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He took a big bite, chewing thoughtfully. “Did you say your sister went to college?”
“Yes, she graduated from ASU.”
“Where did she meet Lenny?”
“On a blind date. Later she hired him to do some minor repairs on the house.”
“A handyman? Doesn’t seem like he’s in her league.” Not if her sister was anything like Sara. “Is he handsome, charming, a life-of-the-party type?” There had to be some reason Meg fell for him, although who could ever say why one person was attracted to another?
Sara shrugged. “He’s not bad looking, in a rough sort of way. Medium height, brown hair, mustache. I’ll get a picture of him for you if you want. To be honest, I think, at twenty-one, Meg was overwhelmed at the thought of caring for a twelve-year-old all alone and married the first man who showed an interest.”
“They were married five years or so before they had Mike, right? Did they seem happy?”
She rose to put her paper cup in the trash container. “I was a teenager back then, pretty self-absorbed, and I’d just lost my parents. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to their relationship. Besides, I’ve never been married, so how would I know what constitutes a happy marriage?”
Never been married. Why was he pleased to hear that? Wait a minute, Kincaid. The last thing you need is to get tangled up again, no matter how attractive she is. He brought his attention back to the matter at hand. “Maybe because you lived under the same roof with them and might have seen or heard something?” She struck him as intelligent and observant. Was she covering up something?
“I guess they were happy, from what I could tell. They quarreled occasionally, but I suppose that’s normal. What does the state of their marriage have to do with Mike being missing?”
Kincaid finished the second doughnut, drank the rest of his coffee and stood. “Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. I’ll know more after I talk with your sister. And Lenny’s commanding officer.”
Sara brightened immediately. “That means you’re taking the case?”
“That means I’ll let you know after I find out more. I’ll be in touch.” He walked out of the kitchen.
“Wait a minute!” Sara hurried after him. “I’m going with you.”
At the door, he swung about. “Sorry, but I work alone.”
She put on her most convincing expression, her most appealing smile. “Please, Kincaid, I need to do this. Mike…he means the world to me. I’ve arranged for time away from my business. I promise I won’t get in your way, and I might just be a big help.”
The day pigs fly, he thought, shoving his hands in his pants pockets. Silently he stared at her, eyes narrowed, hoping she’d back down. Many had, but she didn’t.
“All right, I’ll agree to this much. You can come along for now, but if I find you’re slowing me down or if it becomes dangerous, you’re off the case. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” She’d make sure she became invaluable to him. After all, she knew both Lenny and Mike, to say nothing of Meg. “I’ll change and be right with you.” With that, she hurried down the hall to the farthest room and closed the door behind her.
Curious, Kincaid strolled to the other open bedroom door next to Sara’s. Typical boy’s room—maple wagon-wheel bed, dresser and desk, a small television set on a shelf with a Playstation alongside it and a bookcase brimming with paperbacks, comics and all the Harry Potter books. On a stand under the window was an aquarium where two turtles dozed on rocks. Thanks to Aunt Sara, the kid had all the bells and whistles here, if not at home. Small wonder he liked to spend weekends with her.
Kincaid strolled back to the neat living room. He wondered if he’d just made a huge mistake in letting Sara come along. Of course, he’d probably discover in the first interview or two that there really was no missing boy, just some family problems. Still, the fact that Lenny had been suspended from the police department under a cloud of suspicion made Kincaid decide to look into the case before casually dismissing it.
And spending time with the boy’s lovely blond aunt wouldn’t exactly be a hardship.
Meg Nelson looked very little like her sister, Kincaid thought as she opened the front door of a two-story stucco house that badly needed painting, situated on a quiet residential street in Mesa. She was about the same height as Sara, but there the resemblance ended, since even the color of her blond hair was washed-out. She’d managed to pick up about fifty extra pounds, visible even in her loose-fitting dress.
Her pale-blue eyes skimmed over Kincaid, then settled on Sara. “You didn’t say you were bringing someone,” she said, her tone suspicious as she stood blocking the entrance.
“Kincaid’s a specialist in finding lost children,” Sara said.
Her annoyed gaze returned to Kincaid. “Are you a cop? Lenny’s going to be real upset if you called the cops on him, Sara. I mean, he’s an officer himself.”
It would seem that she didn’t know about Lenny’s suspension. Sara jumped in before Kincaid could answer. “We’ve got to find them, Meg, and we can’t do it alone. You do want to get Mike back, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” she snapped, then stepped back. Bristling, she walked over to a gold lounge chair and picked up her needlework.
Irritated with her sister, Sara led the way into the sunny living room. They sat down on the couch opposite Meg.
Kincaid knew he had to placate the frowning woman. “I appreciate your hesitation, Mrs. Nelson, but I assure you that with your cooperation, we have a better chance of finding your son and husband.”
Meg sighed, then seemed to relax fractionally. “What do you want to know?”
“I’d like you to tell me just how this situation developed.”
“Hasn’t Sara told you already?”
“I’d like to hear it from you. After all, you’re the wife and mother.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, Meg began her story, which matched what Sara had told him. As Meg spoke, eyes on her needlework, Kincaid glanced around. The place was clean, but the hardwood floors needed sanding and polishing. The faded Persian rug could almost be labeled shabby, and the old-fashioned furniture had probably been there when her parents had been alive nearly twenty years ago. But there was a huge television set on the opposite wall, and through the archway a state-of-the-art pool table dominated the dining room. His hands itched to pick up a cue stick and try it out. It would seem the Nelsons had a fair number of grown-up toys, but the house and its furnishings seemed neglected. Interesting.
He took a moment to study the woman as she dribbled the facts to him slowly, almost dispassionately. Odd how she was far less emotional than Sara about Mike’s disappearance. She could have been reciting the plot of a book she’d read. Perhaps she didn’t feel her son was in danger.
When Meg finished, she didn’t look up, but drew in a deep, quivery breath and waited.
“Mrs. Nelson, do you feel your son is in imminent danger, even though he’s with his father?” Kincaid asked.
Again Meg glanced at Sara, obviously irritated at the question. “Lenny wouldn’t hurt Mike. That I know.” Her voice had a defensive tone as she went back to her sewing.
“Has Lenny done this before, taken Mike on unexpected trips?”
“Not exactly, but they’ve gone fishing without me.”
Sara watched and listened, wondering why her sister was being so difficult and almost evasive. However, since she’d moved out, she and Meg were no longer close. They never had been really, given nearly a decade’s age difference
Meg looked up, meeting Kincaid’s questioning gaze. “Lenny likes to do things on the spur of the moment. He says life is more fun if you don’t have every minute planned. I’ve always liked that about him. Some people get stuck in ruts, always working, never enjoying life.” She bent to her sewing, but not before sending Sara a sharp look.
Kincaid caught the accusatory glance Meg aimed at her sister. Was there animosity between the two, and what, if anything, did that have to do with the missing boy?
“I understand Lenny left a note. Could we see it?” Kincaid asked.
Meg huffed, but she got up and walked to a small desk in the corner, then came back with the note, which she handed to Sara, not Kincaid.
Sara unfolded the single sheet and held it so that Kincaid could read it, as well.
It was terse and to the point. “Meg—Mike and I decided to go on a little trip. Don’t know how long we’ll be gone. I’ll be in touch. Don’t worry about us. Lenny.”
The handwriting was sloppy and uneven, as if the writer had been in a hurry. “Why do you suppose Lenny didn’t tell you before they left?” Kincaid watched her closely.
Meg’s lips became a thin line, as if she was annoyed. Or was it embarrassed? “Mike had been pestering Lenny to go on a vacation like Disneyland or camping since school let out, even though we don’t have the money for that sort of thing. Maybe Lenny thought it was time for some father-son quality time.”
“I see,” he said, though he didn’t. From what Sara had indicated, Lenny didn’t strike him as father of the year. “So then, you don’t think there’s any reason to be worried about Mike being gone like this? I mean, you did call Sara, expressing concern, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I called her, but I had no idea she’d call in the cops. That wasn’t necessary, not at all.”
“Can we look through Mike’s room, see what he packed, maybe get an idea of where they went?” Kincaid asked.
“No. I’m not having a stranger prowling through my son’s things. Sara already did that.”
Seated on the couch, Kincaid looked at Sara beside him, at a loss over Meg’s cool acceptance of the situation and her almost belligerent attitude in contrast to her sister’s heartfelt plea. Raising his brows, he invited Sara’s response.
Taking her cue, Sara cleared her throat. Maybe she could get through to her sister. “Meg, how are you and Lenny getting along these days?”
Meg looked up, her expression suddenly hostile. “Fine. We have an occasional disagreement. Husbands and wives quarrel now and then, Sara. If you were able to keep a man interested in you long enough to have a real relationship, you’d know that. All you do is work, work, work. And spoil Mike so he sasses me.” She stood, abruptly clutching her needlework as she glared at her sister. “I asked you to help find my son, not to analyze my marriage. And I’m not happy that you brought a stranger, a detective, in on our troubles. I should think you’d remember that you owe me. You owe me plenty.”
Running out of steam, Meg turned and marched down the hallway surprisingly fast for a heavyset woman. In moments a door slammed shut.
Stunned, Sara sat back, heat moving into her face. Grasping for composure, she tried to make light of Meg’s outburst. “That went well, don’t you think?”
Kincaid stood, walked to the fireplace, giving Sara a moment to collect herself. What had caused her sister to react with such an outburst? Apparently, Meg felt that Sara still owed her for all those years she lived here. Finally he turned. “I guess I didn’t ask how you and your sister get along.”
She shook her head. “Fairly well, I thought, until now. I…she’s always had a sharp tongue, but she’s never been quite so mean-spirited.”
“Sounds like she’s envious of your relationship with her son.”
Sara rose, brushing back her hair. “I suppose she’s got a point. I do spoil Mike. He’s such a good kid, so smart. I reward him for good grades, for making the swim team. I take him to ball games, out to dinner, hiking and camping, bought him a ten-speed bike, things like that. I promised I’d take him to Disneyland this summer. Meg is too thrifty to do anything frivolous or fun, so I take up the slack. Still, I had no idea she felt such animosity toward me.”
“She also skirted the original question you asked her about how she and Lenny get along. Do you think they do a fair amount of fighting where Mike can overhear them?”
There was no use evading this any longer. “Probably. They certainly did when I lived here.”
Which was likely the real reason Sara had moved out. “Let’s try a scenario on for size,” Kincaid said, leading her outside. “Let’s assume that Meg and Lenny had a quarrel that Mike overheard. Perhaps the boy was upset, so Lenny decided to take him on that surprise trip, maybe while Meg left to run errands. Maybe Lenny wanted to worry her so she’d stop picking on him.” They reached his silver Explorer, and Kincaid turned to face her. “And maybe he intends to return after he thinks she’s learned her lesson.”
“Or maybe not,” Sara said, unconvinced. “Look, I don’t think Lenny wants to leave the Golden Goose. With the police department, he’s got a real job with potential, for a change, but obviously he hasn’t worked very hard to keep it or he wouldn’t have gotten suspended. He’s got it pretty good over here, so I’m not sure he’d risk getting Meg too angry.”
“Because she controls the money?”
Squinting in the glare, Sara slipped on her sunglasses. “Oh, yes. She’s told me she has him give her his entire paycheck, such as it is, then takes care of all the bills and gives him a monthly allowance, if you can believe it. If he runs out of money before the month ends, too bad. She used to give me an allowance when I lived with them, before I got a job and before I came into my own inheritance. I don’t know if she’s afraid the money will run out or whether it’s a means of control.”
“I vote for door number two.” Kincaid helped her into the Explorer before walking around and sliding behind the wheel.
“I just remembered,” Sara began, “Lenny came to me several weeks ago and wanted to borrow some money. Twenty thousand. I asked him why he wanted that much, and he said it was for some kind of investment opportunity, a sure thing. I’ve never trusted that sort of thing, so I turned him down and told him to ask Meg for the money. He said no, he couldn’t do that, and asked me not to mention his request to his wife.”
“Did you tell Meg?”
“No.”
“It seems as if we’ve discovered a motive for Lenny’s disappearance—to get away from a nagging, frugal wife. But why take the boy?”
“That’s what bothers me. I don’t buy this father-son quality time Meg mentioned. Lenny was hardly a hands-on father except when it suited him.” Leaning back, Sara closed her eyes. What a mess. She wished Lenny was here right now so she could punch him for using Mike to play games.
Rubbing her forehead, where a headache was beginning, she felt defeated. “I guess you’ll chalk this up as another domestic feud, eh?”
He probably should, Kincaid knew. But a couple of things worried him. First, the boy’s mother didn’t seem nearly as upset over her son’s disappearance as his aunt was. Instead Meg was vague and defensive, downright belligerent to the people who were trying to help her. Secondly, Sara Morgan didn’t strike him as someone who’d blow a situation out of proportion. She seemed genuinely worried.
Maybe it would turn out to be a wild-goose chase. Despite his reluctance, if there was the slightest chance that the smiling boy was in danger, Kincaid felt he should try. After all, he did have the time.
“Not just yet.” He started the motor. “I’d like to talk with Lenny’s superior officer at the Mesa Police Department first. Want to come along?”
Hope flared in her just that easily. “Yes,” she said softly. “Thank you.”
For the life of him, Kincaid didn’t know what impulse made him ask her along. Could it be those big blue eyes imploring him?
Lieutenant James Anderson was a stocky, ruddy-faced man in shirtsleeves and paisley suspenders. He looked at Kincaid’s ID and quickly ushered them into his office, closing the door.
“I’ve heard of you, Detective Kincaid. You do good work.” Anderson sat down in his swivel chair. “I was sorry to hear about that case where—”
“Thank you,” Kincaid interrupted quickly. He had no intention of going into that.
“What can I do for you?”
He introduced Sara. “Her sister, Meg, is married to Lenny Nelson. I believe he works out of this precinct?”
The chair squeaked in protest as the big man leaned back. “Used to. He’s on suspension.”
“So I heard, for improprieties, I understand. Could you be more specific, sir?”
The lieutenant’s hooded eyes narrowed. “What’s this about?”
Quickly Kincaid explained the major points. “Naturally, we respect the confidentiality of the people involved, but I need to know if Lenny Nelson could pose a danger to his son. As I mentioned, they’ve been gone for several days, and no one knows their whereabouts, not even the boy’s mother.”
Anderson frowned as he shifted forward and checked a folder. “Nelson’s supposed to appear next Monday for an internal affairs hearing.” He sat for a moment, thoughtful. “I assume this goes no further?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
“Nelson’s facing allegations that he stole property from the evidence room and sold it. All from old, unsolved cases, mostly forgotten, growing dusty in bins. Been going on awhile, from what we’ve determined so far.”
A man apparently in need of money for whatever purpose, unable to pry more loose from his tight-fisted wife, probably not earning a great deal, stealing and fencing, facing a likely indictment, Kincaid enumerated to himself. That kind of man could be desperate, volatile, unpredictable.
And he was off somewhere with an innocent twelve-year-old boy.
He glanced at Sara and saw she’d turned pale as she, too, had come to the same conclusion.
“And if Lenny doesn’t show up for his hearing?” Sara asked.
“We’ll get a judge to issue a bench warrant for his arrest,” Anderson said.
“Thank you, sir,” Kincaid said, rising and shaking hands. Hand on her elbow, he led Sara out of the office. Walking near the bull pen, he spotted a desk with Lenny’s name on it, although another uniformed officer was sitting there.
On a hunch he stopped. “Excuse me, but are you a friend of Lenny Nelson?” he asked.
