Joe and Ginny exchanged looks, then Joe said, “He thought his parents might be getting a divorce. He saw his mom crying a couple of times. It really bothered him.”
“I can see how that would upset him.”
Lucy waited, to see what else came to mind.
“His dad yelled at him a week before,” Joe added. “And Mr. Albright never yells at anyone, even when we deserve it.”
“Do you know what that was about?”
He shook his head. “I don’t even think Ricky knew, he said that his dad yelled more now than he ever had in his life, even when Tori hit the mailbox because she was texting as she backed out of the driveway, and Mr. Albright was real mad about that and took her phone away and she couldn’t drive for a month. But Ricky thought his dad was mad at his mom, and he thought his mom was going to leave, and it really scared him. He didn’t want to make a choice about who to live with.”
Ginny said, “It wasn’t fair. And they don’t talk. Didn’t talk. You know, like our mom and dad tell us almost everything and we can always ask questions and stuff, but Ricky never liked to ask questions about anything because he said his parents would not really answer him, just say, ‘Oh, it’s fine,’ or whatever. You know?”
Very smart observations from two young kids, Lucy thought. It reminded her that kids picked up on a lot more than adults gave them credit for.
“Did Ricky mention that they were going on a trip or anything? Or maybe that his mother was planning a trip?”
“No, ma’am. He, um, he didn’t really want to talk about his mother that day.” Joe glanced at Ginny.
Ginny said, “Ricky heard his mom on the phone talking to someone, like a friend, saying that she didn’t want to leave but didn’t have a choice.”
Joe frowned, and Lucy wondered if Ricky had shared that information with only Ginny.
“Anything else?”
Ginny shook her head and looked back down. “I miss him a lot.”
“Me too,” Joe said. “We were supposed to meet up that weekend to go over to the Garcias’ and look at their new puppies. Ricky’s dog died that summer and his parents said maybe they’d get another, so he wanted to see the puppies and talk them into it.” Joe glanced at Ginny. “Well, he was going to take one and bring it home because he figured if his parents saw the dog they wouldn’t send it back.”
Cute and manipulative, Lucy thought. “He didn’t call and say he wasn’t coming.”
“No,” Joe said.
Ginny said, “Can I ask a question?”
“Anything,” Lucy said.
“Do you know who killed Ricky’s parents and sisters? Like who or even why? When the police came here three years ago they weren’t nice, and they said that Mrs. Albright stole a bunch of money and disappeared, then they said Joe was lying, and my brother doesn’t lie. They were mean and I don’t think they cared about what really happened to Ricky.”
“I’m sorry the detectives treated you like that,” Lucy said. She wasn’t surprised that Ginny sounded angry, she certainly had the same protective personality as her father. “I can’t share everything about this investigation, but I can tell you that the FBI is now in charge. Usually, the FBI doesn’t investigate homicides, but there are special circumstances here.” She didn’t need to go into the details with the kids. “I want to believe that Ricky is alive, but we honestly don’t know. What I can promise is that Agent Dunning and I will follow the evidence wherever it goes. We want the truth as much as you do. That’s why anything you know about Ricky can help us.”
JJ said, “I’m a big supporter of law enforcement, but I’m not going to talk to those two detectives again. They were rude and disrespected my family. Chavez and Douglas, I’ll never forget them.”
“This is our case, sir,” Nate said. “You won’t have to speak with them, though we may have additional questions later.”
Lucy thought of something and asked, “If Ricky was in trouble—if he was scared or worried—where might he go?”
“Here,” Joe said immediately. “He’s my best friend, he would come here.”
“Did he have any other friends?”
“Rafi,” Ginny said.
“Rafi moved to Austin,” Joe said.
“But they were still friends,” Ginny said.
Jill said, “Rafi Medina. His parents divorced a few years ago and his mom moved to Austin. He lives there most of the time. This was about a year before the Albrights were killed. I still can’t believe they’ve been dead all this time and no one knew.”
As she said it that way, Lucy realized that whoever killed the Albrights never wanted their remains to come to light. They were buried in a remote location, and their bodies may never have been uncovered except for the flooding. Even then, to have the bones found by someone who knew what they were and then who called the proper authorities … and then Ash being able to trace them to their burial site. Several things had to happen before they’d been able to connect the bones to the Albrights.
“If we can trouble you for the Medinas’ contact information, if you still have it?” Lucy asked.
“I’ll get it. It’s in my phone.” Jill started to get up, but her husband waved her down. “It’s on the charger,” she told him.
“Anyone else you can think of?” Nate asked. “A relative? A teacher?”
“His grandparents live far away,” Joe said. “He has an aunt I think in Houston or Dallas or something. I met her once. She has a bunch of kids.”
JJ said as he came back to the dining room and handed his wife her phone, “I would have thought he’d come here, talk to me. I like that kid a lot, I think he knew it.”
“He did, Dad,” Ginny said. “He liked being here.”
“You said earlier, Mrs. Young, that Becky had babysat a few times. Did you know the girls well? Did they have any problems?”
“Like a problem that would get them killed?” Jill shook her head. “Nothing I can imagine. Tori was a bit boy crazy, and sometimes she drove that pickup truck like a bat out of hell. I talked to Denise about that once. Becky was a smart girl. Really smart. Mature. She was more responsible than her older sister. I’m so sorry this happened to them. I really hope you find Ricky—and he can live with us. We love him as if he were our own, and I can’t imagine … if he’s still alive … what he must have gone through.”
“Absolutely,” JJ concurred. “He has family, I’m sure, but he is always welcome here.”
If he’s still alive.
Lucy couldn’t imagine that a nine-year-old could survive on his own for three years.
Nate turned his phone to Lucy. He had two missed calls from Ash. Maybe that’s why her phone had been vibrating. Then a message:
Call me when you’re done.
She thanked the Young family and made sure they had their business cards. The kids, especially Ginny, eyed her with both suspicion and curiosity.
“If you two,” she said to the twins, “remember anything that you think might help us find out what happened to Ricky, please call me. Anytime. Or talk to your parents if you’re not sure you want to call.”
They shook hands with everyone and JJ walked them out. He glanced behind him to make sure his family couldn’t hear, then asked, “Do you really think there’s a chance Ricky is still alive?”
Lucy didn’t want to give him false hope, but she didn’t want to make a definitive statement. “The odds are against it, but there is a chance. When we know for certain, we’ll contact you.”
“I would appreciate that. I want my kids to hear it from me, not from kids at school.”
* * *
While Nate drove, Lucy called Ash and put him on speaker. “It’s Lucy and Nate,” she said when he answered.
“I had a call from Denise Albright’s parents,” Ash said. “Julie at the ME’s office did the official notification, but because I’d talked to them earlier, they called me for more information. I gave them your contact information, Lucy, but they were talking and I guess
I just wanted them to talk because they were trying to make sense of everything. They’d just found out their only daughter was dead.”
“That’s kind of you, Ash.”
“That’s not why I wanted to talk to you. Mrs. Graham—that’s Denise’s mother—is sharp as a tack. She said that she’d called the sheriff’s office repeatedly after they disappeared but couldn’t get any answers, so they hired a private investigator. A firm based out of San Antonio. They found the Escalade at a chop shop outside Matamoros, which is across the border from Brownsville. The car was already dismantled, but they bribed an employee and confirmed that it was the Albrights’, and that there had been luggage inside.”
“Could they’ve been carjacked on the Mexican side of the border?” Nate asked.
“And someone else brought their bodies back and buried them ten miles from their house?” Ash snapped.
Lucy said, “Nate’s playing devil’s advocate. They could have rented a car, borrowed a car, found a friend to pick them up if they were robbed.”
“Sorry. I’m just frustrated. But I have the PI’s contact information and Mrs. Graham is calling to give them permission to share information with you. The frustration on her part was that she gave the information to the detectives in Kerr County and she doesn’t think they did anything with it. She’s angry and upset.”
“We’ll talk to the PI first thing in the morning,” Lucy said.
“We’re taking another stab with the cadaver dogs tomorrow, going wider, but … dammit, Lucy, where is he? Where did they bury him? Why wasn’t he with his family?”
Ash sounded forlorn and depressed.
“We’re doing what we can, Ash. So are you.”
“What are the chances that he’s still alive?”
Lucy didn’t want to put odds on that. “I don’t think he’s alive, Ash. Because all I can think about is, where has he been for the last three years?”
“Maybe he was kidnapped. He was nine, Lucy. I don’t have to tell you that there are some truly evil people in the world.”
“I’ll follow up with your report to NCMEC. I have a couple friends there. We also learned he had a friend in Austin, so if he was scared he might have contacted him. Nate and I have a long list of people to talk to tomorrow, not to mention following up with Denise Albright’s clients. If she embezzled from the construction company she worked for, perhaps she embezzled from her other clients. But it’s going to take some time. If you learn anything forensically, let us know.”
“I will. And—um—can you just let me know how it’s going?”
“Of course.”
She ended the call. “Why do I think that the sheriff’s office up here is incompetent?”
“Incompetent?” Nate repeated.
“There was no PI report in the files they gave me. I would have noticed it.”
“I think they dropped the ball, Lucy. They decided they knew exactly what happened—Denise took the money and ran—and anything that didn’t fit into that story was dismissed.” He paused. “Let’s say they did go to Mexico—were robbed, their car stolen. They were an average, white, middle-class family. They were in trouble. Maybe they called a friend and came back.”
“That would explain a lot. And then were killed because?”
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”
“Three-million-dollar question,” Lucy muttered.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She glanced at the caller ID and smiled. “It’s Sean,” she said to Nate as she answered. She was looking forward to a shower, dinner, and sleep. It had been a long day. “Hello,” she said. “We’re heading back now, should be home by seven thirty.”
“I just wanted to give you the heads-up that we’ll have company for dinner.”
Her plans for a shower and sleep dissipated, but at least there would be food. “You didn’t have to hold dinner for me.”
“It’s Max.”
“Maxine Revere?” She couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.
“Remember I told you I was helping her with a local case? A friend of the family was murdered, she wanted me to keep tabs on the investigation.”
“The killer confessed, right?”
“This morning he recanted his confession, his attorney quit, and Max hopped on a plane.”
“Is she staying with us?” She hoped she didn’t sound pissy at the prospect that Max would be at the house for a few days. She wasn’t a fan of houseguests in general, unless they were family, but with Max, Lucy would have to be constantly on her toes. The reporter was smart, shrewd, and far too inquisitive. She would pick up on subtleties if Lucy let her guard down for one minute, and frankly, it was exhausting. Home was the one place Lucy could relax.
“No, she’s staying at the Sun Towers. Has a penthouse suite, but I didn’t offer. I like Max, but I wouldn’t want her living here for a week.”
“Oh. Okay. Thanks.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, of course. It’s just been a long day.”
“I can cancel, meet her in the morning for an early breakfast.”
“No, I’m fine. Really. If I wasn’t, I’d tell you.”
Lucy said good-bye and hung up.
“The reporter,” Nate said flatly.
“She’s not like other reporters. I like her. Maybe not as much as Sean and Dillon do, but she’s really sharp.”
He grunted, sounding like her brother Jack.
As Nate turned onto the freeway, Lucy glanced down the street. A dark sedan, no front plate, did a U-turn right behind them. She couldn’t read the rear plate as it sped off.
“What?” Nate asked.
“We were being followed. I knew it.”
“Want me to turn around?” But as soon as he said it he shook his head. “They’ll be gone by the time I turn around. Did you get plates?”
“Dark American sedan, no front plates, I couldn’t read the rear plates. Tinted windows. I only saw one person in the car. My sense was ‘male,’ but I didn’t get a good look before he did a one-eighty.”
“Someone is keeping tabs on our investigation,” Nate said. “My money? The detectives.”
“But they can just ask.”
Nate didn’t say anything. Lucy feared he was right, and she didn’t like the idea that they couldn’t trust the local cops.
And if they were tracking Nate and Lucy, why? Did they know they screwed up? Were they trying to fix it … or trying to thwart the FBI? And if so, why?
Or it might not be the detectives at all. It could be someone else tracking the case to find out when and if they found Ricky Albright’s body. When and if they found clues to the killer.
Lucy sent Ash a text message, then said to Nate, “I’m making sure Ash doesn’t go anywhere without backup. I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re going to find out.”
Chapter Six
Lucy pulled into her garage and came in through the kitchen door a few minutes after seven thirty. Something smelled amazing—lasagne and garlic bread, she realized a moment later. Her mouth watered. She was exhausted and a bit worried about entertaining Max, but now all she could think about was food. She dropped her bag on the kitchen desk and called out, “Sean, Jess!”
“We’re in the living room,” Sean said from down the hall.
Lucy took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for Maxine Revere.
Max, a stunning woman with dark-red hair and vivid blue eyes who dominated any room she entered, was seated on the couch. Impeccably dressed, as always. They’d met Max, an investigative crime reporter, in January when Max was looking into the twenty-year cold case murder of Lucy’s nephew. They’d butted heads at first but in the end worked together to take down a killer.
“Hello, Max. Good to see you.”
“Sean said that you had a long day. I won’t stay long.”
“You’ll stay for dinner, though,” Lucy said.
“With that amazing smell? If you kicked me out, I’d request
a doggie bag.” Max smiled. She truly was an attractive woman, tall and stately, and had she been more muscular, she would have fit in with Diana Prince and her gang of Amazon women.
“I promised you dinner when you called from the airport,” Sean said. “And we already talked business, so now we can relax. Dinner won’t be too much longer.”
Lucy sat down in the comfy chair, and Sean motioned if she wanted wine. She shook her head. If she drank a glass before dinner she’d fall asleep.
“Dillon said that you weren’t doing a lot of traveling since learning about what happened to your mother,” Lucy said. Her oldest brother, Dillon, was a forensic psychiatrist who had worked with Max on a couple of cases since they met earlier in the year. Both Sean and Dillon had kept in touch since, and through them Lucy learned that Max had uncovered the truth about her mother’s disappearance sixteen years ago and in the process discovered she had a sixteen-year-old half sister.
“That’s true. I don’t want to leave Eve alone in New York. But I may have to, because we’re running low on content. My producer agreed to put the show on hiatus for December, and we have January’s program planned—local New York cold case I’ve been working on until this situation here came up. Ryan’s staying with her while I’m here.”
“I think it’s pretty terrific that you and Eve are getting to know each other,” Lucy said. “It can’t be easy, after everything that happened.” Lucy knew this from experience, as Sean had only discovered he had a son last year, who then lost his mother in July.
“She’s a smart, interesting teenager. I’m a bit perplexed that we get along so well, considering. She’s far more easygoing than I was as a teen. And even with everything that happened to her this year, she’s naturally optimistic.”
Sean glanced at his watch. “Dinner’s just about ready. Give me five minutes.” He called upstairs, “Jess! Kitchen time.”
Jesse ran down the stairs with Bandit, the playful two-year-old golden retriever, on his heels. “Hey, Lucy,” he said as he walked by and followed Sean to the kitchen.
Cut and Run Page 6
