Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn Book 6)(89)

“Do you think Lucy is alive?”

“We don’t know,” Josie said honestly. “But we’re not going to stop looking for her.”

“Do you think he’ll come back for the money?”

Oaks said, “I don’t think so, but again, we have no way of predicting what he will or won’t do.”

“He’s stopped calling. Your agents have had Amy’s phone charged and monitored this whole time.” He put his face in his hands. “My God, this can’t be over. My little Lucy. She can’t just be gone.”

Josie waited a moment and when he didn’t speak, she said, “There is another option.”

Colin looked up at her once more. She said, “We could put you on camera. Hold a press conference. You speak to him directly.”

“And say what?” Colin asked.

“Give him instructions,” Josie said.

Oaks said, “It’s not the worst idea. We have no way of making contact with this guy. We have no idea where his head’s at now that his entire plan has gone south.”

“The press is the only way to reach him right now,” Josie said. “You tell him what you want him to do. Maybe we can lure him in.”

“He can have the money,” Colin said. “I’ll deliver it somewhere and he can have it. I just want Lucy back.”

Oaks said, “We’ll hash this out then, sort the location and time, and contact the press. Why don’t you go home and clean up? Take a shower, change your clothes. When you get back, we’ll have everything ironed out, and we’ll prep you on what to say and how to say it.”

Colin stood up. “Yes, yes. I can do that.”

Josie said, “I’ll go with you. I’d like to bring a few items from Lucy’s room if you don’t mind. If this guy has even a shred of humanity left in him, maybe we can appeal to that. Remind him Lucy’s just a little girl and whatever beef he has with Amy, Lucy has nothing to do with that.”

Colin followed her to her vehicle, and they drove the few blocks to the Ross home. “The press is all gone,” he mused.

Josie said, “They’re stationed at all the other locations, hoping to catch something newsworthy. If they knew you were here, they’d be here.”

“Your officer, Mettner? He did a good job avoiding them when we left the hospital.”

“Mett’s a good man,” Josie said as they got out and walked to the front door.

Colin unlocked the door and let them in. The house was eerily silent, the odor of spoiled food filling its rooms. Josie wrinkled her nose. Colin said, “Must be food left out in the kitchen. We ran out of here the other day quickly, and I haven’t been back since.”

Josie motioned to the steps. “You go get ready. I’ll clean up in the kitchen.”

Colin walked to the stairs and stopped, his hand resting on the railing. “Detective Quinn, last night Agent Oaks told me that my wife… that she… that Amy isn’t her real name. That she used to go by a different name. Tessa something. Is that really true? She’s not who she says she is?”

Josie said, “Yes, it’s true. I’m so sorry.”

“Do you know what—what happened to her? Why she took someone else’s identity?”

“I don’t,” Josie said. “I’m sorry. She did allude to the fact that she had been in an abusive relationship. We’re trying to find out more about her past.”

“I didn’t know,” Colin said. “I never knew. She always had such bad anxiety. I tried to be empathetic, understanding, but I—ultimately, I wasn’t. I shouldn’t have said the things I said to her the other day. I didn’t mean them. And now… I might not get to tell her that.”

“You don’t know that,” Josie said. “She might pull through. Then you can tell her anything at all that you need to tell her. Right now, we need to keep our focus on Lucy. The sooner you’re ready, the sooner we can get back to mobile command and start planning for the press conference.”

With a nod, Colin trudged up the steps. Josie walked into the kitchen to start cleaning up when her phone rang. Trinity. “Hey,” she answered. “Did you find something out?”

“Martin Lendhardt—the other Lendhardt who died—I talked to the neighbors where he used to live. No one remembered him.”

“That’s not helpful,” Josie said.

“Just wait,” Trinity said. Josie could hear the excitement in her voice. “One of the neighbors bought his house from an elderly lady who is still alive and residing at a nearby nursing home. I talked to her. She remembered Martin Lendhardt. She said he was mean as the day is long. Moved into the house next to hers twenty-six years ago with a young wife.”

“A young wife?” Josie echoed.

“Yes. A young wife named Tessa.”

“Please tell me you’re serious.”

“Dead serious.”

Josie did calculations in her head. “Wait, twenty-six years ago, Amy would have been fourteen years old. This woman said they were married?”

“That’s what she said. They were new to the neighborhood. The wife never spoke to anyone. She said they often heard her screaming. They were sure he beat her, but whenever the police were called, Martin would make up some story like he had the television on too loudly, and Tessa would speak only long enough to tell the police her husband hadn’t laid a hand on her.”