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The woman’s mouth worked, then snapped shut as her eyes flitted from Mason to the bed to Lacey. “Yes. I think that can be arranged.”
“And I’ve got a couple of buddies I can call if we need some extra help.” A light came on in his eyes. “I’ll give my partner a call and see what she has on her schedule over the next couple of days. Carly would be glad to help us out.” Carly Masterson, soon to be Carly Floyd, would be in the midst of wedding plans. Plans he hated to interrupt, but for Bethany and Lacey, he’d be willing to bet she’d help him out.
Lacey still looked shell-shocked, but didn’t protest his offer. Placing a hand on her arm, he pulled her from the room down the hall and into the den where her parents still sat with wide fearful eyes.
Lacey went to her mother and wrapped her in her arms. “It’s going to be all right, Mom.”
“Why wouldn’t you let us go in Bethany’s room? What was in there?”
So she’d shielded them, Mason felt his respect for her go up a notch. Come to think of it, it had gone up several notches over the last few hours.
“Someone played a really cruel joke and left a—something that was supposed to resemble Bethany in her room. It freaked me out when I saw it and that’s why I screamed.” She left out the gruesome details and Mason watched her parents exchange a look that said they knew she wasn’t telling them everything. But they accepted her explanation.
Mason spoke into his cell phone, the frown he’d arrived with still creasing his forehead. When he hung up, he turned back to the room’s occupants.
Lacey’s father rose. “How long are those people going to be here?”
Mason said, “Probably not much longer.”
“We’re finished,” one of the CSU techs said from behind him.
Catelyn and Joseph entered the room, followed by Daniel.
“I’ll have someone on the house tonight. We’re a little short staffed, so I’m not sure what I can do about tomorrow.” He looked at the sky. “Er, today, but I’ll talk to the captain and see what he says.”
Mason stayed with Lacey and her parents until everyone else cleared out of the house. Once the last car pulled away, he turned to Lacey and said, “The sun’s coming up. As soon as Carly gets here, let’s find our daughter.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The few hours of sleep she’d managed to get would have to get her through the day.
Not five minutes after Mason asked her what she wanted for breakfast, Joseph called to say he had some news about the gunshot victims dating the night of the accident. He’d narrowed down the list to three men: all had been treated at local hospitals—two the night of the accident, and one the morning after.
Putting off the intention of going to the homeless shelter for later in the day, Mason and Lacey swung through the drive thru. They each consumed a biscuit and the largest coffee sold, while heading to the police station to meet Joseph.
Lacey was quite surprised that Mason wasn’t fighting her more on the fact that she insisted on accompanying him everywhere. She absolutely refused to just sit at home and wait for the phone to ring.
That’s what her parents were doing and it was close to making them crazy.
Doing her best to focus on the present and on the fact that she was an active participant in the search for Bethany, she stepped inside the police station while Mason held the door for her.
Joseph met them in Catelyn’s office. Since he was FBI, he didn’t have an official office.
Catelyn wasn’t there, but Daniel was.
Great.
Although she had to admit he looked as bleary-eyed as the rest of them. Maybe he was taking Bethany’s case more seriously than Lacey had thought.
He got right to it. “We’ve got three names thanks to Joseph. Mel Simpson, John Howe and Asa Monroe.”
Mason shook his head. “Three leg wounds? What are the odds?”
“I can tell you right off that Asa Monroe’s not your man. He’s sixty-seven years old with a heart condition. His wife got mad because he left his gun on the couch, picked it up and threw it at him. It went off and caught him in the calf.”
Lacey winced at the mental picture.
Mason grimaced. “The guy we’re after is a lot younger, probably in his late twenties, early thirties. And he was favoring his left leg.”
