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Sykes watched Sadie round the yellow VW. “Who the hell are they?” he demanded.
Sadie didn’t answer. She climbed into her vehicle and drove away.
Kerri and Falco loaded into his Charger and did the same.
Kerri’s cell vibrated. Dispatch appeared on the screen. “Devlin.”
“Detective Devlin, I’m patching a Junior Ridley through to you. He’s an Uber driver who says he has information about the alert on Tori.”
Kerri’s heart thumped as she thanked the dispatcher and waited for the call to be connected.
“Hello?”
“Mr.Ridley, this is Detective Kerri Devlin.”
Ridley explained that he had picked up two girls. One girl kept referring to the other one as Tori. He described the two girls and how that by the time he reached the drop-off point, he felt as if something wasn’t quite right.
“Where was the drop-off point?”
He gave the address and the time of the drop. Kerri thanked him and ended the call.
“What the woman told Cross was right,” she told Falco. He glanced at her. “An Uber driver dropped Alice and Tori off at the warehouses an hour ago.”
Falco floored the accelerator.
Kerri didn’t have to say the rest.
A lot could happen in an hour.
43
9:50 a.m.
Taylor Warehouses
Birmingport Road
Birmingham
As they reached the end of the long drive, Kerri spotted a dark sedan and the black SUV in the parking lot already.
The Escalade Kerri recognized. It belonged to Cortez.
“Who the hell is that?” she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.
“Looks like the mayor’s car.”
Kerri scowled. Falco was right. The license plate read:WARREN1. “Why would the mayor be here?” She thought again of the mayor’spersonalinvolvement in this case and the similarities between her early years and those of Alice Cortez. Was she attempting to save this girl Alice or save face?
The idea that there was more nudged at Kerri.
The Charger had scarcely stopped moving, and she was climbing out. She all but ran toward the maintenance building, where a door stood open. Falco caught up with her by the time she reached the entrance.
Kerri drew up short as Mayor Emma Warren emerged, Cortez right behind her.
“Where is Tori?” Kerri demanded.
Warren stalled for a single moment. “Tori? Excuse me, Detective ...? Why are you here?”
