Page 55 of Bring Them Home

“I can’t say.”

Amanda shared looks with Malone and Trent, shaking her head.

The marshal straightened his tie. “All I can say is we have no reason to believe that Abigail’s past is, in any way, connected to her brother’s murder.”

“Or her sister-in-law’s and niece’s abductions?” Amanda volleyed back.

“Excuse me.”

The confusion in his eyes told her he didn’t know about that. “They were taken this past Saturday, and they are still missing. We’re presuming they’re still alive. If there is anything you can tell us to help us find them, then please⁠—”

“I’m not up on the investigation you’ve been working, Detective. All I was interested in is why you had looked at Abigail’s file.”

And her brother’s murder… Amanda would have loved to obliterate the wall of ambiguity he chose to hide behind. “A phone call would have accomplished that much. You wanted to come here for yourself because you must suspect on a level that Abigail—or the people who she’s hiding from—are wrapped up in all of this.”

“You’re putting words in my mouth.”

Amanda didn’t think she was taking that liberty. And his response confirmed the marshal had concerns. Did something after all these years prompt the people she was hiding from to go after her family? Did one of them know her whereabouts, or had Abigail passed something over to them? But if he wasn’t going to talk to them, how could they know where to start looking? Somehow she had to get the marshal to open up, and she had one idea. She’d set the example by being transparent herself. “The Archer home was ransacked like someone was looking for something.” She watched that wash over the marshal, and continued. “Also the wife, Valerie Archer, was in contact with someone on the other end of several burner phones. All of them are out of service now. Could it be that she was in touch with Abigail?”

“I don’t see how. Her communications are monitored.”

The deputy’s response came fast and wasn’t reassuring. People found ways around the system all the time. “Then she’s never disappeared, ditched her detail?”

“She’s accounted for.”

Amanda looked at Trent, not buying much coming from the marshal’s mouth. Was her partner? But what was she supposed to do—accuse the man of lying? She was at a loss for words. “Then, I guess this meeting is over. You’re not telling us anything that helps our case, and as Sergeant Malone told you, the investigation we’re working is time sensitive.” She headed for the door.

“Detective, here’s my card. Call me if anything in your investigation leads you to Abigail McGee being involved on any level.”

She plucked the card from his fingers. His office was in Houston, Texas. “It’s kind of hard to do that when you haven’t told me anything.” With that she left, ducking into the hall. She turned and waited for Trent before starting toward their desks.

“What was with that guy?”

“Ask me, and I’d say the US Marshals Service has lost Abigail and they’re trying to get us to do their job.”

“I got the same feeling. So what are you thinking? Clearly, Abigail is in WITSEC, but do you think whatever Abigail witnessed is behind what happened to the Archers?”

“How could we possibly know that without knowing what got Abigail McGee entered into witness protection?”

“I hear ya. But if this involves the people tied up with Abigail, it will eliminate the Johnsons as suspects. Neither of them has a record or any pending charges,” Trent pointed out.

“There could be something else we’re not seeing yet. All we can do is follow the leads in front of us. I say we stay the course.”

“Me too. But…”

Just the way he hooked that but made her cringe. “But?”

“Let me say upfront, I think the Johnsons look good for this. But you brought up the burner phones, and it got me thinking, what if Abigail was on the other end? Then these people somehow found out they were in contact, decided to use her family to get to her…”

Amanda played it out in her head and hated how feasible it sounded. But surely, if the marshal thought there was a connection, he would have given them something to go on. He stated at least twice that he didn’t suspect Abigail was tied up in what happened to the Archers. “The case has led us to the Johnsons. We track them down and see that through. If it’s not them, we revisit this conversation.”

“Works for me.”

“Good. Along those lines, as soon as the marshal leaves, let’s go back and talk with Malone on moving forward with the traces and BOLOs.” Her phone rang, and she caught the caller’s ID and slowed her stride. “I’ve got to take this.”

Trent nodded at her and continued walking down the hall.

She accepted the call, answering informally. “Hello, this is Amanda Steele.”