Missing and Endangered (Joanna Brady #19)(92)

“That was efficient and effective,” Joanna said.

Robin grinned. “We aim to please,” she replied.

“I suppose you’re on your way to the interview?” Joanna asked.

“What interview?” Robin returned. “He already asked for an attorney, so we won’t be chatting him up, but we’ve got him, and better yet we’ve got all his computers. He must have fifty of them at least, each with a different password. It’ll take time for us to access all of them, but we will, and there’s no rush on that either—not with him cooling his heels in jail.”

She paused for a moment and then asked, “How’s Jenny?”

“She’s okay,” Joanna said. “Better than okay, actually. You really came through on this for all of us, but for Jenny and Beth especially. You should hear Jenny singing Agent Norris’s praises. The interview she conducted with Beth was evidently something to behold.”

Robin nodded. “There’s a reason Adele Norris is on the task force. Victims in these kinds of cases are usually right at the breaking point and need to be handled with kid gloves, and that’s something Adele knows how to do. She’s a trained psychiatrist and was running a private practice when the Bureau recruited her.”

“Believe me, Jenny was suitably impressed.”

“What about you?” Robin asked. “How are you doing? I saw that your guy got cleared in that OIS.”

“Yes, he did. Armando’s still in the hospital at the moment and will probably need an extended time to recover. In fact, since I’m here in Tucson, I should probably stop by to see him for a moment before I head home. As for how I’m doing? A double homicide just turned up in Sierra Vista last night. Since it’s related to my officer-involved case, I’m expecting we’ll be doing some of the heavy lifting on that score, too. In addition, I’ve got a pair of little kids—a five-year-old and a seven-year-old—who’ve been orphaned this week. There’s a good chance that their mother was partially involved in the homicide that killed their father. Unfortunately, as of early this morning on the day of their father’s funeral, their mother is dead, too.”

Robin frowned. “Will the children end up in foster care, then?”

Joanna nodded. “Chances are,” she answered bleakly.

“Sorry,” Robin said. “That’s tough on everybody.”

Someone appeared at the door of Gerard Paine’s unit and waved for Robin to come back inside. “I’ll let you know what we find,” she said as she walked away. “And don’t worry. You won’t have to go through channels and across desks to get the information.”

“Thank you,” Joanna told her. “Thanks way more than you know.”

The takedown had gone so smoothly and was over so fast that Joanna still had most of the morning ahead of her. She stopped by Banner Medical. Amy was back teaching school today, so Armando was there alone. Joanna spoke with him briefly, bringing him up to date on the status of the investigation, including the fact that Madison Hogan and her boyfriend were now likely deceased. Bare minutes into their conversation, however, a nurse showed up to take Armando to physical therapy, and that was the end of that. Joanna went downstairs, got into her car, and set her sights on Sierra Vista. That’s where the action was at the moment, and that’s where she needed to be.





Chapter 47





They could have eaten breakfast at the hotel, but Peter wanted to go back to IHOP, and Grandma Puckett let him have his way. Not that Kendall minded. She loved IHOP, too, but she didn’t like chocolate-chip pancakes nearly as much as her brother did.

During the morning she’d noticed Grandma Puckett making several phone calls, or at least trying to make them. She dialed, but each time no one answered, and she ended each of the calls without speaking to anyone. Finally she looked something up and dialed a different number. This time someone must have answered.

“I’d like to speak to Sheriff Brady,” Grandma said. “She’s not? Then what about that lady detective? I believe Sheriff Brady said her name was Debbie something. Yes, Detective Howell. That’s it, but she’s not in either? All right, then, never mind. No, no message. I’ll call back later.”

Grandma frowned as she ended the call.

“What’s wrong?” Kendall asked.

Grandma sighed. “I can’t reach your mother,” she said. “I spoke to her for a few minutes last night after dinner, but I can’t reach her this morning. She’s not answering the phone.”

“Her battery’s probably dead,” Kendall said. “Sometimes she forgets to plug it in.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Grandma said at last. “She’s always been such a scatterbrain.” She turned to Peter. “Are you done?” she asked.

“Almost,” he said. “Two more bites.”

Kendall was afraid that if he ate any more, he was going to burst—or else have a stomachache—but she said nothing.

“All right, then,” Grandma Puckett said, sounding a bit angry—and a little like Mommy. “Hurry and finish up. I’m not sure what time we’re supposed to be at the funeral home. Your mom was supposed to let me know this morning. So we’d best go back to the room, change clothes, and get ready.”