Wanting (4 page)

He’d asked her name,
obviously thinking she was a boy. She’d told him ‘Lee’, and that
her parents were staying in room 209. She’d seen people with kids
going in that room yesterday, and their car was still
outside.

It had worked, and she’d
been able to at least get some breakfast. But...why hadn’t she
thought to put something—even a few biscuits—in her pockets for
later?

Stupid. She’d been
stupid.

It was stupid to come to
her dad’s house, too. He would know where to find her, and would
hurt her dad. Just like he’d said.

She couldn’t stay here, but
where could she go?

Ashleigh didn’t
know.

Chapter 6

*****

“
There he is!” Carrie
pointed to the man they were there to find.

“
Carrie, wait…” Sebastian
wrapped a hand around her arm, slowed her rush toward the Cavanaugh
house. They’d been on a bus bench for over an hour waiting for
Aaron Cavanaugh to arrive. The home of Ashleigh’s father was less
than fifty feet from the bus pick up and was modest and older, but
kept neat.

“
Yes?”

“
He may not know his
daughter’s missing.” Sebastian frowned down at his partner. He
could feel the resolve running through her body. Determined, eager.
Did she do everything so wholeheartedly? “We need to take this
carefully.”

Carrie pulled her arm free
and started across the road toward Cavanaugh. “We don’t have much
time to waste getting him up to speed if he doesn’t know. Every
minute we aren’t out there physically looking for her, she’s
slipping farther away—that’s the way it is out there. There are
monsters that prey on the girls on the streets and they are damned
good at getting what they want. Ashleigh will be a real prize to
whoever finds her first. We need to find her before they
do.”

Sebastian followed her
across the street. He catalogued Aaron Cavanaugh as the man looked
up and saw Carrie striding his way. There was the expected
masculine interest. Sebastian was sure she received that interest
just about everywhere she went. She’d received it, complete with
leers and whistles, at the construction site they’d checked two
hours earlier. Cavanaugh was supposed to be at work, so they’d
stopped by the job site address Carrie had easily found. Cavanaugh
hadn’t been there, so they’d tried his home address next. Cavanaugh
hadn’t been there either; so they’d waited.

Then there was suspicion on
the other man’s face when his gaze landed on the holster Carrie
wore on her hip.

Slight recognition when he
looked past the redhead to Sebastian. They’d met once or twice.
Cavanaugh took an aggressive step in Sebastian’s direction. His own
muscles tensed instinctively.

Carrie stepped in the other
man’s way. “Mr. Cavanaugh? Aaron Cavanaugh?”

Cavanaugh nodded, placing
the bag of groceries on the ground to the side of him. Sebastian
saw the man’s body tense. His tensed in automatic reaction. “Yes?
What’s this about?”

“
Your daughter Ashleigh.”
Sebastian started with as calm a tone as he could. Carrying
groceries inside was not the mark of a man whose daughter was
missing. Was Ashleigh here somewhere? Or did Cavanaugh even know
yet? If he hadn’t had much contact with his child over the years,
would Sherry have contacted him?

“
What about her?”
Cavanaugh’s tone tightened even more. Now his focus was off Carrie
and on Sebastian. “Is she all right? Has something happened to her?
What about Sherry?”

“
Ashleigh’s been missing
for seven days.” Carrie’s words were calm and soft. Cavanaugh
shifted toward her. Too close for Sebastian’s liking. His hackles
began to rise again. Would they always when in the presence of this
woman? He was beginning to think so. He forced himself to calm down
a bit as Carrie continued to speak. She didn’t need him going
caveman. “We’re here to find her.”

“
What do you
mean—Ashleigh’s missing?” Cavanaugh wrapped long fingers around
Carrie’s arm and pulled her toward him. She arched away, her face
immediately tensing.

Sebastian grabbed the man’s
wrist and put pressure on the nerve. “Let her go. Now.” He stared
the other man down, until Cavanaugh released Carrie. Sebastian
tried to pull his partner to his side but she side-stepped
him.

“
Ashleigh has been missing
for seven days.” Carrie blocked the man’s path to the home’s front
door. “Are you saying you were unaware? That you haven’t spoken to
your daughter or ex-wife in that time?”

“
Who are you people
again?” The man ignored Sebastian, focusing instead on
Carrie.

“
Cavanaugh, your daughter
ran away. We need to know if you’ve spoken to her recently. We also
need to know about any communication that occurred between the two
of you in the week preceding her disappearance. Any information you
can give us may help find your daughter.”

“
You’re crazy. My daughter
is fine with her mother in St. Louis.” Cavanaugh grabbed the last
bag of his groceries off the top of the car and slammed the door
shut. He shouldered past Carrie and stalked to the front door. “Now
get off my property.”

Sebastian was steps behind
him. “Don’t you want to at least listen? Ashleigh just took off.
You aren’t curious why?”

“
Sherry sent you to cause
trouble? Ashleigh wouldn’t run away. Not her. She’s a good kid, she
wouldn’t do that. And she emails me almost every week. She’s
fine!”

“
She did.” Carrie pushed
her body between Cavanaugh and the front porch steps. “Denying it
won’t change it. Your daughter ran away. We are trying to find her.
You can help us or not. Do you have a reason to not help? Do you
know where she is, maybe?”

“
You’re relentless, aren’t
you?” Cavanaugh dropped the groceries to the front steps and
reached for his back pocket.

Sebastian stepped closer to
Carrie, his hand falling to rest on the weapon at his side. He
relaxed some when Cavanaugh removed a cell phone. The man dialed
quickly and Sebastian catalogued his expressions as he spoke with
Ashleigh’s mother.

Cavanaugh paled. He cursed.
He trembled.

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed.
Cavanaugh hadn’t known. Sherry hadn’t bothered to check with her ex
to see if he had their daughter.

Cavanaugh dropped the phone
to the grass at his feet, his anger and disgust more than evident.
Sebastian understood it. Why hadn’t Sherry called?

Cavanaugh’s voice was
rough, his face bleak when he spoke. “Please come in. Tell me how
we can find my daughter.”

***

Cavanaugh was a complete
dead end. The man knew less than they did and they’d wasted several
hours going over what they knew compared with what he knew. They’d
wasted more time listening to Cavanaugh arguing with his ex-wife.
That was the worst part of the job; getting in the middle of
personal issues. Sebastian would never get used to it. His hands
tightened on the wheel when a blast of lightning flashed just a few
minutes after they’d started back toward St. Louis. His companion
clenched the door handle, but said nothing.

The storm picked up around
them. When Carrie’s tapping increased, Sebastian turned the car
into the parking lot of the nearest motel, ten blocks from
Cavanaugh’s street.

“
What are you doing?” Her
hands were on the necklace again, a tick he’d noticed she had early
in their acquaintance. She touched the necklace when nervous. Every
time.

“
I’m not going to drive in
this. Not if we don’t have to. I think we should get rooms, then
get something to eat. Take the time to reevaluate. I was certain
Cavanaugh would know something.”

“
Why didn’t Ashleigh’s
mother call him? At least to check if she was with him? We’ve seen
where Ashleigh does keep in somewhat regular contact with her
father. Shouldn’t her mother have known that?”

“
She should have. But
Sherry has always bad-mouthed the ex. Has since the
divorce.”

“
I can never understand
that.” Carrie opened her door and stepped out of the car. Sebastian
quickly followed, catching the door to the office as Carrie opened
it.

The boy behind the counter
looked up when they entered, dropping the handheld video game to
the table beside him. “Yo, what can I do for you?”

Sebastian catalogued him
quickly, habit he barely recognized. This guy was young and
cocky—typical college kid. “We need a set of rooms for the night.
Next to each other.”

The kid barely resisted a
leer at Carrie; Sebastian caught the expression and gave the boy a
warning look. The kid straightened and acted more professionally.
“I got two rooms on the third level. Will that work?”

“
Yes. That’s fine.”
Sebastian paid quickly. Thunder cracked overhead, and Sebastian
caught his companion’s worried expression. Saw her left arm jerk
toward her head. She caught herself and lowered her arm. She often
pulled her hands toward her ears in loud situations—he’d noticed
that early on. Most times she caught herself doing it. Behavioral
modification training?

Carrie sat her file on the
counter and moved to sign her registration slip. Sebastian tried to
catch the photo that slipped out. It landed on the
counter.

The clerk grabbed it before
Sebastian could. The boy looked at the photograph then back at the
FBI emblem emblazoned on the file folder. He dropped the photo to
the counter. “Isn’t this Lee?”

“
You know this person?”
Sebastian’s attention focused on the boy.

“
That’s one of the kids
from room 209. At least that’s what the kid said when I asked him
this morning.” The clerk shrugged. “They checked out this
afternoon, though.”

Carrie glanced at him and
Sebastian easily saw the hope in her eyes. She pushed the snapshot
toward the clerk. “Are you absolutely sure this is the girl you
saw?”

“
She? I thought Lee was a
boy.” Confusion was clear in both expression and tone. The clerk
picked the photograph back up and studied it for several long
moments. “I guess it could be Lee. I mean, the hair is way shorter.
But I remember the backpack. And the coat. Lee’s a girl?
Wicked.”

“
When you spoke with this
girl this morning what exactly did you say?” Carrie asked, pulling
the clerk’s attention back toward her.

“
That he...but I guess that
would be she wouldn’t it? That she was hungry and waiting for her
parents to wake up. That they’d told her last night she could come
down and eat whenever she wanted.”

“
When the family checked
out, was she with them?” Sebastian asked. It wasn’t difficult to
figure out what had most likely happened. This hotel was right
beside the interstate and less than a mile from Cavanaugh’s home.
She’d obviously been on her way to her dad, but hadn’t arrived for
whatever reason. Unless Cavanaugh was lying, but Sebastian didn’t
think he was.

She’d maneuvered her way
into the hotel in order to find food. Smart girl.

“
No. Come to think of it,
she wasn’t. But they’d told me last night that they had six kids
staying with them. When they checked out this morning, they only
had four at the counter with them. Really young ones, too. Like
eight on down. I just thought maybe the older two were at the car,
or something. That happens, you know. So is she in trouble? Did
they kidnap her? What’s going on?”

“
We’re just trying to
locate her at this point. If the family returns, please give them
this card. If you see this girl again, call me immediately. Thank
you.” Sebastian handed the kid two cards, one with his cell number
circled. He and Carrie would head upstairs and discuss what they
would do next.

One thing was clear—they
weren’t leaving Kentucky tonight.

Chapter 7

*****

Sebastian followed Carrie
into her room, dropping his bag on the bed beside hers. He thought
a moment as the thunder increased outside. “She’s here. If it was
Ashleigh. What are the odds?”

“
So was Cavanaugh lying?”
Carrie sank onto her bed and opened one laptop and began typing.
Sebastian studied her for a minute. Was she using the computer
screen to ignore the sounds of the approaching storm?

“
I didn’t see any
indicators.”

“
So why would she come to
here, but not contact her father?” She sat the computer aside and
tapped her foot against the floor.

“
Afraid to, maybe?”
Sebastian began pacing over the generic rug. “Something happened,
the cause of the running, and now she’s fleeing. But she’s stayed
to territory she knows somewhat. She’s frightened and is very
insecure. We got that from her blog. We’ve reviewed her school
records; none of the trouble she’s been in was too
serious—”

“
Not as serious as her
mother portrayed in the police report. That is probably why the
police haven’t looked too hard. They have a picture of a troubled
teen who engages in self-destructive behavior routinely. They
aren’t going to look for her for long, not with all else they have
on the books.” Carrie’s words held a trace of disgust that
Sebastian silently echoed. Sebastian stopped pacing for a moment;
Carrie stopped tapping and looked up at him.