“But Chief—”
“Until I have a visual on her myself, she’s missing and Abbott stays in jail.” And the search warrant proceeded as planned. “You hear me, Officer Stroup? Your job depends on this.”
“Yessir.”
Billy Ray ended the call. He took a deep breath and let it out real slow. Pulling himself together, wiping the emotion from his face, the panic from his eyes. He took another breath, released it the same way. Carlson might be a bit of a boob, but Rumsfeld missed little. He couldn’t afford questions right now.
He had been here before. He’d managed it then, he would this time as well.
He ambled back into the Investigation Division. Rumsfeld looked up. “Everything okay, Williams?”
“Perfect,” he said, smiling easily. “Everything’s just … perfect.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
Thursday, April 24
12:45 P.M.
Bailey glanced at her watch. Stephanie had called twenty minutes ago and said that she was on her way to pick her up. If she still wanted into Billy Ray’s house, now was their moment. Bailey had used the time to pull her thoughts together. She’d stuffed a small notebook in her purse, made certain she had a pen and her cell phone, then filled Tony’s bowl with water.
From outside came the toot of a car horn. The dog didn’t look happy about her leaving, and she wagged her finger at him. “You be a good boy while I’m gone.”
The truth was, she could leave him to roam the farm while she was away. He knew where he lived and the property was fenced, but she couldn’t stand the thought of his not being here when she returned.
She slipped out the front door, locking it behind her, then hurried to Stephanie’s truck. She climbed in.
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Bailey fastened her safety belt. “What was the rush?”
“Billy Ray stopped at Faye’s for coffee and pastries. He was meeting Detectives Rumsfeld and Carlson in Slidell. At the sheriff’s complex.”
“He told you that?”
“Nope. Eavesdropped. He told Earl he’d be gone for a while.”
Stephanie’s truck rumbled past the barn. There was no one in sight. “What do you think that means?”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“What else is new?”
“You still have a sense of humor. That’s good.”
“It’s either that or fall apart.”
Stephanie reached across and squeezed her hand. “When I saw Billy Ray last night he said they’d have a search warrant today. For the farm.”
She curled her hands into fists. “All his dreams are coming true.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Logan didn’t do it.”
“I know.”
The simple reply, the confidence in it, brought tears of relief to Bailey’s eyes. She wasn’t alone. “How are we getting in?”
“A key I have from when we were dating.”
“He didn’t ask for it back?”
“It’s a long story.” Her lips lifted slightly. “Well, maybe not that long, but it doesn’t paint me in a very good light. He never officially gave it to me.”
“Sneaky.”
“Pretty much.” She was quiet a moment. “Billy Ray is too paranoid and suspicious to ever give someone a key to his place.” She looked away, then back. “I’m not proud of this. In fact, it’s embarrassing. A dozen times I told myself to toss it, but I didn’t. I kept it out of spite. After the way he hurt me—”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“But I do. For me, not you.”
Bailey got that. Didn’t make it right or even healthy, but she got it.
“I’ve never used it, I promise. Just having it gave me this … irrational, I don’t know … like this small measure of control…” She let the words trail off. “After this, I’ll get rid of it.”
“Is it wrong of me to be really, really thankful you have it?”
Stephanie laughed weakly. “That’s me, always thinking of others.”
“We know how we get into the house, the question is, how do we get in the super-secret chamber?”
Stephanie grinned at her sarcasm. “Kick down the door?”
“If I have to.”
“Just so you know, whatever he took from Uncle Henry, I’m taking it back.”
Bailey nodded. She understood how it felt to be cheated by someone you love. In her case it had been her father. At one point she longed to take back what he’d stolen when he left: her trust and security. The piece of her heart that only he had been able to fill.
Stephanie wasn’t going to be able to take that back. Only time could.
They fell silent. Stephanie drove past Faye’s, then took the first left after. As they rolled past the P.D., they both glanced that way. No cruiser. Only Robin’s red VW Beetle.
Stephanie parked just up the block from Billy Ray’s. Bailey’s heart pounded, the realization that they were breaking and entering fully hitting her.
“What if one of the neighbors notices us?” she asked.
“Can’t control that. Act natural. Wave. They’ve seen me here before.”
They headed up the walkway to his door. “Prepare yourself, the key might not work. He might have changed the lock, just because.”
“It will. It has to.”
Bailey said a silent prayer as Stephanie fitted the key into the lock. She twisted; the lock didn’t budge. She tried again, then looked at Bailey. “It’s not working.”
“Let me try.”
Stephanie stepped aside. Bailey pulled the key, then pushed it back in, jiggled a bit; it caught and the dead bolt slid back.
Bailey realized she’d been holding her breath and let it out in a rush. “The first gate of hell,” she muttered.
They stepped into the house. It crossed her mind to wonder if Billy Ray was crazy enough to have the place under electronic surveillance. Or booby-trapped.
In the next moment, she saw that they wouldn’t have to worry about kicking in a door. The door in question stood open.
She looked at Stephanie in surprise. “Prayers answered.”
But they hadn’t been, she realized, stepping into the room. The display board was blank. Billy Ray had removed everything.
Gone. It was all gone.
“No.” She blinked and shook her head, as if by her doing so everything would reappear. “He couldn’t have. Not yet.”