Little Girl Gone (An Afton Tangler Thriller #1)(81)

Wait a minute. Something pinged deep inside her brain. Day care center? Something about that felt familiar.

Afton went back and read the report on the missing Des Moines baby. Hmm. Day care center. And there was a day care center in question here. In Edina. But the FBI had already checked out that day care center, so that couldn’t be what was bothering her.

With a faint ping still ringing in her brain, Afton scanned the report again.

Wait a minute . . .

She dug back through the notes Max had jotted down when he’d first interviewed Susan Darden. She tore through them, feeling there was something there, something that might . . .

She found it on the third page of a misspelled report that Max had typed himself and stuck in the file. “Tiffany Lynn” was the name of the reborn doll that the doll lady had proudly shown to Susan Darden.

Tiffany Lynn.

A missing child, a reborn doll. Both with the same name. What were the odds?

Afton grabbed the police report along with Max’s notes and skittered down the hallway.

“Max!”

She found him sitting in the conference room, papers spread out around him, talking quietly to Don Jasper. They both looked up when she appeared in the doorway.

“What’s up?” Max said. “Where’s the fire?”

“Hey there,” Jasper said, giving her one of his devastating smiles.

“Tiffany Lynn,” Afton said, a little breathless. “We just received an old police report on a missing Tiffany Lynn Matthews from Des Moines, Iowa.” She held up the report. “And Tiffany Lynn is the name of the doll that Susan Darden was so captivated by at the Skylark Mall doll show.” She held up Max’s notes. “It was in your notes.”

“Lemme see that,” Max said.

Afton handed over the paperwork.

“Sit down,” Jasper said. “Don’t just stand there lurking. You make me nervous.”

“Son of a bitch,” Max muttered as he read through the papers. “She’s right.” He slid everything over to Jasper, who did a quick read.

“My guys are going to plotz when I tell them about this,” Jasper said. “This is a very good catch.”

“So you think we should let Des Moines know about this?” Afton asked.

Jasper stood up. “I’ll put somebody on it right now.” He breezed out of the room.

“Oh,” Afton said. “And here I thought I was already on it.”

“You were,” Max said. “It just got kicked upstairs. Happens all the time.”

“I guess I’ll have to get used to that.”

“Or you’ll learn how to keep a lead to yourself until you’ve taken it to the next logical step.”

“Is that what I should have done?”

“Naw, you did the right thing.” Max grinned at her. “Now get back to it. You done good.”

Afton went back to her cubicle and sat down heavily. She wanted to march down to Don Jasper’s temporary office and demand to be let in on the Des Moines case. But she knew that wasn’t the smart thing to do; it wasn’t the political thing to do.

“If it isn’t Inspector Clouseau,” came a man’s teasing voice from behind her. “Taken in any stray dogs lately?”

Afton spun around in her chair. Richard Darden was standing there, a slightly condescending look on his face. “Any word?” she asked him.

Darden shook his head. “Not yet.” He took a step toward her. “Still busy playing detective?”

Afton gave a delicate snort.

“I understand you’re all hearts and flowers with my wife now,” Darden said. “Charming woman, wouldn’t you say? Now that’s she’s threatened to eviscerate my bank account.”

“It really doesn’t matter what I think.”

Darden pressed closer to her. “You don’t like me very much, do you?”

“Mr. Darden, I don’t give a rat’s ass about you or your friends in high places. All I care about is finding your daughter.”

“What’s going on?” Max asked. He was suddenly standing directly behind Darden.

“Just having a friendly chat,” Darden said.

“Not so friendly,” Afton said.

Darden cocked his head and held out his hands in a plaintive gesture. “Oh, excuse me. Community Liaison Officer Tangler wants to treat me as if I’m a suspect in the disappearance of my own daughter. If that’s the case, why don’t you guys slap a pair of handcuffs on me right now.”

Max pointed a finger at Darden. “You,” he said, “are wanted in Don Jasper’s office.” He switched his gazed to Afton. “And you’re coming with me. Grab your coat and let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Afton asked as she followed after Max. Once again, she felt like she was being called to the school principal’s office. But no, they were headed for the elevators.

“Lunch,” Max said. “I figured I’d better get you out of there before you tore that guy a new . . . well . . .”

“Brooks Brothers suit?”

“Whatever.”

The elevator arrived and Max pushed L for the lobby.

“You’re not mad at me?” Afton asked.

“Moi? If Darden rode me as hard as he’s been riding you, I’d toss a saddle on my back and call myself Trigger.”