He hung up. If he could have slammed down the phone, he would have.
“Rick fucking owes me a bottle of twenty-year Scotch,” Noah muttered.
Noah rarely, if ever, swore, so Lucy kept her comments to herself.
Nate didn’t. “I thought you knew Agent Cook didn’t work in the field.”
“Juan told me,” Noah said. “Active special agents assigned to field offices are required to work in the field. No exceptions.”
He didn’t say anything more, and Lucy wished she knew what Agent Cook’s story was, why Juan let her work only from her desk, and why Noah was pushing it when he was the temporary SSA. She glanced at Nate—he didn’t press the conversation, but he clearly knew more of what was going on than she did.
Noah said, “Though you’re both rookies, you’re going to partner for the duration of this case—at least until I can get freed up. There’s no one else, and I can’t send an agent back to Laredo solo.”
Nate turned into the entrance for a gated community. He didn’t say anything as he rolled down his window and showed his badge and identification.
The guard hesitated a moment. He was young. “Can I have the address you’re visiting?”
Nate shook his head.
“I, um, I’m supposed to log every visitor.”
“Special Agent Nate Dunning,” Nate said. He handed the guard his FBI card. “If your boss has a problem, he can call me.”
Again, the young guard hesitated, but he took the card and pressed a button. The gate slid open.
Nate drove through before it was completely open. “If they want to intimidate would-be visitors, they should get someone who looks like he already graduated from high school.”
The gated community north of I-10 had winding roads, great views of the city, and tree-lined streets. It would be a nice place to live, Lucy thought, though it was clear the neighborhood was relatively new, likely less than ten years old. The developer had done a good job working the custom homes around the existing trees, giving it an older feeling.
Less than two minutes later Nate stopped in front of a large, sprawling two-story home at the end of a cul-de-sac. No cars were on the street or driveway, but an attached four-car garage was behind the house.
Noah said to Nate, “Keep an eye on things.”
“Yes, sir.”
Noah glanced at him oddly. “Sir?”
“Habit.”
Noah shook his head but he was smiling.
Lucy and Noah walked up to the front door. Lucy rang the bell and stepped back. Noah was surveying their surroundings. “Security cameras,” Noah said.
The door opened two inches. It was on a security chain. A petite Asian woman stood there. “Hello?” she asked with a heavy accent.
Lucy showed her badge and ID and said, “Special Agents Lucy Kincaid and Noah Armstrong. Is Lance Dobleman here?”
The woman stared at her oddly. “English not good.”
“Is Lance Dobleman your husband?”
She hesitated, then nodded. She said something in what Lucy thought was Chinese, but she’d never studied the Far East languages. She was fluent in Spanish and French, had a basic understand of German, Italian, and Portuguese, but the Eastern languages were far different than the Germanic languages. She wouldn’t even know how to communicate.
“Is Lance home?” Lucy gestured to the house. She pointed to herself then at the door. “May we come in?”
The woman shook her head.
“What’s your name? I’m Lucy, you are…?”
“Soon Li.”
“Soon Li Dobleman?”
She nodded.
“We need to talk to your husband.”
“Not home.”
“When will your husband be home?”
“Don’t know.” She said something else in Chinese, then said, “I need go.”
Noah handed Soon Li his card. “Tell Lance to call me.”
Soon Li’s hands shook as she took Noah’s card.
“Do you know when he’ll be home?” Lucy asked.
“He’s not here.”
“You said that,” Lucy said. “When? When will he be here?”
She looked confused for a moment. “I don’t know. Monday.”
“He’s gone until Monday?”
She made motions with her hands as if she was frustrated she couldn’t think of the words.
“He was supposed to be home Monday?”
“Left Monday, not come home.”
“Have you talked to him?” Lucy put her hand to her ear to mimic a phone. “Did he call you?”
She shook her head. “Business. Don’t know. Business trip. No calls.”
“Do you have a number I can call him at? It’s very important.”
Soon Li narrowed her eyes then shook her head. “No call, no number. I go now.” She closed the door.
“She damn well has his number,” Noah muttered.
They walked back to the car. “He left on Monday and hasn’t returned or talked to his wife. We know he was in Freer on Sunday night. She seemed like she’d expected him, but he didn’t return.”
“He may know we’re looking for him.”
They got back into the car. Noah watched the house for a few minutes.
Lucy said, “Siobhan’s SD card was stolen from her camera. That means that all the photos we have, they could have.”