

“I meant that it’s an interest.” Beads of moisture sprang up beneath the collar of his polo shirt. How close was that kernel of truth to telling a lie? “I’ve got a suggestion,” he hurried on. “It’s Friday tomorrow. Why don’t you and Briana take the day off? Then you’ll have the whole weekend to stay home and regroup. You probably have people to contact.”

“My parents.”

“Of course. Maybe by Monday things will have cooled down here. And maybe we’ll even have a dirtbag in a suit behind bars.”

“How I hope so!” She rose. “Thank you.” She came around the desk and touched his arm. “I’ll take you up on your offer.”

“I’ll check on you, at least by phone, every day.”

“I appreciate your concern.” Her smile emerged and did amazing things to his insides.

“Let me walk you to your car. We can pick up Briana on the way.”

They collected the little girl, and the child slipped one hand into her mother’s and took Noah’s with the other. The simple intimacy felt too right to be comfortable. By the time Noah waved Laney and Briana off toward home, he was sweating in earnest, and not from the balmy weather.

He returned to the office, where Miss Aggie was closing up shop.

“You did well today,” she said.

“Thanks. So did you.”

She walked to the door, then turned and lasered him with a look. “But remember, some gains are worth great risk. Don’t screw up your chance at a future because of the past.”

She whisked away, leaving Noah with his mouth open. What did she mean by that remark? Had some little birdie with a sheriff’s badge been twittering in her ear, or was his attraction to Laney as obvious as his efforts to keep her at arm’s length?

Noah undid a button on his shirt and retired to the inner office, where he got on the phone. “Have you been talking out of turn, Lindoll?” he said as soon as Hank came on the line.

“Huh?”

“Did you tell my secretary who I was?”

“Are you kidding? I haven’t told a soul, but I’m tempted to spill the beans to Laney Thompson. She could use your services right now.”

“Nothing doing. I’m retired and into my second career, which I like very much, thank you. Besides, she’s got you on her side.”

The sheriff snorted. “Fat lot of good that’ll do her when my people are shut out of the investigation. Information is a one-way street with this Burns, except for something he deems ‘local’ enough for us to know.”

“And you think I’d fare any better? You saw how we get along.”

“Must be a story there, eh?” The man gave a dry chuckle.

“Later. Maybe. Right now, I’m calling to see if anything more came of the interviews your guys conducted. Is there anything I need to know to protect my students and staff?”

Several heartbeats passed. Noah’s internal antennae perked up. There was something, but Hank must not be sure if it was significant or not.

“We do have one suspicious circ,” the sheriff finally said.

“Suspicious circumstance? Involving who?”

“Glen Crocker, a local electrician, has been missing for a couple of days.”

Noah pursed his lips. “The timing would be right for a perp who needed to go somewhere and get that backpack.”

The sheriff sighed. “I’d hate to see this turn out to be a local guy. Could be Glen’s just skipped out on his family, which is bad enough. Let me look up the report. My deputy got this lead at the school from the guy’s son and interviewed the wife at home.”

Noah doodled with an automatic pencil while he listened to papers rustle at the other end. “Glen must be Sam Crocker’s dad. Sam’s in Mrs. Link’s fifth grade class.”

“You sure know your students…and their families. That’s part of what makes you a good principal, but paying attention to people also makes you an outstanding investigator.”

“Get off it, Hank.” Noah stabbed the pencil point into the pad.

“All right, but I’m just saying. Ah, here it is.” A desk chair creaked in the background. “According to little Sam, his daddy left for a job day before yesterday, and the kid hasn’t seen him since. My deputy talked to the mom, and she didn’t know where her husband was, either. Didn’t seem too surprised Glen took off, which is why she hadn’t reported him missing.” Hank snorted. “Must’ve been problems in the marriage.”