“Maybe they found Mateo and were too busy to call us—or couldn’t since you were on my phone.” Which her mom wouldn’t have had to borrow if she had a protective waterproof-shockproof case on her phone like the one Megan had gotten after dropping her phone one time too many on muddy soccer fields. She led the way to the door. “C’mon, Mom.”
Lucy shoved her wallet, still wet from its dunking, laptop, her gun—no worries about it getting wet, Glocks were designed for that contingency—knife, their room key, and Megan’s phone into her beach tote. She frowned at the way everything clunked when she lifted it, but it was better than her soaked messenger bag. “It’s almost six. Maybe we should get something to eat first. It’s going to be a long night.”
“Can’t we check in with the police first?” Last thing Megan could think about was food.
Lucy relented. “Okay.” Then she surprised Megan by hugging her and planting a kiss on her forehead. “That’s from Dad.”
Megan edged away and opened the door. Lucy followed her out.
“He’s mad, isn’t he? About Mateo. Why? I hang out with older guys all the time—at soccer and Kempo and when we go shooting.”
“Older guys that we know,” Lucy said as they waited for the elevator. Megan knew her mom’s ankle had to be hurting for her to take the elevator. Lucy had a cane in the car; Megan made a note to remind her mom that she was supposed to be using it. Not that Lucy would listen. And they called Megan stubborn.
They got onto the elevator. “I don’t think your dad’s as upset about you meeting Mateo as much as he is worried that Mateo might not be who you think he is.”
“I’m not one of your victims, suckered in by some psychopath. I know Mateo is innocent, even without waiting to see where the evidence leads.” She threw Lucy’s own words back at her. “This is still America, right? Innocent until proven guilty, right?”
“Megan. That’s not the issue. I want Mateo to be innocent as well. I especially want him and Pastor Fleming to be found safe and sound. But none of that matters compared to making sure you’re not hurt.”
The elevator stopped and the doors opened onto the parking level below the hotel lobby. Megan rushed out, heading toward the Subaru. “I’m not a child,” she tossed over her shoulder, knowing that Lucy, with her bad ankle, wouldn’t be able to keep up with her. “I don’t need you to protect me. I need you to do your job and help them find Mateo before it’s too late.”
When they arrived at the police station, a tiny single-story concrete building that smelled like a dentist office, Megan was surprised to see Mateo’s family clustered around the chairs in the front lobby. There was a reception desk manned by a gray-haired man in a police officer’s uniform but with no badge, and behind him were glass doors leading into the working area of the station, what her mom would call the bull pen.
“What happened?” Megan asked Hildy, who was perched on the edge of one of the plastic chairs, Jorge beside her, holding her hand.
“We don’t know. They called us to come in, but told us to wait here. All but Anna. She’s back there now.” Hildy nodded to the door behind the reception desk.
“Do you think your mother can find out for us?” Jorge asked.
Lucy was already talking to the man at the desk. A reserve officer or civilian worker, Megan guessed. Maybe retired police or military from the way he kept his posture so straight despite his age, at least in his sixties. The man examined Lucy’s credentials, eyed Megan, then picked up his phone. After a moment, Officer Gant appeared at the door.
Megan hastened to join her mother. Hildy and Jorge stood and stepped forward, but Gant waved them back. While he was focused on them, Megan slipped past the doorway on her mom’s other side, figuring it’d be harder for them to kick her out once the door locked behind her.
Gant frowned at her but let her stay. “You can wait in there.” He gestured to the open door of an interview room. “The chief needs your mom first.”
Megan hesitated but Lucy nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
Megan crossed the bullpen to the room Gant had indicated. There were four desks all covered with evidence: crime scene photos, the note with the safe combination, the knife. Why weren’t they at the state crime lab? Had the techs not arrived yet? Gant led Lucy to a small office on the far side of the desks.
There was one more interview room beside the one Megan stood outside of—empty and with the same reinforced steel door and window as her room. Multipurpose, interview and lock them up, made sense for a small town. The chief had the only proper office, glass walls like Lucy’s office back home.