A Mother's Secret

“Mesa, where they live,” she said, naming a suburb south of Phoenix.

“Do you know what his rank is?” Kincaid knew a lot of officers and had heard of even more, but he’d never run across the name Lenny Nelson.

“I believe he’s currently a patrolman, with a partner, somewhere in Mesa.”

“Currently?”

Sara shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s sort of a jack-of-all-trades, has trouble holding down a job, gets restless. He’s been a truck driver, mechanic, exterminator, landscaper. He quits after a few months because the people in charge are all stupid, according to Lenny. He’s been with the police department for nearly two years, a record of sorts.”

Interesting. But obviously not against the law. Was this lovely woman an overreactor, making a mountain out of a molehill? Kincaid hadn’t had time this morning to check her out, but he would.

“Is Mike an only child?”

“Yes.”

He watched her put the shredded tissue into the nearby trash can, her hands trembling slightly. From worry and strain? Or something else, he wondered.

“So when did you move out of the family home and why?”

Sara frowned, annoyed at the question. “I don’t see what that has to do with all this, but, if you must know, I moved out after college. I wanted to be on my own. I was making good money as a buyer for Macy’s and I had some investments from my folks’ estate, so I bought this condo.” That was the truth, as far as it went, Sara thought, her eyes downcast once more. She didn’t see any point in revealing that a strain had developed between her and Lenny, mostly over Mike, so she’d left, thinking it would be better for the boy if there wasn’t so much noticeable tension. And Meg always took Lenny’s side. Mike was sensitive and picked up on their discord.

Kincaid took a moment to glance around, noticing that her home was not extravagantly decorated but done in good taste with fairly expensive furniture, the location in a neighborhood of upwardly mobile families, probably a fair share of singles with good jobs.

“Did Mike mind you moving out?” he asked, watching her face.

“A little. But I fixed up my spare room for him here, and he often spends weekends with me.” A frown came and went as Sara wondered if he ever would again.

Her expression suddenly imploring, she looked up. “You’ve just got to find him.” Was he just playing with her by asking all these questions or was he really going to help her? “I want to hire you to find Mike.”

“Not so fast.” Kincaid shifted in his chair. Her robe wasn’t in the least revealing, but he sensed she wore nothing underneath as her fragrant, after-shower warmth drifted to him. He reached into his pocket and took out a lemon drop, popped it into his mouth. With no small effort, he jerked his attention back to the missing boy. “For one thing, as I told you last night, I have a job. I work for the public under the auspices of the police department. But I think you already know that.” He narrowed his gaze, aware that she’d undoubtedly looked into his background and checked his credentials. She appeared to be thorough, methodical. “I’m curious. Why me?”

“Because I did check you out, talked to a lot of people and, quite simply, everyone says you’re the best. I also recall seeing one of your high-profile cases on television a while back on one of those news shows. I know you have broad authority in the police department because of your years of experience and your success rate.” She paused to take a calming breath. “I’m aware that you’re on leave, for whatever reason, so I’m willing to pay for your time.”

He shook his head. “Money’s not the issue here. I don’t take every case. There are other investigators who work with me, under my supervision. If I take a case, I have to believe the adults responsible for the child, to know that they’re telling the truth so I can figure out how things happened and where to begin the search.” Leaning his forearms on the table, he met her worried gaze. “So now that I’ve got the background, tell me about how you learned that Mike was missing.”

Sara gathered her thoughts. “Meg wasn’t upset when she first read Lenny’s note because, as I’ve said, Lenny is impulsive. However, he hadn’t even hinted where they were going, only told her not to worry. By Sunday evening when she still hadn’t heard from him, she started making a few calls. To hospitals and the police to see if they’d been in an accident, to Mike’s friends in case he’d mentioned the trip to one of them. She got nowhere so she called me. Now, here it is Tuesday morning and still no word.”

Kincaid tried to keep his face expressionless. He didn’t like wild-goose chases. “You realize that the boy isn’t really missing, in the literal sense. He’s with his father.”

Sara struggled to find the right words to convince him to help her. “Did I tell you that Mike has allergies? When I went to talk to Meg, we checked his room and he hadn’t taken his allergy pills and only a few clothes were missing. That would indicate a short trip, but he’s been gone four days.”

Frowning, Kincaid tried to make sense of it. “Surely Lenny is aware of Mike’s allergies, the medication he needs. As his father, he could get another prescription, if necessary.”

“Lenny’s careless about such things. He once took Mike camping up a mountain trail in the spring when all the new growth was out on the trees and shrubs. Mike had a bad attack, had to be taken to a hospital for a shot of adrenaline when Lenny finally got him home. Lenny dismissed the whole incident, said that Meg and I spoil Mike, that we’re making him into a sissy… His word.”

“A real macho guy, eh?” Kincaid had seen more than his share of guys like that.

“Yes, the big jerk. He was furious that Mike didn’t make his school’s football team.”

“You don’t get along all that well with Lenny, eh?”

She’d revealed more than she’d intended, Sara realized, but it was the truth. “I put up with him or I’d never get to see Mike.”

“And your sister, what does she think about Lenny?”

Sighing, Sara shook her head. “I don’t honestly know.” Privately, she thought that Meg had married Lenny so he’d help her take care of Sara through the difficult teen years and that Lenny married Meg for the free rent and a share of the family estate. But she wasn’t about to air all their dirty laundry to this virtual stranger. Besides, it was just her opinion.

Kincaid stared out the window thoughtfully. There was more here than she was telling him, and he wondered what. Still, they hadn’t come up with a motive for Lenny taking his son on a mysterious trip. “Do you know if Lenny and Meg are having problems? Is the marriage good? Could he have taken their son to deliberately worry her, to get even for something she did?”

Sara didn’t look at him, appearing evasive. “I don’t think so. I mean, it’s not exactly a match made in heaven, but they seem okay. Meg doesn’t complain to me, and he certainly wouldn’t.”

“Lenny’s not violent, never hit Mike or Meg?”

Her eyes widened at the suggestion. “Not that I know of. No, I’m sure Mike would have told me.”

“How’s the money situation between them? You mentioned that Meg hasn’t worked since the boy was born and Lenny drifts from job to job. Doesn’t seem as if he stays long enough in one place to warrant a decent salary.”

“Meg and I both have a trust fund from our parents’ estate, which was considerable. After age twenty-five, we could use the money any way we saw fit. I don’t know how much Meg’s taken out of hers, if any. She’s very frugal. They don’t live lavishly. They’re still in our parents’ home, which is very nice and half mine if they were to sell it…although I wouldn’t take my share. As far as I’m concerned, it all belongs to Meg for taking care of me all those years. A while back Meg wanted to sell it, but I nixed her idea. I didn’t think it would be good for Mike to change schools or leave all his friends.”

A fair woman and compassionate. Kincaid rose, stretched and walked to the window. Purple bougainvillea bloomed along a wide stucco fence, looking perfect as a painting under a cloudless morning sky. Nice yard, nice home and a nice woman.

But he couldn’t help her.

Turning back to face her, he leaned against the wall. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, Sara, but I don’t think there’s a problem here. It’s not a case of a runaway or a kidnapping. You say that Lenny’s never hurt the boy so Mike’s not at risk. You indicate that the three of them get along fairly well together. There’s no crime and no motive here. While I think it’s irresponsible of Lenny to take the boy and not keep in touch with his wife, it’s not against the law. I think it’s simply what it appears to be, a father taking his son on a surprise trip and perhaps they’re having such a good time they haven’t gotten around to calling home.”

He pushed away from the wall, deciding it was time to leave. “Give it a few more days, Sara. Chances are they’ll be back by then or Lenny will call.”

Sara had thought she could get Kincaid to help her without revealing more, but apparently not. He’d probably find out, anyway. “Maybe I should tell you the rest,” Sara said quietly.

Frowning, he sat down at the table, facing her. “All right, what’s the rest?”

“I called and talked to one of the officers at the Mesa Police Department where Lenny works. After much hemming and hawing, he told me that Lenny had been relieved of duty almost two weeks ago pending an investigation into allegations of improprieties.”

Chapter Two

Sara couldn’t look away from Kincaid’s eyes, which were studying her as if she were a bug under a microscope. Undoubtedly he was trying to see into her mind. In the bright, morning sunlight, his eyes were more green than gray. She wondered what he was thinking, worried again that she’d blown it by withholding information. Emotions had clouded her actions from the beginning of this whole affair.

“Is there a reason why you didn’t tell me this interesting little fact about Mike’s father before now?” he asked, his voice even. He couldn’t seem to get a fix on this woman with the big, beautiful eyes that seemed to hide a fair amount of secrets.

“I’m sorry,” Sara said finally. “I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t think his job status had anything to do with Mike’s disappearance.” And she’d planned to share only what was necessary.

“Mmm-hmm. And now suddenly you do?” He paused, thinking. “Let’s see. We have here a child taken on an unexpected trip by a father who can’t seem to hold down a job. The man is married to a woman who has a trust fund, but they live frugally, and now he’s accused of improprieties. Your word. At the worst, he’s a thief. At the very least, he’s guilty of poor judgment.”

“He’s not the brightest man I’ve ever met,” she offered.

“Are you going to eat your doughnut?” It occurred to Kincaid that he’d skipped dinner last night.

Sara pushed the napkin and doughnut closer to him. “No, go ahead, please.”