by Debra Kayn
There was no sign of Megan.
Mike Hillard kept his arm around his wife, Laura. Both parents tottered on the brink of falling apart.
"You'll need to go into the St. John's Police Department and fill out a missing person form at exactly seven o'clock tonight. The front door will be locked because it's after hours but use the buzzer at the front door and explain why you're there to the attending desk clerk. Make sure you tell her it's been twenty-four hours. That will start the investigation. The faster an officer can declare an abduction, or the child is in danger, the sooner they can put out an Amber Alert." Wayne removed his wallet and took out a business card. "That's Officer Gomez's number. I'll be filling him in on what we've accomplished overnight, and he'll have all the information he needs by the time you get there."
"Why can't they start the Amber Alert now?" Laura looked to her husband. "She would never run away. I don't understand why nobody believes us. They could ask anyone. Her teachers. Her friends. The neighbors."
"I believe you, ma'am." Wayne cleared his throat. "It's procedure to wait in all cases when someone goes missing. With Megan still being a minor, she's allowed to be entered into the program, and it's important that all states receive the alert. Now, while law enforcement is held to following the laws, the Notus MC will continue searching for your daughter. But, it's imperative that you go through the proper channels. They have agencies they work with that have more manpower to help with the search."
Mike stepped backward and grasped the door handle. "I'll write you a check."
"Not necessary." Wayne raised his hand. "We don't take money for helping."
"W-why are you helping us?" asked Laura.
Thad stepped forward. "There was a time when I wished more people helped my sister when she went missing. The more eyes that are looking for Megan, the better. We all have a regular job, but I can promise that any time we're not working, we will be searching for your daughter."
"Did you..." Laura hugged her middle. "Did you find your sister?"
Thad shook his head. "The cases we've helped on over the last twenty years, over half of them were successful."
Laura nodded and whispered, "Thank you."
Wayne stepped off the porch. "We'll check back with you after you've contacted the police unless we find her sooner."
He walked to the sidewalk. What Thad refused to share was that the majority of people found were runaways. They wanted to leave their home. Megan Hillard, from the information gathered, was happy at home. Which wasn't a good sign. Knowing there was a killer on the loose, bumped Megan's situation into an emergency.
Chuck joined Wayne at the motorcycles. "What's the link between a seven-year-old child and a seventeen-year-old girl?"
"Innocence." Wayne put on his helmet. "Location. Females. Above middle-income families."
Glen sat down on his motorcycle and added, "Draw a line from the Hillard's house to the Morgan's house and smack dab in the middle is the field off Lombard Street where little Annie was found."
Wayne put on his gloves. "That's stretching for a link."
"No, it's something to think about." Glen straightened his bike. "Until we know otherwise, it's a huge coincidence that we've had two missing girls this close together in a short amount of time. How long has it been since a non-runner disappeared?"
"About six years." Thad started his motorcycle and took off down the road.
Wayne exhaled loudly. The last couple of weeks had taken its toll on all of them, especially Thad. There was never a moment where he wondered at Thad's ability to track people. Despite Thad's own nightmare losing Thalia, his dedication came because he wanted someone to have the outcome he'd never had with his sister.
"Let's catch up with him and go back to my garage. I want to pull up Google Earth and take another look at the possibilities of how the hell someone could take an almost full-grown woman away without anyone seeing. Someone, somewhere, had to have noticed her." Wayne started his motorcycle and raced after Thad.
He caught up with Thad on Philadelphia Street. The hard, cold expression from his MC brother came as no surprise.
Wayne pointed ahead and passed Thad, leading the way, knowing everyone would follow. He rolled into the driveway of his house and led the others inside and into the garage. Setting out four beers from the fridge beside his desk, he sat down and typed 'Google earth' into the search engine on the computer and waited.
He frowned and leaned closer, looking at the page advertising a camping site featuring Yurts at Lost Lake that came up. That wasn't what he wanted to be pulled up on the computer. He looked at what he'd typed. It looked all right to him.
"Fucking computer." He shoved the keyboard toward Chuck. "Get Google Earth on that damn thing."
Chuck looked at the screen and grinned. "You got closer to the right spelling that time."
"Let me see." Thad leaned sideways. "Goggle r-t-h-e. Hooked on Phonics worked for you, man."
"Fuck you," muttered Wayne.
The only people he allowed to joke about his dyslexia belonged to Notus, who'd spent more hours helping him in school to pass his tests to advance to the next grade than any tutor or remedial reading class. More than anything, he was frustrated with himself. Using his hands came easily to him. Hand him a knot, wrench, or a broken motorcycle, and he solved the problem without thinking. Give him a simple word like earth, and he couldn't even see the word in his head.
He leaned back and opened a Snickers bar on his desk and waited for the satellite picture to clear and get closer.
Glen pushed marker pins into the paper map on the wall, stringing twine between the two houses, and circled the field in between. Chuck turned the monitor toward Wayne and Thad.
Wayne swallowed and wiped his mouth. "Okay, go through the exit points."
"The port." Thad leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. "I-5 bridge going to Washington."
"I-5 straight to I-84," said Chuck. "I doubt someone would try to take a conscious person through downtown Portland. Traffic is too congested, and Megan could cause a scene or noise in the car to get attention."
"If she's alive," said Wayne. "We need to look at all angles."
"We need to narrow it down. We've already lost twenty hours." Thad leaned back in the chair, tipping the two front legs off the concrete floor. "This happened on a Saturday evening. A teenage girl walks to meet a girlfriend. Why not meet her at the house?"
"The mother said this is something she often does. Claims it's about their daughter wanting her independence and she doesn't have a car. Her friend does." Wayne tapped his thumb against the desk.
"That don't mean shit." Glen walked over from the other side of the garage. "How many girls in high school did we meet somewhere else, so we didn't have to meet the parents?"
"Almost all of them. So, go in that direction." Wayne threw them each a candy bar, surprised to find his stash depleted. He'd need to buy some snacks to keep everyone going. Just grabbing a meal took too much time away from a search. "I talked to the girlfriend...Lynn. She's shaken up, and there's no way she could fake the fear she had for Megan."
"Friends cover each other's ass." Thad shrugged, ripping open the wrapper. "Doesn't mean much. Not at that age when they believe they're invincible."
"Okay. Let's go." Wayne pointed at the screen. "We circle these blocks, and I have a list of Megan's friends and their addresses. Friends that might not be so loyal if they weren't involved in the disappearance. We'll assume girls talk as much as guys, and if she has a secret boyfriend, maybe someone older or her parents wouldn't approve of, we get a name, a car, some kind of lead."
They needed to get as much done as they could tonight, because tomorrow, they were due to work at Port Loader. If they had the extra time to bounce scenarios off each other, put themselves in a kidnapper's shoes to find the motive, Wayne would feel better about moving forward. Right now, they were racing against the clock, hoping to get lucky. Nothing more.
Locking up h
is house, he went to his Harley and led them all back across town. At the first red light, he checked his phone, unable to hear or feel the vibration of an incoming call when he rode. He'd missed one call from Gomez. He lifted his hand, pointed forward and made a circle with his finger. They'd need to pull over up ahead in the parking lot of Fred Meyer. If Gomez was calling, he could have news.
Chapter 10
The phone rang at the bar. Clara finished putting the drinks down in front of the customers in booth two and hurried to answer.
"Hello, you've reached Vavoom's." She picked up two empty glasses off the counter and put them in the dirty dishes tub beside the kitchen door.
"Clara?"
Recognizing Wayne's voice, her back bent in relief. "Yes, it's me. How are you?"
"Tired." His husky voice backed his claim. "I don't have the number for your cell phone, so I thought I'd call you at the bar."
"It's okay," she said.
"You're not busy?"
She looked around the half-filled room. "Not too bad. It's Monday night, so any customers coming in is a good thing. We've decided that starting next week, we'll be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays since most of our business is done Friday through Sunday."
"That's good, sweetheart. You need a break," he said, his words getting slower the more he talked.
She wanted to ask him what was going on with the missing girl. The first thing she'd done upon arriving at work was scour the newspaper looking for any update. At noon, an Amber Alert had come over her phone, and she wondered what had taken so long to send out the news. The girl was only seventeen years old.
"I was wondering..."
The hoarseness of his voice held a powerful, seductive quality that made her want to be with him right now. She swallowed. "What?"
"Will you bring over a burger and fries after work?" asked Wayne.
"I..." She looked at the clock above the bar. The bar closed in an hour and fifteen minutes. If she hurried, she could still catch Paxton before he closed the kitchen. "Sure. I'll bring you food. Is anyone else with you who needs to eat?"
She wrinkled her nose at her hedging. Good at reading other people, she was pretty sure he didn't have a girlfriend, but that could only mean he dated other women, or slept with them. At this point, she had no idea if their night together was a one-time hookup or if he planned to see her again.
"No, the other guys left a few minutes before I called you." He yawned. "I need to work in the morning, but I haven't eaten since I grabbed a sandwich out of the vending machine in the office at work. We've been out searching since we clocked out this afternoon."
"I've got my car and will bring it right over as soon as the last customer leaves. Will that be too late?" She caught Gracie's gaze and waved her over.
"No, that's fine. But, sweetheart?" He paused. "Bring Gracie. You two need to stick together after work. You shouldn't be out alone at that time of the night, and I'm an asshole for asking you to bring me food. I really want to see you. That's why I called."
Goosebumps covered her arms. "Okay. We'll hurry, but we'll need to close up first."
"I'll be here."
"Okay." She reached out and caught the back of Gracie's shirt, keeping her behind the bar. "See you then. Bye."
She pushed the disconnect button and placed the phone receiver back on the charging pad. The late night would only be harder on him in the morning when Wayne had to get up to go to work.
Gracie set down her tablet on the counter. "What's going on?"
"That was Wayne." Clara held the back of her hand to her forehead. "He wants me to bring him a burger and fries."
"Now?"
Clara nodded. "He's been out searching for the missing girl since he left work and is tired and hungry."
"It's a good idea to take him food." At Clara's shocked look, Gracie shrugged. "I'm just saying. Since he's interested in you, it works out better for both of us. You have to admit, it's better than when we'd planned to get close to the whole motorcycle club and use their routine of showing up at the bar to be around them."
"I know. I know." Clara blew out her breath. "He wants you to come with me after we close. He made it sound like it wasn't safe for me...us."
Gracie frowned. "Do you think he's found a connection to us already?"
"No. I think Wayne sincerely cares about our safety, which makes me feel guilty." Clara stepped back. "I need to put the order in with Paxton before he shuts down the kitchen. Let's try and get the customers out the door without being obvious. Maybe we can close a few minutes early."
After getting Wayne's order into Paxton before he left and dealing with the customers, Clara's second wind came with an obvious statement. She was happy Wayne sought her out after the day he put in and the more important matters at hand.
The next hour went by fast in their hurry to close the bar. Clara worked through her thoughts, mentally pushing herself to be realistic. Something that was hard for her to do when her emotions were involved.
Now was not the time to have a relationship with Wayne and yet they had a mutual interest. An interest that Wayne remained clueless about and would be revealed later. Not for the first time, her stomach rolled in doubt for her part in the problem. It was apparently clear that she was damaging any hope of getting to know Wayne better, and dousing her desire to continue spending time with him romantically.
That sucked.
Gracie locked the front door. "What was that for?"
"What?" Clara slipped her purse with the money bag inside over her head.
"You groaned."
Clara blew her breath out between her lips, making a raspberry. "Just thinking of what we're doing."
"You can't stop now."
"I'm not going to." She picked up her phone and keys off the counter. "That doesn't mean it doesn't bum me out. I like Wayne, and I'm not the kind of person who uses other people."
"We like all the Notus members, and that means we have to be careful. They have to be invested enough to help us." Gracie walked with Clara to the back door and paused before going out of the building. "You never know, Wayne might understand our side of things once everything comes out."
"Nobody understands lying," muttered Clara.
"You're not lying. You're keeping information to yourself." Gracie raised her brows. "Dad had a reason for everything he'd done. Right or wrong. We were upset, even mad at him for what he kept from us and lied about, but we eventually forgave him and understood his reasons why he moved us away and kept the truth about how mom died from us. While he wanted to move on, because we were more important to him than justice, we want mom's killer found. We need to do what Dad couldn't do because he was raising us."
Clara put her hand on Gracie's arm. "Do you ever wonder if mom would be happy with what we're doing?"
"Every single day. Nobody should have to live through what happened to her. I also can't blame dad for how he reacted." Gracie held up her can of mace and opened the door. "Let's go before Wayne's food gets cold."
Both of them silently got in Clara's car and pulled out of the alley. Gracie continued holding the can of mace in her hand during the ride across town. Clara, aware of the dangers, kept an eye on cars behind her and on the side of the street when pulling up to Wayne's house.
The front porch light came on the moment the car came to a stop. Clara pushed the button to unlock the car doors and got out before locking the doors again. She walked up the driveway with Gracie smiling. She couldn't help herself.
Wayne stood in the doorway wearing a black T-shirt and his jeans in his bare feet. There was something so endearing about him greeting her without his boots on that warmed her stomach. Within reach of him, she stilled.
"I forgot the food in the car." She stepped back to go to the car to get his late dinner and Gracie laughed, holding up a brown sack. "Oh. You grabbed the food."
Aware of forgetting her purpose for coming over, she took the food from Gracie and handed it to Wayne. "Here you go."
/> "Thanks." He leaned down and kissed her softly. "Come in."
Her toes curled, and she glanced at her sister, aware that Gracie judged her and the kiss they shared. "Can we stay a few minutes?"
Gracie swept her hand out to the side. "After you."
Once Wayne turned his back, Clara reached out and pushed Gracie, staring at her to be nice. The situation was awkward for her. She and Wayne had spent time alone. Had sex. Had conversations. Had cuddles. Almost had a night of sleeping in each other's arms before he was called away.
Bringing her sister to Wayne's home knowing all that they'd done made her self-conscious. With Gracie here, their plan on her mind, she felt awkward and fake.
Wayne led them into the kitchen and pointed at the table. "Take a seat. I've got coffee on if you want a cup."
"I'll take one, but let me get it. You can sit and eat." Clara looked at Gracie. "Want a coffee?"
"Sure." Gracie sat across from Wayne at the table.
Clara moved around the island and knowing where the mugs were kept, poured them each a drink, adding one spoonful of sugar. She carried the mugs to the table and sat to the right of Wayne, who'd eaten most of the fries already.
"Eating before sleeping is only going to keep you awake," said Gracie.
Wayne never hesitated and took a bite of his burger. Clara laughed. She'd seen how eating worked for him. Even after sex, he had no problem consuming a big meal.
"Or, maybe eating before sleeping gives people nightmares," said Gracie. "One of those old wives' tales is true."
"Oh, God. Stop." Clara rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it has more to do with gaining weight if you go to sleep right afterward but as you can see, Wayne needs food to keep up his body size..." She'd walked right into admitting he had a good body. Glancing at Wayne, she smiled. "So, you have to work in the morning."
"At six o'clock." He wiped his mouth on one of the paper napkins she'd put in the sack. "I get off at three. Then, I'm going out with the club to follow the path AirChinook will be flying in case they spot anything. We received the police department's approval earlier, and an Amber Alert was sent out."
