Mariah Stewart - Cry Mercy

“What's that supposed to mean?” Mallory, a nine-year veteran of the local police force, narrowed her eyes.

“You know. She walked with purpose, head up, long stride.” Robert took a bite from a cookie. “Like Trula said, she looks you in the eye when she talks to you. That's all I noticed, though, because I didn't talk to her for more than twenty seconds. Susanna?”

“I thought she was okay, too. I mean, nice, pleasant enough. It's Mallory's call on the qualifications, though,” Susanna said. “Mal's call on the hire. That was the deal.”

Kevin looked at Trula. “You're not going to toss in your two cents?”

“I already did. I said I liked her.”

“Trula liked Emme's little girl,” Susanna confided. “She liked having a kid to boss around in the kitchen.”

“So our applicant is married? Divorced?” Kevin asked.

“Neither. She adopted Chloe as a single mother,” Mallory explained.

“Would calling her back for a second interview be helpful?” Trula asked.

“Maybe.” Mallory pondered the question. “Although I don't know what else I'd ask her. She's willing to apply for a private investigators license, so eventually she'll need some other reference besides the police chief.”

“It's up to you, Mal,” Robert replied. “She'll be working for you.”

“She'll be working for-and with-all of us,” Mallory reminded him. “This is not the Mallory Russo Foundation.”

“Look, we haven't taken on our first case yet, right?” Kevin pointed out. “So do we have to make a final decision right this minute?”

“I guess not this minute, no. But now that you've brought it up”-Mallory reached down to the briefcase that sat open next to her on the bench seat-“here are copies of the three cases I sent to each of you earlier in the week. I'm assuming you read through them and have some opinion on which one we should choose, since that is the purpose of this meeting.”

She passed the copies around.

“So who wants to start things off?” Mallory looked around the table. She passed the extra copy of the file to Trula, telling the older woman, “I'd like your input as well.”

Obviously pleased to be included in the decision, Trula opened the file and began to read. Robert met Mallory's eyes from across the table and winked his approval.

“Anyone?” Mallory asked.

“They're all worthy cases,” Robert said. “All three have merit. Missing daughter; missing brother; missing niece.”

“I agree.” Kevin placed his open file on the table. “I don't know how we choose one over the other, unless we flip a coin.”

“Would one of these cases be more likely to be resolved than the others?” Susanna wondered aloud.

“I think they'd each have their challenges,” Mallory said, “so I'd have to say probably not.”

“This one about the college girl.” Trula waved the sheet of paper. “How can a girl just disappear from a busy place like a college on a Saturday morning? How could it be that no one saw her?”

“If the police could have answered that, they'd have been well on their way to finding out what happened to her,” Mallory told her. “I'm sure they asked around.”

“Maybe they didn't ask the right people,” Trula grumbled. “She wasn't invisible, was she?”

“Good point.” Robert closed his file. “I vote for that case.”

“I don't know how you pick one over the other, so yeah, I'm okay with that one,” Kevin agreed.

“No argument from me.” Susanna rested her forearms on the tabletop. “Mal? You all right with that?”

“Sure.” Mallory shrugged. “I was intrigued with that one, too. And besides, geographically, it's within driving range. Not that that's going to be the criteria, but since right now we'll only have one investigator, maybe it's not a bad idea to have it somewhat close by. We'll be able to sit down and discuss the case as it plays out. So yes, let's do it.”

“So what happens now? You're going to notify the uncle-this Nicolas Perone who submitted the case-and let him know you're going to be working his case?” Kevin asked.

“I'd love to work this case.” Mallory frowned. “Unfortunately, there are a number of other applicants to interview and about another hundred cases to wade through.”

“How can so many people just disappear into thin air like that? Where do they all go ?” Kevin wondered. Realizing what he'd said, he turned to Robert. “Hey, Rob, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking…”

His cousin shrugged it off. “It's a fair enough question. The number of people who go missing every year is staggering. Beth, Ian… just two among many. All these others-they're missed, loved, too. Let's do our best to see if we can find a few of them.”

The group fell silent for a moment, acknowledging Robert's pain. His loss had been the seed from which the foundation had sprouted. Mallory knew that he was hoping to do for others what he'd been unable to do for himself.

“So maybe you should call Emme back for another interview and decide. If you want to get this thing up and moving, you don't have time to dither,” Trula told her.

“I'm not dithering, I'm just being cautious.” Mallory looked around the table at her companions, an odd collection of loners who, in a very short period of time, had become a family of sorts. She understood that whomever they hired would become part of that family: she would have to consider personalities as well as qualifications in filling every position for the foundation. She took the responsibility very seriously.

“Here's an idea,” Kevin said as he poured a second cup of coffee for himself. He held up the pot, offering to pour for the others. Only Susanna pushed her cup forward. “Hire this person on a trial basis. Tell her she has six weeks or till the end of the case-whichever comes first-to prove herself. In the meantime, you'll be interviewing other applicants. If she doesn't pan out, at least you'll have some others in the queue.”

Mallory nodded. “All right. I'll call her and see if she can come in tomorrow morning to go over the case with me. I think the first step would be to talk to the cops who handled the case originally, and maybe meet with the uncle and get his take on things.”

“She's been a cop for seven years,” Trula noted dryly, “she can probably figure out where to start. But she may need a little help figuring out what to do with that girl of hers.”

“You're not going to offer to babysit, are you?” Robert raised an eyebrow.

“Not that I wouldn't if need be. Chloe's a bright, cheerful little thing. Well-mannered, polite. Seems like a happy little girl,” Trula told him. “But she was saying this afternoon that she missed her friends at school, so I'm thinking Emme might need a hand finding a good preschool for Chloe in a hurry.”

“We have a wonderful preschool program at Our Lady of Angels,” Kevin said. “And-what a stroke of luck-you have an in with the guy who ultimately is responsible for the place.”

“That's exactly what I was thinking.” Trula smiled.

“Emme might want to make that decision on her own,” Mallory pointed out, “but it's certainly a terrific option and one I'd be happy to pass on to her.”

Mallory closed her briefcase and snapped it shut. “I'll give her a call from the car. So if there's nothing else…?”

“Hot date tonight?” Susanna asked.

“You betcha.” Mallory grinned. “The Conroy PD and Fire Company combined softball team is playing West Lincoln under the lights at the park out on Old-field Road. I might even be able to catch the first pitch.”

“I suppose Detective Wanamaker is in the lineup?” Kevin asked.

“Charlie's pitching.” Mallory stood and stretched. “He's been working a case for the past week so we haven't had much time together. And with everything we have going on here, this might be as good as it gets for a while.”