Page 13 of Bring Them Home

Trent winced. “At one thirty in the morning? You have a death wish?”

“He told me to keep him posted. I’m just doing what he asked.” She had thick skin, though she was about to find out just how tough it was.

SEVEN

Amanda was prepared for Malone’s foul mood when she called him, but she was given mercy when her call rang through to his voicemail. She left the details in a message, bringing him up to speed about the BOLOs on Paul and his vehicle and that they were requesting a search warrant for the Archer residence and a digital one for their electronics. After she hung up from that, she reached out to Valerie’s parents. They lived out of town, so it would need to be a conversation that took place over the phone. But if they were looking at a domestic situation, the parents could likely shed light on the Archers’ marriage. Paul wasn’t a suspect yet, so much as he was a person of interest, but reaching out to his blood relatives could complicate things. And it was harder to believe things about family sometimes. They might not speak the full truth to protect one of their own.

Amanda called, and a man answered the phone, groggy with sleep. “Who is this?”

“Detective Amanda Steele with the Prince William County PD.”

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

Amanda measured her words before speaking. She didn’t like making these types of calls—the ones where she was armed with little information. “Sorry to contact you over the phone this late at night, but there’s a situation involving your daughter and granddaughter.”

The man spoke in the background, nudging his wife. “Ruby, wake up. Something’s happened.”

Amanda imagined the couple flicking on their bedside light and hustling to a seated position.

“What situation?” the man asked her.

She considered her words, but there was no gentle way of saying what she had to say. “I’m sorry to inform you that Valerie and Brooke were abducted.”

“They were… what? Why? Who would do such a thing?” The woman rattled all of this off.

“We’re trying to answer all those questions, ma’am, and get them back safely. But we also haven’t been able to reach Paul. We were hoping you might be able to tell us about their marriage. Were they experiencing any problems?”

“No, absolutely not,” the man said. “If you’re suggesting that he took Valerie and Brooke, there’s no way.”

“He’s a good husband, a schoolteacher,” Ruby chirped up. “And what about Landon? Is he…?”

“He’s fine as far as we know, ma’am. But could you call the hospital and confirm that he is there? Without a warrant, we can’t get that confirmation.” She regretted needing to ask this much of the couple, but it would be far easier and faster for them to get this information. Since they were already coming at this days after the fact, there wasn’t a precious second to waste.

“I’ll call,” the man said.

“And call me back, please, once you know.” Her number wouldn’t show on the display, so she told him it now and waited as he wrote it down and confirmed it.

“Are they going to be all right? Tell me they are,” the woman pleaded.

“We are doing our best to find them, you have my word on that. Do you know if the family was experiencing financial problems or might have other reasons⁠—”

“To run?” the man finished. “Absolutely not, and Paul would never abandon Landon even if he was having money troubles.”

After a few awkward seconds of exchange, Amanda was pocketing her phone. She shook her head at Trent, who was looking over at her.

“As far as they know, the marriage was happy, and Paul would have no reason to take his family.”

“If that’s the case, what the hell got the Archers abducted? I mean if Valerie’s parents are right, the fact we can’t reach Paul suggests he’s a victim himself.”

“Uh-huh.”

Not long later, Trent was pulling up to the front of an attractive, middle-income house in a neighborhood full of cookie-cutter designs.

A couple of police cruisers were parked on the street with officers behind the wheel. One of them was Officer Cochran. She got out when Amanda and Trent started toward the house.

“Any luck?” Amanda wished there was, despite it being against the odds. After all, if any of the Archer family had returned home or been contacted, Traci would have called her.

“Not so far, and it’s rather late, so officers will canvass tomorrow to see if other neighbors have anything to offer.”