Trumped Up Charges

“Too bad Lane’s team isn’t doing that.”

“I’m sure they’re throwing everything they have into this, Hadley. Missing children are top priority on every police force in America.”

He opened her door for her and then rounded the truck and slid behind the wheel.

Hadley had to admit that her mother had taken the news like the fighter she was. She’d ordered the nurse to get her clothes and dared anyone to try and stop her from leaving the hospital.

A failed attempt to sit up by herself had allowed Dr. Gates and Hadley to convince her that the best way she could help was to provide them with information. She’d tried and then become furious at herself when she couldn’t give them what they needed.

To the detective’s credit, he hadn’t harassed her mother. In fact he’d been almost too accommodating and a lot of his time had been wasted on idle chatter. At least it had seemed that way to Hadley.

“Did you find the detective’s interaction with Mother odd?” she asked as Adam backed from the parking spot.

“You mean the fact that he talked more about you and your relationship to your mother and to the girls than he did about people with access to the house?”

“Exactly.”

Hadley’s cell phone rang. Her pulse pounded—until she saw the caller ID. “A friend from high school who I haven’t heard from in years. Evidently the girls’ identities have been released.”

She let the phone ring without answering. Even if the phone hadn’t needed to stay free for the kidnapper’s call, she couldn’t bear to go through the details again. Her friends would understand.

Adam shifted out of Reverse and headed toward the exit. “I’m hoping he was just trying to put your mother at ease.”

“I guess. But the girls have been missing for hours now. We have to find them before dark. They’ve never spent the night away from me.”

Hadley could feel herself sliding to the edge of hysteria. She took a deep breath, determined to stay in control. Losing it wouldn’t help find the girls.

Adam turned to look at her. “Have you eaten anything today?”

“Not that I remember, but I’m not hungry. I doubt I could even swallow.”

“You have to keep up your strength. Collapsing won’t help anybody.”

“I know. I’ll try to eat something later. But if you’re hungry we can stop somewhere.”

“I can wait. I had breakfast.”

He pulled out of the parking lot and into a stream of cars. “So is it back to the house?”

The empty, silent house void of Lila’s laughter and Lacy’s high-pitched chatter. No footsteps running down the long hallway no matter how many times she cautioned them to walk.

No one there to call “Momma.”

“I don’t think I can face going back there yet.”

“Where would you like to go?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t just sit and do nothing while waiting on the kidnapper to call with a ransom request or the police to call with good news. The waiting is driving me insane.”

“We can backtrack where the cops have been, search the nearby parks, go house to house and ask if anyone saw or heard anything last night.”

“But that would only be reaching the same people who’ve already been questioned.”

“What about going on television?” Adam suggested. “You can personally plead for the kidnapper to let them go or for someone to come forward with information.”

“I like that.” Hope spiked her pulse as the idea took hold. “Dallas has a big heart.”

“It’s the fastest way to reach hundreds of thousands of people,” Adam agreed. “You can offer an award for information leading to the safe return of the girls. That might get a response from someone from the city’s criminal element who actually knows the kidnapper.”

“Or someone involved in the kidnapping,” Hadley said. “If we act now, I may be able to get on the evening news broadcast of every local TV channel.”

“At least you should be able to make the ten o’clock news.” Adam agreed.

“I’ll call Detective Lane right now and see if he can set it up.”

She grabbed her phone. Adam reached across the space between them and laid a hand on hers. “Just a suggestion, but if I were you, I think I’d bypass Lane with this and go directly to the local TV stations.”

“Do you think the detective would have a problem with my decision?”

“I think he has his own way of handling things and might object,” Adam said.

“If he has legitimate objections to my making a public plea, I’d like to hear them. I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks where the girls’ safety is concerned. I can’t afford a dangerous mistake.”

“I can’t tell you what to do with this, Hadley. It’s your daughters.”

But not hers alone. “I’d appreciate your honest opinion,” she said. “As a friend and as a male point of view.”

Before he had time to answer, her cell phone rang again. This time it was a close friend who she hated to ignore. She took the call and accepted the empathy. Another call buzzed in.

Detective Lane. She told her friend a quick goodbye and took the detective’s call. “Have you found Lacy and Lila?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

Her spirit plunged. “What about the construction workers involved in the remodeling project? Did you check them out?”

“We’re working on it, but at this point it doesn’t appear that any of them have a criminal record.”

Desperation forced her to ignore Adam’s words of caution. She had to do something, and Lane could probably make the arrangements quicker than she could on her own.

“I want to go on television and plead for the girls’ safe return,” she said.

There was a long, silent pause before the detective responded. “We can discuss that possibility.”

“I don’t need to discuss the possibility. My mind’s made up. The only question is will you help me arrange it or should I proceed on my own?”

“I’ll set it up, Hadley, but we need to talk first. Do you mind if I call you Hadley?”

“Please do, and I’m not questioning your expertise or your methods, Detective. But unless you can assure me that you have a credible lead in finding Lacy and Lila, I insist we go forward with the TV spots immediately. There is no time to waste and no reason to talk about it.”