by Maris Soule
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Alice reached for the note, but Katherine held it back. “No. I’ve already contaminated it by opening it. In case we need to get fingerprints, we shouldn’t touch it any more than necessary.”
“Really? You think it’s a threat or something?” Alice frowned as she stared at the piece of paper. “You know that looks like a kid’s drawing to me. Even the writing looks like a kid’s.”
“And maybe that’s all it is.” Katherine hoped so.
“Darn it all.” Alice shook her head. “I’m sorry. This has to be a prank. Something the kid or one of his friends came up with.” She kept shaking her head. “I should have known.”
“Known what?”
“That it was a prank. After all, the kid said the man who gave him the note was wearing a bear’s head.”
“ ‘A bear’s head’?” An uneasy feeling crept over Katherine.
“Yeah, that’s what the kid said, and then he pointed toward the National Park Service visitors’ center. He said he met this bear-headed man there.” Alice frowned. “You think there’s something going on there at five tomorrow?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Maybe that new ranger is trying to set up a date with you.”
“Well, this is a strange way to do it.” Katherine looked at the note again. “No, I don’t think this is about a date.” There was something too ominous about the wording.
“Sorry,” Alice said. “I should have had the kid wait; then you could have questioned him yourself. But, I didn’t know how long you’d be gone.”
“I didn’t know we’d be back this soon,” Katherine said and nodded toward Crystal, who was still out by the pay phone. “She had a message from her husband.”
Alice also looked in that direction. “You think he knows something about his daughter’s disappearance?”
“I don’t know.” Again, Katherine read the note. “The kid said I was supposed to get this at exactly five o’clock?”
“Exactly,” Alice repeated.
Twenty-four hours. Katherine stared at the drawing of the clock. What was supposed to happen at five o’clock tomorrow afternoon?
Crystal Morgan’s voice cut into Katherine’s thoughts. “Call me,” she said. “Your daughter is missing.”
Katherine realized the blonde must be leaving a message on her husband’s voice mail. She also noticed that Crystal hadn’t used the word “kidnapped.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Shouldn’t we put Misty’s picture out there by the phone, along with the other pictures of missing children?” Crystal asked, coming in from the covered entryway and pausing in front of the bathroom door.
“We will if we don’t find her soon,” Katherine answered, hoping that wouldn’t be necessary.
“Good.” Crystal opened the door beside her. “I’m going in here. If my husband calls, let me know.”
Katherine nodded and waited until the blonde had closed and locked the bathroom door behind her. Then she asked Alice, “Any luck with the calls?”
“Nothing positive, but something unexpected. Constable Wiffle called in response to the picture I’d faxed. He said they already had Misty’s picture; that some guy who works for the girl’s father called them this morning and said to be on the lookout for her, and to stop her if she tried to cross the border.”
“Someone called the Canadians this morning?” That they knew Misty Morgan was missing hours before she’d even heard about the girl confused Katherine.
“That’s what they said.” Alice thumbed through several odd-shaped slips of paper on her desk, all the while grumbling about needing a new message pad. Finally she pulled one slip out of the pile and handed it to Katherine. “This is who they said called.”
Vince Nanini. Katherine recognized the name and nodded toward the bathroom Crystal had entered. “She mentioned him. Did you get a phone number? Some way to contact this guy?”
“No. I didn’t think to ask.”
“What time did he call them?”
A sheepish look crossed Alice’s face. “I didn’t ask the time, either. Howard just said, ‘this morning.’ ”
Considering her own aversion to detailed reports, Katherine knew she’d better not say anything to Alice about her lack of details, but the dispatcher must have read the look of disappointment on Katherine’s face. “I’m sorry,” Alice hurried to explain. “I was busy issuing a driver’s license when the call came in. This place went crazy after you left. That kid with the note for you came by, the phone kept ringing, and two people wanted driver’s licenses. I think we got a new batch of seasonal workers.”
She reached over and picked up two more slips of paper. “These are for you, too. The top one’s from Jane, over at the bookstore. She said the security alarm’s been fixed and shouldn’t go off again, at least not accidentally. Second call may need a follow-up.”
“I sure hope that alarm’s been fixed,” Katherine grumbled, taking the messages Alice handed her. In the last month, there had been two false alarms at the bookstore during her shift. “Jane needs to get a new one.”
“New ones cost money,” Alice said, as if Katherine didn’t know that. She might have added more, except a college-aged boy stepped into the station at that moment.
“Is this where I can get a driver’s license?” he asked, and Alice automatically handed him one of the forms they kept on the counter, along with a clipboard and pen. As she explained what she needed from him, Katherine glanced at the second message. It included a telephone number, a man’s name, and the make of a vehicle. Alice’s handwriting was close to a scribble, a series of unrelated words—dent, hiking, light, and front—along with seven numbers.
“What’s this mean?”
Alice turned away from the counter, and reread what she’d written. “Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. He called right while I was taking a guy’s picture.” She pointed at the numbers. “That’s the number to call. He’s over in Dyea. He said someone ran into the front of his Ford Explorer; that he’s been gone for a week, hiking the Chilkoot Trail, and, when he got back, he noticed one of his headlights was broken and his front bumper was dented.”
An Explorer with a broken headlight and dented fender. Coincidence? “Did he give the color of his Explorer?”
“No, and I didn’t ask. As I said, I was really busy while you were gone.” She turned back toward the young man. “I’ll need your birth certificate or a passport.”
Katherine knew she needed to know the vehicle’s color. “When Mrs. Morgan comes out, have her wait in the interview room. I’m going to go call this guy.”
Gordon was still back in their work area, glaring at his keyboard as he used his index finger to type. He stopped the moment she came into the area, and turned toward her. “Anything new?”
“I’m not sure.” She carefully showed Gordon the note the kid delivered. “First off, the kid who delivered this told Alice a man wearing a bear mask gave it to him.”
“Interesting. So maybe you and Cora did see someone wearing a mask.”
“That’s what I’m thinking, but I have no idea what the note means, or why the boy was supposed to deliver it to me at exactly five o’clock.”
Gordon frowned. “Do you think this might be connected to our missing teenager . . . or Phil?”
Katherine shook her head. “Why would Phil send something like this?” She placed the note the boy delivered in an evidence bag. “He knows how I feel about anyone calling me Kat, and he’s got to know we’re looking for him. As for the girl, I don’t think she was kidnapped. Seems someone who works for the girl’s father called the Canadians this morning and faxed them a picture of Misty. They were warned to keep an eye out for her, and to stop her if she tried to cross the border.”
Gordon frowned. “You’re saying the border agents were contacted, but not us?”
“Seems so.”
“Damn.” He leaned back in his chair. “Anything else I should be aware of?
”
“Maybe. Alice took a call about an Explorer that sustained damage while its owner was hiking. I think it might be the same vehicle I saw parked near my house.”
“Same color?”
“That’s what I want to know.” She moved over to her desk and picked up her phone.
Two tries produced busy signals. Grumbling, she was about to try again, when Gordon stopped her. “I’ve been working on these stupid reports ever since Jim went off duty. I need a break. I’m going to grab something to eat; then I’ll drive over to Dyea and take a report on this damaged Explorer.”
“Get a picture. I want to see if it’s the same one.”
“Should I dust for bear paw prints on the steering wheel?”
“Very funny.” She rolled her eyes at him.
After Gordon left, Katherine headed back to the front office. Crystal was in the interview room. She’d kicked off her shoes and sat with one leg crossed over the other, her miniskirt hiked up, exposing a lot of evenly tanned thigh. A can of soda and a glass of ice had replaced the ice water of earlier, but both were being ignored. Crystal’s attention was focused on the loose end of a wire sticking out from the spool on the table. Like a child with a toy, she kept twisting the wire into abstract shapes.
Hair that had looked windblown and unkempt before she went into the bathroom now haloed Crystal’s face in an orderly fashion. Even her lipstick had been freshened, the delicate pink almost identical to the color of her sweater.
That Crystal Morgan had taken time to fuss with her hair and makeup didn’t surprise Katherine. Her mother would have done the same. No matter what the crisis, her mother always wanted to look her best. Husband loses his job? Buy a new dress. House repossessed? Change the color of your hair.
Katherine had a different mindset. Although department policy required a clean, neat appearance, she didn’t wear any makeup and her Kevlar vest hid any curves a man might find attractive. No long, flowing hair, plunging necklines or high-heeled shoes like the women police officers on TV wore. Practical was Katherine’s mode of dress. Pants rather than a skirt, comfortable shoes, and hair short and straight. A quick shampoo, a blow dry, and in ten minutes she was ready to go to work. So what if Jim and Doug called her Butch behind her back. They didn’t know her past, and that was fine with her.
“Have you heard from your husband?” Katherine asked.
Crystal stopped fussing with the wire and looked up. “Not yet. What about you?”
Katherine carefully pulled the note she’d received out of the evidence bag and showed it to Crystal. “I received this while we were gone. Does it mean anything to you?”
“It looks like a clock.”
“Did you receive anything like this?”
“No.” Crystal looked confused. “Why? What’s supposed to happen at five?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you might have some idea.”
“Do you think it’s a ransom note?”
“I don’t think there’s going to be a ransom note.” Katherine slipped the clock note back in the bag and set it aside. “We have now learned that your stepdaughter’s picture was faxed to the Canadian customs agents this morning.”
“This morning?” The blonde straightened in her chair. “You’re kidding.”
“Your husband’s friend, Mr. Nanini, contacted them.”
“How in the hell did Vince know Misty was missing?” Crystal Morgan paused, a frown creasing the makeup on her brow. “I mean, I thought he was out of town.”
“How can I get in touch with Mr. Nanini?”
“I, ah . . . He . . .” Crystal looked baffled. “I guess you could call his office. How early did he call?”
“I don’t know.” That was one thing Katherine wanted to ask the man.
“Tom must have gotten a ransom note and called Vince.”
“Actually, it sounds more like Mr. Nanini considers her a runaway.”
Crystal Morgan frowned. “Why would she run away?”
“Are you sure you and the girl didn’t have an argument? Some sort of disagreement?”
“No . . . I mean, yeah. Sure, I got after her for that skinny-dipping fiasco last night, but—” The phone rang out in the office area, and Crystal looked in that direction. “Maybe that’s Tom. I gave them the station’s number, not the pay phone’s.”
Alice answered the call. A second later, she held the phone toward the interview room. “It’s for you, Mrs. Morgan.”
Crystal rose slowly and without bothering to put on her shoes, sauntered over to take the phone from Alice. Katherine stayed where she was. Although she could hear only one side of the conversation, she could tell as much from Crystal’s body language as from her words. Before she even said hello, Crystal struck a seductive pose, one hip balanced on the edge of Alice’s desk, shoulders back and chest thrust forward.
That position changed quickly; Crystal’s pose becoming defensive. “Hey, don’t blame me for what’s happened. You know how she’s been with me.”
The tone of her voice expressed her irritation, and Katherine knew the woman had minimized the friction between her and her stepdaughter. Not that it meant anything. Mothers and daughters—especially teenaged daughters—didn’t always get along.
“What do you mean I should have gone after her?” Crystal snapped. “I was in the shower. I didn’t have a stitch of clothes on. We were supposed to meet for lunch.”
Crystal paused, listened to her husband’s response. All pretenses of congeniality were gone, her expression defiant. “Yes, I know I waited a long time before calling you. I hoped I’d find her, and—”
Another pause; another change of expression. More than irritation? Katherine wondered. Perhaps hatred?
“Yes. No. So I’ve heard.”
Katherine watched Crystal take a deep breath, and knew the man on the other end of the line was lucky he was in China. If looks could kill, he’d be dead. “Well, nice of you to let me know. How did Vince find out?”
Katherine left the interview room, wrote a question mark on a piece of paper, and slipped it in front of Crystal. Crystal glanced at the mark, then said to her husband, “Just a minute. I need to tell a police officer something.”
Holding the phone to the side, she answered Katherine’s question. “Tom says after Misty called him yesterday, he not only called me, he called Vince. This morning Vince went to our house and checked Misty’s computer. Seems my sweet little stepdaughter agreed to go with me on this cruise simply so she could meet up with some guy here in Skagway.”
Crystal turned back to the phone. “No wonder she was so agreeable. So, where was she going with this guy?”
Katherine had a feeling she already knew the answer and wasn’t surprised when Crystal said, “Canada?”
Whatever Tom Morgan said next really irritated his wife. “Well, it would have been nice if you’d shared your thoughts,” she grumbled. “If you’d said something when you called me yesterday, maybe I could have stopped her.”
Katherine wasn’t sure what Crystal’s husband said to that, but Crystal’s reaction was clear. “No, you didn’t. You asked me if everything was all right. Well, as far as I knew, everything was all right.” She smiled. “So does your invincible Vince have her now?”
A sequence of Crystal listening, and then responding, followed.
“Dammit, Tom, don’t you go blaming me. I didn’t know you’d called this morning. I didn’t get your messages until I went on the ship just a while ago . . .
“No, I didn’t turn off my cell. My frickin’ phone is dead. Your daughter was supposed to plug it in last night . . .
“I do, too, care about Misty. Just ask the officer here. I’ve been frantic.”
For a moment Katherine thought Crystal was going to hand the phone to her so she could confirm that statement, but then Crystal continued. “You’re the one who’s always too busy for your daughter. And just because she hasn’t crossed the border doesn’t mean everything’s fine. She—”
&n
bsp; Whatever he said to cut her off made Crystal frown. “Well, if he’s already in Skagway, tell him to come to the police station. No sense in them checking places Vince has already been to.”
She listened for a bit longer, a smile having replaced her earlier frown. A smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Finally, Crystal Morgan nodded. “Oh, I do understand, dear. You’d just better hope Vince or the police find her soon.”
Crystal cooed, “Love you, dear,” before hanging up, but the tense lines of her body belied the words, and Katherine knew all was not well in the Morgan household. But that was their problem. She was more interested in the Skagway police department’s involvement in this mess.
“Tom says Misty’s run off with some college kid,” Crystal said. “He figures Vince will find her in no time.”
“This Vince is here in Skagway, looking for your stepdaughter?”
“Tom said he was flying up and should be here by now.” She shrugged and began rubbing the back of her neck. “It will be interesting to see if he finds her.”
“You don’t think he will?” The woman’s attitude surprised Katherine.
Crystal stopped rubbing her neck and smiled at Katherine. “I was kinda hoping you’d find her. Be nice to see a woman succeed where Tom’s invincible Vince failed.”
“I would think simply finding your stepdaughter would be your priority.”
“Oh, believe me, it is.”
Crystal’s look of sincerity might have fooled Katherine earlier, but having watched the woman as she talked to her husband, Katherine wondered how much was an act. What the blonde couldn’t do, however, was keep the pleasure out of her voice when she spoke. “Seems neither Vince nor his partner were around when Tom called them last night. That didn’t sit well with my husband. As far as he’s concerned, everybody should be at his beck and call, twenty-four-seven.”
Including you, Katherine thought, almost feeling sorry for the woman.
Almost.
“Earlier you said this Vince and his partner were computer gurus. Are they also your husband’s bodyguards?”
“Bodyguards?” Crystal shook her head. “No. Vince could be one, I guess, if he wanted to. From what Tom has told me, Vince was a terror in the Marines, and, when he went to work for the FBI, he went through their training at Quantico. But, Bob, on the other hand, is your typical computer geek. He’s a wimp.”
