Joshua nodded. “Yeah, I was trying to see if you guys had any leads, anything that might confirm my suspicion.”
“Why didn’t you just tell us about this Bob Freeman?” I asked with frustration lacing my voice.
“Well, this might come as a surprise to you, but my job is to defend people until proven guilty, plus he’s still my client.”
Derrick walked up next to Joshua’s desk. “But if you thought this guy might have been connected, you could have given us some kind of clue.”
His eyes fell to the floor and he nodded his head. “Hindsight, I see I was wrong.” Looking up into my eyes, Joshua frowned. “Maybe I wanted to try to figure it out myself. A small piece of me trying to play—”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Detective?”
Joshua’s eyes turned sad. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”
“Anyway, one day I saw him walking behind Meagan as she walked into a Starbucks. I didn’t like the way it seemed like he was following her, so I walked into Starbucks and started talking to Meagan. I was hoping it would throw Bob off if he truly was following her.”
I rolled my eyes and huffed. “Instead dude, you freaked Meagan out and caused more suspicion to be thrown on you!”
Derrick sighed. “So, all the following, and jack-assing around with Gray was because you wanted to play cop?”
Joshua sunk down in his seat.
“When was the last time you heard from this Bob?” I asked.
Joshua took a few seconds to think about it. “Oh hell, I don’t know. He seems to be pulling himself out of the pits and turning his life around. He got a job, hooked back up with a previous girlfriend and I believe moved in with her.”
Joshua’s phone buzzed. “Yes?”
“Mr. Black, Mr. Freeman’s boss said that he hasn’t shown up for work the last week. I’ve tried calling his cell phone number and it goes right to voicemail.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Joshua said, “Call his parole officer and see when the last time was he checked in with him.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr. Black, was Mr. Freeman in town during all the murders?”
Joshua swallowed hard. “Ah . . . as far as I know . . . yes.”
“Do you have any reason to believe he could be behind Meagan’s disappearance?”
“Speaking as his lawyer, I would tell you no. Speaking as one guy to another, I think he had a thing for Meagan and to tell you the truth, the guy gave me the creeps. He talked about those girls as if he . . . knew them. So to answer your question, yes, I could see that happening.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
Joshua turned and pulled open a cabinet and took out a file. “Yeah, I got his girlfriend Susan’s address.”
My heart stopped as I felt my knees shake. “What did you just say?” I asked slowly.
“Ah, I think I said I had Susan’s address.”
I turned and looked at Derrick as he pulled out his ringing cell phone.
Joshua pulled out a piece of paper and handed to me. “That’s her and her daughter. I believe her name is, Kate.”
I had to reach out and hold onto one of the chairs in front of me with one hand as I took the paper in the other.
Susan’s address was written down on the paper and a black-and-white photo of her and a girl about sixteen was stapled to the paper.
“Holy fuck,” I whispered.
Derrick hung up and hit me in the arm to snap me out of it. “We had a patrol officer head to Durango High. There is a Kate Freeman registered there, her mother is listed as Susan Powell. When she questioned Kate, she said the girl was scared to death. Mentioned something about her deadbeat father was back living with them and how he abused her mom. Her mother told her a week ago to leave and go stay with friends and she hasn’t heard from the mom since.”
I turned to Joshua. “Thanks, Mr. Black; you’ve been a huge help, but next time you have information like this, you better fucking come clean and let us know.”
Joshua stood and nodded his head. “I hope Meagan is just out shopping somewhere and none of this is really happening.”
With a somber look, I nodded and headed out the door.
Derrick was already on the phone with central giving them all of Susan Powell and Bob Freeman’s information.
I climbed into the passenger seat of the car and pulled out my cell and called Brad back.
“Grayson! Please tell me you’ve found her. Please!”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook my head. “Not yet, sir, but I promise you I’m doing everything I can to find her.”
“You don’t think this is connected to those . . . to those other . . .”
My stomach felt sick as I pushed the door open. “No. I’m going to find her and bring her home safely; as God as my witness I will not let her down. I made a promise to protect her and I’ll chase her to the ends of the Earth if I have to.”
The silence over the phone was almost deafening. “Call us when you find something out.”
I quietly said, “I will.”