The Texas Ranger's Nanny

“I’ve known that for a long time.”

Of course she did. Claire never stopped talking about him. “This is a nightmare, Mom. Oh—I think I hear Vic now. I’ll call you later.”

She clicked Off and dashed across the living room to the front door. When she opened it, Vic had just reached the porch. Before walking through the door, he flashed her a look that revealed his terror.

Claire followed him through the house to the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”

He’d gone over to the sink and was drinking water from the tap. The poor man had been gutted. Claire had never felt so helpless. Once he’d washed his hands, he turned to her while he wiped them with a towel. “How are you holding up? I haven’t even thanked you for phoning me the moment you knew he’d disappeared.”

“I’m all right,” she lied. “After all the times we talked about what we should do in situations like this...” She fought the tears stinging her eyelids. “I just never thought...”

“That one would become reality?” he said.

“No.”

“Neither did I,” he ground out.

She took a deep breath. “Now that it has, I’m here to do anything you need.”

“I’ve got dozens of phone calls to make while I wait to hear from Kit. We’ve put out an Amber Alert on Jeremy naming Leroy Bennett as his abductor.”

“Who is he?”

In the next breath Vic told her all that had happened since he’d driven ninety miles an hour to the school, breaking every law in the process. “He could be anywhere, Claire. As for Jeremy...”

“Come and sit down,” she urged him. “I’ll help you make those calls while we eat.” She took the things she’d prepared out of the fridge and put the food on the kitchen table. The coffee was ready. She poured a cup for both of them.

To her relief, he sat down and pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. “This is the list of the school staff. Someone who works there has to have information that could help us figure out where Leroy might have gone.”

“Or know some of his habits,” she murmured. “I agree. Why don’t you call the names from A to M and I’ll take N to Z? Just a second. I’ll get some paper for us to take notes.”

She ran to his office and pulled some sheets from the printer tray. After plucking two pens from his mug that said World’s Greatest Dad—the mug she and Jeremy had bought for Vic’s Christmas present—she returned and gave him the materials. He was already on the phone.

Claire pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket and got started on her section of the list. As they worked through the list of names, she noted with satisfaction that he automatically reached for a roll. Before long, three of the rolls had disappeared and he’d started on the grapes. She topped up his coffee and finished her section of the list.

But her spirits plummeted when it became clear that no matter how many calls they made, they weren’t going to get any pertinent information on Leroy. Everyone said he was a loner. The gym teacher said Leroy had serious social problems, which corroborated what the woman at the apartment building had told Vic.

While Vic was still on the phone, Claire got an idea and phoned Nate’s mom. “Sorry to bother you, Ann.”

“Not at all. Did you find Jeremy?”

Claire struggled not to break down. “Not yet. We’re still looking for him.”

“Oh, no...what can I do to help?”

“Would you mind putting Nate on the phone? He and Jeremy are best friends. I’d just like to ask him a few questions without worrying him.”

“Of course. I’ll get him.”

After a few seconds, Nate came on the line. “Hi, Claire.” The boy sounded croupier than when she’d spoken with him earlier.

“How are you doing, bud?”

“Not very good.”

“I’m sorry. Listen, Nate. I’ve got something really, really important to ask you. Do you know the custodian who cleans your room at school?”

“Is he the one with the big green eye on his arm?”

Claire swallowed hard. “I didn’t know that. Has he ever talked to you?”

“Last Friday he was in the closet in the hall after class. He called out to me and Jeremy.”

The admission filled her with alarm. “What did he want?”

“He said he had some neat tattoos to show us.”

Her eyes closed tightly. “Had he ever talked to you two before?”

“No.”

“What did you say?”

“We both kept walking.”

“Good for you. That was exactly the right thing to do. Did you tell your mother?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I forgot.”

Good grief. Jeremy hadn’t said anything to Claire or Vic either. She guessed the incident hadn’t frightened them. “Thanks for telling me, Nate. I hope you get well soon. May I speak to your mom again?”

“Sure.”

While she waited, she looked at Vic, who’d just gotten off the phone. “Nate’s mom doesn’t know everything that’s happened. I think you need to talk to her. Nate just told me something scary. It happened last Friday.”

When she related what Nate had told her, Vic reached for the phone and talked to Nate’s mom while Claire took the dishes to the sink. After he hung up, he walked over to the stove to pour himself another cup of coffee.

“What made you think to call Nate?”

She turned to him. “Nobody at the school could give me any information. The custodians don’t eat in the cafeteria and they don’t attend the staff meetings. Leroy was invisible to the teachers I phoned on the list. But none of them had complaints about his work. At that point I figured maybe one of the kids might know something.”

He studied her features for a moment. “Since you’re a chemist, I shouldn’t be surprised you’re a natural born detective. I think you’re looking for work in the wrong field.”

Claire smiled but let the remark pass.