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Moving to the railing, she shook her head. “Not for me today, but thanks. Catch you later in the week.”
Nick gave her a wave and jogged off in the direction of the parking lot.
Sitting back down, Sara frowned, wondering what she was going to do. She had to make a revised plan now that she’d struck out with Graham Kincaid. She’d tossed and turned half the night, but hadn’t come up with a viable solution.
She should probably go talk with her sister again. Sara had the distinct feeling that Meg hadn’t told her everything.
There were few other options, slim and not necessarily productive. Sara had thought working with the detective, bouncing her ideas off him, listening to his ideas after years of experience, they’d come up with a plan to find Mike. But alone, she felt overwhelmed. After all, she ran a boutique; she wasn’t a cop.
Rising, her thoughts agitated, she wandered to the living room. Pausing by the end table next to her favorite chair, she picked up Mike’s picture. A sudden rush of tears clouded her vision as she studied the dear, familiar face.
“Mike, Mike, where are you, sweetie?” Setting the picture down, she choked back a sob. “Oh, Lord, I just have to find you,” she whispered, nervously fingering her pearl bracelet with a gold heart engraved with the words I Love You, a gift from her nephew.
The doorbell startled her. Dabbing her eyes with a tissue, she cleared her throat and wondered who’d be looking for her this early. Maybe Nick had returned to coax her into joining him.
The bell rang again. Tightening the belt of her robe, Sara walked to the door and opened it.
“Good morning. For a minute there, I thought you were already up and gone.” Graham Kincaid, carrying a fragrant Krispy Kreme bag, strolled in right past her and headed for the kitchen as if he belonged there.
Stunned, Sara slowly closed the door and trailed after him. She was unprepared for her reaction to his physical presence in her home, those wide shoulders and that lean face, the lingering scent of soap. “You shaved,” she said, then chastised herself for the idiotic comment.
“Yeah, I do that from time to time.”
“How did you know where I live?”
“You forget I’m a cop?” Digging in the sack, he removed two cups of steaming coffee followed by two doughnuts on napkins. “You have a choice of glazed or chocolate.” He finally stopped to look at her shower-fresh face devoid of makeup and was surprised that she was just as lovely as he remembered. Maybe more. Except for the strain around her eyes. “Which one do you want?” he asked, indicating the doughnuts.
As she recovered from the shock of seeing him, Sara decided he must have had a change of heart. Why else would he come to see her? “Chocolate, of course,” she said, taking the doughnut over to the small glass-topped chrome table by the window and sitting down.
Kincaid followed, bringing the cups. “Not your ordinary coffee, these. Latte, if you please.” That hard mouth shifted into a quick smile as he removed the lids.
The smile changed his whole face, Sara thought, making him more human, adding a sexy edge. “To say that I’m surprised to see you would be a gross understatement, Graham,” Sara told him. “May I call you Graham?”
“Not if you want me to answer. I was named after my grandfather. I was real fond of him, but I can’t stand the name. Everyone calls me Kincaid.” Taking a large bite of the sugary confection, he leaned back and momentarily closed his eyes in satisfaction. “I only let myself buy these every couple of months because I could eat a whole dozen all by myself. ’Course I’d soon be big as a house.”
Glancing at his lean frame dressed in a navy Polo shirt and tan slacks, she doubted that and told him so.
“It’s true. My brother, Ken, is a couple of inches shorter than me and weighs around three hundred. He’s a farmer in the Midwest and lives to eat. Literally. His wife, on the other hand, is thin as a shadow.”
Inhaling the delicious latte fragrance, Sara was skeptical. “Is that a Jack Spratt story?”
Swallowing, he nodded and gave her that killer smile again. “Kinda, yeah.” Finishing the last bite, he wiped his mouth, then took a sip of his latte. “You left that picture with me on purpose last night, didn’t you? You wanted to see if the boy would get to me, right?”
He didn’t let his emotions show on his face, but Kincaid had spent a restive night, the boy’s face intruding on his dreams, those laughing blue eyes pleading. Just like the face of the other boy whose picture was in Kincaid’s wallet, a haunting reminder. Could he let himself be drawn into another search? And the bigger question, how could he not help if there was even a small chance of finding the boy?
“Actually, I didn’t plan to leave it,” Sara answered, “but when I remembered that I had, I hoped looking at Mike might cause you to reconsider.”
He took the picture out of his shirt pocket. “Good-looking boy. He’s got your coloring. Your son, I take it.”
“No, my nephew. My sister, Meg, and her husband, Lenny, are his parents. The three of us are blond and blue-eyed, only Lenny’s dark-haired.”
“I see. How long has Mike been missing?”
Sara pushed back her hair with both hands, her expression thoughtful. “I’m not sure, exactly.”
That stopped him. “All right. Did he just fail to return from school or somewhere else? Did the parents come home and find him gone? Is he unhappy, possibly a runaway? Twelve is a little old to be snatched by a stranger, but not out of the question.”
Kincaid crossed his long legs. There was a story here. There was always a story. “Maybe you’d better start from the beginning.”
“I’ll try.” Sara gazed down at the paper cup between her hands, finding it oddly difficult to think clearly with those sharp, intelligent eyes on hers. “My sister called me Sunday and said she was worried. It seems that the day before, she’d been out running errands and returned home to find a note from her husband saying he was taking Mike on a surprise trip to celebrate his graduation from grade school and starting junior high in the fall. Friday was the last day of school for the semester.”
“Does Lenny do this often, surprise trips, not keeping his wife in the loop?”
“Well, I know he’s impulsive. Last summer, he spent a small fortune on fishing gear, a tent, camping stuff and took Mike to Roosevelt Lake to fish. Meg wasn’t invited along and she was angry with him. So she went out and bought a big-screen TV and a VCR.”
Irresponsible. Hell of an example for a kid, Kincaid thought. “Do they have that kind of money?”
Sara sighed, uncomfortable with having to reveal so much about her family. But she had been concerned for some time about Mike’s home life, and wondered now if something had happened to cause Lenny to go off with the boy. “I’m not sure,” she answered honestly.
“Not sure of much, are you?” he asked, wondering when she was going to start telling him the truth. She was busily shredding a napkin in her anxiety, her eyes downcast. People who didn’t look you in the eye were usually hiding something.
“I need to go back further and explain that our parents were killed in a terrible auto accident when I was twelve and Meg just twenty-one. We were on our way home from Meg’s graduation from ASU. I was in the back seat when a drunk driver lost control of his car and hit us head-on. Mom and Dad died instantly and I was in the hospital for several weeks. I even missed the funeral. When I was released, Meg became both mother and father to me, literally putting her life on hold to raise me. I owe her a lot.”
Apparently that was why she wanted so badly to help her sister get her son back now, Kincaid decided. “Did she work back then or was there insurance money?” He needed to get an overview of the family dynamics.
“Both.” Relaxing fractionally, Sara leaned back. “Dad owned an insurance agency and had a lot of personal insurance, plus the house was free and clear. So I went to school and then on to college, and Meg went to work at Macy’s. She got me a job there summers and after school, which is when I got interested in fashion.”
“You’re still there?”
“No. Four years ago, I opened a boutique on Scottsdale Road, Sara’s Closet. I have plans for a second store, but…well, I have to concentrate on finding Mike right now.”
“So you’re close to your nephew?”
“Yes, very.”
Kincaid thought she was unaware of the sad smile on her lips as she spoke of the boy.
Sara decided she’d best tell him the rest. “Meg married Lenny a year after our folks died. He moved into the house with us. Meg often talked about wanting a child, but I don’t think Lenny was quite as enthusiastic. When Mike was born, Meg quit her job after some sort of back injury. She chose to stay home and be a full-time mother. I attended ASU but I lived at home and spent a lot of time with Mike. He’s a wonderful boy, bright and funny and handsome.”
Love for the boy radiated from her like the warm sunshine drifting in through the window. “I can see you dote on him. What about Meg and Lenny…are they loving parents?”
Sara glanced up quickly, her eyes suspicious. “Why are you asking?”
Kincaid shrugged. “Not all parents are.”
Sara wondered just how much she should reveal. “As I said, Meg really wanted a child and was thrilled when Mike was born. Lenny’s a bit of a strict disciplinarian. Maybe because he’s a cop.”
Maybe the father had been a little too strict and the boy had run away from home. And maybe both mother and aunt hadn’t caught the signs. He needed to know more. “A cop, eh? What precinct does he work out of?”
“Mesa, where they live,” she said, naming a suburb south of Phoenix.
“Do you know what his rank is?” Kincaid knew a lot of officers and had heard of even more, but he’d never run across the name Lenny Nelson.
“I believe he’s currently a patrolman, with a partner, somewhere in Mesa.”
“Currently?”
Sara shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s sort of a jack-of-all-trades, has trouble holding down a job, gets restless. He’s been a truck driver, mechanic, exterminator, landscaper. He quits after a few months because the people in charge are all stupid, according to Lenny. He’s been with the police department for nearly two years, a record of sorts.”
Interesting. But obviously not against the law. Was this lovely woman an overreactor, making a mountain out of a molehill? Kincaid hadn’t had time this morning to check her out, but he would.
“Is Mike an only child?”
“Yes.”
He watched her put the shredded tissue into the nearby trash can, her hands trembling slightly. From worry and strain? Or something else, he wondered.
“So when did you move out of the family home and why?”
Sara frowned, annoyed at the question. “I don’t see what that has to do with all this, but, if you must know, I moved out after college. I wanted to be on my own. I was making good money as a buyer for Macy’s and I had some investments from my folks’ estate, so I bought this condo.” That was the truth, as far as it went, Sara thought, her eyes downcast once more. She didn’t see any point in revealing that a strain had developed between her and Lenny, mostly over Mike, so she’d left, thinking it would be better for the boy if there wasn’t so much noticeable tension. And Meg always took Lenny’s side. Mike was sensitive and picked up on their discord.
Kincaid took a moment to glance around, noticing that her home was not extravagantly decorated but done in good taste with fairly expensive furniture, the location in a neighborhood of upwardly mobile families, probably a fair share of singles with good jobs.
“Did Mike mind you moving out?” he asked, watching her face.
“A little. But I fixed up my spare room for him here, and he often spends weekends with me.” A frown came and went as Sara wondered if he ever would again.
Her expression suddenly imploring, she looked up. “You’ve just got to find him.” Was he just playing with her by asking all these questions or was he really going to help her? “I want to hire you to find Mike.”
“Not so fast.” Kincaid shifted in his chair. Her robe wasn’t in the least revealing, but he sensed she wore nothing underneath as her fragrant, after-shower warmth drifted to him. He reached into his pocket and took out a lemon drop, popped it into his mouth. With no small effort, he jerked his attention back to the missing boy. “For one thing, as I told you last night, I have a job. I work for the public under the auspices of the police department. But I think you already know that.” He narrowed his gaze, aware that she’d undoubtedly looked into his background and checked his credentials. She appeared to be thorough, methodical. “I’m curious. Why me?”
“Because I did check you out, talked to a lot of people and, quite simply, everyone says you’re the best. I also recall seeing one of your high-profile cases on television a while back on one of those news shows. I know you have broad authority in the police department because of your years of experience and your success rate.” She paused to take a calming breath. “I’m aware that you’re on leave, for whatever reason, so I’m willing to pay for your time.”
He shook his head. “Money’s not the issue here. I don’t take every case. There are other investigators who work with me, under my supervision. If I take a case, I have to believe the adults responsible for the child, to know that they’re telling the truth so I can figure out how things happened and where to begin the search.” Leaning his forearms on the table, he met her worried gaze. “So now that I’ve got the background, tell me about how you learned that Mike was missing.”
Sara gathered her thoughts. “Meg wasn’t upset when she first read Lenny’s note because, as I’ve said, Lenny is impulsive. However, he hadn’t even hinted where they were going, only told her not to worry. By Sunday evening when she still hadn’t heard from him, she started making a few calls. To hospitals and the police to see if they’d been in an accident, to Mike’s friends in case he’d mentioned the trip to one of them. She got nowhere so she called me. Now, here it is Tuesday morning and still no word.”
Kincaid tried to keep his face expressionless. He didn’t like wild-goose chases. “You realize that the boy isn’t really missing, in the literal sense. He’s with his father.”
Sara struggled to find the right words to convince him to help her. “Did I tell you that Mike has allergies? When I went to talk to Meg, we checked his room and he hadn’t taken his allergy pills and only a few clothes were missing. That would indicate a short trip, but he’s been gone four days.”
Frowning, Kincaid tried to make sense of it. “Surely Lenny is aware of Mike’s allergies, the medication he needs. As his father, he could get another prescription, if necessary.”
“Lenny’s careless about such things. He once took Mike camping up a mountain trail in the spring when all the new growth was out on the trees and shrubs. Mike had a bad attack, had to be taken to a hospital for a shot of adrenaline when Lenny finally got him home. Lenny dismissed the whole incident, said that Meg and I spoil Mike, that we’re making him into a sissy… His word.”
“A real macho guy, eh?” Kincaid had seen more than his share of guys like that.
“Yes, the big jerk. He was furious that Mike didn’t make his school’s football team.”
“You don’t get along all that well with Lenny, eh?”
She’d revealed more than she’d intended, Sara realized, but it was the truth. “I put up with him or I’d never get to see Mike.”
“And your sister, what does she think about Lenny?”
Sighing, Sara shook her head. “I don’t honestly know.” Privately, she thought that Meg had married Lenny so he’d help her take care of Sara through the difficult teen years and that Lenny married Meg for the free rent and a share of the family estate. But she wasn’t about to air all their dirty laundry to this virtual stranger. Besides, it was just her opinion.
Kincaid stared out the window thoughtfully. There was more here than she was telling him, and he wondered what. Still, they hadn’t come up with a motive for Lenny taking his son on a mysterious trip. “Do you know if Lenny and Meg are having problems? Is the marriage good? Could he have taken their son to deliberately worry her, to get even for something she did?”
Sara didn’t look at him, appearing evasive. “I don’t think so. I mean, it’s not exactly a match made in heaven, but they seem okay. Meg doesn’t complain to me, and he certainly wouldn’t.”
“Lenny’s not violent, never hit Mike or Meg?”
Her eyes widened at the suggestion. “Not that I know of. No, I’m sure Mike would have told me.”
“How’s the money situation between them? You mentioned that Meg hasn’t worked since the boy was born and Lenny drifts from job to job. Doesn’t seem as if he stays long enough in one place to warrant a decent salary.”
“Meg and I both have a trust fund from our parents’ estate, which was considerable. After age twenty-five, we could use the money any way we saw fit. I don’t know how much Meg’s taken out of hers, if any. She’s very frugal. They don’t live lavishly. They’re still in our parents’ home, which is very nice and half mine if they were to sell it…although I wouldn’t take my share. As far as I’m concerned, it all belongs to Meg for taking care of me all those years. A while back Meg wanted to sell it, but I nixed her idea. I didn’t think it would be good for Mike to change schools or leave all his friends.”
A fair woman and compassionate. Kincaid rose, stretched and walked to the window. Purple bougainvillea bloomed along a wide stucco fence, looking perfect as a painting under a cloudless morning sky. Nice yard, nice home and a nice woman.
But he couldn’t help her.
Turning back to face her, he leaned against the wall. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, Sara, but I don’t think there’s a problem here. It’s not a case of a runaway or a kidnapping. You say that Lenny’s never hurt the boy so Mike’s not at risk. You indicate that the three of them get along fairly well together. There’s no crime and no motive here. While I think it’s irresponsible of Lenny to take the boy and not keep in touch with his wife, it’s not against the law. I think it’s simply what it appears to be, a father taking his son on a surprise trip and perhaps they’re having such a good time they haven’t gotten around to calling home.”
He pushed away from the wall, deciding it was time to leave. “Give it a few more days, Sara. Chances are they’ll be back by then or Lenny will call.”
Sara had thought she could get Kincaid to help her without revealing more, but apparently not. He’d probably find out, anyway. “Maybe I should tell you the rest,” Sara said quietly.
Frowning, he sat down at the table, facing her. “All right, what’s the rest?”
“I called and talked to one of the officers at the Mesa Police Department where Lenny works. After much hemming and hawing, he told me that Lenny had been relieved of duty almost two weeks ago pending an investigation into allegations of improprieties.”
Chapter Two
Sara couldn’t look away from Kincaid’s eyes, which were studying her as if she were a bug under a microscope. Undoubtedly he was trying to see into her mind. In the bright, morning sunlight, his eyes were more green than gray. She wondered what he was thinking, worried again that she’d blown it by withholding information. Emotions had clouded her actions from the beginning of this whole affair.
“Is there a reason why you didn’t tell me this interesting little fact about Mike’s father before now?” he asked, his voice even. He couldn’t seem to get a fix on this woman with the big, beautiful eyes that seemed to hide a fair amount of secrets.
“I’m sorry,” Sara said finally. “I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t think his job status had anything to do with Mike’s disappearance.” And she’d planned to share only what was necessary.
“Mmm-hmm. And now suddenly you do?” He paused, thinking. “Let’s see. We have here a child taken on an unexpected trip by a father who can’t seem to hold down a job. The man is married to a woman who has a trust fund, but they live frugally, and now he’s accused of improprieties. Your word. At the worst, he’s a thief. At the very least, he’s guilty of poor judgment.”
“He’s not the brightest man I’ve ever met,” she offered.
“Are you going to eat your doughnut?” It occurred to Kincaid that he’d skipped dinner last night.
Sara pushed the napkin and doughnut closer to him. “No, go ahead, please.”
