Bravo, Tango, Cowboy

“Elle Carrigan. Both Craig and I talked to her after the abduction. She didn’t see Lucy again once we’d walked away from her.”

No one knew anything, and Alonsa was starting to think working with Hawk on this was a big mistake. There would be nothing he could do but cross the same T’s and dot the identical I’s that Craig had already crossed and dotted.

Hawk squeezed her hand as if reading her misgivings. His strength seeped into her. When she looked up she was gripped by the intensity of his stare as he studied the surroundings. He was committed and doing his job. She was the liability here.

“I’ll be fine, Hawk. I’ll stand right here. You do what you need to do. Search every aspect of the area.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

She stood at the railing, watching but not really seeing the sea lions. There were three now. There had been only two when she’d stood here with Lucy. Cali and Kamia, both females. Lucy had said she was going to name one of her dolls Cali. She’d never seen her dolls again.

“Mrs. Salatoya.”

Alonsa turned, startled. She recognized Elle Carrigan immediately. “Elle. I didn’t expect to see you here today.”

“I graduated in December. I’m working at the zoo full-time now.”

“That’s great.”

“I’m glad I ran into you. I’d been thinking about trying to find your phone number so I could call you to see if the photo was any help in the investigation.”

Alonsa failed to make sense of the comment. “What photo?”

“The one I sent to the FBI.”

“I haven’t heard anything about a photo. Was this recently?”

“A few months ago. It was the strangest thing. I was going through some photos that belonged to my sister when I noticed this kid that looked exactly like Lucy. I even recognized the T-shirt she’d worn the day I met her. The one with the silly turtle on it. I commented on it at the time. Remember?”

“I remember. Tell me about the photo.”

“Tonya—that’s my younger sister—was clowning around with her friends near the gate and waiting on me to finish my shift at three o’clock. Anyway, there was a lady and a little girl in the background of one of the pictures they snapped.”

“You’re sure it was Lucy?”

“Almost positive.”

“And she was with a lady?”

“Yes, the lady was turned so that you couldn’t see her face, but she was holding Lucy’s hand and leading her through the exit gate.”

Alonsa’s chest constricted. A woman leaving the zoo with Lucy. This was the first she’d heard of this. “Are you certain the FBI received the photo?”

“I sent it to Craig Dalliers and he called in person to thank me for the lead.”

“Did he say it was Lucy in the photo?”

“I asked, but he said he couldn’t comment on the authenticity.”

Lucy had walked out of the zoo with a woman. They had the suspect’s picture. Yet Craig hadn’t even called her. Did he believe the girl in the photo wasn’t Lucy? Was he following up on the lead?

“I hope they find Lucy soon,” Elle said.

Alonsa only nodded, her ability to converse swallowed up in the sensations coursing through her. She scanned the area for Hawk. When she caught his eye, she waved him over, then turned back to Elle. “There’s someone I want you to meet. He’s conducting a private investigation into Lucy’s disappearance. That’s why I’m here today.”

She’d just finished making the introductions and explaining the photo to Hawk when her cell phone vibrated in her jacket pocket. She checked the caller ID. Craig Dalliers, returning her call. The timing couldn’t have been better.

“I have to take this,” she said, stepping away from Elle and Hawk so that they wouldn’t hear her phone conversation. Her anger toward Craig spiked into jagged peaks. How dare he keep a development like this from her.

Chapter Four

“Why didn’t you tell me about the photo?” The words tumbled out of Alonsa’s mouth in a rush of frustration.

“Which photo?”

“The one of Lucy being led away from the zoo.”

Her question was met with silence. “It was Lucy in the photo, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Craig admitted. “It was Lucy, but you need to stay calm, Alonsa. I can explain everything.”

“And you darn well will. Why didn’t you call me?”

“I was waiting for an opportune time to talk to you.”

“You got the photo months ago.”

“I didn’t want to get into this with you over the phone. I’d planned to come to Texas as soon as I got a chance and show you the picture in person. Not that it changes anything.”

“How can you say that? It means we know that Lucy was abducted by a woman and not some sick perverted male. That changes a few things for me. I live on hope, Craig. I’ve lived on nothing else for two years. What else have you kept from me?”

“Nothing. How did you find out about the photo?”

“From Elle Carrigan.”

“Tell me you are not still trying to investigate this on your own.”

“No. Not on my own. I’ve hired a private investigator.” Her bitterness over having been kept in the dark about the photo made telling him about Hawk a lot easier. She didn’t have to justify anything.

“That is a ludicrous waste of money and you know it,” Craig sputtered. “No private investigator has the resources the FBI does. No one else is going to give this case the attention I have. I’ve supervised a lot of it myself and assigned some of my top men to assist.”

“And all of you ignored the photograph of Lucy and the abductor.”

“I haven’t ignored it, Alonsa. The photo doesn’t show anything of the abductor but the back of her head. All we know now that we didn’t know before is that a woman was involved.”

“You should have called me,” she insisted. “I have a right to know.”