Rivers nodded, expression grim. “Another of Sperry’s goons, moniker Boxer, brought them out here last night. Grant claims he was told to lock the girl up and wait until Sperry got here to deal with her. ICE asked who the buyer for the baby was. Grant called Harper a moron and said no one wanted to buy a baby.”
“Then why did this Boxer bring them out here?”
“For some keys, which Grant says Mary Ellen told him she didn’t have. Then Grant got incoherent. He said she must have had the keys because she got the safe open. He began to curse her and stopped being helpful. ICE was badgering him about what was in the safe when I left.”
“We don’t really know any more now, do we? Except that Alex saw her with the baby.” Carly felt a weight of despair as surely as if it sat on her shoulders.
“There’s an Amber Alert out for the girl and the baby,” Quan said. “Since we know what she’s driving, the description and license plate are being flashed all over.”
“Thanks for that,” Carly said with a sigh. “I pray we find that baby.”
“If it’s any consolation,” Alex said, “from what I saw, that kid was being well taken care of.”
Carly only nodded. They still had no idea what Mary Ellen planned to do with A.J.
24
IT WAS ABOUT 10:30 P.M. before Carly, Nick, and Alex were finished and released from the scene. ICE and the Riverside County agencies would be busy for a lot longer. Carly and Alex headed for the car while Nick went to ask a couple of deputies to move black-and-whites that blocked their exit.
“Those guys are storm troopers,” Alex said, nodding toward a group of ICE agents in the front yard.
“Why? Did they give you a bad time?”
“No, it’s just the air about them.”
Carly gave him a dismissive wave. “Sounds like you got hit too hard in the head.”
“Nope, I know storm troopers when I see them,” Alex said as they reached the car. “Can I ask you something?”
“As long as it’s not about storm troopers, shoot.”
He gestured toward Nick. “I see something different between the two of you. Is it good news or bad?”
“I guess that depends on your perspective.” She sighed. “We’re talking about counseling, and Nick has said some things that make me very happy.”
“You had to put it that way, didn’t you?” He slapped his thigh and sighed. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed. But I do want you to be happy. I just wish it were with me. . . . We can still be friends, right?”
“Sure, Alex.” Carly climbed in the driver’s seat and started the car while Alex got into the back.
With an exaggerated yawn, he said, “I never thought I’d see the day when I looked forward to the back of a police car, but I could sleep for a month.”
“Just don’t snore.”
• • •
“Thanks for the ride.” A very tired Alex Trejo waved good-bye as he ascended the steps to his house.
“He’s a lucky guy,” Nick said as Carly drove back to the station. “Grant could just as easily have shot him. I hope the paper pays to replace his car if for some reason it’s not recovered.”
She yawned. It was after eleven thirty now. “Knowing Alex, he’ll talk them into a brand-new car, way better than the first.” Carly smiled, but her mind was elsewhere. She’d called Andrea—half-scared that her roommate was already no longer her roommate—to tell her what was happening and ask her to walk the dog. Andi was mildly interested in the information about A.J., and her agreeing to walk the dog seemed grudging. When Carly asked how the disciplinary hearing had gone, Andi said she wouldn’t know the decision for a couple of days. All in all, the vibes had been very chilly.
After a few minutes, Nick broke into her thoughts. “By the way, what’s up with you and Andrea?”
“You could tell from my side of the conversation that things were kind of strained, huh?”
“Yep. You guys are usually as close as the pages in a book. You speak in this kind of BFF language, and that wasn’t there tonight. What’s the matter?”
Carly considered hedging, but then she was always honest with Nick and saw no reason to sugarcoat the truth now. “I asked her not to bring guys home. That’s part of what she’s upset about. And she doesn’t like it that we’re friends, that I forgave you. She doesn’t trust you.”
He sighed, and she continued. “She’s not happy with me either, thinks I’ve changed too drastically. And to top it off, did you know she’s been suspended?”
“Suspended? I’d heard someone at the hospital was in trouble for the kidnapping and was going to take a fall, but I didn’t know it was her.” Nick looked at Carly, a clear question in his expression. “She was the one in the supply closet?”
Carly shook her head. “Andi says that didn’t happen. She just let her break go too long, though she was with a guy.” She cleared her throat.
Nick’s eyes went wide. “Wow.” He shook his head. “I hate to say it, but maybe she’ll learn her lesson.”
They pulled into the lot behind the station, and Carly parked the car.
“Maybe she did step over the line and deserves discipline, but she seems to think it’s all my fault. She’s moving out and barely speaking to me. I’m at a loss—she’s been my best friend for years.”
“Moving?”
“Yeah. She’s been so hostile about Christians and Christianity, and I’ve been trying to figure out why.”
“Give her time. My bet is she’s scared about losing her job and taking it out on you. I know a little about misdirected anger.”
“Yeah, I guess you do.” Carly reached over and punched him in the shoulder.
“Ow.” Nick made a face and rubbed his arm.
“Yeah, like that hurt.”
He laughed and then took her hand. “You know, when we were separated and waiting on the divorce, you wouldn’t even look at me, much less talk to me. After I became a Christian, I asked your mom what I could do to get you to speak to me. Do you know what she said?”
Carly shook her head, and Nick continued. “She told me to pray and leave it all up to God. I really didn’t believe that was enough, but I didn’t have a choice. I mean, there was a real fear you’d shoot me just as well as look at me.”
Carly laughed ruefully. “True enough. I was hurt and angry, and I’m armed.” Her good mood faded a bit as she remembered her roommate. “You think prayer will work with Andrea, the wild woman?”
“I think prayer works with everything and everyone. Just look at us. Give her time.”
They locked up the car and stood staring at one another in the quiet parking lot.
Carly felt slaphappy with fatigue and giggled. “We must be a sight. You’re filthy from your tussle with Grant, and I’m just as filthy with two black eyes.” But we’re happy with each other for the first time in a long while.
The fatigue faded from Nick’s face when he grinned and moved closer to her. “I’ll see you tomorrow. But now, if you don’t mind, let’s make a little bit more of a spectacle.”
When he leaned forward, Carly thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he pulled her into a tight hug. She felt his lips brush her ear as he whispered, “I hope your raccoon eyes aren’t too painful.”
Carly buried her face in his shoulder. “They’ll fade. I’ll be back to normal soon.”
“I hope that will go for both of us.” He pushed back and grasped both her hands in his, brought them to his lips, kissed them, and then turned to walk to his truck. Carly watched him and wondered if suddenly he wasn’t walking better. She shrugged, deciding that was a topic for another day, and headed wearily to the locker room. As happy as she was about Nick, her heart was heavy when she thought about A.J. and the fact that it seemed like one more time they’d been just a little too late.
Pulling out her phone, she called Joe. He answered on the second ring.
“I’ve been waiting for your call.” His voice was full of hope. “Tell me ever
ything.”
She filled him in and then learned that he and Christy were home. Christy had been released with a clean bill of health.
“Alex couldn’t say why the girl had A.J.?”
“No, sorry. He didn’t get much of a chance to talk to her. But she was taking good care of A.J. Hang on to that, Joe. And we know now what she’s driving. On our way back to the city, we saw the vehicle description and license plate flashed on every freeway message board. We’ll get him back—I know it.”
Though he sounded dispirited when she disconnected, while she showered and changed, she prayed that hope would infuse Joe and Christy and that they would find A.J. soon. Where can that little boy be?
25
BOXES FILLED THE LIVING ROOM of the apartment when Carly got home. Andrea wasn’t in her room, but she’d already removed all of her pictures and most of her knickknacks. Carly would have sat down and brooded, but Maddie didn’t give her time. The exuberant canine wanted one last walk. Carly grabbed the leash, defeated now that it was apparent Andrea was really leaving for good.
“Sweet face, what will I do now? Your aunt Andi won’t listen to me, she won’t talk to me, and I can’t believe she won’t be my friend anymore.” Carly vented to the dog while they walked. Stress drove some people to food; it drove Carly to talk to Maddie as though her dog really understood. “I’ve had too much emotional stuff in one day, sweetie. Between Nick, Alex, and Joe, I feel chewed up like one of your old toys.”
The dog just wagged her tail, sniffed here and there, and did what dogs do.
Carly sighed as Andrea’s earlier scathing rebuttal of her newfound faith rang in her ears. Lord, I don’t know what to say to her. I can’t believe she’s moving because I complained about the men she brought over. It’s always bothered me, but now she calls me a Goody Two-shoes. Help me figure out how to reach her.
The twosome made their way to a vacant lot just a block up from the beach. Lots of rabbits lived in the lot, and Maddie loved to chase their scent. Carly took the dog off the leash. There was no one around, and she loved to watch the dog sniff and zip around the area, looking for bunnies. She sat for an hour before Maddie wandered back, tail wagging, tongue lolling, spent. Carly clipped the leash back on, and they walked home.
As she lay down, she remembered what Nick had said about prayer. Of course it would work with Andrea. It had to. She prayed for her friend and for their relationship before closing her eyes and dropping off to sleep.
• • •
Peter Harris phoned early, waking Carly before the alarm.
“What’s up, Pete?”
“You need to be at the federal building by ten for a debrief over what went on yesterday.”
Carly groaned and looked at the clock. It was 8:20. “Okay. Have you already called Nick?”
“He’s next. Meet us at the station’s back steps at nine, and we’ll all drive up together. See you there.”
The apartment was quiet. Carly got up and let the dog out. The boxes were still everywhere, so Andi wasn’t completely gone—yet.
When the phone rang again, this time it was Joe.
“I didn’t call too early, did I?”
“No, I have to go in for a debriefing. What can I do for you?”
“I’ve been looking for Alex’s phone number. I don’t have it. Christy wants to talk to him about A.J. Do you think he’ll talk to us?”
“I’m sure he will. There’s nothing classified about what he saw.” She read off the phone number.
“Thanks. Christy was sitting in the nursery, and . . .” He cleared his throat.
“Hang in there, Joe. We’ll find him.”
“Thanks. Thanks for all your hard work, Carly. We both appreciate it.”
Though the thanks was sincere, Carly heard a note of defeat in her partner’s voice, and it broke her heart.
• • •
Since she hadn’t asked if there was a preferred dress for the meeting in the federal building, Carly was glad to see that her choice of business casual hit the mark. Pete was dressed in a suit for homicide, but Nick was wearing jeans and a blazer—very casual handsome, she thought.
“The eyes look better,” Pete said when he saw her. Nick nodded in agreement.
“Thanks. They feel better.”
He pointed to a car. “Nelson and Garrison have been up in LA all morning. We need to get going.”
Carly took the backseat and let the guys take the front. Pete had questions for both of them about the day before, but she was content to listen, let Nick answer, and fret. Interacting with Captain Garrison always put her on edge, and she couldn’t help but wonder why he was part of this meeting. Jake had been running the investigation and doing a great job.
At the federal building, Carly and Nick joined Jake, Sergeant Nelson, a couple of ICE agents, and Captain Garrison in a large conference room. Agent Wiley took the lead and started the debriefing by explaining the status of the FBI investigation.
The agent looked at some notes and then began. “First of all, I’d like to state the obvious. By now you have all figured out that the subject of our investigation is Conrad Sperry. But all of our resources—and those of immigration and customs—were concentrated on his properties in Temecula and farther south in San Diego. The operation you discovered yesterday was a surprise.”
He gave them a nod of thanks, then went on. “ICE has conducted a thorough search of the Sperry property and found that it was likely used to traffic hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal aliens into the country over several years. The immigrants appear to have been ferried from that property to places all over the country. Also recovered was an abandoned truck, a few miles away. Isaac Grant claims the truck was en route to the property to pick up the illegal immigrants and transport them north. We surmise that the driver got spooked by all the police activity and split. Currently there’s a search under way for Conrad Sperry. He seems to have disappeared.”
“What does his attorney have to say?” Nick asked.
Wiley shrugged. “The usual—that his client is innocent and a victim of unscrupulous and devious employees. He won’t name names, of course, except for Grant. But we have the names of three other individuals known to work for him who are so far unaccounted for. They have all been known to be in the company of Grant at one time or another.” He slid some wanted flyers across the table. “And according to Caswell, Sperry is angry about being such a sap and hiring a criminal like Grant.”
“Then why has he disappeared?” Carly asked.
“Caswell says that his client has every intention of appearing and answering the charges, but he’s tied up at the moment.”
Laughter rippled across the room. Wiley looked up at the ceiling and then back down before continuing. “Caswell is stalling, and we think we know why. While we suspected his client’s smuggling activities included human cargo, that was not the main focus of our investigation. Five years ago, thieves pulled off a theft of rare colored diamonds in Geneva, Switzerland. They were never caught, the gems never recovered. But Swiss authorities contacted us six months ago to say there was a possibility the gems were headed our way. Conrad Sperry’s name came up as a possible buyer or fence. We’ve been watching him since then, and we have reason to believe he does have the gems and was trying to broker them.”
Carly frowned. “What about the baby? According to Grant, Sperry had Mary Ellen and A.J. brought out to the property. If he wasn’t going to sell A.J., what was going on there?”
“The entire baby caper is not related to the bigger picture,” Garrison said with a derisive snort. “Conrad wouldn’t profit by selling a baby.”
Carly stared at the captain for a second, then looked back to Wiley. “Then why bring the baby there? Has Grant told you that?”
Wiley answered, beginning with a shake of his head. “We don’t know, but I can offer a hypothesis. I think it was all a misunderstanding. From listening to what we have recorded, Sperry often referred to smuggled goods as his �
�babies.’ I’ve read your reports, and I believe your burglar, Harper, misunderstood what Sperry meant by having a buyer for a baby. Why Sperry let him believe that was what he wanted, I can only speculate. All Grant will say is that according to Sperry, Harper and the girl were a problem. And there is the issue of the missing keys. Sperry insisted Grant get the keys from Mary Ellen at all costs. He claims he searched her and didn’t find the keys.”
“Why did he kill Harper?” Nick asked.
“He won’t answer questions about his crimes but is more than willing to drop a dime on Sperry.”
“Then everything he tells you is self-serving,” Carly said. “And regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding or not, A.J. is still missing.”
Nelson spoke up. “We’re doing all we can to find the girl and the baby, Carly. You know that. We just don’t believe that crime can be laid on Sperry.”
“That’s not all.” Wiley held up a hand to stop Garrison, who started to speak. “The girl may have more than the baby. Grant swears five ways from Sunday that it wasn’t his fault, but he indicates that she removed something important from the safe at Unique Imports. It’s a manila envelope. He doesn’t know what was in it, but he knows it was very important to Sperry. For all we know, she could have taken the stolen diamonds. If the girl has the envelope, you can bet Sperry wants to find her. That’s why Caswell is stalling. He’s giving Sperry time to search. If he finds her before we do, she’s dead. And we can surmise that the baby will be collateral damage.”
26
A.J. AS COLLATERAL DAMAGE.
As they returned to the police station, the thought made Carly sick to her stomach. She’d only been able to listen to the rest of the debriefing and study the three wanted flyers. One of the men went by the moniker Boxer, just like Rivers had said, so Grant was telling the truth about him. Even though she was amazed that the feds detailed so much of their ongoing investigation, she couldn’t offer anything. And Garrison was really beginning to get to her. It was clear why he had been there: he was trying to prove he was in control, that he was a leader. To Carly he just looked arrogant and puffed up. And he called Sperry by his first name. When he’d made that comment, Carly remembered he and Conrad had been close when Sperry was a reserve. Back then, Garrison was a lieutenant in community relations, and it was his job to recruit for the reserve program. He spoke at a lot of business meetings and neighborhood watch functions and handed out applications for the reserves. Sperry was Garrison’s prize applicant at one time. More than once she’d seen the two of them together, chatting or having lunch. Did that have any bearing on the situation now?
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