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Lissa parked in a turnaround and shut off the car. “Get out and come with me.”
Taylor did as she was told and got out in a cloud of black flies. She waved them away and ran after Lissa, who was sprinting through thick underbrush with an obvious destination in mind. They broke through the vegetation into a small clearing with a dilapidated cabin. The porch canted to one side, and the place looked ready for a wrecking ball.
Gun in hand, Lissa waved Taylor to the porch. Frowning, Taylor went up the rickety steps and stood at the door as Lissa unlocked and opened it. Taylor saw a young woman lying on a cot sit up and stare at her. She had no time to speak before Lissa shoved Taylor inside and locked the door behind her.
Thirty-Four
The Houghton police had picked up Lissa along M-26 heading toward Houghton. The woman was shouting about an attorney as they brought her in. Jon held Annie’s hand in the small observation area as Cheng and Mason got her seated at the table. The small interrogation room didn’t have enough space for them, and Annie had told him they’d be more of a distraction than a help.
He knew it was killing her to observe instead of interrogate, but she was too close to the situation. They were the only ones in the viewing room, and he was glad for the breathing space with just the two of them.
She took his hand. “You doing okay?”
“Just fine,” he assured her despite his pounding headache.
“You’re lying. You look pale.” She leaned in close to study his eyes. “I think one of your pupils is a little dilated. Jon, you need to go to the hospital.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I need to be here.”
She palmed his cheeks. “You don’t have to kill yourself to be here for me. We’re in this together all the way, but I need you to be whole and healthy too.”
He appreciated her worry, but he’d power through this. He had to. “Shh, look, they’re getting started.”
That distracted her, and she leaned forward in her chair as Cheng pulled out her tablet and stylus. The FBI agent smoothed her sideswept bangs out of her eyes. “Ms. Sanchez, do you know why you’re here?”
Lissa glanced at her attorney, a nondescript man in his forties wearing a seedy suit. He nodded as if to encourage her answer, and she shrugged. “I have no idea. I wasn’t even speeding. Look, I’ve got a two-year-old I need to pick up from my mother’s. I’m already late.”
Jon studied Lissa’s face and thought fear flashed in her brown eyes. She kept drumming her fingers on the table and moving restlessly too.
“How quickly you get out of here is up to you,” Cheng said. “We’re looking for Taylor Moore.”
“I haven’t seen her in quite some time. Not since before her cousin died.” She didn’t hold the FBI agent’s gaze and picked at the fingernail polish on her left thumb.
“She’s lying,” Annie said. “Look at the tells.”
“I think you’re right.” Even Jon could see the evasive behavior.
“So when we do a sweep of your car, we aren’t going to find any stray hairs or other evidence? Better think hard about what you’re telling me. A tech is vacuuming your car right now and looking for fingerprints and DNA.”
“Don’t answer that,” her attorney said.
Lissa gave him a wide-eyed glance. “Well, I don’t know. She’s been in my car, but not in a while. I’m not good about cleaning it up, though, and anything like that would still be there.”
Annie pushed her hair out of her face. “Score one for Lissa.”
Cheng leaned forward. “So there won’t be any fingerprints on the outside door handles either? Anything from before twodays ago would have been washed off by the rain. Look, Lissa, we already know Taylor bought a burner phone and used it to call you. We also have a record of a text she sent that told you where to pick her up. You might as well tell me where she is, or you won’t be getting your daughter tonight. You’ll go straight to jail.”
Lissa’s face reddened. “I don’t know where she is. I picked her up and dropped her off at the Houghton airport. I assume she got a ticket and left.”
“And we know that didn’t happen either because we tracked the pings on your cell phone. You haven’t been near the airport all day. So where are she and Kylie?”
“Who’s Kylie?”
“Don’t play games with me. You’re in this up to your neck.”
Jon saw immediately what he needed to do, and he rose. “Come with me, love. We don’t need to sit here and wait. Let’s ask Montgomery for a list of Lissa’s locations today. We can check out a few while Cheng wears her down. It’s going to be dark in a few hours. We can’t wait any longer.”
Annie’s eyes went wide. “You’re right.” She jumped to her feet and glanced through the window one last time before following him out to the hall. They found Deputy Montgomery in his office staring at his computer.
