Page 41 of Bring Them Home

“Taken. Abigail didn’t leave me of her own free will. Someone took her. Just like someone took her brother’s family.”

“You said she would never leave you, but what evidence supported that someone took her?” Trent asked.

A long, drawn-out silence, then, “Nothing, but I’m not losing my touch on reality. It was like she had just disappeared from the face of the Earth. I came home from work and she was gone, just like that.”

Amanda and Trent shared a look.

“Hey, all that means is a professional criminal took her.”

Amanda could only imagine how difficult it would be in Lloyd’s position. Not knowing the fate of his wife, living without closure for all these years. “So there were no suspects or leads to follow?”

“Nope.” He popped the p. “But I’m telling you… I thought something was hinky when Abby disappeared, but now her brother is murdered, his family taken? There’s no way all of this isn’t connected.”

Amanda understood why McGee wanted to assign meaning to what was happening, if only to resolve a nightmare he’d been living with for the past eight years. But none of what he said held up to their findings. Or does it? If Abigail was still alive, as Lloyd felt, was it possible Abigail was on the other end of the many burner phones in contact with Valerie? But if it was her, why just start communicating in the last year, and why didn’t she come home to her husband? And whether she was dead or alive, what bearing could it have on what happened to Paul, or to Valerie and Brooke? “All I can promise you is we’re doing everything in our power to find out who killed Paul and get Valerie and Brooke back safely. If it turns out to be the same person was responsible for Abigail’s disappearance, then, well, we’ll have them too.”

“I want to help.”

“No, that’s not going to happen.” From Amanda’s perspective, McGee’s involvement in the investigation wasn’t even up for discussion. She knew she could count on Malone backing her up on that.

“This is my family we’re talking about.”

“Exactly what makes you too close to this,” she said firmly.

“I think it’s time for you to leave.” Lloyd pointed toward the door.

“We’ll go, but just promise me you’ll stay out of it and trust us to do our jobs,” she said to him.

“Fine.” Lloyd drank more of his whiskey, and Amanda and Trent left.

Back in the car, she looked over at Trent. “He didn’t exactly promise anything.”

“Nope. But what if Lloyd has a point? What if his wife was taken, and the same people are behind abducting the Archer family?” Trent turned down the street toward Central.

“I concur the chances are slim that two siblings run into trouble like this, but years have passed between the two incidents. And you must admit that Abigail is more than likely long dead.” If she was taken…

“True enough, and without knowing more, there’s nothing to suggest her disappearance has any bearing on the Archers’ abductions. Unless…” Trent looked over at her. “Could Abigail be behind the calls from the burner phones?”

“I admit that the thought occurred to me, but we can’t waste time and effort on a hypothetical. There is nothing to support that. The most important thing right now is finding Valerie and Brooke. We do that, we bring Paul’s killer to justice too.”

“I get it, and you’re right. Do you think we need to be concerned about McGee?”

“Who knows? Time will tell if he’s going to be a pain in the ass. Not that I could blame him if he becomes one. He wants answers.”

“Which is what I’m afraid of. He could jeopardize the investigation.”

“Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s see how everything plays out.”

“Again, you’re right.”

“A girl could get used to being told that. Twice in less than two minutes. It’s going to go straight to my head.” She smiled at him, but the sound of her phone ringing killed the expression. She answered without consulting caller ID.

“It’s Traci, Officer Cochran.”

“Yes, Traci?” She put the call on speaker.

“There’s been a hit on the BOLO for Paul Archer’s car.”

She glanced at Trent, and he nodded.