Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(42)

As Marta thought for a moment, Josie told Manny to stay in his apartment until he heard otherwise and to call if he heard anything from Isabella. Josie got in her car.

“No. I didn’t pay attention to the parking lot. I should have, I just didn’t think about it. I was worried about trying to make her feel safe.”

“Who all knew that we were moving Isabella to Manny’s?” Josie asked.

“The only people I’ve talked to about it were Dr. Brazen and Mark at the trauma center. Unless they told someone, no one else knows.”

“Okay. Don’t come here. I’m headed to the trauma center. They have security cameras on the parking lot. I’ll talk to Mark and see if we can pull something up. Can you check Josh and Macey’s house, check for their car, ask Cici if he’s seen them? Also, call Otto and ask him to check for Ryan, for his car, and check with his parents. Tell him it’s critical we find Ryan. I’ll call Lou to notify the neighboring districts. When you’re done, drive the neighborhood to scout for her. I’ll check in as soon as I’m done at the trauma center.”

Marta let out a breath as if she’d been holding it. “This is just horrible.”

“Marta. This isn’t time for second-guessing. Focus on the job, not the person. Don’t get caught up in the emotion. That’s how details are missed.”

“I know, I know. I’m at the stoplight now. Stay in touch.”

*

Josie drove to the trauma center, searching the dark streets for pedestrians, but saw only a couple in their fifties walking hand in hand and a couple of boys on bicycles. Parking in the emergency lane, she ran inside and found Mark at the nurses’ station.

He looked up and smiled when her saw her, but his expression fell serious as Josie explained the circumstance. “Have you heard from her or seen her?”

“No. Nothing. I think Marta was going to meet her tonight.”

“She was. I showed up instead and found her missing,” Josie said. “Did you tell anyone she was being moved to the motel? Maybe even mention it in passing to someone?”

“No! Of course not. I knew her situation,” he said. “Do you think the men who brought her here took her?”

“If they did, we need to find a link immediately or we’ll lose her. Is there someone who can pull up your security cameras and look at today’s footage?”

“Sure. Same-day footage is a snap. I can pull it up on this computer. We use it occasionally for a dementia patient or someone who walks off.” He sat down behind the desk and began typing. “What time frame are you looking at?”

“Can you look up the discharge time for Isabella? I want to see who was parked in the parking lot when she left.”

He ran his finger down a chart on the desk. “The exact time was seven thirty-five p.m. I can pull that right up. Come on around here so you can see.”

As she walked around the desk, Josie’s phone buzzed in her pocket. Her mom had texted asking if everything was okay. Josie had forgotten to call her back. She sent a quick text that everything was fine, and that she’d check in with her in the morning. She felt guilty for having forgotten her, and she realized how unaccustomed she was to thinking about family and their needs.

Josie watched Mark drag a bar at the bottom of the computer touch screen along a time continuum. He stopped it at seven o’clock and they looked at a static recording of the west side of the parking lot. The picture was clear and in color, nothing like the old grainy black-and-white shots businesses used to have.

Mark pointed out his car, Dr. Brazen’s car, Marta’s jeep, and two other cars that might have been the vehicles of the two patients currently staying at the center. It was still bright enough outside to determine the cars were all empty.

He switched to the view from the second camera and before he’d had time to identify any other vehicles, Josie knew she’d found what they were looking for. Josh Mooney’s orange Camaro had been backed into a parking space so that the front of it was facing the trauma center entrance. The location gave Josh a better view of the entrance, but it also gave Josie a better vantage point to see who was sitting in the car. She wondered if it was the same car that had been driving by her house in the middle of the night.

“Can you zoom in on that car? I want to see who’s in the driver’s seat,” she said.

Mark focused in on the windshield. There were clearly two people in the car, but a glare made it impossible to make out their faces. He fast-forwarded to 7:40 and watched as Isabella walked out of the hospital with Marta. The light from the parking lot illuminated her face as she paused before getting into the jeep. She looked around the lot, smiling, as if noticing her surroundings for the first time, the trees and the homes, finally letting down her guard a little.

After Marta’s jeep pulled away from the trauma center, ten seconds later the Camaro followed. As the Camaro drove closer to the security camera mounted on the front of the building, a clear shot of the driver’s face came into view. Josh Mooney.

*

Josie thanked Mark, and as she drove back to the department, called Marta to fill her in.

“This is awful,” Marta said. “Josh’s car is gone. No one answered the door at the apartment. Cici of course played dumb.”

“Come on back to the department. We’ll talk next steps.”