Mariah Stewart - Cry Mercy

“She's planning on being awhile, wherever she went. Suse said she'd need one of us to pick up Chloe from school.”

“Oh.” He hadn't realized just how much he'd been looking forward to seeing her. “Well, I guess I'll be getting back to my shop. Robert, thanks for a fun day. My first time in a private plane. I could get used to it.”

“Hey, anytime you get a lead on a car like that one, we're in.” Robert slapped Nick on the back. “Seriously. That Aston-Martin is a dream come true for me.”

“In its present condition, that might be a stretch, Robert.” Nick grinned. “But we'll see what we can do for you.”

“I can't wait.” Robert shook his hand, and Nick said his good-byes to Trula and Kevin.

Nick went out to his car and rolled down the windows, thinking how nice it might be to have a new car with all the most up-to-date features like automatic windows and air-conditioning that blew really cold. He might have to break down one of these days and look into picking up something with air bags and antilock brakes. There was something to be said about the latest safety features.

He turned the Firebird around and drove toward the gates, waving to the guard as he passed by. He drove slowly and dialed Emme's phone.

“Hey,” he said when she answered.

“Hey, yourself. How'd the great car search go?” she asked.

“Today Robert joined the ranks of classic car owners. He's a very happy man. I'm thinking if you're going to ask for a raise or a day off, today might be a good day to do it,” Nick replied.

“We'll see what kind of a mood he's in when I get back there. I'm on my way to meet Ava at Congressman Gardner's home.”

“Wow. There's a pitch out of the blue. How'd that happen?”

“Ava called and said she wanted to talk to Gardner about his donor status, and asked me to be there with her. She said she thought my presence might make the meeting more official, and that she'd feel safer if I was there.”

“Safer?” Nick frowned. “Safer from whom? Gardner? He didn't seem like much of a threat to me.”

“I agree, but she told me an entirely different story than the one we got from him. According to Ava, Belle told her that she had identified Gardner as Donor 1735 and that she was on her way to meet with him when she left the art museum in January.”

“What?”

“She said that she spoke with Belle while Belle was driving to Maryland, that Belle was going to Gardner's house to try to talk to him. When Ava didn't hear from Belle, she just figured Gardner wasn't home when she got there and that Belle just continued on back to school. Ava said she's been busy at school and figured that Belle was, too. Until she saw my emails, she wasn't aware that Belle's been missing all this time.”

“She didn't try to contact Belinda at all?”

“It's the same thing we've heard from all these kids, Nick. They get busy with their own lives, they back off for a while, they resurface when things are less hectic for them. Ava said she hadn't heard from Belle, but on the other hand, she hadn't been in contact with any of the others during that time, either.”

“So she doesn't know if Belinda ever spoke with Gardner.”

“No, and it's my guess she did not. I really thought he was being up front with us the other day.”

“So you said.” Nick fell thoughtful for a moment. “Any chance you're wrong about that?”

“There's always a chance that I'm wrong. But I'm pretty good at reading people. I didn't believe he was lying at the time, and I still don't.”

“Hey, you know, Ballard is only a little more than an hour away from me. Maybe we could meet somewhere and have dinner. I know a couple of really great seafood places on the bay.”

“I'd love that. I don't expect to be with Gardner for too long. We both know the congressman doesn't have a problem pulling the plug when he's said what he has to say.”

“True enough. So what do you think, maybe a half hour there?”

“I doubt he'd give Ava any more time than that,” Emme said. “He made it pretty clear the other day that he doesn't have any interest in these kids.”

“I know a great little place we can meet. It's maybe a half hour from Ballard.”

“Perfect.”

“Call me when you get to Gardner's, and I'll know how much time I have to get there.”

“Will do. I should be there by four, so I should be leaving by about four thirty, probably no later than four forty-five. Do you think we should invite Ava to join us?”

“No. I want to see you, spend some time alone, public though it may be.”

“Sounds good. I was just trying to be nice, anyway.”

“You are being nice. You're driving three hours to keep her company. I'll see you later.” Nick hung up, smiling. He knew it would be only dinner-she did have Chloe waiting for her-but even that was fine. He wanted to see her, wanted to be with her. They'd spent some time together since the day at the farm, but neither of them had spoken about what had happened between them. There'd been things he'd wanted to say, words that had just never made their way out of his mouth. He was hoping to do better tonight.

He turned on the radio hoping for inspiration. The best he could find was a station that played love ballads from the fifties and sixties. He sang along all the way to Khoury's Ford.

He stopped at Automobilia to look over the mail and to check on what the other mechanics had done while he was gone. He finished making his rounds in the garage and looked up at the large wall clock over the door into the office. It was four thirty. He checked his phone for missed calls but none showed on the screen. Frowning, he dialed her number. She should have been there by now. Actually, according to her timetable, she should be leaving Gardner's by now. Had she simply forgotten to call? Or had he misunderstood? Had she said she'd call when she was leaving Gardner's?

Emme didn't pick up his call, so he left a message that he was going to head over to the restaurant and gave her driving directions, then drove there himself. When he arrived at five fifteen and she still hadn't called, he called her again.

Once again, the call went to voice mail. He got out of his car and walked to the end of the parking lot and back again. He pulled out his cell phone, scrolled down his contact list until he found the main number for the foundation, and called. Then he waited while the directory went through the staff names and extensions. He punched in the number for Robert, and waited, not confident that the call would be picked up. When Robert answered, he was caught off guard.

“Robert, it's Nick. I really didn't expect to get through to you but I'm glad I did.”

“I'm usually not in my office at this hour but something's come up.” Robert sounded distracted.

“I'm sorry to bother you. I was just wondering if you'd heard from Emme.” Nick explained the situation.

“No, but let me ask.” He put his hand over the phone and spoke with someone in the background. “No, no one's heard from her.”

“Maybe I should drive down there and see if she ever arrived.” Nick thought aloud.

“I can tell you if she's there,” Robert said, “if that would help.”

“How can you do that? She isn't answering her phone.”

“She doesn't have to for me to track it. The phones we had designed for the foundation have GPS in them.”

“I thought most cell phones had GPS.”

“A lot of them do. But ours have a system I can track on the computer myself. Hold on, Nick, let me see what I can do.”

Moments later, Robert came back on the line. “I have her at 38 Pond Drive, Ballard, Maryland.”

“That's it. So she is there.”

“Is there a problem, Nick?”

“Probably not. Thanks, Robert. Sorry to have bothered you.” Nick hung up and walked back to the car. He was feeling antsy, unsettled, and wasn't sure why.