Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)(45)

“Yeah. I think he dropped her off because she was autistic. He didn’t want her anymore because she was different.”

Raegan stared at him, her heart beating hard. “You’re talking about abducting children for a reason other than killing them. That goes against your theory about what happened to Emma.”

“I know.” He didn’t look away when she mentioned Emma’s name. Just held her eyes with the same focused attention. He always looked away whenever anyone mentioned their daughter’s name. “But kids are abducted all the time for sex trafficking. An autistic girl who doesn’t like to be touched could never be trained for that.”

What little breakfast Raegan had eaten threatened to come back up. She did not want to think about kids as young as one and four being taken for sex trafficking. Reaching for her coffee, she said, “You think it’s possible this social worker could be involved in something like that?”

“I hope not.” He lifted his coffee for a sip and watched her over the rim of his cup. “Tomorrow I think we need to try to meet with the family of that autistic girl.”

Raegan nodded, but her head swam with information and the pieces Alec had put together this morning.

Alec jotted a few notes on his pad of paper. “I’ll also look into the blood types and try to get some transplant lists. That’s a good idea.” His pen stilled against the pad. “There’s one more thing we need to talk about.”

The wary look on his face made Raegan’s stomach flop, and her nerves came rushing back because she knew he was going to bring up that kiss.

Alec leaned back in his seat. “Before you got to the hospital the other day, Bickam told me the FBI received a tip about where to find that girl, and that the tip had come from the Santiam Correctional Institution. I had a hunch John Gilbert was the one who’d phoned it in, so I went to see him after I left the hospital.”

Shock rippled through Raegan again as she looked up at him, only this shock was stronger than the one she’d felt before. In all the time she and Alec had been together, he’d only once gone to see his biological father, and that was right after Emma had disappeared. “You went to see him?”

“I just wanted to know if he was involved.”

“And?”

“He didn’t admit to it. There’s no proof he’s the one who made the call. He didn’t name the specific park where she was found, but he did name one in the area. That’s more than coincidental to me, even though Bickam seems to think Gilbert might have heard the story on the news and was just messing with me. We all know how he likes to do that.”

Yeah, Raegan did know that. In the weeks after Emma’s disappearance, John Gilbert had taunted Alec via phone and the mail. The cops had never been able to prove Gilbert had been involved in Emma’s disappearance, but Alec had always believed the worst.

“Anyway, the conversation between us didn’t go well, as you can imagine. And when he mentioned you, I might have reacted. Badly.”

Her stomach dropped. She could only envision how that had gone over. “What happened?”

Alec’s jaw clenched. “He threatened to look you up after he got out. Since he wasn’t due to be released for a week, I didn’t tell you. Then you got that note on your car, and I thought maybe he told a friend to mess with you since I’d just talked to him. But yesterday when I found out he’d been released, and then discovered what happened to you in that alley . . .”

A mixture of rage and regret flashed in his features when he glanced at her bruised cheek, and she knew in that moment that he’d talked to Bickam this morning and gotten the details on her attack.

“I know it was Gilbert. Bickam talked to the local cops about our case and said they’re looking for him so they can question him about his whereabouts last night, but so far they haven’t had much luck finding him. Which means”—he scrubbed a hand over his face—“you’re not safe until they do.”

“I’m fine. This building—”

“Is not as secure as you think.” He dropped his hand and stared at her with very focused, very determined blue eyes. “Until they pick him up, you’re not staying alone.”

What little empathy she’d had for how awful it must have been for him to confront his father flew right out the window. “I don’t need any kind of protection. I’m perfectly fine by myself.”

“No, you’re not.” Alec rose with his coffee and moved into the kitchen. “And don’t argue with me about this, Raegs. I know the man, and I’m not about to take chances with your life just because you want to be stubborn. We can either stay here or at my place, but until he’s caught, you’re not getting rid of me.”

Raegan stared after him as he poured the rest of his coffee down the drain, a mixture of disbelief and frustration—and, yes, even warmth, since he’d used that stupid nickname again—tumbling through her.

“Now finish eating,” he said, “so we can head over and find Conner Murray. I’m gonna grab a shower.”

She watched him walk out of the room and disappear down the hall. Alone, she looked at her now-cold food and tried to decipher what, exactly, had just happened. They had a couple of leads—several that churned her stomach, but they were still leads. Alec had gone out of his way to not only take charge of their investigation but to be nice. And for the foreseeable future, they were living together.