Not a Moment Too Soon

Right now, Margo’s cluelessness and nastiness were only a fraction of why Hunter wanted to wring her neck.

On top of everything else, now that she had an audience, her description of how she’d reacted to Andee’s disappearance was heartrending, as if Margo, and not their missing daughter, should be at the center of their concerns.

“I was only inside for a couple of minutes,” she said. She was seated now, her face in her hands, her voice muffled. “I—I expected a call about an audition, but I’d forgotten to carry the portable phone. Andee was outside, waving one of those wands that blow giant bubbles. I grabbed the phone and went right out again, but when I returned to the backyard, the wand was there but Andee wasn’t.”

Her voice broke, and she shuddered as she cried into her hands. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I know I haven’t always been a good mother, but I love Andee. We have to find her.”

If she hadn’t been Margo, an actress whose stock-in-trade of over-the-top emotion Hunter had seen all too often as she’d manipulated him, he’d have felt sorry for her. Might have held her, to ease her pain.

But as he’d gotten to know her, after they were married, he had lost all certainty as to what was feigned and what was real.

She’d given him custody of Andee easily enough. Having a kid burdened an up-and-coming unmarried actress.

On the other hand, even if she admittedly wasn’t an ideal mother, Andee was her child, too.

“Tell us how you attempted to find her.” Simon, bless him, had gone to Margo’s side and rested a hand consolingly on her back.

She looked up, and her eyes actually were red, swollen and wet—and they looked directly at Hunter.

Which made him feel about three inches tall. What a louse he was. Of course she cared that their daughter was missing.

“I’m sorry, Hunter,” she said. “It’s all my fault. The gate was shut, so at first I thought she’d followed me into the house without my noticing. I called her and looked around before I started getting really worried. But I couldn’t find her.”

More sobs. This time Hunter did approach her. Awkwardly, he touched her head.

In moments, she had stood and was crying against his chest.

Automatically his arms went around her. Even though it didn’t feel natural to have her so close. Especially now.

His eyes involuntarily darted toward Shauna. She was watching them, a look of compassion on her face. And sadness.

And pain.

For Andee, of course. And, in sympathy for him, whether he wanted it or not.

He had no doubt it felt awkward to her to be in the same room as her onetime lover and his ex-wife. She had made it clear, though, she no longer cared for him. Any more than he still cared for her.

But he did still care for her…sort of. Nostalgically.

Even so, he gently pulled away from Margo, his eyes on Shauna. He could see her struggle to hide any emotion. Did she, perhaps, still have some feelings for him—other than to despise him for leaving all those years ago?

He looked deliberately away from her and into Margo’s eyes. “We need to hear the rest,” he told his ex-wife. Even though he had heard it from her before, on the phone.

Her story didn’t change. She’d continued looking for Andee, then assumed she had somehow gotten out the gate and started wandering the neighborhood. Margo’s backyard abutted a narrow alley, as did most other houses along her street and the one behind it. She didn’t see anyone there, so she went up one road and down the next, knocked on a few doors. But no one had seen Andee. That was when she had first called Hunter.

The second time was after she had received a call from the kidnapper.

“It was a man. He said that if I told anyone besides her father, he’d kill her.” She looked straight at Banger. “I wasn’t to talk to the police. He said I could pay for her safe return and promised he’d be in touch to tell me what to do. And if I didn’t follow his instructions, I’d never see my daughter again. If he saw anything in the media, or one of those Amber alerts, or anything public, it would be all over for Andee.” Tears ran down her cheeks. Her gaze returned to Hunter. “I may have been at fault in the first place, but you brought in all these other people.” She darted another brief, disapproving glance toward Shauna. “We’ve got to do as he says, Hunter.”

He nodded, then turned to Banger. “Glad you’re here,” he said. “You’ve taken charge of this case, I hope, even though it’s outside your division.”

Banger’s narrow, solemn head nodded. “That’s right.”

“Do I dare ask how you’re managing it?”

“Not if you value your P.I. license,” Banger growled, though a corner of his mouth quirked up as though it attempted a grin without his permission.

“Okay, then, here’s something I do dare to ask. How about putting a listening device on Margo’s phone?”

“What do you mean?” His ex sounded horrified.

“To trace the kidnapper when he calls again,” Banger explained.

“Don’t you need a warrant or something for that?” she asked.

“Only if the subject of the wiretap isn’t aware or doesn’t agree,” Banger said. “Do you have any problem with it?”

“Of course not,” Margo said. “Not if it will help get Andee back. But that means more people will know. And if word gets out—”

“We’ll be careful,” Banger said. “I’ve already got an investigation started. Mostly Foothill Division guys.” He looked at Hunter. “They’re okay. I know all the detectives on the case. They’ll keep a low profile, don’t worry.”

For once, though, Hunter sided with Margo. “You’ll have to be damned careful,” he told the detective. “We can’t take the chance of a leak. Any publicity will spook the kidnapper. In fact, I want to handle the canvassing of this neighborhood myself. Do you have any problem with that?”

Banger didn’t look happy. “You know that if it wasn’t your kid, I’d tell you to go pound sand and not interfere with a police investigation. But you and I have a history, so I’ll cut you some slack and call off the guys I’ve got on the way—for now. We’ll work the case from some other angles. But I don’t like it. I won’t give you more than a day.”

“But that’s not—” Hunter protested.

“One day,” Banger repeated. “And only regarding asking questions around here. The rest of the routine is already underway. I checked out Margo’s yard personally when I got here, looked for evidence of the abduction, kept a log of what we did and what we found, dusted the gate’s latch for prints, took a zillion photos of stuff big and small, that kind of thing. Not that it’s regular procedure, but Simon assisted. Good thing you both were cops once and know the drill.”

Blessing Banger for having enough seniority and guts to take any heat for doing things his own way, Hunter asked, “Anything helpful?”

“Nada, so far. Not even Margo’s prints on the latch. Looked like it was wiped clean. But we gathered print samples from the house and yard, plus some of Andee’s things and other items from outside. Started a standard—more or less—report, including collection and chain of custody of evidence. I’ll send what little we found to the lab for analysis soon as I get back to my office.” He shook his head. “I’ll let you take the initial swipe at asking questions around here, but you’ll need to butt out otherwise. Though I’ll keep our investigation as quiet as I can, a kidnapping’s high priority. I’ve already called my most trusted FBI contact—maybe you know him, Lou Tennyson?”

“I know of him,” Hunter said. “The feds all tend to be heavy-handed. The kidnapper has made it clear he’ll harm his victim—” He almost choked on the last—it seemed like such a detached way to refer to his sweet Andee. “—if there’s any publicity at all. And the more people you get involved on this case, the more likelihood there is it’ll leak out.”

Banger’s slow nod made his long, thin face look even more doleful. “I’m doing my best, but you know I can’t do nothing. While you’re looking around here, my guys’ll be asking questions at Andee’s school, talking to parents of kids there, your neighbors, whatever. We’ll give ’em a good cover story, like they’re investigating you for a security clearance or something. Even so, word’ll get out, count on it. A day, two days—” He raised his hand to silence Hunter, who’d opened his mouth to protest. “That’s assuming we don’t get her back right away, which we hope to do. But I’ll keep a lid on it as long as I can—as much of a lid as can be on a kidnapping investigation.”

Through this discussion, Shauna appeared to be attentive, taking in every word. Only when they were nearly done did she venture a question to Margo. “Can you think of anyone who might have taken your daughter?”

Margo, who’d cried quietly into her hands during the discussion, looked up tearily. Her tone was disdainful as she replied, “I’d have told these men if I did.”

That had been a clue in Shauna’s story, if it was true. Andee apparently knew her kidnapper. It was something Hunter intended to pursue, just in case. Right now, he gave Shauna credit for not flinching under Margo’s contemptuous stare.

“Of course you’d tell them,” she said soothingly. “Tell me this, then. Do any of your friends or acquaintances go by nicknames that refer to letters, like their initials?”

Interesting question. Hunter had been racking his own brain for who this “Big T” could be but had come up with no one.

“What are you talking about?” Margo’s tone suggested bewilderment—unsurprisingly. It was a rather offbeat question.