“Anything.”
“I need you to help me find her. Is there anything you can do your end? The police don’t even think she’s missing.”
“Anything. I’ll call some of the boys. They’re always up for saving a damsel in distress. What do you need?”
“I need her found. Now. I have the name of a guy and an alias he’s been using. I’ll text it to you now. He cannot be harmed in any way. I want him brought in quietly and safely.”
“Why?”
“It’s my patient. He preyed on Mia when she was a kid, and now he’s back. He’d used an alias after moving to Seattle, and that’s the name the judge gave me.”
“Mia didn’t recognize him?” He sounds skeptical.
“She never met him. He had sessions on Wednesday afternoons when she taught classes at Elwood.”
“Fuck, man.” He pauses. “I’ll be ready in twenty. Keep me posted.”
“Be careful, Jonesy.”
“Always.”
He hangs up, and I head back inside. The detective is still talking to Lottie. I give them a heads-up about my conversation with the judge. I fail to mention Jonesy rounding up his military buddies.
Lottie rubs my arm. “We’re going to find her. She’s strong; she has a lot of mental resilience now. She’ll know how to work the situation to her advantage.”
I nod, just wishing it wasn’t necessary.
The detective seems to have changed his attitude in the ten minutes it took for me to speak with the judge and call Jonesy.
“Is it true the two of you had broken up?” he asks softly.
I look at Lottie, but she looks as perplexed as me. “We had a fight. I was upset because I thought a patient had hurt themselves intentionally.”
“What did that have to do with Mia?”
“I’ve been spending a lot of time with her. I thought I was distracted, and that detrimentally affected my patient.”
“So you blamed her?”
I swallow hard, knowing this could harden his theory that I’m somehow involved. “Yes.”
He has the audacity to smirk. “Glad to know I’m not the only one that’s a fucking idiot when it comes to women. I’ll be sure to let my wife know that Dr. Angel is just as dumb as the rest of us.”
I let out a puff of breath. “Thanks, man.”
“Let’s get your girl.”
He stalks off to talk with another detective, and I pull Lottie to one side.
She shrugs, knowing what I’m going to ask before I even say a word. “I simply suggested if he didn’t pull his head out of his ass, my father would be missing his contribution to the Seattle Police Department’s Christmas party fund this year.”
“I would have thought that would make him more grizzly.”
“Well, I also suggested that solving a case like this would be sure to get him a promotion. Especially with a recommendation from The Morning Show studio, the Seattle Psychology Association and a personal recommendation from my father.”
“You can do that?”
“Dad owes me a favor.”
